You will notice that I start from a very particular position as I write these words every day. It might be helpful if I spelled out plainly that position, so that you can see my bias. Everyone comes from some position when they approach a subject. I do as well.
· I believe God exists and is involved with His creation.
· I believe He has the ability to communicate clearly and consistently with us.
· I believe He did and does in fact communicate to us.
· I believe He has the ability to preserve that communication across time and culture.
· I believe that communication is the Scriptures written in the Bible, Old Testament and New Testament.
· I believe God created us with the ability, young and old alike, to understand that communication.
· I believe God created us with the ability to respond to the communication.
What this does for me is to anchor me in this world. It gives me a starting point for my whole life. It provides purpose and direction for my journey. I am not left to my own changing mood or circumstance when facing the inevitable difficulties of life. I can connect with the God who created this universe and has interacted and still interacts with it.
Because I believe these things, I can take the questions of life and examine the Scriptures for answers. Because I believe these things I can have confidence that God not only has the answers, but that He wants me to find them and apply them to my life.
This set of basic beliefs also allows me to relax. I don’t have to search everywhere for the answers to life’s questions. Becoming an expert is not necessary. He has communicated in a way I can understand. His communication is not too difficult to grasp. I don’t need a PhD in theology in order to unravel what I need to face life and eternity.
And because He is the God who wants us to be successful at this walk of faith, He has given us enough truth in the Scriptures to navigate through it. The Scriptures do not contain all the Truth that God possesses, but enough for us to live lives in a way that honors Him. We can discover other true things that don’t contradict what is in Scripture and incorporate them into our life. Not much is said about iPads in Scripture, but we can turn one on and use it!
The Arnold Journey 