Craig Fritchey & the 7 Cs

Tweeting Time Again

The Premise
This is a recap of last night's message. It goes along with yesterday's post Simple & Easy. Basically, we discussed that reading of God's Word should be a priority in our lives. Note: reading the Bible is different than studying it. What was discussed last night was simply reading the Bible for edification & pleasure, not cross-referencing & bringing in extra-biblical resources etc.. This is just about reading.

The Quotes

What the Bible is About

 The Bible is about Jesus Christ. The references above show that the Old Testament as a whole points to Jesus. This makes sense as Christians hold that Jesus was the coming Messiah of the Jews. Remember while reading the OT: there is something there that points to Jesus.

How We Know God

 Also remember that the Bible's most basic purpose is to reveal God to us. C. S. Lewis discussed whether it is better to experience God in the wilderness or in the Bible, and he concluded that the experience in the wilderness is probably the closest to God that one can get. But, Lewis compared the wilderness/Bible to the beach/map. If one goes to the beach, they get an experience of the ocean that is concrete and real, but in order to get across the ocean to a destination, they will need a map. The map is necessary for nautical exploration, even though it is decidedly less real.

Why We Read

There is a reason why we should read every day. That reason is not to stroke our ego or make God happy with our obedience to a maniacal will. The reason is to build ourselves up in faith. The more we read, the more confident we can be in the things we believe. Conversely, we can also correct those things we believe that do not jive with scripture.

The Seven C's

Craig initially stated that there were five Cs, but then he threw two extras in at the end. I like the ring that the 7 C's has, so I'm sticking with these:

1. Content
2. Chronology
3. Context
4. Congruence
5. Clarity
6. Confirmation
7. Confidence

These are the benefits we reap when reading God's Word. Note: these are not things we look for in the sense that we are actively trying to find verses that give us chronology or confirmation, they are things that are simply gathered by reading. In other words, they are subconsciously absorbed. In even more spiritual words, the Holy Spirit reinforces the Word of God in our lives. By having the 7 Cs, we can rightly divide the Word of God.

Your Turn
Remember, you can join in the discussion by tweeting #BTSermon if you are ever in the Bible Truth Meeting. Also, if you read this and want to comment on it in public you can do so by leaving a comment or tweet #BTSermon and link to this article! C'mon, jump into the conversation!

More Reading
Read the previous post that was linked in the first section and is linked again shamelessly here. There is a list for even more reading appended to that page.