Listen

My fishing buddy and I got pretty darn good at catching Wahoo. In fact we have a reputation of being the best in Islamorada at catching this excellent sport fish. One of my friends in fact calls me his “Wahoo connection”, because I give him so much Wahoo for his dining pleasure during the season. In fact it is a steady stream of friends that come by my house to obtain some table fare when I return. My neighbors might think I am selling drugs when all of the cars are coming by one after the other when I return from a fishing trip.

One day my fishing partner and I took this young 19 year old kid fishing with us and he told us about a new way of fishing for Wahoo in which we would troll at much faster speeds and use pointed tip lures. He swore by it and told us that we would get some unbelievable strikes and often get triple headers. My buddy was very skeptical and for good reason, “if it ain’t broke, why fix it?” I agreed to the extent that we were already easily getting our limit, so we really did not need to change, but I wanted to try it.

We tried it and it was awesome. We got vicious strikes, and triple headers just like the kid told us and we covered much more ground, meaning we had that much more chances of catching more fish. I’m glad we tried it and my partner and I quickly incorporated that into our bag of tricks and now routinely use this method.

I was thinking about this the other day as I was getting outfitted with a new bow and preparing for whitetail archery season and when buying similar stuff for the gun season that will follow. I have not hunted in nearly seventeen years and much has changed. In fact the new fancy bows and accessories and so forth are radically different than when I last hunted. Gun hunting has changed as well including ammo. The smart aleck kid at the store asked me if we used muskets when I last hunted. Ha Ha I should have slapped him one.

I was a very good hunter in my day and when I hunted was very successful. It is not easy to listen to some of the new techniques and hunting lore when it differs from what I used as a successful hunter, but I am listening and will try everything from a grunt call to rattling horns, to scent free clothing this year just like that little smart aleck punk recommended. In other words I have an open mind and genuinely want to understand as much as can be known about these subjects.

I was thinking about this subject this morning and it relates to Bible study. I have long held the belief that baptism should be by immersion and not sprinkling. I get this from the passage that states that Jesus “emerged” from the water after He was baptized. This passage negates baptism by sprinkling in my mind. Although I do not believe this is critical to one’s salvation, I have always wanted to do things according to the Bible as best I know how. Jesus was baptized and I want to follow His lead. In fact my wife and I were recently re-baptized in the Jordan River supposedly near the very spot where Jesus was baptized when we visited the Holy Land last spring.

I was discussing this with a friend and he stated that the passage might not mean He emerged from the water in the sense of Jesus going under water as He was baptized and then emerging as He resurfaced, but rather Jesus wading out into the Jordan River and John the Baptist sprinkling Him and then Jesus wading to shore and emerging from the river. Hmmm I suppose that could be plausible. Personally I still believe in baptism by immersion as it symbolizes the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and immersion seems to symbolize it better to me as someone descends under the water it is likened to death and burial, and re-emerging as the resurrection, but I see his point.

Another point I can think of that is similar is becoming a deacon. I was married at nineteen and divorced at twenty. According to the Bible a deacon can only have one wife, which means to me that I could never qualify because of my brief marriage/divorce as a teenager and then re-marrying several years later; (regardless of the fact that I have been married for thirty seven years and I know that Teresa is the wife that God chose for me).

A friend told me not that long ago that he believes that passage means that we can only be married to one wife “at a time” in order to be a deacon. He explained to me that at the time that the Bible was written, more than one person in those days would take more than one wife and the Bible clearly states that we should not have more than one wife. Deacons are not to be living their lives whereby they are openly sinning and thus the requirement that if one is to be a deacon, then they should only have one wife at a time. Others think that it means one can never be divorced and then remarry and then become a deacon.

I still do not think I would become one, but again see the point. I do not think there is any way that anyone can say with certainty many things regarding specific points regarding the laws in the Bible. If we cannot ascertain with certainty, then I do not think it is all that big of a deal to God. According to the Bible, it is “living” and we are assured that the more that we study it, the more we will understand, because God will open it up to our understanding.

I love to read the Bible and study it and look forward to learning more. I do keep an open mind and do not argue too many points with folks. We are plainly told not to be divisive and detract from the greater truth of Jesus dying for our sins when discussing the Bible, especially with new believers. Don’t get too hung up on doctrine that you have held near and dear and keep an open mind. Read the Bible and search your mind and heart for its meaning. Talk to others and then make up your mind. The Holy Spirit is right there with you and He will open up the parts for which you struggle in due time Just do not depart from the foundation of Jesus Christ; there can be no differing opinions when it comes to Jesus being God incarnate, and His dying for our sins, and being resurrected again in three days. Amen!

1 Cor. 3:11
For no other foundation can
anyone lay than that which is laid,
which is Jesus Christ.