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REWORDED 4'?m2f Salvation, cults, Bible inerrancy

VOICEOVER -- (tinny) Transglobal Airlines flight 234 is now
boarding at gate 13b on the green concourse.

LIZ -- (enters carrying suitcase and bible with notepad) Oh,
great! Another long line! (drop suitcase, opens Bible, writes on
notepad)

AMY -- (enters carrying suitcase, lines up behind Liz) Oh,
great! Another long line! It's a good thing I left early.

LIZ -- (turns, smiles, turns, resumes writing)

AMY -- (notices Liz, tilts head) You headed back home?

LIZ -- (smiles) Yes.

AMY -- Eastern Europe, wasn't it?

LIZ -- Yes. (turns, smiles) How did you know?

AMY -- I saw you when you visited my church a few weeks ago. I
took note of you because you spoke English without an accent.

LIZ -- Oh, thank you! I have a gift for learning languages. I
think the Bible (points to Bible) calls it the gift of tongues.

AMY -- Yes. But the gift of tongues mentioned in the Bible is a
gift of believers. I got the impression that you were not a
believer.

LIZ -- Oh, I'm not a believer, yet.

AMY -- So, what's with the Bible?

LIZ -- I'm rewriting the Bible in my native language.

AMY -- REWRITING it? Don't you mean you're TRANSLATING it?

LIZ -- No, actually, I'm rewriting it.

AMY -- Why? Don't you believe what it says?

LIZ -- Oh, I believe what it says. But many of the churches I
visited here seem to know some things that I can't find in my
Bible. I'm hoping my translation into my own language will help
make sense of Christianity.

AMY -- What have you translated so far?

LIZ -- Well, so far, I've only translated the most popular
verses I've heard from the sermons I heard since I've been in 
this country... like this one: (reads from notepad) "By this all 
men will know that you are my disciples if you love one
another... and speak in tongues."

AMY -- Wait a minute. That's not right. There's no mention of 
tongues in that verse in the Bible. What translation is that?

LIZ -- Oh, I didn't get all this from the Bible. One of the
churches I visited said you're not really a Christian unless you 
speak in tongues, so I added that to my translation.

AMY -- You should stick to what the Bible actually says.

LIZ -- What about this one? "If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins... if we have communion
every week."

AMY -- I assume you got the first part from the Bible, but...

LIZ -- ...the part about communion is from a pastor's sermon.

AMY -- Stick to the Bible.

LIZ -- What about this one, then? "For it is by grace you have
been saved through faith... and through passing out the church's 
literature door-to-door."

AMY -- The Bible mentions FAITH, but...

LIZ -- I got that last part from the same church I got this
verse from: "He saved us, not because of righteous things we had
done, but because of his mercy... and because of membership in
God's one true church."

AMY -- You can safely ignore a lot of what you hear, especially
if it seems to disagree with the Bible. Remember, the Bible is
the word of God, the rest is the word of man.

LIZ -- Then, this one is probably wrong too: "Yet to all who
received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the
right to become children of God... provided that they give a
tenth of their income to the church every week."

AMY -- Close, but no cigar.

LIZ -- Well, then, I KNOW this one is wrong: "For God so loved
the world that he gave his one and only son, that who ever
believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.... if
and only if he is baptized in water by immersion"

AMY -- You're right, that's not what the Bible teaches.

LIZ -- (closes notepad) Well, I'm no better off now than when I
came here!

AMY -- I'm sorry that our churches pervert the gospel like that.
They just make it more difficult for you to believe.

LIZ -- You're right. If it wasn't for all that add-on stuff, I
would have made a commitment. Now it's too late.

AMY -- What makes you think it's too late?

LIZ -- The only way you can be saved is if you walk down the
aisle at the alter call.

AMY -- Alter calls are not even hinted at in the Bible. You can
make a commitment to the Lord without an alter call.

LIZ -- I'd like to do that. But, how?

AMY -- Do you have a few minutes before your flight?

LIZ -- Yes. Of course. I'll take a later flight if I have to.

AMY -- (stands) Let's go into the coffee shop where it's a
little more quiet.

LIZ -- (stands, exits with Amy) Yes. Let's do that.

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