Posts Tagged ‘bible’
It has happened to all of us. We heard a sermon, or read a pamphlet, or listened to a gentle rebuke from a friend, but instead of humbly listening and going through the steps of self-examination, we just got angry at the message and the messenger. I speak from experience on both sides of the aisle. The passage in James from this week’s homework talks about hearing, speaking, and becoming angry. It certainly applies to every day relationships, but the context of the passage has to do with our response to the Bible. I did the homework for Day 2 of this week or Day 23 overall from 40 Days In The Word and I am passing it on to you.
19. This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; 20. for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. James 1:19-20 NASB
Paraphrase It:
My dear fellow believers, You already know this, but each of us should be quick to hear God’s Word, we should always be slow to argue with it, and we should be should be very slow to be angry with God’s Word. Because our anger does not bring about the kind of righteousness God wants me to have.
Apply It:
I am glad that James prefaced his remarks with “my beloved brethren.” It is always good to remember when I am about to hear a strong word from God that He loves me and so does the messenger. I need to remember to do that like James did, when I have to deliver a strong message.
I need to be quick to listen to God’s word and put it into practice. I should not have to wait and think it over when I know what is right.
I should be slow to speak. I should be slow to talk back to God when he is talking to me. It is way too easy for me to argue with Him or His word and think that it is not referring to me, or I do not have to change.
I also need to never respond in anger to God’s Word to me, or the messenger of His Word. Sometimes when I do not like the message God has for me, it is easy to get angry inside and even project that anger to a brother or sister who simply happened to be telling me what God said. That is wrong.
In fact, getting angry with God’s Word or those who teach it, preach it, share it, send it, or use it to counsel, is wrong. My anger will not be able to produce the right kind of life, the life that will make God proud and make me happy.
Pray It:
Lord, I am so thankful that I know that you love me, no matter how difficult the message may be to hear. Thanks for reminding me to always be quick to hear and obey your word. I know that is best for me. Thanks for reminding me how wrong it is to argue with you about what you have said. And thank you for reminding me to not get angry with others when you speak to me because that is never productive. In fact it just causes more problems. Amen
You are loved,
Bro. Kelly
PS Remember, if you happen to miss the Sunday night group, you can make it up by sitting in on one of the other groups. There is a group that meets at the church campus on Wednesday night at 6:00 PM in room C109.
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“Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” (Acts 17:11 NASB)
This passage refers to the people in the city of Berea. They were more noble than those from Thessalonica because they received the Word. They were also eager to know the Word. They were also disciplined to personally study the Word. Are you that noble?
“ I believe one reason more people do not study the Word of God is that they do not know how to study it.” Dr. Kelly Carr
One advantage they had was a great teacher like Paul who could teach them how to study the Bible. I believe one reason more people do not study the Word of God is that they do not know how to study it. They do not have the skills or resources. No one has ever taught them how to study it or given them a simple and practical PLAN for personal Bible study.
Join us for 40 Days In The Word and find a simple plan for personal Bible study. It will change forever the way you interact with God’s Word and hear His voice.
Be Noble,
Bro. Kelly
40 Days In The Word
Are you passionate about getting people into the Word? Are you passionate about helping people get involved in small groups? Then be a part of our 40 Days In The Word leadership team. Positions needed:
Publicity Coordinator
Prayer Coordinator
Small Group Coordinator
Weekend Coordinator
100 Small Group Leaders
Get informed to see how God wants you to be involved. Meet Bro. Kelly in B206 at 5:00 PM on Sunday.
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Many of us have had the experience of opening the Bible to read and then having our minds wander to a thousand things. Perhaps you have finished reading an entire chapter, reading all the words, and then gotten to the end and not even remember anything you just read. That is not a disease, it is just a common problem. But how do you study a passage of Scripture and really get something out of it? How do you understand what the real meaning of the verse or paragraph really is?
Rick Warren says, “The secret of dynamic bible study is knowing how to ask the right kinds of questions.” In fact, the more questions you ask, the more you can actually learn from the passage. Learning how to ask these questions will have a side benefit of actually giving you a more inquisitive mind. The problem is that often we come to the Bible with a preconceived idea of what the passage already says, so why bother to concentrate on it? After all, we already know what it means. But do you know ALL it means?
“The Bible was not given to increase our knowledge, but to change our lives.” D. L. Moody
In his book, “Bible Study Methods,” Rick Warren gives 12 distinct methods of Bible study. These are not original with him, but he at least gives a “how to” description of each. The 12 methods he lists are:
• The Devotional Method
• The Chapter Summary Method
• The Character Quality Method
• The Thematic Method
• The Biographical Method
• The Topical Method
• The Word Study Method
• The Book Background Method
• The Book Survey Method
• The Chapter Analysis Method
• The Book Synthesis Method
• The Verse-by-Verse Method
One of the great differences between reading the Bible, which every Christian needs to do, and studying the Bible, is using a pen or pencil. That may be oversimplified, but when you study the Bible, you are making notes, underlining things, writing down references, writing down observations, and applications, etc. When you write things down you tend to remember them better and also tend to think them through better. Writing makes us think.
On January 15, our church will begin “40 Days In The Word.” My goal and hope is that we will have 100% participation. We will need between 75 and 80 small group hosts or hostesses who are willing to have a small group. The materials are DVD driven with a workbook, so it does not require a lot of preparation time to be the group host or facilitator. We will begin soon to recruit our 40 Days Team, and our 40 Days Hosts. Please be in prayer about what the Lord will want you to do.
I really believe that this study has the potential to change our lives and our church for the positive more than anything else we can do. Remember, the Bible was not written to satisfy our curiosity, but to change our lives.
You Are Loved,
Bro. Kelly
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“Your words were found and I ate them, and Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart;” (Jeremiah 15:16).
newsletter article
WOW! Jeremiah’s Bible must have been interesting. He couldn’t get enough. How about yours?
Someone has said that it is a sin to make the Bible boring. Actually, you cannot make the Bible boring, but it is possible to make Bible “study” boring. The Bible is the most relevant book in the world. It is more relevant and up to date than today’s newspaper. It is even more interesting. However, sometimes we think we have learned it all and, of course, when you get that attitude about anything, then it can become dull to you.
I would like to challenge everyone in our church family who teaches the Word, whether it is a Bible study class, a home group, or even in your own family, to consider how to keep the Bible interesting and up to date. There are ways to make something become very exciting reading, even if it is not your most exciting pass time. For instance, I do not really enjoy reading software manuals. I don’t spend my spare time sitting down and reading through the latest version of Microsoft Office. However, I recently had to install some software, not Microsoft, on my computer. I became an avid reader of the software manual. It is amazing how relevant and interesting something becomes (even a water heater owner’s manual)whenever you are having a problem in that area. (Teacher, I may have just given you a golden nugget to help you in your next lesson. Find the problem or problems the passage is answering and build your lesson around it.)
Our next Bible Study Leader’s Meeting is Sunday, October 30 at 5:00 PM. We will be discussing, “How Do You Make Bible Study Interesting?” Be prepared to share some of your own ideas and methods on how you keep Bible study interesting in your class. I will also be sharing my “Short List of 25 Bible Study Resources that Every Teacher Should Have.” It is a good starting place for building your own personal library. We will be meeting in Room B103.
“The Bible is a corridor between two eternities down which walks the Christ of God; His invisible steps echo through the Old Testament, but we meet Him face to face in the throne room of the New; and it is through that Christ alone, crucified for me, that I have found forgiveness for sins and life eternal. The Old Testament is summed up in the word Christ; the New Testament is summed up in the world Jesus; and the summary of the whole Bible is that Jesus is the Christ.” Bishop Pollock
You Are Loved,
Bro. Kelly
When it comes to Bible Study, or Sunday School, do you think like a “missionary?” We send some of our best people to the mission field because they have to be good at many things to be able to be successful in a cross-cultural setting. In fact, many of the best principles we have learned about church growth have come from the missionaries who have returned from the foreign mission fields. How do you apply these concepts to your own Bible Study group?
For instance, we learned how important it is to reach the most “reachable” or “receptive and responsive” people first. We learned that it is easier to reach people who are most “like” us. We learned about the “natural bridges” that God has set up in humanity and that when we cross the “natural bridges” of family and social structures that are already in place, that we can reach whole tribes of people.
Is Sunday School a Missionary Activity?
The Sunday School movement was actually a missionary innovation. It was started to meet a need and was so successful that churches adopted it to minister to their own people and reach out to their own communities.
How does a missionary think? Well, at least one way, is to think about who is the “unreached people group” I am trying to reach? In other words, what type of people is our class trying to reach? Are they retired, married, single, divorced, widowed, teen, children, boys, girls, men, women, professionals, students, blue collar, white collar, 20-30, 30-40, 40-50, 50-60, 60-70, 70-up, etc. But Bro. Kelly, our class wants to reach EVERYBODY. Great, but how is that working? Usually, if we do not have a specific group in mind, then we are likely to reach no one.
How Do We Begin To Think Like Missionaries?
First, decide which “unreached people group” your class can reach. The group you are most likely to reach is the group you are a part of. What kind of people make up your current Bible Study group? Look around the room. Look on the roll. Look at the literature. Who are you?
Second, ask where do go to find these people? Where do parents with preschool children hang out? Where do parents with elementary children hang out? Where can you find teenagers? Where will you find Senior Adults? What kinds of activities does your “unreached people group” like to participate in? What is their learning style? Is it lecture, discussion, video, etc.
Third, learn everything you can about the group God has assigned YOU to reach and then begin to do everything you can to reach that group. Paul said, “to the Jews I became as a Jew to win the Jews, to the Gentiles, I became a Gentile, to win the Gentiles.” Adapt to your group, don’t expect them to adapt to you.
By the way, that is the reason that as a Bible Study organization within a church, we use “graded” classes. We grade our classes so that each class has a better understanding of its own best “unreached people group.” We also grade our classes so that when a guest wants to visit our Bible Study groups and asks which one would be best suited for him or her, we are able to point them in the right direction so it is a good experience for them and not a bad experience because they went into a class that was supposed to be couples 30-40, but was really singles 55-65. This also helps those at our Welcome Centers to be better able to direct guests since they can see the class distinctives such as age groups of each Bible Study.
This week when you come to Bible Study, look around the room and think like a missionary. And remember, you ARE one.
You are loved,
Bro. Kelly
