The Christians Compass Series

THE CHRISTIANS COMPASS

By Uwomano Ben Okpevra, PhD, MA, Div.

In Christianity today we see much division and confusion. Why? Because we fail to be guided by the true standard of authority! The result is hundreds of churches with many different teachings. Before this confusion can be cleared, we must all agree on an authority in Christianity what will it be? The Christian’s Compass – the word of God! The Bible is the inspired word of God. The Bible is the authority in Christianity because it is the inspired word of God. The Apostle Paul, in writing to Timothy, said “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine. For reproof, for correction. For instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work “(2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Peter said Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21). Peter is talking about the men who wrote the Bible. They were men who were told what to write. The Holy Spirit is the one who told them. If we listen to what the Bible says, we are listening to God. God is perfect. What he says is right. Man is not perfect. He makes mistakes. We must not listen to man because he is sometimes wrong. Since God cannot be wrong, we must listen to him. Then we know we are right.

Your word is truth (John 17:17). The Bible is the word of God. The words of God are truth. Therefore, the Bible contains all truth (John 16:13).

Man cannot direct his way. The Bible is the authority in Christianity because man cannot direct his own. O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his steps (Jeremiah 10:23) many people think that they can decide by themselves what is right in Christianity. When man tries to direct his way, he finds much trouble. When he listens to God, he does much better. If man were able to direct his way, God would not have given us the Bible. To find a way of life that is pleasing to God, we must let the Bible be our guide. The word of God is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. “the Christian compass ” helps guide us in our pathway to Heaven. The Bible, (which is the preeminent Christian compass), assists you in understanding the Bible and helps you in applying God’s guidelines in your daily life.

Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men he shall utterly fall: but they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:28031 (KJV)

The word of God is invaluable for all Christians regardless of their denomination or place of worship

Concept of the (Magnetic) Compass – The Bible as Compass

The history of the world seems to reveal its development landmark defines the peculiarity of each century. The twentieth century, for instance, hosted the information revolution. The eighteenth century commenced the Industrial Revolution, while the thirteenth century could be said to launch the world into the process of the commercial revolution. By 1280, the world began to witness an amazing rise increase in prosperity accruing from international trade, especially the rise of maritime powers in Europe. Britain, Portugal, Spain, and Venice seized this opportunity and the results are the tales and stories of exploration and adventures that mostly were commissioned by Crowns and influential aristocrats in Europe. One single instrument was responsible for this: The Magnetic compass:

“The compass was the first instrument that allowed navigators, at sea, on land, and – much later – in the air, to determine their direction quickly and accurately at any time of the day or night and under almost any conditions …. The compass was therefore the most important technological invention since the wheel. Except for ancient weighing scales, the compass was also the first mechanical measuring device ever invented, as well as the first instrument with a pointer, allowing a person to visualize a measurement – in this case a direction” (Amir D aczel, 2001:xi–xii).

The world needs a compass because the planet that hosts it, the Earth, is itself a gigantic magnet. As with most modern discoveries and inventions whose origins have united mankind with its mythological past, the compass also has a source in antiquity. Beyond its technological identification and functionality, the compass has a poetic and mystical investigative utilitarianism. Since the inception of human civilization, man’s scientific instinct has been drawn towards the phenomenal magnetic properties of the universe. The lodestone, due to its potential to exert force on objects from a distance, attracted to itself mysterious and supernatural significance. The Chinese as well as cultic civilizations that thrived on the basin of the Mediterranean Sea had engaged the use of a magnetic compass for divination and purpose of prophesy ages before it was discovered in the West. Both in science and religion and in modernity and mythology, the magnetic compass is essential for its function of indicating directions.