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Some Things I’ve Learned and Others I Still
Wonder About
By
Paul Parsons
My Learning Curve
In my nearly fifty-seven
years, I have learned a lot of “stuff”. Some of it has little value, unless I
happen to be playing a game of Trivia Pursuit. Some of it has no value at all.
The remaining knowledge I have gleaned over the years, small percentage that it
is, falls into the category of opinions, based loosely on facts and
experiences. For whatever it’s worth, here are a few of my observations:
- The differences
between the various doctrines of mainstream Christian evangelicals amounts to
little more than a hill of beans.
To mix metaphors, I suppose that we could also say that we tend to make a
“molehill into a mountain.” I can almost see the Lord watching as we cite the
multitudinous minors upon which we major, alternately laughing at the
absurdity of the importance we place upon those differences, and crying over
the divisions those so-called important differences create within the Body of
Christ.
- The world is filled
with lies and deceptions, which are easily accepted by the masses, and which
can, without extreme vigilance on the part of church leaders, infiltrate the
minds, and become the mindset of the church-at-large.
This is evidenced by the willingness of many
(thank God, not all) churches and denominations to accept the worldview of the
“separation of church and state”, abortion, homosexuality, child discipline,
roles of husbands and wives, new age theology, cults and the occult, tolerance
for false religions, the inability to legislate morality, etc., ad infinitum.
- There is a purpose
for the life of every person, although a vast majority of people never even
find out what that purpose is, much less actually fulfill it.
It is the responsibility of each born-again believer to discover that purpose
and to do all within his or her power to accomplish it. It may take most of a
lifetime to find, and will certainly take all of it to achieve, but God
is there to provide the motivation, the resources, and the power for His will
to prevail in each of our lives. And, I think it is worthwhile to mention
that the discovery and accomplishment can never come too late, as long as we
still have a breath left in us.
A Few of the Remaining Questions
- Why is it that we
refer to eschatological matters as “End Times” or “Last Things”?
It seems to me that those things that will
usher in the Second Coming of Christ may very well be a beginning.
- Does the term
“politically correct” always mean “biblically incorrect?”
Certainly, no loving Christian should be insensitive to others, but does that
mean that we have to go so far as to bend God’s Word to make something fit?
- Why is the term
“liberal” associated with sinful concepts, while “conservative” seems to
denote godliness? And yet,
millions of people in America who align themselves with Christ continue to go
to the polls and elect liberal politicians.
Well, brothers and
sisters, space is limited…but that can be a good thing, because, as you can see,
so is my understanding of “stuff.”
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