Interpretation

Jesus, thou Joy of loving hearts,
Thou Fount of life, thou Light of men,
From the best bliss that earth imparts
We turn unfilled to thee again.
We taste thee, O thou living Bread,
And long to feast upon thee still;
We drink of thee, the Fountainhead,
And thirst our souls from thee to fill.

Bernard of Clarvaux

That’s not just pretty poetry; that is my heart’s desire, every word of it. Friend, if it’s not yours, it’s time for a spiritual tune-up. I believe what’s thoroughly missing in current Christianity is a passion for God that is both in spirit and in truth. You have the Charismatics and vast majority of contemporary Christian music where there is much spirit of worship, but shallow or no truth. You have, on the other hand, groups where doctrine itself, not what it implies,is the end-all to everything, resulting in worship in truth but no spirit. The Father wants our worship to be both, emotionally involved yet never without the solid truth of the Word supporting us as we worship.

And how I want us to return to accurate interpretation of the Word of God. My heart is distressed when I hear how people so misuse the Word of God either out of a wrong motivation, or out of ignorance. “Just read your three chapters a day,” it’s often said, but never mind the study of the Author’s intent through hermaneutical principles. Just whatever God says to you is good for you. My Advanced Bible Study Methods course has opened my eyes to the problem even in conservative circles of the misuse of the Word.

But I don’t point that out because they are bad in and of themselves; I point them out because they are hindering us from experiencing God the way He wants us to experience Him. John Piper hit the nail on the head when he said: “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” Glory, oh let us bring maximum glory to our God!

Somewhat of a random coming together of different thoughts in my head for the past few weeks, here’s my latest update. I want to open up a section for essays which are longer than journal musings. Maybe I’ll do it soon.