I'm wondering if anyone would be interested in using this space for a little informal Bible study - would could agree on a chunk of scripture to read each week, then meet here to discuss it. Let me know your thoughts...

G.

i think that sounds like a great idea

I like the idea, I need all the help I can get!

I could get used to the idea myself also- Iron sharpens iron.

Sounds like a good idea to me.

I'm in. I could definitely use it.

Alright, great!

Here's what I'm thinking, we'll start off light and do maybe 5 to 10 chapters a week. We'll start the new readings on Tuesdays - as we have thoughts, insights, or questions, post them here during the week. Then on Monday we can all post our final thoughts on the readings, and pay particular attention to how God is using what we've read in your life, and how we can apply what we've learned.

I say 5 to 10 chapters is light, but I don't really know everyone's schedule, so we'll just kind of feel our way through this until we get what feels right. With that in mind, let's start with the book of James, it's only 5 chapters, and was written to the Jews that had been dispersed throughout the region after the persecutions. Once this gets going, anybody can chime in with the next chunk they would like to read - be it book, chapter, or topic. If by Monday no one has any particular suggestion, then I will pick our next reading.

Does this sound workable? If so, let's begin James today - The ultimate goal of any bible study is life change, to become more like Christ - so start off your reading by asking God to open your eyes and your heart to what He wants you to learn from the reading and how you can apply it to your life. He has said that His word will never return empty, so He will help us in understanding and applying what we read.

This study is open to all, believers and non-believers alike, so anyone reading these posts, feel free to jump in!

God bless you all, and may God bless this adventure.

Anybody know Noah's wife's name?

Yeah - Mom (to Shem, Ham and Japhath)

A quick riddle (then James it is):

Two were never born
Two never died
The oldest man who ever lived
Died before his daddy did

The first person who answers this will be BIBLICAL SCHOLAR OF THE DAY

Methusela (sp?) was the oldest. He died before his daddy, Enoch, for Enoch never died.

Gene - it might help if we all used the same version to study from. Of course, as we go along in the study, if a different version (or translation) sheds more clarity on a particular passage, then by all means we can cross-reference.

Any suggestions or preferences?

the following website has most translations or versions. Makes it easy to cross-reference.


Bible Gateway

50% correct. Can you get the other 50%?

Elijah never died. I'm guessing the obvious of Adam and Eve for never born?

Agreed - NIV seems to be the most universal now, but I'm open to any. There's also a nice, free little bible program called e-Sword (you can google it) that has many tools and versions (not, unfortunately, NIV, at least free).

By the By, where you been, Saint? Haven't seen you around in a while, leaving me to bloviate like I know what I'm talking about. I can sometimes be an Apollos speaking boldly and need a Priscilla and Aquila to explain the ways of God more accurately

I will have to cheat and use my CD version, it is not the same as reading but it does help utilize your time, I do not recall which version it is but I like it.

James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.


I've thought a lot of things over the last twenty days since I quit, but "consider it pure joy" hasn't been one of them. It really puts all the pain and misery into a different perspective. The being mature and complete, not lacking anything sounds great. The testing and trials to get there - not so great.

Certainly a whole new perspective. Just like an athlete in training. We all want the results, are we willing to do what it takes to get there.

Very helpful for me today. When the cravings hit, I am thankful that it is developing perseverance.

Fine with me - I have a couple of different CD versions as well - hearing or reading, it's the Word that is important, not the delivery method.

read chapter 1 today
i've read the first chapter before, but the thing that really jumps out at me is the very first verse:

james, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ....

that just hit me
here is a guy that many believe to be Jesus' brother, and he's calling himself a slave of God and of Jesus
very powerful terminology if you think about what a slave was then and what it has meant through history
that's the challenge i have taken from today's reading....to be a slave to God and Jesus

James 4:1
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?

How appropriate to describe the destructive behaviors brought on by my addiction to dip.

I know I've been very scarce here lately. Had to get through Easter (I'm a music minister), working on bringing in a new Chancellor for the University of Texas System (to replace Mark Yudof - my day job in procurement) and dealing with 4 birthdays (family and friends) that happen within a week. Busy living life.

From what I've seen, Gene, you handle yourself quite well, so keep on speaking boldly!

That hit me, too. The difference between servants and slaves is this: servants perform services for pay and possibly even room and board. Yet they are still a separate entity from their employer. Slaves, on the other hand, are in a situation where there are TOTALLY dependent upon their master, even protection-wise. A slave never negotiates compensation or benefits with the master. It is understood that the master will provide all things needed for the slave to be able to perform acceptably. The slave has been bought for a price and the master will do everything necessary to protect that investment.

James saw himself as totally dependent upon not only God but Jesus as well. It is also to be noted that the title 'Lord' among the jews (to whom he is writing) was reserved for divine personages. James clearly identified Jesus as having status equal to God.

Love that word picture - for we have, in fact, been bought for a price. Jesus has paid our debt in full, and therefore has purchased us with His blood. Knowing that, then we are truly slaves of Jesus Christ, whose calling for us is to be servants of man, as He modeled for us.

While not the music minister at our church, I am in the music ministry, I play guitar in our praise band. I've recently taken a season off to participate in a class called The Truth Project, so this was the first Easter in several years that I wasn't terribly busy - it was kinda nice, but didn't feel right.

chapter 2, what stuck out to me was defining faith with and without works. my understanding of works has changed over time. i used to believe that i would have to perform the whole act of witnessing in order to be 'working' as a christian. now i look at it differently. i now believe that the way i carry myself, the way i react and respond to the people and things that happen in my life defines my body of christian works. i hope and pray that what i am doing is bringing people closer to Christ. if the opportunity to fully witness to someone is revealed to me, i pray that i would be able to help them in their walk.

how do ya'll interpret this?

I believe work also speaks to not just physical actions but attitude as well. Not that one thinks in terms of holier than thou, but I have found in my own life that I can project my faith by simply praying for someone who I initially feel is causing me some anxiety or anguish. This helps my anxiety or anguish pass, and I believe, possibly unbeknownst to them, that I am offering them a positive piece of my faith.

Agreed - while we are called to "witness", it doesn't mean we beat people over the head with the Bible, and that wouldn't do any good anyway. If we are aware, we will see where God is working, and that is where we go, to join Him there.

The works James is speaking of is the changed life that tries to be like Christ. He was speaking to those that say "yes, I follow Jesus" or "I love Jesus" or "I'm saved", however you want to put it, but continue to live in the flesh without any attempt at a changed life. As an analogy, I say I believe that getting run over by a truck would kill me (faith), and the way I demonstrate that belief is by not standing in the middle of highway with a truck bearing down on me (works). It doesn't in anyway, as some have interpreted, mean that what we do saves us. We are saved by grace alone, we demonstrate faith in that grace by the way we live - this is the works of which James speaks.

Great comments, all! Anybody care to share how God has used this week's reading in their lives? Also, what would you like for the next reading?

I always seem to feel guilty about how my thoughts run at times. When I read how I should be, I sometimes let myself get caught up in negative things. I think of my kids in class and sometimes my frustration level gets high, then when I read how I should let my actions speak, I realize how short I fall so many times in doing and saying what I should. Its hard not to get caught up in the negative things instead of the positive.

Indeed it is, but I think the essential thing is to not let the thoughts turn into actions, as the Apostle Paul said, "take every thought captive...". I think that's one of the ways God has used James' teaching on me - I am more aware when my thoughts begin to stray, and I'm able to get hold of them before they become words or deeds.

Okay, with our week of James done, and no further suggestions, what say we continue on with one of the great, great stories in the Bible - the book of Ruth.

Ruth is an Old Testament story that takes place during the trying time of the Judges, and tells the story of Ruth, her daughter-in-law Naomi, and Boaz, the Kinsman-Redeemer; we are also introduced to several customs and cultural traditions of the time that I find quite interesting. All in all, Ruth is a touching and tender story of faith and family that all of us could learn from.

So, if there are no other suggestions or objections, let's begin our reading of Ruth tonight and continue discussions during the week.

G.

I'm currently out of town with limited internet access, so unless someone else wants to pick up the lead on this study, I'll let it continue until the weekend. Feel free to post your thoughts or questions as you read.

G.

This'll teach me to go off the top of my head without researching a little - actually, Ruth is Naomi's daughter-in-law, rather than the other way around like I had it (covered in shame)

Anybody reading, and any comments thus far?

The story of ruth is a great one. It teaches us to be kind and to care for others. The greatest commandment was evident in Ruth. Ruth wanted to stay with Naomi to help her. "But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you, or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God."
God witnessed her unselfish acts. He uses the people who do extraordianry things for extraordianary tasks. Her great grandson was David the King of Israel, and she was an ancestor of Our Lord, Jesus.

Sorry I missed the week on James. I just spent the last week myself on this.
What is next Gene?
Lets get this active again

I apologize for letting this slip. I'll do some prayerful thinking about it and get something back up tomorrow. In the meantime, if anyone has any comments on Ruth, please feel free.

One small thing I'd like to comment on, what kind of character must have Naomi exhibited for Ruth to want to give up everything with which she was familiar to go with her? Leaving her culture, her family, her way of life, and say to Naomi "where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried." What did Ruth see in Naomi that brought about that kind of commitment, and are we living the kind of life that would inspire that kind of commitment?

One question of importance in today's post-Christian society is how should we live in this culture? Should we withdraw completely and keep to ourselves, or should we attempt to overtake the culture and force it to follow our ways? Or, perhaps, is the answer somewhere between these two extremes? I think we can find an answer in the 29th chapter of Jeremiah.

So, for this week's reading, let's see what God has to say through the prophet Jeremiah to His people about living in exile in Babylon. To see the first extreme, start off with Jeremiah 28 and see what the false prophet Hananiah had to say, then continue to chapter 29 and see how God answers Hananniah. This reading is fairly short, so I would recommend at least a couple of readings, more if you have the time, and then let's share what is revealed to each of us.

So what did you think?

In Jeremiah 28, we see Hananniah basically saying "you're only going to have to put up with this exile for a couple of years, and then everything will be back to the way it was." I can imagine the people of Israel saying "heck, I can put up with anything for just a couple of years," which would then lead them to separate themselves from the culture in which they found themselves, developing a bit of a keep-to-ourselves attitude.

Then, in chapter 29, we find this not to be the case. God says it's going to be more like seventy years, and I think the time-frame really isn't the point here. As for time, God is essentially saying "in my own time", so don't busy yourself counting years. More important, to the point of how we should live in our culture, God instructs the Israelites to "Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for yours sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease" (28:5-6). And then, more to the point of living where we find ourselves, in verse 7, "seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper."

So rather than pull away and separate ourselves, or even overtake the culture, we should live in the place where God has put us (notice in verse 7, "the city to which I have carried you"). And besides living there, we are to pray for the prosperity of the city where we live. Not pray for the city to be overthrown, not pray to remove us from the city, but pray for its prosperity.

Any other thoughts? And where would you like to go next? If there aren't any suggestions by the weekend, then I'll come up with another reading then, but I would like to hear your thoughts on living in today's society.

Next up, a short one, but I think very fitting in our post-Christian culture of today. How should God's people live? Let's read Psalm 15 and see. This is also a good Psalm to pray, and one to carry in your heart throughout the day.

I'm going to be on vacation starting tomorrow, 6/18, and will have limited (if any) computer access until the following Tuesday/Wednesday. If anybody is following along and participating in these studies, I'd like to hear your thoughts on the readings, so please feel free to jump in - as the proverb says, "as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

We Christians sometimes tend to look at the world around us, and the shape that it's in, and shake our heads and say "ain't that awful". We come up a little short, though, on actually doing something about it, but what can we do?

In honor of our nation's birthday this week, let's look at what God had to say to Solomon after the building of the temple. Read 2 Chronicles, chapter 7, paying particular attention to verse 7. This is another good verse to memorize, carry around in your heart, and do what God says here.

"Solomon consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the Lord, and there he offered burnt offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altar he had made could not hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat portions." -2 Chronicles 7:7

Why is this verse a good one to memorize? Did you mean another verse?


Big Red

DOH! Yes, I did, and sorry to all. I meant verse 14 - guess I had chapter 7 on the brain and typed that. Thanks for point it out Big Red!

I read this passage in the bible the other day and couldn't help but think about my quit and the way we do it here.

"Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Mark 6:34

Worry about tomorrow tomorrow!

That's an excellent observation!

I like this one. Though it has probably been posted on here many many times, it is worth reposting:

1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

That can be either a great encouragement or a excuse destroyer, depending on our willingness to hold on until our redemption comes.

I remember times in the early part of my journey back to freedom when it seemed I'd never completely get past triggers and craves. But trusting one crave, one hour, one day a time eventually wore those temptations away. The only way I could lose that now is to become smug and think I can dabble with dip ever again.

OHMan-

Weird - Our pastor just did a sermon on David and Bathsheba, and used that exact scripture as an example of how nice it would have been for David to have a New Testament handy. I'm taking it as a hint that I need to get better at taking that "way out" that God provides. Sometimes it's hard. Some temptations, like Copenhagen, God saw fit to lift from me with relatively little effort on my part. But like Paul, many of us have thorns in our sides that God apparently is not ready to remove.

Well, it has proven a very handy verse for many aspects, not just dip!
Anyway, Copenhagen was never a problem for me... the "bears" on the other hand (Kodiak & Griz)...

Eutychus reported me to myself so I deleted that last post. Sorry if it offended anyone. I just wanted to start a discussion on the meaning of Passover and your intrepretations of the biblical recounting. And maybe Metallica too. It is my favorite song on Guitar Hero Metallica right now.

Of course. Heaven forbid we actually discuss anything in the Bible in a thread entitled, Bible Study, Discussing Scripture

Excuse me, but I have to go bang my head against a wall for a few minutes.

I missed the Heavy Metal chapter of the Bible. Is it old testament or new?