I’m doing my best to read through the entire Bible during 2011. I want to make this “read through” a yearly habit. But sometimes I get to some book of the Bible, and I just don’t get it. What is this part of Scripture about? Why is it in here? What does it mean?
That’s where Henrietta Mears’ little book about the books of the Bible is a great help. In the book, Ms. Mears takes each book of the Bible in order and explains the main themes of the book, a summary of its contents, the characters, the historical background, the type of literature, key teachings, and the book’s relationship to the life and mission of Jesus.
“The work for which she is best known, What the Bible is All About, a survey of the Old and New Testaments, was a revision of one year of her high school Sunday school lessons taken from her teaching notes. At four million copies this is one of the most popular study books on the Bible ever printed; it has been revised twice and produced in a number of editions. In this work, Mears clearly communicates the Scripture and shows one of the chief reasons her students’ favorite name for her was ‘Teacher.'”
Ms. Mears was the Christian Education director for Hollywood Presbyterian Church, and in her position she influenced many young people who went on to bring the message of Christ to the world. Some of her students and disciples included Billy Graham, Bill and Vonette Bright, founders of Campus Crusade for Christ, Richard Halverson, chaplain of the U.S. Senate, and Jim Rayburn, founder of Young Life.
The Kimyal people of Papua, Indonesia receive the Bible in their own language:
What a celebration. Do we even begin to know what precious truth God has entrusted to us? “To whom much is given, of him much shall be required.” We in the West are abundantly blessed. God forgive us for the misuse and waste we have perpetrated with the blessing He has given us.
And won’t heaven be grand as we all worship the Lamb together, from every nation and tribe?
Books like this one are the ones that make me unsure about calling what I do here at Semicolon “book reviews.” I’m not sure Rene Gutteridge’s thriller/mystery/adult novel Listen was all that well written, although it was certainly adequate and told a straightforward story. There were a few places where the motivations of the characters were unclear to me. And I thought the plot had a few holes in it. The characters were OK, but none of them was all that complicated or showed that much growth and change.
Nevertheless, Listen made me think about important stuff, and it held my interest all day today as I read it. And if a book makes me think, I value and recommend it. I’m not that interested in finding the picky little issues that make the book less than critically acclaimed and worthy and pointing them out to all of you (if I’m smart enough to find and articulate those problems in the first place). If that lack of attention to critical detail makes me a bad reviewer, then maybe I’m not really a reviewer. Maybe I’m just a book talker. Or a book discusser.
So, now that I’ve got that distinction off my chest, Listen by Rene Gutteridge made me think about words and the power of words and about gossip and privacy and about what we should post on the Internet and how seriously we should take the words of others posted on blogs or Facebook or Twitter for all to see. I have a friend who posted some pictures on her Facebook page a few months ago. Some people in her church didn’t like the pictures, or the captions that went with them, and didn’t think they were appropriate. These people took their concerns to the church leadership instead of to the young lady in question. The entire matter became a huge Issue, and a lot of people were hurt. Some of them are still hurting.
Listen deals with this problem of words and how accusations and indiscreet words can hurt, especially when those allegations and loose words become public and get distorted by gossip and hearsay. In the book, someone is posting private conversations verbatim on the internet. People start reading and see their own words and words about themselves, and people get hurt and lose trust in one another. The website in the book, called www.listentoyourself.net, is made up of random private conversations that the website author somehow manages to overhear and transcribe. Nevertheless, even though this is a book about the power of the internet, it’s also a book about a problem as old as humanity itself–the power of the tongue and of words to both heal and harm.
When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. James 3:3-9
What do you think? What should we do about words that we see and read on the internet? If you see words that you think are harmful to either the person posting them or to others, how do you respond? If the words are public (on the internet), should your response also be public? What if the words have nothing to do with you? Is it still your business?Should you insert yourself, either publicly or privately, into a conflict that others are having in a public forum? If so, when? Should people say things in private that they would be embarrassed to have made public for all to see? Should we say everything (on Facebook, for instance) that we’re thinking as long as we don’t think it will hurt anyone else? What kind of power do words have? Where do you draw the line in sharing personal details about your life on your blog or on other websites? How can we tame our tongues so as not to hurt and wound others?
If you’ve read Listen, you may have even more insight into some of these questions. If you’re concerned with these sorts of problems and issues, you may want to pick up a copy of Rene Gutteridge’s thought-provoking book.
I also hope to do an in-depth study of at least one book of the Bible each month:
January: Galatians
February: Proverbs
March: Matthew
April: Matthew
May: Proverbs
June: Jonah
July: Hosea
August: I Corinthians
September: Job
October: John
November: John
December: John
O.K. I’d rather set my goals high and miss than set no goals and achieve . . . nothing. I’m hoping to set aside about an hour a day for Bible study and reading this year.
1. Read the Bible straight through from Genesis to Revelation.
2. Bible arcing. This Bible study method takes some practice and thought, but it is a powerful way to make yourself think about about what the text is saying.
5. Read an entire book of the Bible in one sitting. Try to understand what the entire book is about and what God is saying to you through it.
6. Focus on Jesus.
So then, from this we must gather that to profit much in the holy Scripture we must always resort to our Lord Jesus Christ and cast our eyes upon him, without turning away from him at any time. You will see a number of people who labor very hard indeed at reading the holy Scriptures — they do nothing else but turn over the leaves of it, and yet after ten years they have as much knowledge of it as if they had never read a single line. And why? Because they do not have any particular aim in view, they only wander about. And even in worldly learning you will see a great number who take pains enough, and yet all to no purpose, because they kept neither order nor proportion, nor do anything else but gather material from this quarter and from that, by means of which they are always confused and can never bring anything worthwhile. And although they have gathered together a number of sentences of all sorts, yet nothing of value results from them. Even so it is with them that labor in reading the holy Scriptures and do not know which is the point they ought to rest on, namely, the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
John Calvin, Sermon on Ephesians 2:19-22 (1559).
20. Subscribe to Tabletalk magazine from Ligonier Ministries. Tabletalk’s daily Bible studies offer structure for your devotional life. Bringing the best in biblical scholarship together with down-to-earth writing, Tabletalk helps you understand the Bible and apply it to daily living.
21. Each January, the Southern Baptist Convention promotes a January Bible Study of one particular book of the Bible. The study for 2011 is called The Truth About Grace: Studies in Galatians. Study on your own or find a group to study with at your local Southern Baptist church. Notes on Galatians by Joe McKeever.
22. Daily Bible Verse tweets a new Bible passage every day. Follow to get a new passage every morning. Suggest a verse to @daily_bible and they may include it.
29. Blue Letter Bible has a goal to “facilitate an in-depth study of God’s Word through an online interactive reference library that is continuously updated from the teachings and commentaries of selected pastors and teachers who hold to the conservative, historical Christian faith. By God’s grace and provision, BLB now offers over 680,000 content pages of Bible study resources.”
30. Read aloud daily from the Bible as a family. Reading a Psalm a day or an episode from Jesus’s life each day gives the whole family something to talk about and think about together.
31. Keep a journal of insights gained during your time of Bible study.
36. Compare different translations and paraphrases of a particular Bible passage.
37. Make a list. The Commands of Jesus. Promises to the Christian from God. Names of God and Their Meanings.
38. Study the parables of Jesus. For children, act out the parable and discuss its meaning and application.
39. Ask God for wisdom.
It is a rare privilege to study any book under the immediate guidance and instruction of its author, and this is the privilege of us all in studying the Bible. When one comes to a passage that is difficult to understand or difficult to interpret, instead of giving it up, or rushing to some learned friend, or to some commentary, he should lay that passage before God, and ask Him to explain it to him, pleading God’s promise, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt” (James 1:5-6). It is simply wonderful how the seemingly most difficult passages become plain by this treatment.
52. The purpose of reading and studying the Bible is to come to know and love its Author, the Lord Jesus Christ. If you have questions about WHY Bible study is important or what it means to be a Christian, try out this very brief article by Joe McKeever: How to Know Jesus Christ and Live Forever.
“John chapter 3 is a great place. In fact, the entire Gospel of John is excellent. Why not get a New Testament, and turn to the fourth Gospel (that’s John) and begin reading. Read for understanding, not to cover ground. Before you begin reading, pray this little prayer: ‘Dear Lord, help me to listen to what you are saying to me.'”
I’m doing my best to read through the entire Bible during 2011. I want to make this “read through” a yearly habit. But sometimes I get to some book of the Bible, and I just don’t get it. What is this part of Scripture about? Why is it in here? What does it mean?
