A Hard Pill to Swallow

To grow in Christ, we must look closely at ourselves and see what we really are. The problem with that…it’s a hard pill to swallow. We don’t like what we see, and therefore excuse away the problems. We try hard to justify the things we do wrong. We try and hide our sins under a rug, not realizing that others can see the lump in the middle of that rug. They might not know what the problem really is, but a problem is evident in the person’s life. It’s a visible lump in our rug. As it’s been said, “Integrity is doing the right thing, even if nobody is watching.” And my take on this is, live your life as if someone is always watching, because He is. Hard enough pill to swallow?

Rodney

How Do I Study the Bible?

First let me say...while reading the Bible, a text with no context is pretext. When you read a verse, ensure that you read those verses around it, thereby understanding the passage and the context in which the verse is used. Misinterpretation is usually the product of singling out a verse from within a passage and making an interpretation out of context. This is why Inductive Bible Study is my favorite method of study.

Inductive Bible Study is to Observe, Interpret, and then Apply what’s learned. Here’s the plain English version…


First off...Surround your Bible study in prayer, and allow for a two way communication between you and God...leave your self open to His word.

Read a FULL passage and take note of the following (some example questions):

Observe

a. When was it written, around what year?
b. Who was it written to, or who was it written for?
c. What are the key words in the passage?
d. What is the main subject of the passage?

Interpret – How would someone from that time period interpret what was written?

Apply – How does it apply to you?

Like I said, this is a very basic explanation of Inductive Bible Study, for more information go to: http://www.intothyword.org/pages.asp?pageid=53489

Also, make sure you document (write down) everything from Observation thru Application.

Rodney

IN THE WORLD, BUT NOT OF IT!

Proverbs 1:10-19 (NIV)

10 My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them.
11 If they say, "Come along with us; let's lie in wait for someone's blood, let's waylay some harmless soul;
12 let's swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
13 we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder;
14 throw in your lot with us, and we will share a common purse"-
15 my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths;
16 for their feet rush into sin, they are swift to shed blood.
17 How useless to spread a net in full view of all the birds!
18 These men lie in wait for their own blood; they waylay only themselves!
19 Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain; it takes away the lives of those who get it.

When I read this passage, it made me think about when I first got my son started in BMX racing. We’d go to the track to practice, and I constantly had to fight with him about keeping his helmet on. He used to use the excuse, “The other kids aren’t wearing them.” Which is an excuse, not just used by kids, it’s an excuse that adults use as well. The hardest concept for him to understand was, “Just because a lot of people are doing something wrong doesn’t make it right, it makes a whole lot of people wrong.” And we have to ask, are we going to be wrong with them, or are we willing to be strong enough to do the right thing even in the face of ridicule and the possibility of loosing friends? The truth is, we can easily make new friends…and if they would lead you astray are they really your friends to begin with?

When we take this passage, and keep it in mind as we read the New Testament, we notice something amazing about Jesus. Living, eating and drinking amongst sinners, Jesus never once sinned, even though he was faced with temptation. Jesus is the prime example of being in the world, but being not of the world.

Rodney

A Sad Day for the Body

I grew-up as an ELCA Lutheran, as did my father and my grandfather. Matter of fact, my grandfather was baptized in the same church that he has been a member of for more than eighty, yes...that's correct, more than 80 years...St. James Lutheran Church in Holland, Indiana. However, his hart is now broken, along with a mojority of those that are perishoners in the ELCA. As the clergy have cast aside the Scripture to apeise the world. And for those that would say that "Times have changed." understand, God does not. And for those that say that it was an Old Testement issue, and that the New Testement takes away the law, read Matthew 5:17-20

17"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven."

Pray for the ELCA.

Rodney