Here’s the Christian timeline:  Jesus died on the cross, was resurrected, spent some time building up the disciples, and then ascended into heaven.  At Pentecost Jesus baptized the apostles (and a bunch of other people) in the Holy Spirit, filled them with His power, and gave them the gift of tongues – and the Christian church was born.  Those power-filled people then went out and started telling people about Jesus, leading them into salvation and...Jesus now has a problem.............

A few posts back I suggested that you simply read the Bible without worrying about fully understanding everything about the passages you are going through.  The idea is to go for quantity.  Keep doing that!  For those of you who are new to Bible Study that should remain your major method for quite a while.  A few things will happen.  First, you will find yourself becoming familiar with how the Lord thinks and talks.  Then, as you find yourself moving through several books of the Bible, you will begin to see how the different books each have a different emphasis

When it comes to Bible study it helps to look at the Bible from God’s perspective.  Put yourself in His shoes and think about how you would help your children get to know you.  Probably the best way to go about it would be to write down your thoughts explaining to them, maybe in a series of letters, why you do things the way you do.  You might even want to share some of the deeper things of your heart.  If your kids are to get to know you, they need to know both your hurts and your joys.  You may even need to address some of the ways they are the ones who hurt you.&

Well, we’re back from our latest trip so I thought I’d add a quick post to get us going again. I have two items I want to talk to you about......First comes a quickie......Second, and I’ve touched on this a little bit already, remember that God is your teacher and......

...that is why our third principle of Bible study goes like this:

Principle of Bible Study #3:  The most straightforward interpretation is usually closer to the truth than a complicated and involved explanation.

Way back in the 14th century......

Our second foundational principle for Bible study deals with listening to the Holy Spirit and letting Him reveal its meaning/application to us. The best way to understand how the Holy Spirit works in our lives is, perhaps, to see how He worked in the men of the New Testament......

Principle #1: God’s word is true regardless of our perceptions or feelings. 2 Peter 3:8-9       But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.    There are sixty-six books in the Bible and God used around 40 different men to write them. Those men were “moved by the Holy Spirit” as they wrote the words we now call scripture. When we study the scripture.......

I am, with this series of posts, likely speaking to several different groups of people. First, are those mature Christians who have studied the Bible for many years. Maybe, like me, they received the Lord into their life at an early age and have been walking with Him ever since. This group, I hope, will keep me on my toes and make sure I stay accurate in what I say. (So log in and comment if you have a concern or question about what I’m saying.) :>) A second group consists of those people who are either......

There are two things that are all important when seeking truth in the Bible. First, the Bible is true in every word and was inspired by the Holy Spirit making it His words spoken directly to us. If you can’t start from that position, then the Bible is useless. Second, we do not interpret the word of God according to our experience.  Here are four principles to help guide you in your study of the Bible.

This morning I was sorting through some old files, deleting what I could and organizing the rest when I ran across this file.  We were living in Butte, Montana at the time and I think I may have originally written it as a letter to the editor of our local paper, The Montana Standard.  It is worth posting here and I hope it stirs us to take a good look at our hearts and consider our motivations.