Thank you. When the Apostle Paul returned to Jerusalem following a missionary journey, he shared an encouraging

report of all that God had done. What he didn't realize was that in his absence, rumors about his teaching had

emerged. Today on Truth for Life, Alistairbegg explores the report and the rumors and considers

how a simple misunderstanding left unchecked can wreak havoc in a church.

Father, we thank you so much for the privilege of being able to sing these songs of praise to you, the living God.

And we recognize that what you have to say to us is far more significant than what we actually have to say to you. But we're glad that you bid us come and worship and praise you. And we're glad to that you have chosen to speak to us in the

Bible. And our confidence now is in this, that you will conduct a divine dialogue between your spirit and our lives so that beyond the

voice of a mere man we might encounter you the living God in the pages of the Bible. To this end,

we turn our gaze to you and ask for your help in Jesus' name. Amen. During the week, I had a couple of letters

from friends in pastoral ministry in different parts of the country, and two letters in particular

from different places, different people in very different circumstances, one from a fairly large

and significant church on the East Coast, and another from a relatively small gathering of people.

But in both of the letters, both of my friends mentioned the daunting challenge of teaching the

Bible. And in one of the letters from the larger of the two churches, the person said,

you know, the prevailing tide in the country is so strong that I find myself almost tempted,

and this is after some 20 years in pastoral ministry, almost tempted to throw in the towel

in terms of biblical

exposition and just go down the road that everybody seems to want.

Well, I had a number of reactions to that. One was to say to myself, I understand exactly

how you feel, because I've been looking at this particular passage of the Bible, and while we know

that all of the Bible is equally inspired, we also know that every part of the Bible is not equally

inspiring. And so this fellow said, you know, I'm thinking of chucking this and just going for

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