Getting Back to Basics in the New Year

I am not one for making New Year's resolutions, and never have been. If I decide to do something positive for myself, such as a personal fitness regimen, I just do it. I have been faithful to that regimen for thirty years, so it has been much more than a New Year's thing, it has become a lifelong passion.
So, in this New Year, I am determined to keep espousing the kind of biblical study that looks at the scriptures honestly for what is actually there, not what one may wish was in there. Last fall, I switched on the TV early on a Sunday morning and flipped through a few channels to look at the preachers who were on. I could not stay very long on any one channel, because the "performers" fulfilled every negative stereotype of TV preachers that exists. I did find one preacher who seemed promising. He said that he wanted to talk about sex, so he had my, and everyone else's attention. He began with the book of Genesis. So far, so good; he was willing to look at the Old Testament, when most evangelists cannot leave Paul for even a minute. He quoted the passage "Let us create man in our image."I was on the edge of the bed; he was going to deal with the nature of God and God's will for the creation. Far out. Alas, that is not where he was headed. He reminded his listeners, quite confidently, that everyone knows that the use of the first-person plural in that passage refers to the Holy Trinity. It does? You mean it's okay to read things into scripture passages that the writer could not possibly have been thinking about, because there was no conception at all of a trinity in the seventh-century BC, when Genesis was written? So, contrary to the general agreement of mainline biblical scholars the world over, we should forget that the use of the phrase "in our image" probably reflects the ancient belief that Yahweh sat at the table with the Heavenly Council, and that creation was a consultative process?
I am determined to counter instances where folks mis-represent what scripture really states, or what Jesus really said, because those who take such liberties with the scriptures are the ones who hurt the cause of Christianity the most. They mold scripture to say what they want it to say, sometimes to reflect positively on current political realities, and sometimes to reinforce what they already believe to be true. But wait, should I not point a cautionary finger back at myself when talking about scriptural interpretation? Absolutely! If I don't do my exegetical homework, and do it well, I should keep my big trap shut.
I work with students and faculty who think the Christianity is the "Big Lie" that has been perpetrated on humanity. The teachings of Christ are often dismissed as fairy tales and ideas stolen from other religions and philosophies. Worse, when individuals have suffered a loss of tragic event, those who would say that they represent the Christian view utter cliches and offer dime-store solutions and go on their merry way.
So, I will study long and well and will seek to put forth what I think is a fair and real picture of the Gospel message, even when it flies in the face of easy answers and political expediency. And you, my readers, should hold me to that vow.