The First (In The Beginning)

In no way am I trying to force any of our beliefs on you or tell you you're wrong if you disagree with me.  This blog is just meant to share what we've learned.  Also, I'm not saying that I don't want to discuss anything I write.  In fact, I would love to start a discussion with anyone about what I write.  I'm just not going to try to force you if you don't want to.  If we have discussions, they can be in whatever format is comfortable.  Disagreements are welcome!  In fact, that's what they used to do in the temple!  Someone would read scripture and provide their interpretation, and the rest of the attendees, sitting in a circle, would provide rebuttal or agreement. 

This brings me to a realization we had: churches are not how God intended us to worship.  Especially in this day in age, when all you get from most church pastors is "be kind to your neighbor."  There's no digging into scriptures anymore, and even when they did it was the pastor telling you what it meant and no questions/discussions by congregations if things didn't really make sense to them.  It became a check in the box.  What better time now that churches are closed to start worshipping the way God intended! (coincidence?  There are no coincidences with God!)

One of the things we've come to learn (and also is part of the foundation of our beliefs): the scripture is written exactly the way God intended it.  It seems simple, but there's a lot to unpack there and it looks a lot simpler than it is.  One of my big hurdles in the past, and the thing that was keeping me from being able to fully understand scripture, was the unfounded question of whether or not scripture was truly fully from God or man had some influence on it.  Looking back, I can't believe that was even a question.  I mean, if the Almighty God has the power of creating all that is in the universe, what makes me think he doesn't have the power to ensure His Word is written the way He intended it?  In 2 Timothy 3:16, it says "All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction in righteousness."  The words "is given by inspiration of God," are translated from the greek "theopneustos" which is a combination of the words "theos," or God, and "pneustos," or breathed.  So really all scripture is "God breathed."  In fact, "pneustos" comes from the root word "pneo," which means "to breathe," and that is also the root word for "pneuma," which means spirit, or in some cases more specifically as the Holy Spirit (John 20:22).  Going further,...and going back to the beginning..., in Genesis 1:2, "the earth was without form, and void; and the darkness upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."  The Hebrew word for Spirit in this case is "ruwach," which also means breath!  And how did God create all things?  With His breath (Gen 2:7, when He created mankind as a living soul), and His Word (Gen 1:3-24, when He created the rest of what we know as the universe).  Coincidence that both the Hebrew and Greek words used for spirit also mean breath? (see my above statement about coincidences!) 

Now I say all that to say one of the realizations I've come to is that if there seems to be some disagreement between verses in scripture it's usually due to my own misunderstanding (or an error in translation which is remedied by looking at the original language) and requires more investigation on my part.  By no means do I consider myself an expert, but I've found more fulfillment and understanding every time I've dug into something interesting or something I don't understand.  I highly recommend downloading the "BLB app" or using blueletterbible.org and/or biblehub.com if you choose to start (or continue) studying.  They have extensive features to read the original language of scripture, search for words, compare translations, find cross-references, etc. 

God bless you all!