Search your heart….you know you can’t deny it.

Come close listen to the story
About a love more faithful than the morning
The Father gave His only Son just to save us

The earth was shaking in the dark
All creation felt the Fathers Broken Heart
Tears were filling Heaven’s Eyes
The day that True Love died, the day that True Love died
When blood and water hit the ground
Walls we couldn’t move came crashing down
We were free and made alive
The day that True Love died, The day that True Love died

Search your heart you know you can’t deny it
Come on, lose your life just so you can find it
The Father gave His only Son just to save us

The Earth was shaking in the dark
All creation felt The Fathers broken heart
Tears were filling Heaven’s Eyes
The day that True Love died, the day that True Love died

When blood and water hit the ground
Walls we couldn’t move came crashing down
We were free and made alive
The day that True Love died, The day that True Love died

Now, Jesus is alive

Jesus is alive
Jesus is alive
Jesus is alive
Jesus is alive
Oh, He is alive
He rose again
When blood and water hit the ground
Walls we couldn’t move came crashing down
We were free and made alive
The day that True Love died, The day that True Love died

Come close listen to the story

Okay…I know what you are going to say when you finish reading this.

“That didn’t happen!”  BUT…this is a TRUE story that REALLY happened in West Virginia! 100% legit!!

So here it is….

Lora works with a lady who goes to church with a lady we’ll call “Susan”.

Susan is a single mom with a 28 year old son, “Karl” who is mental-handicapped. He has the mental capacity of an 6 year old. Susan works as a bank teller and leaves Karl home with a babysitter. Occasionally Susan has to leave Karl at home alone for a few minutes to make it to work on time while the babysitter is on her way to watch Karl.

So a few weeks ago, Susan left Karl alone and headed to work. 30 minutes go by and the babysitter didn’t call her to say she’d arrived. So Susan called home and Karl answered.

Susan: “Karl? How are you?”
Karl: “Good.”
Susan: “Did the babysitter make it?”
Karl: “No. She’s not going to make it today, but it’s okay. I got the troll in the closet.”
Susan: “Troll? What troll?”
Karl: “It’s okay mommy. I got him in the closet and I’m feeding him Skittles under the door.”
Susan: “And the babysitter’s not going to make it?”
Karl: “No. Not today.”

So Susan has no choice, but to leave work and head home to watch Karl. When she gets there she hears some noise in the closet. She goes to the closet and opens it and finds a midget Census taker stuffed into the closet with Skittles laying on the floor!!!!! Apparently after Susan left for work, a midget Census taker knocked on the door. Karl threw a blanket over him, threw him in the closet, and was feeding him Skittles!!!

Lora didn’t know any more details like if the Census taker was mad or scared, but that is the funniest true story I’ve ever heard!!

Welcome back to my posts on studying the Bible. This is the second post of three about the most important things to remember when studying the Bible.

In the first of these three posts we talked about that ALL scriptures are important for various reasons as outlined by 2 Tim 3:16.

On this post we are going to look at a new scripture and how it’s meaning can be applied to us today.

Deut 6:5-8 NLT

5 And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. 6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away on a journey, when you are lying down and when you are getting up again. 8 Tie them to your hands as a reminder, and wear them on your forehead.

This passage is taken from a section of scripture Jews called the Shema. The Shema was a passage of scripture that was recited by every Jew once in the morning, and once at night. This is very important. Why? When we, modern day westernized Christians, hear saying a passage morning and night we take it as a chore or write it off as “vain repetition.” This wasn’t the case with the Jew, but I’ll get to why in a minute.  Look at vs 8 again.

“Tie [the scriptures] to your hands as a reminder, and wear them on your forehead.”

From this time well over 2,000 years ago to today, Jews literally wear tiny boxes with scripture written on paper. These little boxes are then tied to their arm and forehead. Check out the picture below.

This young man is wearing what is called terfillin. Relax…I’m not going to suggest you start wearing one! Now…I’m sure you might be looking at it as weird. I can understand that, but if you understand WHY they are wearing it you might see how the WHY could be beneficial.

The WHY is found in the verse. “Tie [the scriptures]…as a reminder”

It is a REMINDER of God’s Word.

Again…why? Well…I don’t know about you, but I don’t always remember God’s Word. Do you? They bind those scriptures with the terfillin to help remind them that everything they do, see, and think should be filtered by scripture.

This is second “most important” thing to remember about Bible study…you want to allow the scriptures to become a filter for everything you do, see, and think. If we believe that God is much, much wiser than we are…and that the scripture is His Word…then we should want to begin to allow everything to do, see, and think to first be run by what we know the Bible says.

I was listening to John Piper the other night and he said plainly that he can’t trust or allow  his mind to tell him what to think. He allows the scriptures to tell his mind what to think. I think that is a proper way to look at the Bible. We read it to transform us. To let it show us who God is and what his character is like. We don’t come up with some ideas that sound “Christian” and then go to the Bible to prove it. We read the Bible to let it tell us the truth.

Now…this won’t happen for you overnight…days…not even weeks, months, or years…and you will never get it perfect. I know that might have popped your balloon because you’ve been lied to and lead to believe that all you need to do is go through a Bible study or attend a conference or just go to church and BAM!…you’ll be transformed and you’ll be like Jesus. Churches will have conferences that make claims “If you’ll come to this conference and hear the life-changing Word of God about removing sin from your life, then you’re going to leave stronger in the Lord than ever before!” And when the conference is over and you discover you still have sin in your life you end up feeling even worse! Well…I’m sorry. Very, very sorry…it doesn’t work like that BUT if you understand a few things about your growth as someone who wants to be transformed by the scriptures then it WILL begin to happen if you remember a few things.

1. Gotta Read and Listen

Okay…this is gonna sound so basic, but you won’t believe the amount of Christians that profess to love God’s Word and know next to nothing about it. Ready….here it is. You have to READ your Bible…and listen to good Bible teachers. Basic right?  I know, but if you don’t read God’s Word to know what it says, then you can’t begin to allow it to be a filter for your life.

So this principle is just like going to school. The more you study…the more you will learn…the more it will start to come out of you. The more you apply yourself to it, the better you will become at filtering life through scripture. One day, you’ll find yourself getting really angry at someone and before you lock your grudge into your heart, you find yourself thinking “Well Jesus taught in Matt 18 that we should forgive 70 times seven.” And it won’t be that you suddenly “knew” that…it’s that you have studied and learned from the Bible and now what you’ve learned has risen to the surface. When something like that happens…THEN you can know that you are starting to grow spiritually!!

You also need to listen to good Bible teachers. Please allow me to define this. A “good” Bible teacher isn’t just someone you like to listening too. Sure…you don’t want to listen to someone who is boring. I get that, but you just don’t want to listen to someone like Joel Osteen who just gives you that fuzzy feeling on the inside. (Yes…I just called Joel out! haha Probably won’t be the last time either.) Not saying the fuzzy feeling is wrong…but you need to listen to ministers who challenge you in more areas that just telling you God is going to fix everything. You need ministers who will preach the full spectrum of the Bible. If they preach that God is going to fix everything, then they also preach that God could take it all away. (Yes…He can. Read Job.) If they preach blessings, they also preach suffering. If they teach what obedience is, they also teach what sin is.

I’d like to share with you who I think are some of the absolute BEST Bible-Based teachers.

John Piper www.desiringgod.org – John will take any subject and tack on a lot of scriptures to support what he is saying. He is not the most dynamic whoop and holla preacher…he can get so deep you’ll be lost for a minute, but I’ll tell you this. The man is FULL of God’s Word and he wants you to know everything he does. At his website, you can search any subject and find limitless FREE resources.

Matt Chandler www.thevillagechurch.net – Matt is known for taking a book of the Bible and preaching it all the way through. He is very edgy, fun to listen to, but despite all that Matt is not afraid to deal with the tough subjects and scriptures. I respect that. The church’s website is full of free resources.

Mark Driscoll www.marshillchurch.org www.theresurgance.com- Mark, like Matt, is known for preaching all the way through entire books of the Bible. He has an amazing heart and a serious passion for all of God’s Word. The  websites, like the others, if full of free resources.

Rob Bell www.marshill.org – Rob is a fantastic preacher who is great for helping his hearers understand scripture in light of the history and culture of the passage. He is an amazing speaker you should not pass up. The church’s website doesn’t have a lot of resources, but there are still some good ones there.

All of these guys have podcasts on iTunes that I suggest regularly downloading and listening to.

So please…PLEASE….read the Bible and listen to good ministers. If you don’t, you EXTREMELY limit yourself. You become one of these Christians that can talk and talk and talk and talk and talk…and it sounds good…it sounds like it came from the Bible, but they can’t show you where it says it. We joke that they are just quoting 2 Opinions 4 because that’s really what it is unless they can show you in the Bible where it’s at. They end up saying goofy things like “Well…my pastor says “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” You might say back “You’re pastor didn’t say that….that’s John 3:16!”  And if you try to discuss scripture, they say things like “I don’t want to argue scripture” which really means they don’t know anything and they are afraid it might show.

You don’t want to end up like one of these Christians. It’s not that they aren’t good people…they are. They have amazing hearts for God, but they really can’t add any value to you because they can’t point you to the scriptures which is where we say we base our beliefs out of!!! This is why it baffles me that someone calls himself/herself a Christian author/pastor/teacher and have next to NO SCRIPTURE in their book! How are you supposed to be transformed by scripture to allow it filter everything you do, see, and think if they don’t give you any scripture?!

So if you are going to allow the scriptures to become a filter for you, then you have to know what it says. There is no other way around it.

2. Two-Way Filter

I talked about above that we should allow the scriptures to influence everything we do, see, and think. I gave an example of how we allow the scripture to effect your actions. When we feel that urge to blow up on our coworker or tell a little white lie, we feel in our heart the scripture interfere a say “Yes…you could do that, but if you want to be obedient to God and walk in His ways then allow me to remind you of that passage you read awhile back.” And we make a decision to either obey or reject God’s Word. That is an “inside-out” filter. The scripture in our hearts filters what we do, see, and think from the inside-out.

In time, you should develop an “outside-in” filter. I believe that this filter is even more important because it deals with filtering teaching, habits, and actions we see and hear through the scripture.

UH? Ryan…what??

Allow me to explain. There are many, many, many things that you will see and hear in your growth as a Christian that sound scriptural…that look scriptural…but it’s really not. And the only way you can tell is by filtering those things through the scriptures.

For example, I used to work for a church in NC. One day, while talking to the pastor, he said that a certain “type” of person (people with tattoos, piercings, etc) was not the “market” he was called to reach. Now the pastor is very business-oriented, always in a suit, and loves classical music. I understand that he may have a difficult time reaching them on a cultural level, but when you process his thought from the outside-in through scripture…it’s clearly wrong.

“For God so loved the world (not Jews or white middle-class republicans)…” John 3:16
The Jews who were to spread the Gospel didn’t believe they were to share it with the Gentiles (non-Jews), but God showed them they are in Acts.

These are just two examples from scripture…not someone’s opinion or what the pastor says…that should filter out that thought from entering your heart. EVERYTHING…must go through the filter of scripture.

Another example is from a rabbi that lived when Jesus did. He taught about the four types of students (like Jesus did with the soil).

1. The Sponge

2. The Funnel
3. The Strainer

4. The Sieve or fine mesh

I don’t know which one of the four you are. Only you know what, but read the following descriptions and maybe get an idea where you are.

The Sponge: He said the worst kind of student is “the sponge”. A sponge absorbs anything and everything it can without filter. It will soak up oil, water, grease, soda, and juice. These sort of Christian is not hard to spot and is generally harmless. They are usually co-signing everything they hear that sounds Biblical, but don’t really know if it is or isn’t. They say things like “you know Jesus rode around in what would have been a modern day Bentley!” or “I get my teaching on God’s Word from listening to praise and worship!”

The Funnel: The third best (or second worse) is the Funnel. A funnel takes everything in still, but process it slower. This sort of Christian hears teaching, but instead of accepting it immediately like the sponge, they process the information intellectually without scripture. They might take longer to accept it, but there is still no scriptural filter.

The Strainer: Second best is the Strainer. A strainer is the most basic type of filter. When you use a strainer most times you are using it for pasta. The strainer catches the big pieces of pasta, but a small piece of pasta that might have broken off from a larger piece will still get through the big holes in the strainer. This student is constantly straining things through scripture, but occasionally through ignorance poor teaching will get into the heart and mind. To me, this is the most dangerous Christian to listen to because they will usually give you their Biblical sounding spiel and then try to back it up with a verse or two. You should be looking for the opposite.

The Sieve/Fine Mesh: The absolute best…the kind you and I should work to be…is the Sieve. When you use a fine mesh sieve, you are getting only the most pure product through the other side. It will catch virtually everything in the water/oil. If we become like the sieve and we process EVERYTHING through scripture, we will begin to catch every poor saying and thought even if it sounds Biblical….even if someone is using scripture!!

Just a warning…people who are sieves get persecuted and here’s why. People don’t like sieves because they are pushing to learn God’s Word and end up knowing it better than they do. And so they end up saying things like this about the sieve…”I don’t want to end up arrogant like him/her.” or “I’m not going to “debate” scripture with you. We’ll just have to agree to disagree.” or “Oh…you’re just being rebellious.” They will say anything to discredit the sieve because of the sieve’s active pursuit of truth to justify their lack of understanding and Biblical knowledge.

For example, since I can really only talk about me, I’ve been called a “fool”, “mean”, and “rebellious” because I try to process everything through scripture. I’ve stepped up and said “Nah…I don’t agree with that and here’s the scripture why” and been shunned for it. Now whether I did it in love or not is not relevant. It’s just not. Should I do it in love? YES, absolutely! 100%…but even if I mess up and don’t…if I or you are presenting SCRIPTURE then it takes authority over me, the hearers, and both our actions.

The Sieve….is what we should strife to be. Filtering all we do…see…and think from the outside-in and inside-out.

Hopefully this has helped you. I was just sitting her reflecting that I wish someone had taught this to me! But…I’m thankful to God that He has allowed me to go through a lot of nonsense in order to help keep people out of it.

Grace and Peace to you,

Ryan

I didn’t really plan out the order of these posts. I just wrote them as they came to me, but as I get ready to write and post this one I can see how it is the most important. The others post are important in that they involve getting the correct resources and implying important techniques to Bible study that you should do and shouldn’t avoid. This post, however, deals with something much more important…the attitude of your heart.

It’s easy to simply read and/or study the Bible to find information. I know several people who are full of Bible knowledge, but have no interest in allowing the scriptures to change them. They search the scriptures to try to find ways they think God is irrelevant to today’s culture or to try to prove Christians are hypocrites. I’ll tell you though if you are simply looking for the Bible to be a “great book to read”, then I can suggest better books for you. Yes…I just said that.

Listen…I know this might sound crazy…The Bible is ALIVE. To the person who reads it with a heart to learn about God, it will “speak” to them. It will open their eyes to the character of God. It will penetrate the reader’s heart and change them from the inside out. Think that sounds crazy?!?! It’s no accident that the Bible is the #1 Best-Selling Book of ALL-TIME. It is so far into first place that lists like the New York Times Bestsellers don’t even list it. It’s no accident that for centuries men and woman have lost their lives ON PURPOSE to either protect or because they know the Bible. I know reading that is foreign to us in the United States, but there are pastors in Africa and China today…yes TODAY…that will lose their lives because they read the Bible by men who do not want them to read it.

The Bible is POWERFUL…but only to those with the right heart.

So this post is about having the right heart towards the scriptures.

1. All Scripture is God-Breathed.

14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

The first thing you need to understand about Scripture is that it is all breathed (or inspired) by God. I want to be clear about how much is inspired by God…ALL SCRIPTURE. ALL. Not some…not part…not a few…ALL. This is important for a couple of reasons.

1. If it is all inspired by God, then it is all true and no two scriptures contradict themselves…they can only contrast themselves showing us there is some middle ground between the two.
2. It is important to get an understanding of what all the scriptures say on a subject…not just a few.

We need them ALL…even the Old Testament contrary to popular belief…to understand God’s character and will. Some Christians spend the majority of their time in the New Testament, not that is not a bad thing at all just as long as they understand there is truth found in the Old Testament too. Some Christians avoid what is commonly called “the law” in the first five books of the Bible called the Torah or Pentateuch because we are not required to follow them, BUT the law can give us insight into God’s character. I’ll talk about that in a minute.

So we need to understand that ALL SCRIPTURE is important and 2 Tim 3:16 gives us the reasons why.

1. Teaching
2. Reproof
3. Correction
4. Training

1. Teaching

Paul was writing to a young pastor named Timothy in this passage, but it still speaks to all of us today. How? When Paul wrote this to Timothy, Greek philosophy was prominent in the culture. I don’t know if Plato was alive at this time in history, but to give an example of a philosopher; Plato was a wise man who gave wise insight and teaching. The problem is that his insight and wisdom is based on his OPINION. We don’t teach opinions as Christians. We teach God’s Holy and True Word.

When we read the Bible, our hearts should be set to be taught the truth of God’s Word. We are only in search of His truth. Some people will share things with you that sound like scripture, but unless they can back up what they say with scripture…I wouldn’t take it to heart completely. It’s better to say/think “I’ll keep that in mind, until I can read it in the scriptures.” If you go to the store to buy a “Christian” book…before you leave the store…flip through the book and see how many scriptures are listed. If the book is full of scriptures, you’ll PROBABLY be okay (there are people out there that twist scriptures to say what they want it to say). If the book doesn’t have that many, then I’d personally put it back on the shelf. You don’t want someone teaching you out of 2 Opinions 3:16…you want something that lines up with 2 Timothy 3:16.

So in reading and studying the Bible…position your heart to learn and be taught by what it says.

2. Reproof

Here is the definition of “Reproof” – “the act of criticizing somebody for having done something wrong”. Even the original Greek word we translate into English as reproof means “rebuke”.

Yes…the Bible is used for rebuking people. Now…we don’t go to them with a finger in their face. We go peacefully and in love to show them…with scripture…that they are wrong, but that is a whole other Bible study. I want to talk about allowing the Bible to rebuke you. Yes…rebuke YOU.

Contrary to popular belief, you and I are not perfect. We make mistakes and we will continue to make mistakes. We are only human and as we read the Bible, occasionally we will run across passages that flat out tell us we are doing something wrong. If your heart is open to the scriptures…to be changed by them…then we allow the scripture to rebuke us. Is it pleasant? No, but it is necessary.

I’ll tell you I recently got into a heated disagreement with some people. I said somethings that I felt were true and still do, but when I went back to the scriptures, I got REBUKED! The scriptures told me that those sort of disagreements are pointless and only make things worse. I…was…wrong. Plain and simple…so instead of trying to justify myself, I allowed myself to be rebuked by the scriptures. I don’t say that to my glory or for boasting…I’m just trying to give an example from my life.

So when we read/study the Bible…we position our hearts to be rebuked by the Bible and we do it because we know God loves us and wants us to grow closer to Him. I’m not saying you’ll be rebuked every time you read the Bible, but be open to it if it happens.

3. Correction

Just as the Bible flat out can rebuke us…it can correct us which is very different than being rebuked. Allow me to explain with an example from my own life.

I grew up in church…more or less. During that time, I picked up on somethings that I thought were sin. I grew up thinking that dancing was a sin, as well as alcohol. For the longest time I thought if I was seen dancing with a beer in my hand, the Earth would open below me and send me straight to hell!

And then I started to read my Bible…and read about how King David danced with everything he had in 2 Sam 6:14 to rejoice the Ark of the Covenant returning. And I read my Bible more and read a ton of scriptures that showed me alcohol was not a sin…getting drunk was. In both those cases, I allowed what I thought was truth to be corrected.

This should be the position of your heart at all times. There are going to be times where you read the Bible and come across things that you didn’t know you should be doing and things you didn’t know you shouldn’t do…allow the Bible to correct you.

4. Training

Once you read the Bible and begin to get a grasp for ALL scripture (remember…this won’t happen overnight…in a month…not even years…understand it’s a process and a position of your heart to know what all the Bible says…not just a few scriptures)…allow the Bible to rebuke you of sin….let it correct your thoughts…it’s now time to be trained by them in life.

Like in sports, you need to develop an understanding that your Bible is like your coach. Just like a coach shows you the correct way to do something, the Bible shows you how to walk with God but then it is your responsibility to do it! It is your job to “exercise” the scriptures in your life.

22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James 1:22 TNIV

It’s a waste of time to read the Bible and have no intention of doing what it says. Now…you’ll mess up and not obey it…but I’m talking about the condition of your heart. If you read a passage that says you are not to lie and then later in your heart you have no intention to stop lying, then you are wasting your time. If your heart is set correctly towards God’s Word to be trained by it then if you happen to lie…repent and try not to next time. This is the whole point of Word. Look at the rest of James 1.

22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Those who listen to the word but do not do what it says are like people who look at their faces in a mirror 24 and, after looking at themselves, go away and immediately forget what they look like. 25 But those who look intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continue in it–not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it–they will be blessed in what they do.

This passage says we look into the Word of God like a mirror. It shows us what we look like…areas where we look good and areas were we don’t. If the mirror shows your hair is all jacked up, you fix it right? You don’t say “I don’t care” (hopefully)…you take time to correct it. And so when we look into God’s “mirror”, we allow it to show us where we need training and then we do it!
Hopefully this pointers are helping you. God’s word is amazing in truth and application into our daily lives. If these pointers have been helpful or if you have any questions…drop me a comment below or email at redsoxtexan@gmail.com and I’ll try to answer them.

Grace and Peace,
Ryan

Part 1 we talked about the need for a Bible for Bible study! LOL  We also talked about picking a certain translation for the type of study you want to do.

Part 2 we talked about different books that would be beneficial for you to have when you study.

Part 3 we talked about some Bible study mistakes and how to avoid them.

For part 4 I want to focus on some pointers that you will want to do when you study the Bible.

1. You have got to “Be There!”

Looking back, I wish I had started with this point to Bible study because it helps put the “no-no” Bible study methods in perspective to a degree. Because when I say you have to “be there”, I’m saying you have to imagine the story. I know this sounds elementary because we do it all the time. You read the Da Vinci Code and you can “see” in your mind Robert Langdon (or Tom Hanks with a really bad haircut) running through the Louvre in Paris. However, a lot of people don’t apply this principle when they read the Bible.

The difference between the Da Vinci Code and the Bible is that the Bible tells us real stories…of real people…in a different time in history…in a different culture. Another difference (as you will see below) is the stories in the Bible are not usually “play-by-play” as where a novel generally is. With that in mind, we can imagine the scenes that we read and place them into historical context and piece the stories together based on what we read. For example, the stories about Jesus in the Gospels take place in the first century…in Israel…to Jewish people…living in a religious Jewish culture. We have to keep these things in our minds otherwise we end up picturing Jesus with a fohawk and clothes from the GAP. We’ll picture Him carrying around an iPhone for His Bible, listening to Fred Hammond and Hillsong, and drinking White Chocolate Macchiatos. AND WORSE…we’ll try to interpret what Jesus said with a Western 21st century mindset.

Now before I go any further…I have to tell you the second pointer because I am going to take this pointer and the second and explain them together.

2. You Have to Ask Questions About the Text

Some people just…read…the Bible much like they would any other book. One word after another without much thought. If you are going to be successful in your Bible study, you will have to begin to learn how to ask question about the text.

I know that sounds weird, but allow me to explain with the first pointer “Be There”.

I’m going to be using the story from Mark 11:12-21. It’s kind of long so I’m not going to post the entire passage here, but it is commonly referred to as “Jesus and the Fig Tree.” Take a second and read it for yourself because from this story I’m going to attempt to explain the “Be There” and “Question the Text” pointers.

Okay…read it? Good.

So…on the surface…this looks like a simple story. Jesus goes to get some figs off a fig tree, finds none, curses the tree that it will die, and it dies right? That…IS…what happened and that is all you will ever see if you just simply READ the text and not BE THERE and QUESTION it.  Let me show you something powerful here.

With this story, we are going to BE THERE…and like I said before with the Da Vinci Code or any book we read that is a story…we have to use our imagination and picture in our mind what is going on. So with this story Jesus walks up to the fig tree , finds no figs, and curses it to die. We know the disciples are there watching Jesus and listening to Him because vs. 14  plainly says it.

So imagine the scene with your imagination. THIS IS KEY!

Jesus is at the fig tree and curses it. His disciples are right there within earshot. You have that image in your mind? I ask because this is where you will begin to QUESTION THE TEXT.

Questions like:

Did any of the disciples look at the tree right after Jesus cursed it? Surely they would have checked immediately right? What person wouldn’t examine the tree after hearing someone say something so bold, full of faith, and against the natural laws of this world?!?!
If the fig tree instantly withered…why didn’t they say something? Why are they not shocked until later in the text?
If it didn’t wither…I wonder if the disciples talked about it when they talked away?

These kind of questions put you in the story. You “see” Jesus at the tree. You piece the story together by knowing the fig tree did not instantly wither because the disciples aren’t amazed by Jesus’ word until the next day. You know the disciples must have checked that tree when they walked past it that night when they left Jerusalem because they checked it the next morning when they discovered it was withered.

Do you see and understand “being there” and “questioning the text”? Amazing insight will leap out to you in the Bible, with the help of the Holy Spirit, when you begin to slow down…be IN the story…and ask questions.

This leads to the third pointer

3. You Must Read the Entire Passage!

It’s a common practice among people who read the Bible to take a single verse from the Bible and try to pull meaning from it. I called this no-no “cherry picking” in my last post. And I explained this is bad because the true meaning is often found in the surrounding passage and stories.

For example, go back in Mark 11. From being in the story and questioning the text, we “saw” that Jesus cursed the tree on one morning, but it wasn’t until a full day later that the fig tree was noticeably withered. This is profound and made clear by in the next couple of scriptures when Jesus said this.

22 Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. 23 I assure you that you can say to this mountain, ‘May God lift you up and throw you into the sea,’ and your command will be obeyed. All that’s required is that you really believe and do not doubt in your heart. 24 Listen to me! You can pray for anything, and if you believe, you will have it.”

So by BEING THERE…and QUESTIONING THE TEXT…and READING THE ENTIRE PASSAGE….Jesus’ words here come to light.

1. They are standing next to the fig tree when Jesus says this.
2. He spoke to the fig tree yesterday, but it wasn’t visibly withered until today.
3. From Jesus’ words about the mountain in vs. 23 and comparing it to what He did with the fig tree, we can see we can “speak to this mountain” with faith trusting God that it will be done (if it’s His will of course…compare with Jesus’ prayer in Matt 26:37-47 paying close attention to vs. 42), and it will.
4. Jesus spoke to the fig tree and because of his faith…it began to wither instantly from the inside out. So when we speak to the mountain…it may not look like it’s moving…but it is…how? Look at Jesus’ words “Have faith in God” and not doubting in your heart.

Hopefully this helps. I have a few more “Do These”, but I wanted to go ahead and publish these.

Grace and Peace,
Ryan

There are a couple of normal Bible study practices that you need to know about so that you can AVOID them. Yes….avoid, but I will explain why and what you can do to combat it.

1. Think the Bible was written yesterday.

It can be easy to forget the simple fact that the Bible was written a long, LONG time ago…over a long span of time…in a different culture…to a different people…by different people. This is very important when it comes to “being there” which, like I’ve said before, I’ll explain later. Just keep that in mind for now.

2. Think the Bible has always been written in Chapter/Verse form

We only know the Bible in Chapter and Verse form, but the books of the Bible were not originally written that way. For example, books like Ephesians and Romans were written by Paul in letter form. Now…chapter and verse form is not a bad thing, but if you aren’t careful you can accidentally commit a couple of major Bible study no-nos.

3. Cherry Pick Verses

What I mean by “cherry pick” verses is trying to pull a meaning out of a verse or two without taking into consideration that it is part of a larger passage. It’s one of the no-nos I mentioned earlier. Remember….the Bible wasn’t written in verse form so when you read a verse that sticks out to you try to remember that verse wasn’t originally a verse!

I witnessed a good example of  cherry picking when it came to Ephesians 6:8  – “because you know that the Lord will reward each one of you for whatever good you do, whether you are slave or free.”

The pastor read this verse and pulled a meaning from it that ended up being a catchphrase used around the church. He taught “What you do for God’s house…God will do for you” and that sounds like what the verse means…IF…you only look at verse 8. So people began to give the church more money thinking that God will give their house more money. People began to serve at the church more thinking that God will cause life at their home to be easier. When you consider that this verse is part of a larger passage, a different meaning emerges.

Eph 6:5-9 TNIV (I’ll take out the verse numbers to help)
Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart,  just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will reward each one of you for whatever good you do,  whether you are slave or free. And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

When you read the whole passage, you can see that Paul is telling slaves that they don’t need to brown-nose their masters in order to gain favor. That they should do good no matter what they are doing, even when people aren’t looking, knowing that God is looking after them. So the verse has implications for everywhere you go and everything you do…not just what you make happen at church.

You would be surprised how many teachings have taken passages from the Bible and cherry picked them. 2 Corinthians 9 is a prime example. So remember when you are reading to take the whole passage…sometimes even the whole book into consideration when you are looking for meaning.

4. Backwards Bible Read

Another no-no I call “Backwards Bible Reading”. This one is a little harder to explain. When you backwards Bible read, you read a passage and see what someone did and the end result then mistakenly miss the point of why they did it.

A classic example is found in Acts 4:32-35.

32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.

You could mistakenly read this passage and think “Oh…these people were giving to the church and because they were God’s grace was on them. I want God’s grace on me so I’m going to give!” But these people weren’t giving so that God’s grace could be on them. They were giving because they viewed each other as “one heart and mind” and thinking that all their possessions were not their own. They gave to the church so that the apostles could “distribute to anyone who had need.” (ahem)

5. Go Hunting for Verses to Back Your Views Up

Another no-no is going hunting for verses in the Bible to support your viewpoint. Now…the reason this can be dangerous is because you aren’t looking for the scriptures to change and transform you…you’re looking for verses to support and justify your views.

For example, I used to say…as a lot of people do…”This is how God made me…He understands” trying to justify the sin in my life. I’d then find scriptures the back that up. Scriptures like Psalms 139:14a “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made…” Or I’d use a verse like Gen. 1:27 “God created human beings in his own image…” The problem there are other verses that counterweight those verses and balance out the views. You’d be amazed how many people do this sort of thing with a vast number of subjects like homosexuality, being rich, having nothing to do with sinners, and salvation.

The proper way is to read the scriptures in order to find out IF your views and beliefs line up with the Bible and to be changed and transformed by them if they don’t. I used to think that I had to do certain things in order to qualify myself BEFORE I got saved. I felt like I wasn’t worthy BUT when I read Eph 2:8-9  I learned I can’t do anything to earn it. It is a free gift. So instead of trying to find verses to support my views…I allowed the views of the Bible to change me.

Now…hear me…there is nothing wrong studying to Bible by looking for certain verses on say a subject like “grace” as long as your remember that you are looking to be changed by what the scriptures say.

Hopefully this will help. Next post will definitely be on “being there”…perhaps the most important parts of Bible study. Till then…

Grace and Peace,
Ryan

Okay…You’ve picked a Bible. What now right?

Some would say “Just start reading!” and yes…you could just start reading, but I’d like to suggest a few things. For this post, I just want to focus on one.

1. Get Books For the Books.

What I mean by that is get some Bible reference books that can help you understand the books of the Bible better. I suggest getting books like (but not necessarily these exact ones) … Strong’s Concordance, Vine’s Expository Dictionary, Hollman’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary, and a good Bible commentary like The New International Commentary.

Here is what each one will do.

Strong’s Concordance – Over a hundred years ago, Dr. James Strong took on a massive task. He went through the entire King James Version of the Bible and grouped every word…EVERY WORD…together. For example, if you wanted to find every verse in the entire Bible that contains the word “love”, Strong’s Concordance lists every verse with that word.

This is helpful for several reasons. It helps find that “one verse” that you can’t remember where it’s found in the Bible, but you know it contains the word “love”. It also does something even more important. Next to each verse is a number. That number corresponds to the original Hebrew or Greek word that the Bible was written in.

Why is this important? Well…sometimes…not all the time, but sometimes…when the translators were turning the Bible into English, they looked at two or more different Hebrew/Greek words and decided to translate them all as one English word. Other times, they took one Hebrew/Greek word and translated it into many different English words. A great example of this is found in the English word “love”. In John 21:15-17, Jesus is asking Peter some questions. In English, part of the conversation goes like this.

Jesus – “Peter, do you love me?”
Peter – “Jesus, you know I love you.”

In English, there really isn’t much here…HOWEVER…in the original Greek that this passage was written in two DIFFERENT Greek words are used for love. It really goes like this.

Jesus – “Peter, do you AGAPAO me?”
Peter – “Jesus, you know I PHILEO you.”

What does that mean? Well…that is where Vine’s Expository Dictionary comes in.

Vine’s Expository Dictionary – this book will help you with the meaning of the original Hebrew or Greek word. In this example, “Agapao” means a love like God has for Jesus. It is deep and unconditional. “Phileo”, however, means “tender affection.” You can clearly see there was a much deeper conversation going on between Jesus and Peter despite in English is just looks like Jesus is pestering Peter with the same question.

Holman’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary – this is a great book because it’s illustrated and full of information. For example, if you are reading about the Temple and all of its courts that might get confusing. You might wonder what that looks like. This book can show you. It’s helps you “be there”…which I’ll discuss later. Again this book can help give you an idea about different things found in the Bible.

The New International Commentary - There are many good commentaries out there like “The Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible” and you will need one to help you with your study. As I mentioned earlier…and I will go into depth in a later post…you need to “be there”. These books of the Bible were written by real people, living in a real culture, going through real situations in another time in history. These things play a BIG role in understanding the Bible. Getting a commentary will help you understand what is going on.

For example, if you were to read the book of Philippians, you might get the feeling that Paul is on top of the world! He is expressing his love for the people at Philippi as if he is sitting somewhere in the sun, drinking Pina Coladas, and writing this letter. He says things like “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy…For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus” (Phil 1:3-4, 8 )

When you get a commentary and read it for some insight, you’d find out that Paul is writing this letter from within a Roman prison. You might then grab the Illustrated Bible Dictionary and see that a Roman prison is a dank, dark place. Suddenly, Paul’s words take on a new light. When he read passages like the one above you see how even in Paul’s prison conditions he is thinking of others and loving them like God loves us. It takes on new light when you read “I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me” in 4:13. Paul is going through hell on Earth and yet he finds his strength in Christ. What an awesome example for us…one we might not have had without a commentary.

So to wrap this up….we would be wise to get some books to help up understand the Bible. Many, many great men and woman have read and studied the Bible for thousands of years and have written some great books to help us. So getting these kinds of books is like going to college almost…listening to an instructor. Now hear me…getting these books only help us understand what is INSIDE the Bible. We still need to read it!

If you don’t want to go out and buy these books, there are websites like www.bible.crosswalk.com that provide these books online for FREE…books like commentaries, dictionaries, and concordances.

Hopefully this will help you. Next post will probably be about “Being IN the Bible”.

Till then….Grace and Peace,
Ryan

So I’m going to write X amount of posts trying to lay some basic ground work for you about taking an ancient book written thousands of years ago and trying to find truth in it that will transform your life and grow you closer to Jesus Christ.

And I want to throw out an early warning…the first couple of post may sound very basic, but I can’t assume that everyone who reads this is a seasoned veteran of Bible study. In fact, I hope I get the opposite. And so here we go…

I am about to unleash the most profound truth I know about studying the Bible for you right now. Are you ready?

#1…You must have a Bible!

Shocking right!?!? Now that might sound like a joke…but it’s not. If you are going to study God’s Word, then you must have a copy of it. Here’s why this is not a joke. There are people out there who hardly read their Bible, but listen to tons of teaching. There are people out there who cannot quote to you a handful of scriptures, but can tell you what their favorite minister says all the time. There are people out there who have consumed their life AROUND the Bible by listening to tons of Christian music, have a poster or some form of artwork hanging up in their house with scriptures on it, or maybe read a few Christian books….BUT….not the Bible.

If you are going to learn what God says…you have to have God’s Words.

#2…Pick a version of the Bible that fits the style of study you want to do.

There are some Christians out there that will tell you the King James Version of the Bible is the only “authorized” version of the Bible that we should use.  Can I just be bold with you? That’s religious nonsense. Just smile at whoever says that to you and move on. Unless Jesus came down from heaven in 1611 and made it the only authorized version, there are many translations of the Bible such as: New King James, New American Standard, English Standard, New International, New Living, The Message, and Amplified. Each one sits somewhere on a spectrum between two different types of Bibles.

At one far end of that spectrum, you have “Word-for-Word” translations. What that means is the people who translated that Bible into English looked at the original language the Bible was written in (mainly Hebrew and Greek) and tries to find an English word that means the same or extremely close.

At the other far end of that spectrum, you have “Thought-for-Thought” translations. That means the people who translated the Hebrew and Greek into English were not stressing over every last word translated into English. These translators read the entire passage of scripture and tried to get the passage into clear English without losing the truth of the passage and without stressing over every last word.

I’m a “Word-for-Word” guy, but that doesn’t mean “Thought-for-Thought” Bibles cannot be trusted. Let’s see if this next example will help you understand the spectrum. Let’s say you are watching Forrest Gump and, for whatever reason, you decide to turn on the English subtitles on. If you were watching a “Word-for-Word” version of Forrest Gump, when he says “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what ya gonna get”, the subtitles might look like this. “Life is like a box of chocolates. You knew know what you’re going to get.” Did you catch that? It’s pretty much word for word except for the word “gonna” is changed to “going” and “ya” into “you’re”. Some of the best “Word-for-Word” Bibles are New American Standard, English Standard Version, and King James Version in that order with NAS being the closest we have to the original Hebrew and Greek and furthest from “Thought-for-Thought”.

But let’s say you are watching the “Thought-for-Thought” version of Forest Gump. Forrest says “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get”and the subtitles might say “Life is like a box of different kinds of chocolates. You never know what kind of center you have in the chocolate unless you take a bite. A Thought-for-Thought Bible, like my example, gets the same message across, but without the strict translation.” Some of the “Thought-for-Thought” Bibles are New International Version, New Living Translation, and The Message. The Message being closet to the “Thought-for-Thought” end of the spectrum and furthest from “Word-for-Word”.

So which type, “Word-for-Word” or “Thought-for-Thought”, should you use? Neither one is bad, but what you plan to accomplish with your Bible study should have some play in the Bible you choose.

Just ask yourself a honest question or pray about this: “What kind of Bible study most interests me?” There is no right or wrong answer here. You probably have a good idea where your maturity level is as a Christian or what level your understanding of the Bible is at so it might be wise to choose off of that.

For example, if you are new to this “Bible-thing” it might be a good idea to grab you a good “Thought-for-Thought” Bible. They are easy to read and will not stir you wrong. I personally like the New Living Translation. It is a fairly new translation that was put together by a MASSIVE team of Bible scholars and professors. When I’m having a hard time understanding the meaning behind a passage…I go to that translation first.

If you are some what familiar with the Bible and are looking to dig a little deeper…I like the New American Standard for personal Bible study because it has Strong’s numbers which I’ll discuss later and because it is the closet English translation we have to the original Hebrew and Greek. Other than that…I love English Standard Version. I love it because it sits between NAS and KJV on the spectrum. It is not so “Word-for-Word” that it can be difficult to understanding the meaning of a passage like NAS and it is in modern English unlike KJV plus ESV is closer to the original Hebrew and Greek than KJV.

So choose a Bible…and next post I’ll write about how you should approach the Bible.

Grace and Peace,

Ryan

The video is about an hour and twenty minutes long, but I really want you to drag the marker forward to the 1 hour 1 minute mark to see an amazing example of God being glorified. There is a powerful, life-changing story of a Haitian pastor. Watch his response to the circumstances surrounding his life.

God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.

Have you ever heard someone say something and it is so far-fetched you have to ask them to repeat it?

That happened to me today.

A friend told me about a podcast of a church and asked me to listen to it to see if what was being preached lined up with God’s Word. I’m not a Bible scholar, but I believe I can offer a balanced answer so I decided to listen. 2 and a half minutes into the message I heard the pastor say this.

“But I found out me looking smart and intelligent and deep and knowing the Bible develops no followers. Develops no partners.”

So preaching and knowing the Bible well is a bad thing?!?!?!

So knowing the Bible well isn’t something a Christian should strife for because then they might get followers?!?!?!

So a Christian should avoid learning the Bible so they can get followers?!?!?!

Didn’t Jesus know the Bible well?!?!?! Wasn’t Jesus smart and full of wisdom?!?!?! (Luke 2:46-47, 52)

AND…He had and has A LOT of followers.

And why is the Pastor trying to get followers?!?!?! Isn’t the idea to “make disciples” in Jesus’ name? (Matt 28:18-20)

Isn’t the idea of someone saying they follow anyone other than God “merely human”?!?!?! (1 Cor. 3:4)

And why is the Pastor desiring “partners”?!?!?! We should be partnered with God!!!! (1 Cor. 3:9)

Later in the sermon when referring to Adam and Eve before they fell into sin, he says “Obviously God never planned for man to ever be exposed to anything bad!”

If God never planned for man to ever to exposed to anything bad, then why did God allow Adam and Eve to be tempted by Satan?!?! Why did God allow them access to the tree of good and evil?!?!

obviously…God allows us to be exposed to bad things.

OBVIOUSLY…..knowing the Bible well is a GOOD THING!! ( 1 Cor. 3:1-3, Eph 6:17, Heb 5:11-14 to name a few AND not to mention the fact that dozens and dozens of times that Jesus spoke He was referring back to scriptures!!)

I just want to end this by saying it is YOUR responsibility to learn God’s Word well!! Every person who preaches incorrectly will have to answer for their bad teaching BUT Jesus said in Luke 21:8 “Do not be deceived.” Paul also used the phrase many times. The connotation is the responsibility is on YOU!

You make sure you are not deceived! How?? I plan on writing about that next time. Until then…

Grace and Peace,

Ryan

P.S. Leave comments please. I want to know what you think or if I need to make anything clearer.