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Years ago I saw a detective movie in which a bank teller was charged with cheating in his books and seemed in line to
get sentenced to prison. Then as the teller and a couple of policemen stood at his desk, he took the handle of his adding
machine and said something like "Well, I'm innocent as sure as two and two are four. And the total came FIVE!
And the movie faded out with "The End" coming up on the screen. Nothing else needed to be said. He was
innocent. His adding machine (yes, that's what they called calculators back then) was the guilty party. (Double Dynamite,1951,
Frank Sinatra, Jane Russell, Groucho Marx...what a combination!)
This is just a good way for me to remind you that no matter how much you trust someone, in the end you must check
for yourself. My Dad preached for 50 years and one day a lady came up to him and said,"Oh Brother Thornton, if you ever
failed in your Christianity, I would too. And Dad was horrified. He said to her, "Don't EVER trust someone else about
that. Check out anything he says. And read your Bible to see that what you're being told is true.
That was the best advice that lady would ever receive. The Bible says "study to show thyself approved, because
God knows above everyone else, how many deliberately false teachers there are in the world. And there are many who unknowingly
teach incorrectly, even some coming out of Bible schools, where the instructors have been misled.
If you're a new Christian, I say again as I've warned you at other times; if you're looking for a church home, look
for one that encourages you to read your Bible. And even if you're mature in the Faith, continue to read and study, to make
sure your faith doesn't wander
into a field that's been sowed by someone who's preaching what people want to hear, rather than what the Bible itself
teaches.
Read for yourself. Your eternity depends on it.
37BT Bill Thornton October 3, 2003
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