{"id":1364,"date":"2017-05-22T14:52:42","date_gmt":"2017-05-22T19:52:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebcsv.com\/pa\/?p=1364"},"modified":"2017-05-22T14:58:57","modified_gmt":"2017-05-22T19:58:57","slug":"bad-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebcsv.com\/pa\/bad-days\/","title":{"rendered":"Bad Days"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Bad Days<\/h4>\n

They were bad days in Germany. The Fuhrer had just assumed power, the Reichstag had been burned, and personal liberties were being absorbed by the state, and to make matters worse- the liberal German church had become complicit in the undertaking. For that time the Lord raised up some pivotal men in His \u201cremnant\u201d who took a stand and confronted both the culture and the church. One of those men was Dietrich Bonhoeffer.<\/p>\n

Dietrich\u2019s brother in law was also a church theologian but one who was thoroughly liberal in his views of Scripture- having been tainted by the ideas of Higher Criticism. During this time frame Dietrich wrote him a letter expressing how to approach the Bible- not as a critic but rather as an enquirer- and told him that by doing so the truth of the Scripture is then ascertained. Dietrich said:<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst of all I will confess quite simply- I believe the Bible alone is the answer to all our questions, and that we only need to ask repeatedly and a little humbly, in order to receive the answer. One cannot simply read the Bible like other books. One must be prepared to enquire of it. Only thus will the Bible speak to us. That is because in the Bible God speaks to us. Only if we seek Him will He answer us\u2026and I would like to tell you now quite personally: since I have learned to read the Bible in this way- and this has not been so very long- it becomes every day more wonderful to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

May we also learn to approach God through His Word in this way- not as a judge of Scripture but rather as letting Scripture judge us. May we learn to humbly come to God trembling at His Word that the truth may enrich and empower us to live godly in Christ Jesus.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut to this one I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my Word.\u201d\u00a0 Isaiah 66:2<\/p>\n

Because of grace,
\nTim<\/p>\n

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