Hermeneutic Extreme Make-over

Yesterday I preached the second part of a two part mini-series on our handling of the Word of God. My main theme over the past several weeks has been on the idea of deepening our relationship with God instead of having a superficial, surface one (title - Running Deep In Shallow Times). Yeah, I got the idea and title from Lynn Anderson at Tulsa this year. Don't worry , I gave him credit. For this part of the series, my belief is the approach to Scripture we have inherited from our forefathers is flawed in certain areas and has put some barriers in our way in regard to our work and identity as God's people, namely the command, example and necessary inference hermeneutic. It has led to us drawing lines of fellowship that God never drew, making laws that God never made, and nullifying what God actually said (see Mark 7:1-13). Those are some serious missteps that our church, and a few others I can think of, has needed to deal with for a long time. It seems to have been well received for most, a struggle for some, but needed if we are to move on and get serious about kingdom work. Pray for us.

I closed with this quote from Rick Atchley: "We are not responsible for the church handed down to us from our parents. We are responsible for the church we pass on to our children. " Well said.