The hall was packed full of congregants, everyone had come expecting to hear what God had to say. The guest speaker's fame had gone before him, his name as always, guaranteed a full auditorium. This service was no different from the others he had preached in; as usual, he was "delivering". "I wish above all things", he quoted, "that you prosper and be in health even as your soul prospers". He continued "Note that God says his number one desire for you is prosperity". The crowd applauds, they scream at the top of their voices. "God's wish above all things is your prosperity", he cried even louder.
Of course, the Bible does not support his line of reasoning. In fact, the Bible never mentions what he claims. What he was able to do was to twist Holy Scriptures to soothe and legitimize his personal philosophy. Unfortunately, unsuspecting Christians buy into it.
The Bible, even though it is the most bought book in history, is one of the least read books. Almost every Christian family has at least one Bible, but about 80% of those Christians have never read it through. Many Christians live off what Pastor has said.
As Christians, we need to know what the Bible really says. To do that, we need to learn the art and science of Biblical interpretation, we need to learn the art of listening and depending on the Holy Spirit. We need to be able to discern truth from error. We need to be able to pull apart thinly veiled lies, otherwise, we'd become easy targets for the enemy of our soul.
This page would provide a collection of articles about understanding and interpreting the Bible.