40 Days in the Word

So, it's been a while since we've talked about studying the bible in depth on this blog, hasn't it?  I hope you haven't given up studying your bible even though the 9 month reading plan is over.  To be honest, I find it easier to study the bible in a group, probably because of the accountability aspect.  I'm looking forward to community groups starting up again for the fall semester.  You should consider plugging into one wherever you are.
If you are looking for a way to dive deeper into God's word, consider going through Rick Warren's '40 Days in the Word' study campaign.  Rick Warren provides great study methods for how to get more out of your bible reading.  They are a lot of work, but they're easy to follow and will certainly improve the quality of information you can get out of reading your bible.

Extra-biblical sources

2 Kings
It is so neat to hear about extra-biblical sources that back up what the bible says.  Today I read in the footnotes of my Archaeological Study Bible that some archaeologists found Babylonian administrative tablets.  These tablets apparently outline the rations provided to the captives in Babylon.  In 2 Kings 25, we can read about the fall of Jerusalem and the captives that were taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar.  These tablets support this information because they mention Jehoiachin king of Judah and five of his sons!
As I read the bible, I often find myself reading it in a bit of a vacuum, thinking that nobody else would have bothered recording the information in it.  It's interesting to see that the historical facts have been recorded elsewhere, to some extent.

A light for my path

Psalms
Psalm 119:105 says "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path."  That is why reading the bible is so useful.  God speaks to us through the words he left for us, and guides us in the way we should go.

You should read this

You should read this book: "Taking the Guesswork out of Applying the Bible" by Jack Kuhatschek.  It's great!  It talks a lot about what I've been saying in this blog.  God's word is for all people at all times - we just need to make sure we understand it was delivered at a particular point in time so it may not speak to us culturally in our setting, but the basic message is the same for everyone.

How do we read the bible? - part 2

I thought I would revisit this topic briefly, since we've been at this reading plan for a week now.  I just picked up a book by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart called "How to Read the Bible for all Its Worth".  What a great book!  I've just barely started into the chapter on the prophets, but it is very useful already and I would recommend reading it.

Fee and Stuart say that the prophetic books are so hard to understand for us now because we tend to want to read them in light of the coming of Christ.  However, we must remember to keep these books in context, as I mentioned in an earlier post.  These prophets were speaking God's word to his people at a particular point in history, so for us to fully understand the importance of that message, we have to put ourselves in the shoes of the audience of the prophet.  For them, they had an idea of what the prophet was talking about because the prophet was speaking into their lives about their actions.  Here we are trying to make sense of a message that was delivered to a people we have very little information about.  That's why it is so important to read a bit about the history of the people in the bible, so that we can understand how these words applied to them.

This approach of researching about the text that we are reading can be a lot of work, but in the end, it will be worth it, so that we can get the most out of God's word, which is just as applicable to us now in the 21st century as it was to the people who first heard it so many years ago.

How do we read the bible?

Before we delve into the bible, we should understand how to approach it.  The goal of reading should be spiritual growth, gained by a better understanding of God's message to His people throughout history.  The words contained in the bible can speak to us even though they are thousands of years old.  We just have to have the right mindset.

We should keep in mind that the bible was written at specific points in history, in a specific culture, for specific people.  To get the most out of the message, we need to understand what was going on at that point in time, what the people were thinking and feeling, what the writer was thinking when he was composing his text.  The scriptures were not addressed specifically to us in our time period, but the wonder of God's message is that if we look at it appropriately, we can see what He said and did for those people in their time.  From that, we can understand how He will work for us in our time, because He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  Our God and His promises do not change.

As we progress through the reading plan, we'll all get some great practice at reading the bible critically.  I look forward to doing this with you!

The real reason for this blog.

As we know, I wanted to write.  What to write about?  It's a burdensome question, and one that I didn't have an answer for for the longest time.  About a week ago or so, it came to me!  I was hoping to lead a small group this year at the church I go to, but decided I would really be too busy if I took that on, along with all the other responsibilities I have.  I have some great ideas about what I would have done, and I didn't want to give them up.  One idea was leading a group that was focused on reading through the entire Christian bible (I am a Christian) in nine months (the basic duration of the ministry year at our church).  Instead of leading an entire group of people who would be doing this, I thought I would give my reading plan a trial run on my own.  Thus, for the next nine months, starting September 19, 2010, I will be reading through the entire bible and blogging about this experience.  I figured I should start the blog up a few days early to familiarize myself with the process.

One of my friends mentioned the other day that the question he always asks before becoming involved in anything long term is "How will this look in February?"  For example, he said, if his girls wanted to get a dog, he wondered "How would that work in February, when it is freezing out and the ground is covered in snow and I have to go out and walk the dog?"

I find myself asking that very question about this endeavour: "How will this work out in February, when I'm swamped with school work, trying to maintain full time hours, volunteering at my church, skiing every weekend, and running a household?"  I must admit that the outlook doesn't look too bright at that time, but I believe that any time spent reading God's word is time well invested.  I hope you'll follow me on this journey through the bible and perhaps offer some insights of your own.  I'll post the reading plan in a few days.