-Not by seeing or saying how good I am.

-Not by the greatest show on church stage.

-Not by seeking happiness.

-Not by material blessings.

-Not by getting comfortable.

– – –

Am I experiencing goodness?

Am I experiencing trouble?

Can I get close to God?

Do I want to get close to God?

– – –

First of all, it’s all about Him, not me.

So, what does He have to say about getting close to Him?

What does He have to say about pleasing Him?

What can I give God, what can I sacrifice, that could impress Him, and get us close?

– – –

How can I get close to God?

+”The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit—a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”

+”The goodness of God is supposed to lead you to repentance.”

+”Call upon Me in the day of trouble—I will deliver you—and you will glorify me.”

+”Call on Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things you don’t know.”

+”Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.”

Getting close to God is not about what I think would do it, but yielding to His way to get us close.

– – –

And now the big one, to get really close to God.

According to Christians around the world, right now, the most guaranteed way to experience the best, the sweetest closeness with God, is through persecution.

Not my idea of fun, but again, what does God say about getting close to Him?

+”Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake . . .

+Blessed are you, when men will revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake.

+Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven.”

How many doctrines do church leaders hold dear and count as given with special labels—that no one reading the Bible for themselves would ever come up with?

What is the real source of many church teachings—revered individuals and councils with authority to dictate, or the clear words of the Bible alone?

Two reasons no one speaks up about the use of trinity (as well as other teachings):

+Any questions raised about the use of trinity are generally listed as fringe or heretical, like not believing Jesus is God, and are readily dismissed.

+Most Christians cannot distinguish between words of man and Words of God, and so they accept both equally.

Both of the above are inadvertently, or intentionally, meant to intimidate any criticism of what the learned leaders have set in stone.

There is built-in, dangerous pressure to accept what the church says because church fathers said it millennia ago.

Frankly, I’m not impressed anymore.

Yes, there are impressive and comforting things said by Christians, and I add my own.

But for creating foundations for doctrine, we must direct everyone to search their own Bible first.

The Bible must be the source, not the backup, for statements written by people.

We fall in danger of communicating that the Bible is not sufficient and needs our help.

Most theological teaching starts with a doctrinal statement, FOLLOWED by Bible verses, or more commonly just Bible references.

What if all our doctrinal statements, our beliefs, our ‘distinctives,’ our creeds, simply quoted Bible verses?

When Luther said, “No, but I’m as sure as there’s a God in heaven, . . . My warrant is the Word of God . . .” he was responding to a question about feeling forgiven.*

How about including all man’s words in “. . . naught else is worth believing.”

There is plenty of room for discussion and teaching, if we start with the Bible, and if we continue going back to the Bible.

Following any teaching with loyalty to a person who said it leads to division that Paul spoke against, with names including himself (“. . . I am of Paul, I am of Apollos . . .”).

*Someone asked Luther, “Do you feel that you have been forgiven?”

Luther answered, “No, but I’m as sure as there’s a God in heaven, for feelings come and feelings go, and feelings are deceiving. My warrant is the Word of God, naught else is worth believing.”