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I have a friend who is. Not hard to spot these days as she’s in good company with many of those who are supposed to be pastors who are too. If you don’t consider scripture to be the inerrant Word of God (and thus above the words of anyone on this earth including the Pope!), an
d you feel that it’s been changed over the years by the multiple translations and rewritings etc, so you figure you can’t accept it as it’s provided, but would still call yourself a Christian, then you are also a fan of the “patchwork” Gospel, whether you realise it or not. Because if you feel that way, the only way you can thus read scripture is to figure that you’ll take whatever bits out of it seem to make sense to you, or which don’t offend your senses too much and leave the rest out comfortable in considering it to be errant or not how God intended it to be written – after all, Jesus “couldn’t possibly be the only way to God” and He really didn’t say “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life” but just intimated that His way was “a better way of many” (anyone recognise those statements of late from one of the most famous female icons of this decade?). Sadly she too is a fan of the “patchwork” Gospel.
My point primarily is this – IF you are that type of person who doesn’t consider scripture to be accurate in any part of it, then on what do you base your statement that you are a Christian?? You can’t say it’s because you believe in Jesus – how can you, if you can’t be sure that the portions of scripture that speak about Him are accurate. How can you trust that He is Who He said He is? And if He isn’t, then why would you want to be considered a follower? What portions of scripture do you consider are accurate – just those bits that are warm and fuzzy and talk about love?? All very well and good, but it ain’t going to get you into heaven, which is where I’m presuming you want to go? How can you trust “your” God, if you figure the half of what He tells you is wrong or do you have some other means of discerning His Will that the rest of us are missing out on perhaps? How do you decide which bits to believe and which to ignore?? How can you have any hope in the future, if you can’t trust what’s happened in the past? How big is YOUR God?? And I bet (like my friend) you then try to fill in the gaps with bits and pieces of other religions (hence the term “Patchwork” Gospel) that equally sound nice and comforting and tickle your ears and feed your need to not have to deal with anything awful like the word “sin” in your life. You know it’s there but if you can ignore it in the bible, and don’t find it mentioned in other religions then it’s easy to just pretend it’s not something you need to concern yourself with. But hey if you don’t believe in the concept of sin – then you certainly don’t need a Saviour do you?? So either stop calling yourself a Christian and instead use the proper term of “New Ager” or stop to recognise the SIN you are committing by not giving God His due and recognising His Power to ensure His Word is what He means it to be. You are in danger of blaspheming the One you may state you serve – Jesus – John stated that He IS the Word and Jesus Himself stated that His Words would be eternal which is proving true thus far – no other writings have survived as long as scripture, in the way it continues to impact the world. And the biggest difference about the Gospel message is how it challenges and changes lives in the most incredible way.
Of course, I’m SO silly for believing that God is big enough to be able 
to ensure His Word says what He wants it to unto every generation, and that He can ensure its accuracy throughout. That’s not to say that there aren’t some rather nonsensical versions floating around on the scene these days, but I suspect even those, He will use to His Glory to ensure that those who are willing to search will see them for the erroneous versions they are. Ultimately we are beholden to seek Him (and not man’s version of Him) and if we truly do He will be true to HIS Word and meet us in our need and reveal Himself to us. May He open your heart to accept His Truth for what it is!
NB: Another site of interest on this topic is Truth or Fables
Not often I provide little more than a link in a post but this is one of those times, a
s I think this info is timely and important for anyone who loves Israel (as I do) and its people – Jews, Arabs and Gentiles alike. And I think it’s equally important for our Jewish friends to recognise that evangelical Christians are amongst their only allies and supporters in these difficult days. Just because we believe the Messiah has already come, in no way should detract from the fact that He is Jewish and the whole Christian faith (unlike any other) has its roots in Judaism and the Torah etc. In fact, I was just watching a very poignant talk by a Jew who stated that Christianity is more Jewish than Christians think and are aware of, and I think many would agree that it has been changed beyond what it was ever intended to be in Paul’s day to what it is now. But that’s a whole other post perhaps 
.
Head to Joel Rosenberg’s site to read how you can bless Israel at any time, but especially now. And for those readers who think the concept is the worst I could ever suggest to you – if you call yourself a Christian just remember God will hold you fully accountable for how you have treated His people whom He has set aside for Himself and whom we are called to bless (and without whom you would never have had the privilege of knowing Jesus!). There’s a huge difference between blessing His people and condoning the actions of a secular government. And if you’re not a Christian – then, not blessing Israel is the least of your concerns!
For those of you, who (like me perhaps) don’t live in the US or otherwise didn’t get to see th
is wonderful weeklong series of interviews, then be happy – they’re up on YouTube and make for superb viewing. I’ve listened to countless talks by Joel now and consider him to certainly be a “watchman on the wall” for this current era and people need to listen up and hear his warnings. While he contends they are mostly fictional and may not happen as he’s portrayed them, the context is enough to pay attention to.
Glenn Beck interviews Joel Rosenberg
Also, if you’re into both Joel and Israel, you may like to watch the recent Epicenter conference videos which he’s also kindly placed online for free viewing which is truly amazing given the volume of information contained in the talks. Catch the whole event at Epicenter 08.
Oh, and for anyone who has never heard of Joel – he’s a biblical fiction author who’s written a couple of incredibly prophetic novels which “predicted” events like 9/11 and the fall of Sadaam as well as the death of Yasser Arafat. But he’s also a very solid evangelical Jewish Christian with a solid background in politics and understands current day events in light of biblical prophecy hence his desire to warn the world of what lies ahead. Like I say, he’s worth paying attention to! But scripture is the first point to turn for knowledge of future events – Joel is only interpreting those segments that speak to this generation, as he sees it.
I think while we accept that, it’s worth paying attention to the fact that the Lord does seem to be using Joel mightily to provoke many to turn to scripture and recognise that the time/s spoken about in prophecy are now upon us and we are truly living in the midst of the “end of days”, and need to not ignore that fact just because everything seems to be as it always has been to some degree. This is precisely the point Jesus made when He was asked how we would recognise this time – that people would be living just as they did in the days of Noah, and thinking that nothing could ever happen to shatter their peace, when nothing could be further from the truth. I’m hoping to put together a post shortly to concisely outline just what living in “Noah’s day” may mean in our context today, so watch out for that in coming weeks .
