Contextual Reading (song)

Note: Though I didn't really write anything with a Christmas theme for the blog this year, these next three entries were all written in some ways as gifts for others, so consider them as Christmas presents to remember the Giver of all good gifts Who gave us the very best when He sent Christ that first Christmas to save us all from our sins. Merry Christmas! Praise God for His love. :-)

There are lots of preachers out there telling us and selling us all kinds of takes on God and the Gospel. Jesus said there would be false teachers who would come and we must be ready to see through and past them to the only real Gospel that Jesus Himself taught. (See Matthew 24) One of the best ways to defend against such mars on Christ's teachings is to engage in His Word and read it in the right context. This means reading The Bible with the Holy Spirit's guidance, first of all. Ask Him to be leading you in reading it right. Keep in mind the time and place the Scriptures were written and to whom they were originally written- and read the passages immediately before and after the passage you're reading- and then ask Him to help you see how they fit to our lives today. This song is largely inspired by one of my friends who has studied a lot on these things in seminary and has continually been an encouragement and reminder to employ contextual reading. (Hence the line referencing my friend Thaddeus- "When you get Thad preaching, you get contextual reading." ;-) Check out his awesome contextual readings and analyses of the Scriptures at his "Liberating Lions" blog that I have linked to on this site.)

"Contextual Reading"
(parody of "Sexual Healing" by Marvin Gaye; copyright by Nathan Ludwick 6/26/2016)
(Romans 16:17-18, Luke 24, John 16:3, book of Jude, 2 Peter 3:14-18, John 14:15-31, 1 Corinthians 2:12-16, 1 Timothy 6:3-6, 1 Timothy 1:3-7, 2 Timothy 2:15, 2 Corinthians 8:9, Galatians 1:6-10)

Get up, get up, read up, read up
Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up!

Be wary now- (of) prophets falsified
(Ohh!)
They're saying that God judges like sin's nothing
He's just all-loving
And all peeps, we can go in all roads there
To Heaven; Scripture says "Wrong there!"

And when I get bad teaching
(I) use contextual reading
(Con)textual reading; and Spirit
Makes me read it right

Helper, just teach and guide
Spirit-filled reading, baby, does good for me
Spirit-filled reading enlightens- that's good for me

Whenever bad dudes drop bad doctrine
Then my devotional's 1st. Timothy- I read 6:3
They know nothing of The Truth
They can get a word quarrel on and rile you up, baby

And Holy Ghost, You'll be there to just lead me
('Cause) Folks love to give, baby, bad teaching
But they don't know the thing they're dealing
Ohh- you can tell that, darling- use contextual reading

Get up, read up, get up, read up
Galatians 1 verse 9
Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up
Those fake dudes get fried

Baby, we've gotta check this warning
Just read 1:7 1st. Timothy
They teach 8:9 (Two) 2 Corinthians-
Says Name, claim- God's giving earthly riches

And when we get bad teaching
(We) use contextual reading
Spirit-filled reading- it guides our read
It reveals these lines pack such a punch
Helps to go read the lines- after and previous

Contextual reading takes in geography
Contextual reading knows culture and history
Takes all God's teachings and He grows us rich spiritually (Oh!)

He took control and saved my soul
Now I've got the mind of Christ; 2:16 1 Corinthians
I'll be reading right
Take the medicine, open up and let Him in
And when you are saved, Christ opens for you what Scriptures say

Get up, read up, get up, read up
24 Luke tonight
Wake up, read up, wake up, read up
32- that line

1 Corinthians 2:13, mate

(So) When you get bad teaching
Use contextual reading
And when you get Thad preaching
(You) get contextual reading
I want my contextual reading, darling
Or it all goes wrong
Spirit-filled reading, darling
Teach me in 14 John
Please don't extrapolate
Read it good- stay on same page

By Faith Trust and Obey

         The point of doing God's will is not understanding. There are some things we will never understand until Heaven- and some we just may never understand period. And it doesn't matter. The point of doing God's will is obedience. Read through Hebrews 11, the chapter often called the "Hall of Faith", and you will see numerous people in The Bible who didn't totally understand (or at all) what God was telling them to do- but they were faithful to obey.
        By faith, Noah built an ark to save his family and two of every kind of animal from the flood. By faith, Abraham led his family out to a place that God would tell him about. By faith, Jeremiah faithfully preached the destruction of Jerusalem throughout his years of ministry, knowing the people would never listen to him. (God specifically told him this.) By faith, Isaiah went around naked for 3 years as an object lesson. (check Isaiah 20). By faith, Hosea married a prostitute- and took her back after she cheated on him. By faith, Jesus' disciples and the apostles boldly preached the Gospel of Christ to people- and many of them were martyred for it.
       There are numerous other examples that could be listed...None of these received the promise, since God had provided something better for us. They went through suffering just like we do as followers of Jesus. But they were looking forward to the coming glory of eternal life in Heaven with The Lord- and not just to this fleeting life. Jesus did the will of His Father and He certainly endured suffering just like we do. "Although He was a son, He learned obedience through what He suffered." (Hebrews 5:8) (see also Philippians 2).
       "But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, 'Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.' But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls." (Hebrews 10:32-39)

The Straight and Narrow Road (song)

It's here to beat another path straight to your door. Yes, it's yet another parody song lyric and it's another popular tune with a Christian lens on it. I've seen the illustration before where life is presented as two roads- with our preferred version of events and God's plan of events. (I don't want to put the mic, cart or knee before the horse though [particularly since two of those wouldn't make much sense ;-) unless he's Mr. Ed]- Spoiler alert- God's way always is harder; but it pays off in eternal dividends in the end!) Of course, Jesus talked about two different roads as well in Matthew 7. There's the broad way of self-idolatry that leads to destruction that so many people are sadly bound for Hell upon even now. And then there's the straight and narrow road following Jesus, our crucified and Risen Lord and Saviour that only a few ever find that leads to Life- and Life eternal in Heaven with Jesus! As Robert Frost said in his classic poem, "The Road Not Taken", I took the one less traveled by- and it's made all the difference. And all the way, my Saviour leads me. :-)

"The Straight and Narrow Road"
(parody of "The Long and Winding Road" by The Beatles; parody lyrics copyright by Nathan Ludwick 11/7/2015)
(Proverbs 1:7, Proverbs 14:12, Proverbs 16:25, Jeremiah 10:23, John 10:7-18, Proverbs 1:29-33, Proverbs 21:2, Proverbs 19:21, Proverbs 16:2, Matthew 7:12-14 and 21-29, Romans 6, Psalms 23, John 14:1-11, Luke 13:22-30, Luke 6:46-49, Philippians 2:1-11)

The broad and winding road that leads to our doom
Will never get us where
We think that road will go- It always leads us there
Leads us to hell's gloom

And while we're sinning, Christ became as a slave
Played the fool on a hill dying for our sake

Won't leave us stranded here- The Truth, Life and Way!
Then His rise can be our own- Romans 6:5 outlines
Trust in faith- you bet He knows the many ways we've tried, but
Still they lead to death on the broad and winding road
Choose understanding here- Proverbs 1:29- go!
Don't keep debating here- Jesus is The Door!

(do-do-do) (instrumental break)

Matthew 7- read that- Take The Straight and Narrow Road
You led me to walk there a long, long time ago
You lead me walking here- lead me to Your throne!

.....................................................................................

A Word to the Wise (Proverbs 1:1-7) :-)

Just a side note-you may know this already, but I always find it funny when I hear people use that phrase (somewhat) out of context- "Out of the mouths of babes".
      This is a common saying we have in the English vernacular but I wonder how many know that it comes from Psalms 8:2, which Jesus quoted in Matthew 21:16. "Out of the mouths of babes and infants, You have ordained praise." Jesus quoted it to the Pharisees when they were balking at how the kids were saying Hosanna to Him.
Of course, we shouldn't be that surprised that out of children's mouths we hear praise to God, perhaps even ahead of and louder than the adults. After all, as Isaiah 11:6 tells us, a child shall lead them. :-) And as Jesus tells us in Luke 10:21, God The Father has hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to little children for His good pleasure. Because as 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 says, God uses the vain and weak things of the world to confound the wise and strong. He uses the lowly and despised things of the world- the things that are not- to nullify the things that are- so that no one can boast before Him.
               There are a lot of other ones like this- for instance, do you know where we get the phrase, "A little birdie told me"? Check Ecclesiastes 10:20- "Do not revile the king even in your thoughts, or curse the rich in your bedroom, because a bird of the air may carry your words, and a bird on the wing may report what you say." (That verse may also be the origin of the phrase, "bird on the wing".) What about when you say that someone is the "salt of the earth"? Well, Jesus said that we who are His followers are in fact, the salt of the earth. "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men." (Matthew 5:13) And in Matthew 5:38-42, Jesus gives us a ton of idioms and phrases we use today- "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth."? - That's from Exodus 21:24, Leviticus 24:20 and Deuteronomy19:21- which Jesus quotes in Matthew 5:38. What about "turn the other cheek"? That's from when Jesus told us not to resist an evil person but rather, if they strike you on the right cheek, turn the other cheek as well. (Matthew 5:39) If someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. (Matthew 5:40)- Wow, someone like that sounds like the kind of guy who would "give you the shirt off his back". If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. (I have to admit I didn't always employ this one at Cross Country practice, but technically I wasn't forced to go those miles; I chose to join the team. But nonetheless, there were some times when I went above and beyond in my high school CC and Track and Field days. :-)) So yeah- don't just do the minimum- "go the extra mile."
     I have tried to compile a list of these somewhere. I will come back to this and add some more as time allows. I mainly mention these for a few reasons. On an educational point, I like to remind people that the majority of idioms and references in the English vernacular and language come from two main sources- Shakespeare and The Bible. :-)  For another point, it's just fun and interesting to me to consider the origin of these phrases. Thirdly, it's a reminder to our culture of the influence of The Bible that is still prevalent whether we realize it or not. It's a good reason why students in school should read The Bible in order to better understand our language. (For the record, I also encourage education in Shakespeare. :-) If it comes down to "To be or not to be", like Hamlet, I'd rather you be both.)
       The most important reason I like to mention these things is because whenever I hear one used, it's a great entry point to share with someone the Biblical origin of the phrase- and why we should get to know The Author if we want to understand the meaning of the phrase and His whole Book better. :-) And of course, God's Word never returns to Him void, but it accomplishes the purpose for which He sent it out. (Isaiah 55:11)
     So don't miss the boat! (Noah's, that is. ;-) Genesis 6-9) Get on the cruise ship that's the real Love Boat- ride with Jesus, the Master and Commander of the seas (Matthew 8:23-27), who has paid our passage through His death and Resurrection- which we receive on faith-and He gets us safely home to Heaven- and it's all through His Love because He is Love. (1 John 4:8) Welcome aboard, it's Love- God's Love. :-)