The guy came to “preach the good news of the coming of the Kingdom”.  How do we know?  ‘Cause he said so.

Today, though, you’ve got preachers and Bible scholars running around explaining Jesus’s teachings with biblical, historical, and allegorical references that you’d have to be a divinity student to understand.

Let’s get something straight . . . Jesus wasn’t preaching to Bible scholars and historians.  He expected the “average, everyday” guys and gals that heard him to understand exactly what he was talking about.

To get his point accross, he used parables and stories that even a dimwit like me could grasp.

But most Christian preachers and bible scholars can’t just keep it simple — ’cause if it was simple you’d get it in one sitting.  And if you got it in one sitting, you wouldn’t need to come back to the service every week.  And if you didn’t come to the service every week, you wouldn’t be around for them to keep collecting money.  And if they can’t collect money…

…nuff said?

So you’ve got people who will do anything and everything they can to explain away the obvious; to complicate simple teachings ’cause the simple stuff just doesn’t make sense to them.

Of course, that’s nothing new.  The same stuff was happening in Jesus’ own time.  He called the scribes and pharasees “blind guides” ’cause they “strain at a gnat and swallow a camel” (you gotta just love this guy!).

The “camel” – the complicated, “hidden” teachings.

The “gnat” – the simple, straightforward, true understanding.

If I ever go on Fear Factor (a bizarre game show) and they have a stunt where I get to choose between eating a camel or a gnat, I’m doing the gnat thing.

How ’bout you?  Let’s be perfect.