About the Bible and Bible Study - Part 2

This is a continuation from a previous post
About the Bible and Bible Study - PART 1


PART 2 – About Bible Study

One of the best things that we can do when beginning to read the Bible is to get a hold of one of the best and most accurate translations possible.  I do not believe there exists an infallible translation, but I do believe there are those which are much better than others.

Back in 1995, my dearest friend, gave my husband and me a New International Version Study Bible (NIV).  That particular Bible will always have very special meaning in my life.  It was the Bible that I read more than any other Bible I had ever held before it.  I devoured it—studying with it, writing in it, and highlighting in it all over the place.  A few short years later, I decided to move on to using a New American Standard Bible (NAS).  I had heard and read that it was a translation more true to the original languages.  By that time, I longed to be a more serious studier of the Scriptures and wanted as close to the original as possible.  For years, the NAS was my most preferred translation, and I didn’t think I could get my hands on a better Bible.  But I was always keeping an eye out, just in case. 

Every Day, It's All About Christ

The evangel…

Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that He was entombed, and that He has been roused the third day according to the scriptures…

One died for the sake of all…

He died for the sake of all that those who are living should by no means still be living to themselves, but to the One dying and being roused for their sakes…

God was in Christ conciliating the world to Himself, not reckoning their offenses to them…

About the Bible and Bible Study - Part 1

PART 1 – About the Bible    

I wanted to share some thoughts regarding the Bible and Bible study.   

There are controversies regarding the Bible and whether it is true or not (as a whole or in part), whether it is worth reading or not, whether it is a work of God or of man, and whether it can be trusted or not. 

If one follows most common, mainstream Bible teachings, the Bible will eventually seem to be full of contradictions.  Most Bible teachers will not usually straight up admit to that.  However, on one day, a person can receive a particular teaching and explanation about what is written in the Bible, and on another day, a person can be taught something that completely contradicts the teaching that came before it.  Excuses or some kind of weak pat answers are typically given to a person who asks why the Bible and God’s ways seem to be contradictory.  From my own experience, I have had plenty of such instances in my life.  And when the questions would start rolling through my mind, I would shoo them away like flies because I kept telling myself that “God’s ways aren’t my ways” and “Who am I to question God’s confusing behavior and plan?”  So I would just keep swatting away the pesky questions and try to content myself with an answer like, “That’s just the way it is, and I must accept it.”

The Simplicity of Salvation

“For in grace, through faith, are you saved,

and this is not out of you;

it is God’s approach present,

not of works lest anyone should be boasting.”

(Ephesians 2:8-9)

I’ll have to begin this post with a little technical info on the Greek language.  Please bear with me; it’s so important to the point I’m going to make.

The majority of the New Testament is written in the Greek language.  Greek can be quite a complicated language and sometimes it is difficult to translate the full meaning of its text into the English language.  This is partly due to the fact that Greek verbs have different “tenses”, “voices”, and “moods” which give the verbs slightly different connotations.  If you’d like to be a serious student of the New Testament writings, gaining knowledge of these aspects of the Greek language is important.  

Do You Believe God?

Loved this well stated quote from my friend, Dan Sheridan:

"Most people today believe other men rather than the Scriptures. Abraham believed God. Do you believe God? Or are you a follower of someone who is, or claims to be one of His servants? Most people never advance beyond the person they set up as their teacher. They are attracted to personalities, and NOT truth. They support people who make them feel good. They like entertainers rather than substance."

Caught Somewhere in Between

I am so excited to finally be sitting down to write this post.  I have wanted to write this one for a very long time—probably about two years.

From the first moment that listened to the words of the Casting Crowns song “Somewhere in the Middle” (The Altar and the Door CD), I felt deeply inspired and was filled with countless thoughts that went along with the truths spoken in the song.  I’ve wanted to express those thoughts in writing since then.  This document has been sitting in my computer files titled, but empty of words until today.  God only knows what I would have written back then; I only have the words He has given me for today.  

Farewell 2010

I thought I would wrap up the last two hours of 2010 by writing an update.  I hope two hours is long enough to write this post and get it posted before it becomes January 1, 2011.  :-)

It’s very hard to believe two months have gone by since I last wrote for this blog.  Actually, it feels like a lot longer than two months because so much has happened.

November and December have been a complete whirlwind for me.  I completely submerged myself in my candle making business.  I began making soy wax candles a couple of years ago in 2008.  For most of the last two years, it has been a hobby I would dabble in here and there, and occasionally, I would even sell a candle to someone I knew.  This past fall, the hobby turned into a full blown business.  God graciously gave me something to keep me very busy and to keep my mind off of other things that were troubling me and making me awfully sad.