The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Ezra 7:10, “For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the LORD and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.”
2 Timothy 2:15, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the Word of truth.”

Our previous letter emphasized the need to pray. Inasmuch as every born-again believer in Christ Jesus needs daily to lean upon Him in prayer for guidance, so we need to study His Word, the Holy Scriptures, for it is by them that we maintain a stable, Christian life.

Ezra, an earnest scribe, from the Old Testament days, set his heart to study and to practice and then to teach others.

Sadly, there are multiple proclaimers of humanistic ideologies who allege their words come from the Scriptures. They profess to teach the pure Word of God, but have not proven it through practical witnessing. That’s how many people are misled into believing things that simply are not true. That is also why Timothy urges us all to “be diligent” in what we proclaim as His Word, and demonstrate that the Word has been “approved” by the LORD.

I was once told of a preacher who said, “I don’t believe all I hear preached”; then he added, “I don’t believe all I preach!” It stretches the imagination to believe that some preachers believe the drivel they foist upon their congregations! Genuinely true ministry embraces study, then practice, then proclamation!

We want the gasoline pumps to register accurately. We want the specification labels on the food we buy to be accurate. More importantly, we want what we hear from the pulpit to be studied and tested prior to its proclamation as truth. At that point, we become as responsible for sharing that Truth as the pastor who proclaimed it. There are scores of people who long to know Jesus! We have the responsibility to tell them! Is that a responsibility we are taking seriously? I truly hope it is!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom