I quickly obliged, new camera in hand, of course. Rushing out the front door my husband stopped me before I'd descended from the porch. "Be careful, it's solid ice" he said, as I was looking out at the blanket of white snow and my anticipation for taking pictures began to heightened.
"I'll walk through the snow" I replied thinking he was talking about the driveway. "No, you need to come here to me and I'll take you down to the street. Go slow." Honestly I did not want to heed his call as I preferred walking through snow to sliding downhill. Afterall, the camera is new, what good is a broken lens?
He could see that I was not overly thrilled but I moved toward him. We've been married 25 years. He's a smart man. I trust him. Taking my hand we slipped down the driveway together. I won't lie. Despite the cold I was sweating by the time we reached the bottom. It's hard to be graceful with only one good leg to stand on. Needless to say I prayed under my breath the entire way down.
As we walked slowly around the corner he explained to me that the snow was not what it seemed. It was covered by a layer of ice because of the freezing rain from the night before. Our driveway was solid ice as well but the surface was flat. So was the street he walked me down. It was much safer to try to maintain our footing on a flat ice-covered surface then on the bumpy ice-covered snow. Still it was a challenge for me to stay upright.
Last night as I was laying in bed I thought about some comments left on a recent article I wrote. I'd meant for it to be factual but it stirred controversy regarding whether the Bible is a fiction or non-fiction book.
A question I asked on Twitter revealed that some believers feel that the Bible is inerrant and infallible. Others believe that it is not "free of error" and subject to personal interpretation. That led me to do some online reading. I discovered that there are several "camps" with opposing views on the subject. One group believes in both the inerrancy and infallibility of the Word. Another believes in the inerrancy of the Word but not the infallibility. Yet another group believes that neither are true.
The longer I live the more camps I see. It is disheartening to me. Even more discouraging is the fact that many people don't want to hear truth. Truth is whatever they choose to embrace as being real. At least that is what I've been told by some--although I'm not gullible enough to fully believe it.
Subjects like the inerrancy and infallibility of God's Word have become slippery slopes. The word of God is pure just like the winter white of freshly fallen snow. Yet over the years we've continually watered down the truth. Snow and water create ice. Many souls are slip slidding away down a slope that we, the Church, have created.
What we need is some trustable guidance. We need the Holy Spirit and spirit-led teachers to help safely lead people to their destination--heaven. Ice can be deceivingly beautiful but it's incapsulating. We need the Son to shine, melting the ice from our hearts, so that we are able to receive God's truth with purity of mind and spirit.
Otherwise more people will keep slip sliding away. I used to think of evangelism in terms of souls who'd never heard the Gospel message. People lost and in need of salvation. It was something that was done outside the four walls of the Church.
I've discovered that there is much outreach to be done among the camps. Evangelism is not just for the world it is also for the Church. It's about many who've heard some
Someone once said that hell will be filled with people who had good intentions. Good deeds, the best of intentions, belonging to a cause will not get a person to heaven. There is only one way and His name is Jesus.
With each and every passing day less is said about Him. Personal accomplishments mean nothing, a personal relationship, with Jesus, means everything. There is no way to relate to Him properly without spending time in the Word.
People are spending time in part of the Word. What about the whole truth and nothing but the truth? What about the Word of God rightly divided? Do we pick and choose the parts we enjoy camping around that leave us feeling warm? Or are we willing to embrace His truth even when it's cold steel blade cuts like a knife?
Those are hard questions, I realize. But then again it seems the nearer our destination the more we're slip sliding away.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. II Timothy 3:16
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. II Timothy 2:15
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