Explore the Bible

I'm beginning a weekly series of short studies related to a Bible study that I co-teach on Sunday mornings at my church. We are following the "Explore the Bible" curriculum from Lifeway, which is designed to take you through the entire Bible in 8 years. As such, it necessitates focusing on just a short passage each week, while providing a reading guide that a student can follow to read through the entire book (or section of a book). We're finishing a study in Matthew 1-13, and will begin a study of Acts 1-12 beginning in March.

The studies I plan to do will be short (this is a blog, not a theological journal), and will generally ficus on a passage that we either passed over or had to cover very briefly. I may also bring up some topics related to that week's study that might be a little more tangential but interesting. I hope that these small studies will be of interest even to those who aren't involved in our particular curriculum.

30 Days in the Bible, Day 30: Amos 8:9-13

Our 30 day journey comes to an end with today’s devotional. I don’t think there was a better passage to end with than this one from Amos. In some ways, there is a famine for the Word of God even in churches today. Some churches have ceased preaching the gospel and moved on to a more political or societal message. Others only preach the parts of the Bible that fits what they or their members want to hear, ignoring large sections of the Word. Still others preach the Bible from the pulpit, but in such a way that it makes no impact in the lives of those in the church (and, worse, on those outside the church.)

God chose to give us a special revelation in the Bible that goes beyond what we can learn about Him through nature or conscience. The Bible isn’t just a collection of writings of people who came up with the best religious ideas they could manage. It is God’s Word, inspired by the Holy Spirit and having the authority of the Almighty God behind it.

In our part of the world today, we have been blessed with unsurpassed access to the Word. Sadly, many Christians have multiple Bibles on their bookshelves, computers, and cell phones, but they seldom (or never) actually read, study, meditate on, and memorize those Bibles. They treat the Bible as a talisman, or even an idol, whose presence means blessing even if it’s never used to hear God speak.

In some eras of the church, the Bible was only available chained to a table in the church building, or perhaps only available when the authorized priest or minister read from it. Some Christians today act as if that is still the case, only taking in the Word when they hear it on Sunday. God never intended His Word to be limited to just a professional spiritual elite, who could then dole it out to the rest of the people. The Word of God was meant for all to hear and understand.

So as we finish our journey, I want to encourage you to take advantage of the feast you have. The time may come when we, like many of our brothers and sisters throughout the world and throughout history, face a famine, and will have to struggle to access the Word. Until that time, let’s not impose a famine on ourselves by neglect of the Bible, God’s revelation to us. Continue to be in the Word, and the Word will soon be in you.

30 Days in the Bible, Day 24: Nehemiah 8:1-3

Studying the Word of God on your own is an important discipline. We can open the Word whenever we want to, and spend as much time as we can reading, meditating, and studying. (This is, of course, not true for all Christians, and we need to pray for our brothers and sisters who do not have free access to the Bible.) There is no substitute for time spent listening to the Holy Spirit speak to us through the inspired Word.

For many Christians, personal study is their chief focus. They don’t want to spend time listening to others preach or teach the Word. Perhaps they believe that as long as they have the Spirit, they can learn everything they need to know on their own. While there is some truth to this, it misses a much bigger point.

When we look through Scripture to find how the Holy Spirit guides us into truth, we find an interesting fact: He does this partly by giving us pastors and teachers that He has gifted to build us up. We saw this when we looked at Ephesians 4. If we do not take advantage of times when we can study the Bible together under the instruction of a Spirit-gifted teacher, we are missing part of what He wants to teach us.

Here in Nehemiah we see Ezra, who in Jewish thought is considered the greatest teacher of the Law, bringing in help from other gifted Levites to explain to the people the meaning of the Law. The Israelites gathered for hours to hear the Law read and taught. They understood that this was all part of their worship, and that what they were hearing through these teachers was God speaking to them through His Word.

We have many opportunities to find good teachers and to study the Word under their leadership. A godly, Spirit-led teacher can help us to see truths we may have missed on our own. Pastors and teachers who have spent time studying the history, culture, and languages of Biblical times can help us bridge the gap between those times and ours. They can also help us to avoid drawing erroneous conclusions from the Bible by helping us place its teachings in context and in their place in the whole of Biblical truth.

Studying in groups should not replace personal study, but be added to it. We do need to learn to search the Scriptures on our own, but we also need to be guided (and to guide) others as we search together. If you are not currently involved in a Bible study led by a solid, Spirit-led teacher, I encourage you to find one and start adding the benefits of studying together to your spiritual journey.

30 Days in the Bible, Day 13: Psalm 119:97-104

Many ancient cultures produced what is called by scholars today “wisdom literature.” The Israelites were no exception. The Bible contains several books that are entirely written in that genre, including most of the poetic books of the Old Testament. While Psalms is not entirely a wisdom book, it contains many references to wisdom, and several psalms would be considered pieces of wisdom literature. Wisdom was a prized attribute for a person in ancient cultures.

Our own culture generally values knowledge over wisdom. What is admired is the “expert” who has detailed knowledge about a particular field. Where modern thought falls short is in what the purpose of knowledge is. One can accumulate facts forever, yet never really use them to make a difference in life or society.

Ancient cultures can teach us a lot here, but we must be careful. Wisdom writings from other ancient civilizations stress the importance of wisdom for the individual. The wise person is one who can control himself and who uses what he has gained to make his own life better. Wisdom arises from pondering one’s own experiences and drawing the proper conclusions from them.

Biblical wisdom has a different emphasis. Wisdom comes not from personal life experiences, but from the Word of God. By meditating and studying the Word, you can learn to live a life that is directed by the Lord, and that avoids many experiences that give you a more painful kind of experience. (Ecclesiastes is a wisdom book written by someone who learned the hard way!) Since God is both omniscient (all-knowing) and wise, His revelation can point you in the right path.

Following the Scriptures doesn’t mean you will never have difficult experiences. (See Job.) What it will do is enable you, as you follow the precepts of God, to ensure that you don’t create difficulties for yourself through disobedience. This section of Psalm 119 (the “mem” section, for those keeping track of the alphabet) links the study of the Word with obedience to the Word. Wisdom thus becomes the practical way we put the Word into practice in our lives.

Even when going through trials, we can find wisdom in the Bible to take us through those times. We will have troubles, illness, loss, and struggle, but we can rely on the Word of God to guide us through those times. Let God’s wisdom, revealed by the power of the Holy Spirit through His Word, guide you along the path of your life.

30 Days in the Bible, Day 1: 2 Timothy 3:14-17

The inspiration of the Bible is a critical teaching for the Christian. If the Bible is merely the spiritually motivated work of human beings, it may have some value, but we can pick and choose what still applies today. If it is truly God's Word, however, then it has authority over us no matter where and when we live.

While there is power in all that the Bible teaches, Paul points out its supreme value to Timothy in verse 15. He states the the Scriptures are "able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." (NIV) There is a reason that we need a special revelation from God Himself. As much as we can learn about Him through creation and conscience, we cannot learn His purpose for us without hearing from Him.

The central theme of the Bible is Jesus. Whether you are in the Old Testament or New, what we read is pointing us to the accomplishment of our salvation through Jesus' death and resurrection. We might be able to learn the historical facts about these events through those who witnessed them and wrote about them, but we would not know just what they meant without the inspired Word. 

When we read God's Word, we are confronted with the immense love that Christ had for us, the tremendous sacrifice He made for us, and our need for faith in Him to be forgiven of our sins and made right with God. Through the Holy Spirit, we respond to Jesus in faith, and we are saved. It is then that the four functions of Scripture listed in verse 17 will have an impact on our lives: teaching, rebuking, correction, and training in righteousness.

We cannot have a genuine faith in Jesus Christ without knowing what the Word teaches us about Him. It is the Bible that reveals who Jesus is, what He has done for us, and how we can come to Him. The Bible is story God tells to us, so that we might be restored to Him through His Son. As children of God, we should seek to spend time with our Father's revelation so we may understand how we may please and honor Him.

30 Days in the Bible: Introduction

At my home church, we are going through our annual "30 Days in the Bible." We give out a devotional that people can use for 30 days to spend time in the Word and to be inspired to study the Bible. (A draft of this guide in PDF format may be found here if you would like to use it.) I will be adding some additional observations about the passages on certain days here on this blog. Each post should be a stand-alone devotional of its own. Even if you aren't following the "30 Days," guide, I hope you will still find the comments here helpful.

Starting a spiritual workout

I joined a fitness club recently. My doctor has been urging me to lose some weight and get myself in better shape. So, thanks to help from our insurance, I was able to find an affordable place to work out. While I can't say it's made a big difference in my health and fitness yet, it has given me some insights into spiritual development.

When I first started, I had an evaluation done by the staff nurse. This gave me my baseline for starting my exercise program. As I anticipated, I'm not in great shape (although it could be worse). I got a medical clearance from my doctor, and setup an appointment with a trainer to develop an exercise program.

That's when I learned the most important part of working out. It's not going to the gym. I could drive there and just visit the fitness bar and slurp down a protein shake without much of an effect. It's not all the wonderful equipment the center has. I can come look at it all day and never get one iota fitter. IT's not getting dressed in the locker room. Even if my clothes were stylish, they wouldn't get me any closer to looking better in them.

No, the most important part of an exercise program is getting onto the equipment and doing the exercise. Until I commit myself to actually engaging in physical fitness, I won't get any fitter. I can read about fitness, search the Internet for exercises, and even make the best-intentioned promise to exercise, but until I do it, it doesn't mean anything as far as physical improvement goes.

The same principle applies to our spiritual development. You can have a shelf full of the best study Bible printed. You can have high-speed access to great computer and Internet study software. You can know all the best places to watch and listen to the most respected Bible teachers and theologians teach. You can have a wonderful church with a strong, Bible-preaching pastor and experienced Bible teachers. It won't matter, if you never bother to use them.

The Bible is a life-changing book that tells us the truth about our awesome God and Creator. The Holy Spirit gifts men and women with wisdom in teaching and proclaiming this truth in ways that communicate timeless truth to a contemporary world. But if you never open the Bible, or go to church, or join a small group Bible study, or actually watch or listen to those great teachers available, you won't grow. It's as simple as that.

As a Christian education director, one of my greatest frustrations occurs when people tell me, "I don't seem to be growing much as a Christian," yet these same people are nowhere to be found on Sunday morning, Wednesday night, or any other time the church has teaching. They also are scarce when ministry opportunities arise, and others in the church develop gifts by using them while they sit at home. Of course they aren't growing, but they don't seem to see why.

So my challenge today is to get started. If you want to grow as a Christian, and to develop spiritually, you need to start exercising now. Read your Bible. Study. Go find a good teacher and let them help you learn. Pray to draw closer to Christ, and to grow not only in knowledge, but in service. Go use what you know to help others. Do that, and I think you'll start seeing some "healthy" results.

A child shows the way

As a parent, I see the difficulty that so many children of all ages are having growing up in our American society today. There are pressures that I couldn't have imagined when I was in that age group years ago. Media influences, peer pressure, social media. political correctness, and other outside pressures put them under a microscope that didn't exist when I was a child.

So how do we teach our children to respond to all this pressure? I think that a vignette from the gospel of Luke shows us a beginning. Luke tells the story of Jesus' trip to the Temple with His parents. They went for the annual celebration of the Passover, as required by the Law. Since Jesus was 12 years old, this would have been the first year He was required to make the trip as a man, although He probably had done it before. They probably stayed for the week of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, then began to travel back to their home.

His parents had traveled for a day before they realized Jesus wasn't with them. This sounds shocking to us, but Luke tells us they thought Jesus was with some of their relatives and friends, which would have been a fairly common practice of that time. Maybe someone else had offered to look after Jesus, or to have Him travel with other children His own age. We don't know who was supposed to be watching out for Him, but in the end it was His mother and father who made the trip back, frantically looking for their son.

They found Him in the Temple, sitting among the teachers of the Law, listening and asking them questions. He was also providing them with some astonishingly insightful answers. When questioned by Mary, He simply replied, "Didn't you know I had to be in My Father's house?" (Luke 2:49). Jesus as a child wanted to learn more about His Father and about the Word of God.

How does this apply to children today? I don't think any of us think our child is the moral and spiritual equivalent of Jesus. (I don't think any of us think we ourselves are either, for that matter.) Still, the interest Jesus showed in learning from the Word and in understanding how He should live in the presence of HIs Father is something we should seek to instill in our children. The best way to avoid the pressures of the world is to understand the truth of God's Word and to apply that truth to our lives.

I recently sat in on a class with some children who spoke of how they were picked on at school. I could tell from their words and expressions that this was an unpleasant part of their lives. When asked how they dealt with it, they responded with some typical answers like punching the person or insulting them back, only to say then that while that's what they would like to do, they knew that they shouldn't respond that way. I think those children have started to really take in and live out the teaching of the Word.

I'm not saying that this is easy for children, or even for adults. What I am saying is that this is where we have to start. We cannot resist the call of the world if we don't hear the call of Christ louder. We can't hear Christ call if we don't spend time taking in His Word, through reading, meditation, and teaching. Jesus had to spend that time when He was here on earth; why would we think we don't? Let's help our children learn that lesson, and continue to take it in for ourselves.

I have a blog?!

Where does the time go? I can't recall why I stopped posting to this blog, but it has been dormant for about three months, and I completely forgot about it. I guess I really am not part of the "information overload" generation yet.

If it weren't for the fact that I am home sick today, and cleaning up my various computer menus and the like, I still wouldn't remember I had started this. It was much easier to post occasionally before I started working two jobs (which is truly a blessing, seeing I went for a year with just a very part-time job, so I'm not complaining).

What to do now? I though of deleting the whole thing and starting over, but I see that a (very small) number of people still visit and perhaps find something useful here. So I will keep the old posts up, but start again with new ones. I may only make a regular post once a week, perhaps reviving the "Sunday sermon" posts,  but I may add a "reading log" feature to go with my New Year's quasi-resolution to read substantial portions of three electronic libraries I have on my netbook. The materials are mostly public domain works, but most continue to have significant value. It's a varied lot, but so far it has been both informative and fun.

So today I am reading in William Brown's The Tabernacle, Its Priests and Services, from the AGES Master Christian Library Version 8. The author is quite informative as to the design and structure of the tabernacle, and he reminds us of just what a spectacular building it was. He adds a number of devotional thoughts, using the tabernacle and its elements as illustrations. I am finding quite a few items that will help me when we get to that section of Exodus in our Sunday school class.

I hope you continue to enjoy these posts. I also hope I remember to keep making them!

The Old, the New, and Online Study

There is often a real paradox in the use of commentaries in Bible study. As a theological student, I was trained (whether consciously or unconsciously by my teachers) to seek out and use the very latest commentaries on whichever book of the Bible I was currently studying or teaching. Those works would have the latest information on language, archaeology, and the state of scholarship, and would also distill the best of earlier studies. So I diligently spent my scarce student dollars only on recent commentaries.

As I have continued to study, I found many of newest works lacking in one area. While they did indeed bring me up-to-date on historical and linguistic developments, they often were seriously deficient in theological reflection. Many respected commentary series (including those which I use) spend the bulk of their space on issues of textual reconstruction; their focus is determining how the text we have was composed. This can be an interesting study, but often simply is speculation that doesn't really add much to understanding what God is saying to us through His Word.

After my father retired, he gave me his pastoral library. I became acquainted with some of the older commentators. Not all of them were what would be called scholarly, but many of them contained keen insights I found missing in the more current writers. (There were also some pretty wild stretches, but that's why we study and sift.) I later subscribed to the release of the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, which made it easier to find what the church fathers said on passages I was studying.

When studying online, this issue can be magnified. A lot of online resources are older works which are in public domain, and if you believe only the latest works are of value you'll avoid online study resources. However, many of these older resources are valuable in their own right. There are, of course, the classic materials like the works of the church fathers or Calvin's commentaries, which are still recognized for their value. Many other older sources are available online, and I would encourage anyone to examine these to see if they are useful for your study.

It takes some careful analysis, but as scholars, even erstwhile ones, we shouldn't be afraid of a little work. I go to several online sites and look at a wide variety of sources, and can often find useful insights into Scripture. (I have links here on my blog page, and a few more over on the wikispace version.) I've created a very useful online Bible study suite that enables me to do quite a bit of my teaching and sermon prep on my netbook, all using free sites. I supplement that study with current material from my library (which I only wish was free!), which gives me a very well-rounded study experience.

The Internet makes it possible for even those under budget constraints to engage in serious Bible study with quality materials. With multiple translations, commentaries, and other study aids available for free, you can take advantage of the wisdom of generations of Christian teachers to enhance your own learning and to pass on to those whom you teach.

See You Tomorrow!

As I type this tonight, we are just about four hours from the beginning of the Day of Judgment according to Harold Camping. I have to admit, after years of studiously avoiding Family Radio, I have been drawn to the last few days of broadcasting. I guess there's a morbid curiosity at work.

I used to listen to Family Radio (WKDN, Camden, NJ) when I was in college. At that time, there was a nice spectrum of conservative Christian programming on FR, and Camping hadn't yet gone off the deep end. While the music wasn't always the style I preferred, the solid Bible teaching was.

Over the years, with Camping in financial control of Family Stations, more and more of the orthodox evangelical broadcasters left the station, and of course all churches left after Camping declared them apostate. What I have heard over the last two days is the shell of a once-great influence for Christ, now reduced to the pathetic echo of a heretical teacher.

This will make a great lead-in for my sermon this Sunday (assuming, of course, that Sunday comes). When we cut ourselves off from the stream of orthodox Bible teaching and set ourselves up as the sole arbiter of what the Bible means, we can go far off the trail, as Camping has done. That's why the Lord gave the church people who are gifted in teaching us about the Word, our faith, and the way we should live. We cannot reach full maturity without depending on each other and on the wisdom of past generations to keep us on the path of light.

I recognize that we don't all agree on everything about theology and Christian living. We need to understand, however, that together, as each person and each group goes to the Bible for the truth, we can work toward a common understanding of many things. Our goal, of course, is the full unity in Christ that will one day be ours when we get to heaven. Until then, we need to sharpen and challenge our brothers and sisters in Christ to seek after and live the truth.

In the meantime, let's pray for those who will be disillusioned by the failure of the false prophecy of Harold Camping, and may be tempted to give up on God and the Bible altogether. Let's pray for those who would use the heretical predictions of an eccentric teacher to discredit the Bible. Let's pray that Camping himself would recognize his error and repent and turn back to Biblical truth. And let's pray that we will be diligent in our own study so that we re not led astray by those who take a little truth and mix in a lot of falsehood, bizarre interpretations, and ego to seduce us away from the Bible's teachings.