Words from a Branch

  In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1 ESV                 The very first character introduced in the Bible is God, and He enters the narrative at center stage. Rather, He is at the center of everything when everything else enters around Him. It is God who begins the cosmos, and sets in motion the story of which we are all a part. He performs the initial action, with purpose. He begins, and He continues. He is the first to be in the story for it is His story, He started it, and will see it through. He is by right, and by all reason, and by revelation at the very center of all things. He shall be the central figure when this story is ended, and the better story begun.                 This centrality is established in the first sentence of the Bible, it is the first demand of right theology, and the...

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge… Proverbs 1:7A ESV               There is an order of operation in our quest for knowledge and understanding. That order begins with a faith in God, a strong faith which inspires us to reverential fear. This sort of faith is able to seek reason. There are two reasons this is so; first, the proper foundation of reasoning is laid. Anyone who has studied logic will know that even a sound argument made from false premises cannot succeed in arrive at truth. Second, the attitude for the search is established which keeps the human mind on the right path. Reverential fear demands that we proceed with caution, and that we yield to God’s revelation. More than this it should, and when genuine I hold that it does, move us to ask God’s guidance. These two guards set in place over our thoughts the right perspective to learn, grow, and understand.      ...