You know what they say about salesmen, especially a car salesmen, they’re just crooks and lie to you just to get your money. Yep you’ve probably heard all the horror stories. Thats why you question them about every aspect of the sale. And well I don’t blame you, you should ask questions.
But, why don’t you ask questions of your pastor, prophet, prophetess or bishop when they tell you things from scripture? Let me try and answer that, you trust him he’s the one who’s connected to the Lord and has all the answers. We’re quick to jump up and say it “preach, you gone bishop” “praise him” “amen” we’ll affirm what they are saying without any bit of reservation.
Let me ask you another question what if, what if something inside you says something just don’t sound right? What then, do you throw up a quick affirmation or are you going to go to the scriptures and read it for yourself, pray and ask the Lord are these words I’m hearing from the pulpit what you’ve spoken in your Word? I pray that you do. Yet many of us don’t. And thats why this car salesman is writing this post. Because I’m troubled in my spirit. I feel like Elihu after hearing Jobs 3 friends, burning with anger. (When you have a chance read what he said in ch 32)
When I really began to dive into scripture the first thing that I was told was to read scriputre in its context. Read a paragraph before and after the verse your focusing on. I would add that you should do more than that you may need to read a chapter or more before just to get the full scope of what the Lord is saying.
If you’re not familiar with these two words let me help you out a bit the first is eis·e·ge·sis:
an interpretation, especially of Scripture, that expresses the interpreter’s own ideas, bias, or the like, rather than the meaning of the text. the second is ex·e·ge·sis:critical explanation or interpretation of a text or portion of a text, especially of the Bible. Question: “What is the difference between exegesis and eisegesis?”
Answer: Exegesis and eisegesis are two conflicting approaches in Bible study. Exegesis is the exposition or explanation of a text based on a careful, objective analysis. The word exegesis literally means “to lead out of.” That means that the interpreter is led to his conclusions by following the text.
The opposite approach to Scripture is eisegesis, which is the interpretation of a passage based on a subjective, non-analytical reading. The word eisegesis literally means “to lead into,” which means the interpreter injects his own ideas into the text, making it mean whatever he wants.False teachers err on the side of eisegesis.
Brothers and sisters, If you never read what I write again listen to what I’m saying right now. When a person that is teaching you the Word of God 1st open your bibles and read the passage that he is preaching from, secondly if what you are hearing is contradictory to what written you may in fact find that you’re now worshiping in the jim jones sanctuary and you’re drinking the cool aide, now committing spiritual suicide. My brother in Christ Shai Linne pinned this song so perfectly in “False Teachers” http://youtu.be/pl4WevY-GPU
By all means study Gods word for your own edification, so when that moment comes and you hear something that doesn’t line up with scripture you can quickly discern the truth from a lie. And in the end just like you would question that car salesman, ask the bishop when you see what he’s saying just don’t add up.
T.H.E.Weblog 
Good thoughts. Reading in context is good and needed. As you know I spent many years reading Scripture in a very fragmented way and imposing whatever meaning on the text was popular. So definitely reading in context following the flow of thought of what the author is trying to communicate is how need to read.
But I would take it one step further and consider how each component fits into God’s redemptive story, which ultimately is accomplished in the Son. Here’s where I think the grammatical-historical method falls a bit short. Also, leveraging something that Anthony Bradley said in a FB thread yesterday, that no one comes to the text without presuppositions. In that regard, I think we all can have a tendency to impose our own ideas no matter how tight we think our exegesis is. The redemptive lens allows us to filter what we’re reading through the lens of the bigger picture and make connections, fitting the pieces together with how the Old fits in the New, and gaining more clarity of the Old because of the New.. This is why I consider the opening verses of Hebrews so compelling because it succinctly summarizes what God was doing throughout the Old and how that foreshadowed the new. The whole book, actually for that reason. It sure would cut down on looking at isolated incidences of God’s interaction with people and think it models something for us to follow.
Not sure if you saw this