Do you trust what was written?

      There is no question that the Bible is rejected by the majority of this word. Even religious people are questioning the inspiration of the scriptures. In many circles, what is written does not have the final say. Reason being, there are numerous people who have said that God has spoken to them personally, separate from the Bible. I have been told this, personally, many times. 

The scriptures are either inspired, or they are not (II Tim. 3:16). You simply can’t have the word of God that was written down, support the idea that God speaks to man directly today. Why not? Because the Lord told us He wouldn’t (Heb. 1:1-2). So did God lie when He gave us His inspired word? If He did, then how can you trust what He tells someone directly today? Think about it.

It is strange to me when people say that God spoke directly to them, that they experienced something that Christ’s own apostles didn’t experience. God did not speak directly to the apostles. It was Jesus who promised the Holy Spirit to come upon them to guide them into all truth (Jn. 16:13; Acts 2:1-4). After all, this was going to be a message that was for all people. So why would God talk directly to someone today?

Here are two questions that I ask people who say God spoke to them. First: Did God say something different than what you read in the Bible? If their message contradicts anything that He already said, then it will make God a liar – and it is impossible for God to lie (Titus 1:2). Second: Did God say something that He already revealed in His written message – the Bible? If they say yes, I think to myself, why did God have it recorded if He is just going ahead and talking to people personally? Not only that, if he doesn’t speak to everyone, is He playing favorites? He already revealed He is not a respecter of persons (Acts 10:34).

I don’t claim to know what people think they heard. I am not calling them a liar. I believe they believe it was God. But for me to believe it was God I would have to reject His written word, which we should never do!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Chuck                                  

Church of Scientology

L. Ron Hubbard (born 1911, died 1986) was the founder of the church of Scientology. He devoted much of his life to a study of what he thought the soul did to the body. The cores of his teachings are found in the book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. The church of Scientology began in the 1950’s.  Why write about this?

I have often stated that the concept of the Biblical term “church” is widely misunderstood. Nothing demonstrates this more than learning about sects that call themselves “churches”. How can a group call itself a church when has nothing to do with the word of God? The group’s teachings have nothing to do with what God has commanded, or the e Savior who died for the world (Rom. 5:6-11).

It is bad enough when people are not united regarding the scriptures (I Cor. 1:10). How could we possibly be united with a “church” that seeks “truth” when that truth comes from the mind of man and not God? The answer is simple – you cannot. Listening to lectures and digesting the writings of L. Ron Hubbard is not going to teach you where man came from, what man’s purpose in life is, nor what lies beyond the grave. Obviously, this did not stop Hubbard from teaching his theories (such as the teaching that when you die, you can come back in another body to live on this earth).

This should not surprise us. As long as man expands his imagination, there will be people who want to believe it as fact. This is nothing new (Acts 5:36-37). Once you reject the Bible as the only inspired writing that we have (II Tim. 3:16), then the floodgate opens and the world will be filled with all sorts of false teachings.

Now do not misunderstand me. If Mr. Hubbard imparted some medical information, like we have in many medical journals today, that information could be factual. But it is one thing to impart knowledge. It is something different altogether to share information as if it is divine in its source. Only the Bible can make that claim!

                                                                                        Chuck