Rant of the Day - a thing I noticed in a daily devotional

It's one thing to quote a paraphrase of the Bible, but quite another to teach from it, wouldn't you say? Well, here's the surprise of the week, sort of. Not really. Someone kindly sent me yesterday's "Today's Turning Point" devotional from David Jeremiah, and I was quited shocked (in a way, sort of, but not really - more like disappointed) to see that in this devotional he is actually teaching from The Message...

Tuesday, October 20
Keep Your Focus on Jesus

So my dear Christian friends, companions in following this call to the heights, take a good hard look at Jesus. He's the centerpiece of everything we believe.
Hebrews 3:1 (The Message)

Recommended Reading
2 Corinthians 4:16-18

"Take a good hard look." In other words, focus. In optics, focus is the point toward which light rays converge. In geometry, it's a special point used in describing conic sections. When we concentrate our attention, we are focusing. When we do it with others in an organized way, we're in a focus group. The Navy has a missile named Focus, and Ford has a car by the same name. In sports, lack of focus is often the reason given for defeat; and players in a slump try to regain their focus. When we take a blurred picture, it's because we didn't focus the camera on the right object.

In life, we find that Christ becomes blurred in our vision when we focus on our problems. But when we put Him in the center of the picture, our trials are less of a focal point and more of a background blur. The apostle Paul said, "We do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen, for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:15, HCSB).

Therefore, holy brothers, keep your focus on Jesus.

First of all, this is how Hebrews 3:1 goes in a real Bible (I used KJV but most Bible translations are similar):

1Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;

Funny how Eugene Peterson has taken 'Christ' out of that verse. It's so typical. I remember hearing David Hocking say more than once that there are 100's of guys in Mexico named Jesus, but "Christ" tells us which Jesus. Christ, or "Christos," the anointed one, the Messiah, the Son of God.

Oh, on that note, here's another thing...

The Message "Bible" Omits "Lord Jesus"

The King James Bible refers to Jesus as "Lord Jesus" about 115 times. The New King James Bible uses this term about the same amount of times and the New American Standard about 100 times. How many times does Eugene Peterson's The Message use the phrase "Lord Jesus"? None! Not once. Never!

What The Message does refer to Jesus 77 times is the title "Master Jesus." This is a New Age term.

-http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/themessage.htm

Too bad Pastor Jeremiah, one of the better Bible teachers on the Christian radio station we tune in to, is using The Message now too. (First it was Chuck Swindoll.) I just don't understand why they do this. Other than that, the Turning Point devotional is okay, but here's the thing. Can you see what he is doing? He starts of by interpreting Eugene Peterson's words:

"Take a good hard look." In other words, focus.

Instead of interpreting what the Bible says, and maybe going into the background, the Greek, etc., Pastor Jeremiah is elaborating on Eugene Peterson's paraphrased phrase! So I went and looked it up for him, at blueletterbible.org, and the Greek word used in this particular verse is actually katanoeō ("consider" in English) which actually means:

1. to perceive, remark, observe, understand
2. to consider attentively, fix one's eyes or mind upon

Okay, not a huge deal, but it does add to the depth, so why not do that? The point is, why would a pastor of the gospel, especially one of Jeremiah's stature, elaborate on a verse from what some have called a milquetoast paraphrase written by a contemplative mystic for his devotional? Isn't this just setting a precedent to continue on this pathway? I am NOT saying that he is a false teacher now, but it appears that he seems to have lost his focus lately. Yesterday's devotional was all about focus, and focusing on Jesus, so then why was he is focusing on The Message? I suppose one might also ask why he has recently quoted, endorsed, and partnered with various New Age, Buddhist, and contemplative figures (see here).

~Heavy sigh~

What else is new...I suppose most people don't know, don't hear, don't care anyways. This is just the way things are going I guess. If people want to follow in that direction, it's their choice. I don't mean to make a mountain out of a molehill, or pick on David Jeremiah - he is only one of many pastors who are doing this - he is just a more noticable one. If nothing else, this is just another reminder for each one of us to stay on course. We are all responsible to examine everything we hear, and we are all as individuals accountable to Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd.

Perhaps this would be a timely devotional for today...

~2 Timothy 4~
~~~

*Disclaimer: Unless otherwise stated, the views on this blog are merely the personal opinions, rantings, and meanderings of this blogger.