The main thing...
The main thing... is... consider Christ
It’s quite a long time since I heard of a quote about “making the main thing the main thing”. Apparently, the real quote from Stephen Covey has an extra layer still, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing”.
In the “big blizzard” of posts in the second half of last year I tried out various themes of interest and approaches to them. After a holiday with my two brothers, one of whom had just lost his wife, it was not possible to get back into the flow I had developed. It was fun while it lasted, and I am sure the experience will prove helpful for the learning curve.
However, it has become clear to me that the “main thing” for this site, especially in the times in which we live, must be to stay Bible centred. With a prophetic outlook, it seems increasingly clear that long-awaited fulfilments of Bible prophecy are drawing closer. Therefore, as I seek to take stock and get going again with content, the decision has been made to concentrate entirely on Christian / Biblical themes.
Photo - Buttermere and Crummock Water from Haystacks, Cumbria, UK.
Much as I love the outdoors, photography and music, I think they take away from the importance of the “main thing”. Much as I am interested in current events and things like food, agriculture, energy and the environment, and so many other topics that fit in closely with the prophetic theme, I think the signs for me personally point towards the need to concentrate on the Biblical perspective.
BIBLICAL THEMES
First, hopefully the “Heritage of Hymns” series will get going again. Beyond that, there are three major areas of Biblical themes that I believe need to be addressed at this time.
The person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ
The primary theme should be to focus on the person and work of the Lord Jesus Himself, linking into wider subjects such as the Trinity. Finding that so many who take the name “Christian” are denying such a fundamental Biblical revelation of the nature of God, it seems necessary to raise a voice in this area. Beyond that, there is so much depth to the person and work of Christ that is being overlooked by an even wider sector of the Christian community, so that serious work on this subject seems an important area to pursue.
The subject of salvation
Secondly, since the name of “Jesus” means “Saviour”, salvation and the whole scope of the relationship of the Lord Jesus Christ with believers as His people is another important arena to enter. There have been ongoing internal discussions over centuries that have had an unfortunate impact on the understanding of the gospel among many people. it is of great importance to properly investigate the true Biblical presentation of the Gospel message of the grace of God in providing the way of salvation. It is a message of mercy and love with provision of a way to forgiveness made freely available to every individual person in the world since the death and resurrection of Christ. The tenets of Calvinism have sadly undermined the character of God as portrayed in the Bible and have damaged the message of salvation and the way the restoration of an individual’s restored relationship with God really works out Biblically. People are addressing this, but the sheer quantity and flow of Calvinistic material needs more to join the efforts to present Bible truth.
The importance of prophecy
Thirdly, it will be evident that a continuing area of coverage will be the vitally important prophetic content of the Bible. Between a quarter and a third of the Biblical material is in the form of having solely or primarily futuristic intent at the time of writing. However, this has become a matter of great controversy, and prophecy is seen often as a fringe subject. Revelation remains the only Bible book with specific promises of blessing for those who read and study it with care under the sought guidance of the Holy Spirit, and with warnings for those who neglect it, deny it, or misrepresent it. This will remain a core area of content for this site.
Theologically, these three issues would be labelled as Christology, soteriology and prophecy (or eschatology). As always, themes merge into one another and other topics will no doubt be tackled at times. But at present, there is plenty of ground to explore in these three - more than a lifetime’s work in any single one of them. I will be refraining from theological terminology as I do not have formal training. However, my background in the “Brethren” has convinced me of great wisdom in these circles of refraining from ordained ministry and involving everyone in participating in the life of the church fellowship as much as the Spirit leads, without formal training or professional positions.
These days, many theological institutions seem to churn out “identikit” Christian teachers with a set line of systematic theology that has sucked some of the real life out of the Christian message and the Spirit-breathed Word of God. Christianity is less of a relationship and more of a ritual, more about pew-fillers than living participants in the life and work of God Himself in this world.
If this can occupy just a tiny corner in trying to express and open up some of these concerns and the truly positive message for all Christians to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18), this by God’s help and direction may be of benefit and blessing.
The Lord Jesus alone is all-glorious and worthy of our trust, allegiance and worship. The person of the Living Word revealed in the written Word must become and remain “the main thing” here.
Having had an interest in YouTube as well, my site there has been called “Consider Christ”, and that may well be a change coming soon to this site.
Reading from existing worthwhile writings
Since I do not feel able to write as quickly and as fully by myself as the urgency demands, I am thinking that one way ahead is to share little-known material by reading from worthwhile older books and writings that are out of copyright. Hence the first chapter of “The First and the Last” by W E Vine has recently uploaded here. That is a short but helpful work pointing the way to some to the important aspects of the Person of Christ that can be neglected even among Christians. He also has a good outline of the gospel, so I will probably proceed to that. As a bigger project, I am making a start on a classic exposition of the Book of Revelation by a nineteenth century author called Walter Scott (no, not that Walter Scott…) It should show that this outlook by now has a pedigree that is standing the test of time. There is also much growing evidence that many of the earliest Church Fathers were millennial in their prophetic outlook, which is only natural when they followed on from such as Paul and especially John. A lot of the most worthwhile material on the issue of Calvinism is more recent, but I may be looking into how to obtain permission to read books or passages of books that have been especially helpful. I am very conscious of the dangers of falling into error in other extremes when turning aside from the apparently “safe” ground of Calvinism, but I am convinced of the need to seek to show the Biblical need to reject Calvinism while keeping true to the Word of God.
Thank-you to everyone who has subscribed for any segment of my content so far. I am sorry if your area of interest is about to be reduced, and will quite understand if some leave at this point. I just want to be honest about the sense of purpose and direction into which I feel compelled at this time.
God bless you, every one.