Phil,

Very well stated. My hand hurts, so can't write much.

May I please forward this email to others in it's entirety? Please?

Keep up the excellent work.

Love and Blessings,
Pat Ferguson



At 05:23 PM 11/7/04, you wrote:
>The United States has survived for over 200 years because of its
>constitution.  To be more precise, this country has survived based
>upon the words of the constitution.  No one today, unless they
>proclaim to be an atheist, lives without believing in some word of
>somebody's.  you may not believe in the Word of the Bible, or what
>is referred to as the Word Of God, but you believe in somebody's
>word.  In other words, you haven't just made up your own idea but
>what you believe and live by came from someone else and what they
>believe.  In the case of the United States citizen, he believes in
>the basic wording of the constitution.  Yes, he can choose not to
>believe in everything the constitution says but he cannot, if he
>plans to live in this country, choose to break its laws without
>suffering the results.  Interestingly enough, the U S constitution
>protects your rights to believe any way you wish but again, if you
>break its laws, the government upon which the constitution is
>based, will punish you.  In short, the constitution of the United
>States is the final word.  Of course, we have a supreme court who
>decides on matters of application of the interpretation of the
>constitution but again, the constitution is the final word upon
>what is right and wrong for U S citizens.  the Bible works in the
>same way.  it is God's final Word on all that governs a Christians
>life.  It is not a matter of personal interpretation but it may be
>a matter of personal application based upon your interpretive
>methods.  Many people today think you can interpret the Bible any
>way you wish.  This is untrue.  The Bible interprets itself, if
>studied systematically, and thus the personal application can
>become standardized.  For example, the Bible clearly states how
>one becomes a Christian, that is, the doctrine of eternal
>salvation is easily discerned from Scriptural evidence.  Those who
>have chosen to tamper with Biblical interpretive methods sometimes
>think that the only way you can become a Christian and enjoy a
>relationship with God is to join their church.  Of course, The
>bible does not say what church is the right church but it does say
>who is the right and only way to salvation and how you experience
>that salvation.  Then, too, the Bible clearly states the existence
>of Heaven and Hell.  Some may choose to believe there is no Heaven
>or Hell but this does not negate the validity of the Biblical
>record and God's feelings on the matter.  It is also true that
>some pick and choose what they wish to believe from the Bible but
>those that do so are simply stating they do not wish to live by
>everything they find in the Bible.  This is, of course, their
>right.  Those who choose to believe only certain parts of the
>bible likewise refuse to except the biblical evidence that the
>Word of God is inspired by the writers whom God chose to express
>his Word.  If one, however, does not accept the Bible as the Word
>of God, then license is given to pick and choose as one wills.
>If, on the other hand, one comes to the realization that the Bible
>is truly the Word of God, his view of the Bible will be far
>different in all matters of daily life.  One may ask, then why are
>there so many different interpretations and so many different
>religions.  The answer is obvious.  Is the bible the Word of God?
>Those who believe the Bible was just written by men who didn't
>have anything better to do with their time will likely just think
>its a nice book but nothing to take seriously.  Those who pick and
>choose what they like, and don't like, will be confused in
>personal application of Biblical principals and doctrine.  Those
>who claim biblical authority, that is, those who except by faith
>the bible is the Word of God, will begin to attempt to understand
>Scriptural considerations as it applies to their daily life.  In
>other words, they will take the bible and then apply it personally
>to their life.  Another way of saying this is considering the
>Bible as a measuring device.  The Bible believing Christian
>measures his life based upon what the Bible says.  If the bible,
>therefore, says thou shalt not steal, he will believe stealing is
>wrong.  If it says, thou shalt not commit adultery, he will
>likewise believe it is wrong to commit adultery.  Of course, I
>could continue by offering dozens of other such ideas but by now
>you get my meaning.  The real issue is this.  Do you believe the
>Bible to be the infallible inerrant Word of God.  If not, we have
>no bases for personal application.  If, on the other hand, you say
>that you do believe the Bible is God's eternal Word, then we can
>get down to exactly how the bible is interpreted.  There are valid
>methods of interpretation of the Scriptures just as there are
>scientific methods used to determine fact from theory.  This is
>true when interpreting any language or document.  But who has the
>last word, you say?  God, of course.
>
>Phil.
>
>
>I Flew Kites With Jesus
>www.SafePlaceFellowship.com