Thank you for answering all my questions. I know I have many but you’re are such a great teacher and I’m very grateful for your answers. To be honest there just isn’t this kind of teaching happening in the church these days.
I was reading the question titled ‘Living By Faith’ and the writer wrote that we have some teachers who teach the word but people still seem to be starving. I agree the pastors are teaching right out of the bible, but never really taking the church into more insights and deeper understandings, actually studying God’s word. I know that Paul when preaching said he’d only teach Christ and Christ crucified and I know some pastors use that to justify not teaching other things such as prophecy, or studying end times etc.
Don’t blame the pastors. Most of them are over worked and under prepared. They can only pass along what they’ve been taught and seminaries are notoriously poor in preparing them for their teaching responsibilities. Besides, if they want their congregation to grow and become economically stable, they have to teach to the lowest common denominator. Sadly, people who have a thirst for the word are left to fill their need with independent study. And even more sadly, they soon find themselves knowing more than their pastor about it.
Paul’s comment on just preaching Christ crucified (1 Cor. 2:2) only applied to his first visit to Corinth. He wanted to avoid being drawn into the public philosophical debates common there. His letters to the Thessalonians are almost totally about prophecy. People who use this one verse to guide all their teaching are mistaken and deprive those entrusted to them of the full counsel of God.
Sites like ours are designed to fill this void and give serious students some direction for their independent study. As you are already discovering the reward for this kind of study is a much deeper and more fulfilling relationship with the Lord.