Re: I want to apologize!

Whenever the word scripture is used in the Bible, the writer was not referring to the book that we have in front of us today that has been translated from its original language and canonized by the Roman Catholic church.

So when scripture is used in the Bible the writer is generally referring to the Torah.

You believe that Jesus is the Word of God but then you use the fact that Jesus quoted the Torah to transpose the authority given to Jesus to the entire Bible. Seems like a stretch to me.

Jesus said:

"You have neither heard the Father's voice nor seen his form.
But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.
You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.
But you are not willing to come to me that you may have life."
John 5:37-40

Again, if there are those who meet Jesus in the pages of the Bible, I say halleluYah! But recognize that it is Jesus that is the Word of God not the Bible. When you are reading scripture and certain words "jump out at you" or "seem particularly relevant to your life or situation" that is Jesus quoting scripture to speak to you, very much in the way that he did when he walked the earth as a man.

How are we to know that what we "feel" in our hearts is from the Father speaking through Jesus (His Living Word)?

"My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me."
John 10:27

We worship an unseen God. Throughout history man clamors for something that he can see to worship rather than worshiping a God who is unseen. It is easy to see when people are bowing down to a gold statue but much more subtle when it is a holy man (i.e. a charismatic preacher) or a holy book (i.e. the Bible).

When Jesus walked the earth, he quoted scripture but he also spoke many other words that became scripture because he spoke them. Would you limit the Living Word of God to words that he has already spoken because you are unwilling to trust that you are his sheep and that you hear his voice?

In my own personal relationship with the Father, his Living Word speaks to and teaches me everyday using everything that you can possibly imagine...websites I run into, people I meet, a song on the radio, a movie I see, a book I read, and yes even the Bible.

There are approximate 880 million illiterate people in the world. Do you think that none of them have access to the Word of God? If you limit the Word of God to what is written in the Bible are you not excluding them?

I tell you this...Jesus has sheep that hear his voice everyday, obey his words, and through them receive the abundance of the Father's blessings yet they do not know Jesus or the Father by name nor have they ever read the Bible.