Saturday, April 13, 2013

The Meeting

      Just got back from a morning breakfast meeting of some of the planners of ACTS church men's fellowship. Seems we are on the move again.
        Pastor Joe put forth the vision of claiming a whole corridor of our city to go door to door on foot. We would put on our Nike or Puma footwear and carry a survey with us.
      We would ask: "In the community, what does the church look like to you?" and the second question, " What services should your church be giving you in the community?"
      We would compile the answers and move in that direction of a needs service meeting church.
      So I have wondered also, since you are not my community how would you answer that type of survey if someone came to your door and asked you? Or maybe just talked to you? In other words, what would a church look like  which is meeting the needs you have?
     Interesting question.
     Feel free to comment.
     Also feel free to purchase what is offered here.

               

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Bible Study for Growth

   Welcome. I want to spend a little time on the basics of Bible study for growth.
   We start off with a good translation of the Bible. It doesn't matter to me if you have a revised, a New King James, a New American Standard, or the New International translation.
   You just need one that you can read.
   In the study of your Bible you may want to mark up passages that you wish to note as important to you.
   You can get your suppies for this adventure at any stationary store.  I like to use a store like Office Max. They seem to have the products I need. Such as Paper Mate Flair Point pens.
     I also use a notebook-- it is a computer that I store my observations on. I tend to buy my electronics from the large stores such as Staples and Office Max.
     A Toshiba Notebook can also be purchased on line from technooutlet.com . but you can get a notebook from any good computer store also. You don't need to go ouline for everything. You can use a brick and mortar store.
    So now you have a Bible and a notebook and a pen.
   The pen is for jotting down observations in a notepad. so you will need a notepad.
   Open your Bible. Note what book you are studying. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, so we know who overshadowed it and caused it to be written. But we are searching here for the human writer. So you note that down,
Prayer Helps Interpretation
    Let's start with the gospel of Mark. Mark was the human writer. It says so in the title. That one was easy.
   Now you read to see what is being said.  What is the purpose? Who are the characters? Is there something there I should know? Write that down. Make note of it.
   After all, you are doing a Bible study for growth.  You need to record things to be able to go back and see your growth.
    You may also want to mark up your Bible. Yes, go on. It is permissible. You can underline verses you want to remember. Or verses that made an impression on you. You can write notes in the margins.                                  
    A Bible is meant to be interacted with. God is speaking to you through the words used. You talk back to Him in prayer.
    Feel free to comment with me. I will answer.