Simple Truth

There are five very effective tips that anyone who desires to understand the Bible can put into practice immediately, regardless of how much or how little his knowledge of God’s word may be. The biblical passage of 1 Corinthians 2:14 that states that the things of God must be spiritually discerned has been misused to deter the average person from engaging in serious self-study of the Bible for fear that he may not be spiritual enough to understand scripture. However, when a person seriously seeks the Lord, he can be assured that it is with his spirit that he seeks as the natural part of him, which the Bible often refers to as the “flesh”, is too weak to seek God. Jesus explicity said, “…the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (King James Bible, Mat. 26:41).

The first tip is to bear in mind that the dictionary’s definition of a word does not always match the Bible’s definition of that same word. According to Webster’s pocket dictionary, the word “believe” means to accept something as true or real and to hold on to religious beliefs, but biblical scripture demonstrates that faith in God is not merely an intellectual acceptance of the veracity of something. Genuine belief in God is defined by the Bible as obedience to God. The apostle Paul wrote, “But they have not all obeyed the gospel, for Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report” (Rom.10:16)? Scripture also says, “Even so faith (belief), if it hath not works (obedient action), is dead, being alone” (James 2:17). If the dictionary’s definition of “obey” is applied to the scripure of St. John 3:16 which states that whoever believes in the Son of God has eternal life, everyone with a simple intellectual belief in God has eternal life. However, according to the Bible, this is not the case. Jesus warns in the scripture of Matthew 7:22 that many will call him Lord in the last day but he’ll respond that he never knew them. The misinterpretation of the word “obey” is only one of numerous words that are misunderstood due to the application of a modern dictionary’s definition.

The second tip consists of paying close attention to the scriptures just above and below a scripture in question as well as the context and situation taking place in a given passage. Many Christians teach that God’s commandment in the scripture of Matthew 5:48, to be perfect as he is perfect means striving to never commit sin. Although the scriptures of Romans 6:1 and 1 John 2:1 clearly admonish against committing sin, Ecclesiastes 7:20 is one of several reminders that there is no mortal man that never sins. Consequently, the application of what appears to be a logical explanation of Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:48, gives rise to a contradiction of God’s own word. In the scriptures immediately above that of Matthew 5:48, Jesus is teaching on the perfection of love. The Savior explains that his servants do not limit their love to those who love them and to their friends, but extends the love of Christ to the utmost in bearing love for their enemies as God also has demonstrated his love for his enemies (St. John 3:16, Rom. 5:10). Man’s reasoning defines perfection as total abstinence from sin, but God measures perfection based on the love of Christ that he sees in the heart of the believer who is commanded to love him first, his neighbor (Mark 12:29-30), and even his enemy (Mat. 5:44). The confirmation of this interpretation is found in the scripture of Colossians 3:14 which says, “And above all these things put on charity (love), which is the bond of perfectness.”

The third tip is to wisely choose a Bible to read and study aids. If a person is truly seeking to understand God’s word, it’s advisable to read the King James version of the Bible. The New King James version of the scriptures has done so much more than simply remove pronouns such as “thee” and “thou” and replace them with “you”. At the time of the translation of the authorized King James version of the Bible, the usage of personal pronouns that indicate singularity and plurality had already become obsolete (Terry Watkins). The translators took special care to use them because of their significance in understanding exactly what was taking place and to whom God or another person was speaking. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article by Ann Rodgers, a 1st-century text from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah was discovered among the scrolls of the Dead Sea. It perfectly matched the Hebrew text from the year 1006, proving the preservation of the scriptures. There is justifiably much suspicion regarding the employment of the modern versions and new translations of the Bible. Bible students may want to make use of a paraphrased Bible which does not claim to re-translate the scriptures, but rather to simply paraphrase them. This keeps the student alert to the fact that a paraphrase does not make the exact same statements as the original work, and therefore, must be regarded as possible help and not necessarily answers. Also beware of commentaries. They can be of assistance in comprehending the Bible and they can unfortunately add to confusion by rendering incorrect interpretations of biblical passages. Recommended commentaries include The Wycliffe Bible Commentaries for the Old and New Testaments, by the Moody Bible Institute. Again, not every explanation of these commentaries is correct, but they can serve as important guides on most biblical questions. Serious students of Bible study often use an amplified Bible which fills in some of the “blanks” and thereby promote greater understanding.

The fourth tip involves the Bible student’s resistance against frustration when answers escape him. Understanding of the scriptures takes time, patience, dedication, a pure desire to learn to obey God and faith in his promise to fully satisfy everyone that hungers after righteousness (Mat. 5:6). It’s helpful to notate in a notebook or on index cards, questions as well as scriptures that are confusing and review them periodically. Purchase Strong’s exhaustive concordance if finances permit and run reference on individual words in the passages that are unclear. Strive to find every scripture that relates to the question or scripture for which an explanation is sought. Often, anti-biblical doctrines are formed by failure or unwillingness to consider all scripture on a particular subject. When learning from other Christian writers, it’s important to make sure they’re supporting all statements with biblical scripture. Opinions and man’s logic must be rejected when seeking spiritual truth. It’s not enough to see scripture cited in Christian writings. The serious Bible student must imitate the Bereans who verified what they were being told was scripture was truly written in the Bible (Acts 17:11). The student should not linger on confusing scriptures, but rather should continue his studies. The Bible is literally a commentary on itself and perplexity over a particular passage or question often becomes clear in the reading of other passages that may seem completely unrelated to the one that is confusing. Remember that the Bible is one long account of the gospel of Jesus who is shadowed in the Old Testament and revealed in the New. Although the prophets of the Old Testament and the apostles of the New, lived in different time periods, lands, and situations, they all preached the same message. Genesis opens with man in paradise with full access to the tree of life, and Revelation ends with the return of redeemed man to paradise with full access to the tree of life restored, in accordance with God’s perfect will. Not everyone is able to dedicate much time everyday to the study of the Bible due to daily obligations. Fifteen minutes of productive Bible study with the intention to be a doer of God’s word is better than hours of study without comprehension or intention to obey Christ.

The fifth and final tip requires the prayer of faith that boldly and confidently asks God for wisdom. The very purpose of knowing God’s word should be to find and travel the road that leads to eternal life, back to paradise in the hereafter. That road can only be travelled by faith that begins with believing that God will put and keep one’s feet on that journey. The Bible says, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But, let him ask in faith, nothing waivering, for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”

It is a most wonderful experience to sit and learn at the feet of the great Rabbi, Lord Jesus.

© 2007-2008 Heavenly Manna and Hannah Henderson

Works Consulted/Cited:

Rodgers, Ann. “Dead Sea Scrolls ‘fragments’ on Exhibit”.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Sunday, 23 May 2004, N. pag.

Watkins, Terry. “New King James Version Counterfeit.” n.d. Dial-The-Truth-Ministries.

04 Sept. 2007

The Bible

Webster’s Pocket Dictionary and Thesaurus of the English Language. New revised ed.

N.p. Allied Publishing Group, Inc., 2005

Is the Bible the Word of God? Or is it just a collection of human writings? How can we know for sure? Any google search on the inspiration of the Scriptures will bring up a surprising amount of results from people who do not believe so. These people can be convincing. However, these arguments are merely the opinions of their authors, with no evidence to back them up. In fact, the evidence stands against these convincing arguments–and evidence always speaks louder than persuasive words.

Perhaps the most compelling evidence for the inspiration of the Scriptures is the unity of the Bible, especially when one considers all the writers involved. The Bible does not have a single contradiction. Not even one. Yet several people, over the course of thousands of years wrote it! Most of these people did not know each other, and they came from a variety of backgrounds. If I asked ten people today to write down their thoughts about God, chances are, there would be some contradictions. Yet forty people wrote the Bible! The odds of forty people over thousands of years writing a book as vast as the Bible are astronomical. The only logical explanation is that all were inspired by one God to pen the words of what we now know as the Bible.

Another compelling reason to believe the Bible is the Word of God is because of its scientific and historical accuracy. The Bible mentions many scientific principles that were not known until long after it was written. For example, the earth was generally believed to be flat until the time of Columbus. Yet Isaiah 40:22 mentions “the circle of the earth.” This is but one of many examples. Keep in mind, the Bible writers were not scientists! In addition, archaeological finds continue to verify many of the historical facts mentioned in the Bible. Archaeology has yet to find anything in history that contradicts Scripture.

One of the more fascinating proofs of Biblical accuracy is the fulfillment of prophecies in the Bible. Archaeology has verified that the book of Isaiah was written hundreds of years before the coming of Christ, yet Isaiah accurately described the crucifixion, the promise of salvation, and many detailed aspects of Jesus’ life. Many other prophecies in the Bible have come true also. For example, the Bible predicted the rise and fall of the Persian and Roman empires in Daniel. The book of Daniel also talks about the increase of knowledge in the last days, and vast amounts of travel. And this is the tip of the iceberg. Literally, hundreds of prophecies have been fulfilled.

Some argue that the Bible isn’t inspired because man decided which books would be considered “inspired” and which wouldn’t. They also argue that some of the books that have been left out were recognized by the original disciples as Scripture. While it is true that these other books were well-known to the disciples, it is important to remember that these writings were considered Jewish literature, and the original twelve were all Jews. They were historical documents.

The men involved in the canonization of the Scriptures did not “decide” which Scriptures were inspired. They simply recognized the Scriptures that were inspired. To be considered inspired, they had to pass certain criteria. For example, any prophecies that should have come true by that time had to be fulfilled. The work had to be accepted by the church at large as inspired. The work had to be a first-hand account, or very close to it. While this sounds like man “deciding” what qualifies as Scripture, one has to remember that these men were chosen by God before they were born, to canonize Scripture, just as the Bible writers were chosen to write what would later become Scripture. Time has shown that these men correctly identified those books that were inspired, and those that were not.

In fact, the book of Isaiah foreshadowed the final Holy Bible as we know it today. Amazingly, the Bible has 66 books, 39 in the Old Testament, and 27 in the New Testament. The Old Testament takes place before the coming of Christ, when men were still in bondage to the law, while the New Testament begins with the birth of Christ and focuses on the freedom we now have in Christ. In Isaiah, the first 39 chapters are parallel to the Old Testament, in that they talk of judgment and captivity (bondage), while the last 27 chapters contain the messianic promises, which were fulfilled in the New Testament. One could perhaps write this off as coincidence or accuse the men who canonized the Bible of setting it up that way on purpose. However, the Bible is so full of these types of “coincidences” that the odds are against it

No one can prove the Bible is the inspired word of God. However, the evidence is compelling. In the end, we must make a decision to accept the Bible as the inspired Word of God by faith. This is necessary to live a victorious Christian life. Either the Bible is completely true or completely unreliable. If one little line is untrue, the whole Bible becomes unreliable. Throughout history, the Bible has consistently been the best-selling (and most controversial) book of all time. It has been the most enduring book, passing every test of time. Yet no one has ever been able to prove a single line or even word of the Bible to be false. For a book as vast and complex as the Bible, this seems to be far outside the powers of man to accomplish, especially the powers of forty very different men who didn’t know each other and who didn’t realize they were writing the Bible.

If you have children, then you know you want to get them started off right with good habits that will help them mature into wise adults. One way to do that is to encourage them to spend a little bit of time every day in Bible Study. But with between classes, sports and homework after school, and the myriad other responsibilities and tasks that your teenagers must deal with, it can frankly be a little hard to find the needed time to devote to this useful activity. You can get some Bible study in easily, however, when you consider using an audio Bible. An audio Bible CD or an MP3 audio Bible will provide the means that will help enable your kids to grow spiritually.

An audio Bible CD can contain dramatized versions of the complete Bible or the New Testament on a single CD. MP3 technology is used to contain all of that text into one small disc. An audio Bible CD is convenient to listen to at home or on the go and can played in a any CD or DVD player. This portable audio Bible can be used in any CD player or car stereo systems, so your kids can take the Word of God with them on their travels.

The MP3 audio Bible compresses the text of the Bible down so that it all fits into a tiny playback device no larger than a pack of chewing gum. You use an mp3 player with a set of ear buds or small headphones in order to hear the Bible. Because of their extreme popularity with youth, this format that the Bible can take makes it very inconspicuous, and its small size makes it easily transportable. You can do your audio Bible Study as you walk around campus, or while you do a workout.

There are even new podcast versions of Bible study that are appropriate for teens. A podcast is a recording that can be listened to on your computer, or downloaded onto your mp3 player to listen to at your convenience. There are podcasts that are under 10 minutes long that allow you to hear the whole New Testament if you listen for that long every day. Other portioned readings of the Bible are also available in podcast form, covering favorite Proverbs and Psalms.

The fabulous advantage to listening to podcasts and mp3 format material is that you have the ability to play the material any time that it is convenient to you. You can fit it into little snippets of time that might be otherwise wasted. Now Bible Study for teens is much more possible, because when they have a free moment, they can listen to God’s Word.

The Bible is the inspired and infallible Word of God. The Bible is the Book of Life and the Book of Law. It is the most important book in the lives of each and every Christian. Our success and failure are dependent on how much we followed the teachings in the Bible.

Why Should We Read The Bible?

The fact that we have doubts in many things even after our daily prayers and devotions and attending church and sermons indicates that we need to know God and His teachings more. Reading the Bible is the best source of all understanding of God and His teachings and will nourish our spiritual and physical growth.

Who Wrote the Bible?

The Bible was written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit by over 40 different authors from all walks of life: shepherds, farmers, fishermen, kings, priests, tent-makers, physicians and philosophers. Despite these differences in occupation and the span of years it took to write it, the Bible is an extremely cohesive and unified book.

When Was The Bible Written?

The earliest portions of the Scripture dates back to more than 3,300 years. It was first written around 1450 B.C, the time of Moses, to about 100 A.D., following the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

How Many Books Are in the Bible?

The Old and New Testaments contains a total of 66 books.

- There are 39 books in the Old Testament.

- There are 27 books in the New Testament.

- Testament means covenant or contract.

Which single author contributed the most books to the Old Testament?

Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, referred to as the Pentateuch; the foundation of the Bible.

Which single author contributed the most books to the New Testament?

Paul wrote 14 books or over half of the New Testament.

How Many Bible Are Circulated Each Year?

The Bible is one of the most widely circulated book in the world. Each year, over 22 million copies of the Bible are circulated worldwide Since the 1800s, around 800 Million Bibles and portions of Scripture have been issued. These are figures from the British and Foreign Bible Societies alone. It has been translated into more than 2100 languages.

The Bible is the Book of Life

All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2Timothy 3:16-17 NIV

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Matthew 4:4 NIV

The Bible is the Book of Law

Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

Joshua 1:8 NIV

For busy people, finding the time to sit down and read a book can seem like the ultimate luxury. Our time is so wrapped up with work, commuting, school and sports activities that there often is not a lot of extra time left over for reading. This puts believers in a real bind, because to become a grounded follower of Christ, one needs to spend time at Bible study. Everyone has good intentions, but it is very easy to slip into the practice of letting Bible study time slide out of your schedule. Don’t let that happen to you. Since time is short, it makes a lot of sense to multi-task when you can. Bible study does not have to suffer, because you can get your Bible study in by using an Audio Bible.

The Bible can be placed on an MP3 playback device, making it portable. Now you can bring the Bible with you as you commute by bus or train to work or school. You can plug your MP3 player into your car’s audio system, and listen to the Bible whenever you get behind the wheel.

An Audio Bible can go with you when you exercise, too. Take your MP3 player, loaded with the Bible, and head out for your walk or run. What a great thing it is to be surrounded by the beauty found in nature while listening and learning about who made it all on your Bible.

If you are a student, an Audio Bible can make the time fly on campus as well. You can listen while you walk around campus getting to and from parking lots and walking to and from classes across campus. Many students find that they spend a great deal of time waiting in lines at school as well. Take the Bible with you, and that time that would ordinarily be wasted now turns into Bible study time.

People who work nine-to-five jobs will discover times throughout the day when your can listen to the Bible. Morning and afternoon breaks, plus lunchtime, all make great times to turn on your Audio Bible. If you are having a hard day at work, the Bible can be just what you need to lift your spirits and help you get back into the swing of things with a better attitude. An Audio Bible makes this possible, because in this and other situations such as school, sports and commutes, the Bible can now come with you for your spiritual benefit.

Audio Bibles are becoming a very popular way for many Christians to receive daily inspiration and spiritual healing. As new technologies make the Bible on CD, MP3 Bible and Bible podcast increasingly accessible to a wide range of people, it is quickly becoming the most convenient way to carry God’s word with them on their travels. If you are like most practicing Christians, you probably have a treasured family or personal Bible and attend church on a regular basis to continue learning the teachings of Christ. But, audio Bibles can help you take the Bible with you to many places you probably never realized. You can spend time listening to them while you are driving to and from work everyday. Your family can listen to the whole audio Bible (about 72 hours) on a long road trip. You can even listen to audio Bibles while you are out jogging or at the gym. They are quickly becoming a convenient way to take the Bible with you everywhere you go.

There are many different types of audio Bibles you can get today depending on your needs and lifestyle. If you regularly use a home or work computer and would like to listen to Bible passages during your lunch break or when you get home, you can find Christian websites where you can order or download an audio Bible online. If you think you would benefit the most from listening the Bible on CD, there are many retail and online stores that now sell the Bible on CD for a reasonable price. Bibles on CD are great because they are very versatile. You can listen to them on your car or home stereo system, play them on portable CD players – you can even play a Bible on CD on the media player on your computer.

If you are one of the more technically savvy people out there, an audio Bible MP3 could be exactly what you’re looking for. A Bible MP3 can be uploaded to iPod or MP3 player so you can listen to it on the subway, while you are out running or taking a nice stroll, while you bike to class or practically anywhere, since most MP3 players can fit right in your pocket. In addition to a full MP3 Bible, you can also sign up for Bible podcasts or free audio Bible downloads to play on your iPod or MP3 player as well. Now that the internet is an everyday tool for millions of people worldwide, the number of Bible-related podcasts continue to grow with every passing month.

Imagine how enriched your life could become if you spent even 10 minutes a day listening to an audio Bible or daily Bible podcasts that you can download to your iPod. It is an exciting and inspiring prospect to think about it, and it’s easier than ever to get started.

Bible Study Software – Logos Bible Study Software

Logos Bible Software

Price: $149.95 – $1379.95

Logos Bible study software is designed to make Bible study easy and exciting to pastors, and lay people alike.  The cost is a fairly high but if you want quality information you will probably have to pay for it that little piece of advice is even true in Bible study software.

The software and company have an interesting history.  Logos Research System was founded in 1992 by two former Microsoft employers, Bob Pritchett and Kiernon Reiniger.  The two met at church and according to the Logos web site originally wanted to create a “shareware” product for distribution on BBS systems (the dial-up pre-cursors to the Internet era). Frankly, I don’t even remember what BBS was.  I had to look it up too.  BBS systems stands for “bulletin board systems.”  Remember those?  You might say they were a precursor for social networking or sites like Craigslist.

The software was created for Windows 1.0 originally that was back when MS-DOS ruled the roost in Seattle.  Over time they put out version after version improving little things here and there so that it would be more user friendly.  The latest version touts some of the following features:

330 different Bibles and Bible reference titles

Six interlinear Bibles

Greek and Hebrew texts

Aramaic Texts

Latin texts

Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic Lexicons

Multiple Bible language resources

20 bible commentaries

Topical bibles

Bible Dictionaries

Word study tools

Bible study maps

Bible history

Archeological information

Bible Ethics

Theology resources

Apologetics

Christian leadership resources

Pastoral Resources

Sermon outlines and resources

Sermon illustrations

Quotes

and much, much more

If you have the money to spare it sounds like it will be worth your time to invest in some serious Bible study software like Logos.  I will be picking up my copy real soon.  The one draw back they have is their Mac version is still taking shape.  Hence my reason for not owning this kickin software yet.  Otherwise Logos is doing a fantastic job by the looks of it.

If you would like to see some demos go to You Tube and type in “Logos Bible Study Software.”

Enjoy.

Why include discussion in a Bible study, small group, or Sunday School class? Why not just lecture, or watch a great preacher or teacher on DVD, then call it quits for the day?

Discussion is an essential part of every Bible study or teaching time for six important reasons:

1. Discussion keeps people attentive. It’s easy for listening to become a passive activity. If a class is composed of pure lecture (including DVDs or videos), people can tune out at any time. Discussion encourages people to listen actively because they don’t know when you might ask a question and request their input on the topic at hand.

2. Discussion lets people actively participate. People want to be involved. Discussion opens the floor to let people share their wisdom, talk about themselves and their experiences, and help others.

3. Discussion helps people make principles their own. By talking about a topic, discussion helps people make the movement from hearing facts (head knowledge), to understanding truth (heart knowledge).

4. Discussion brings additional insights. Teachers are not magically gifted with all knowledge. The participants in the group or class will often be able to add examples, insights, and encouragement that the teacher simply doesn’t possess. By giving people a chance to speak, leaders allow God to get across everything he might want to say.

5. Discussion keeps balance in the group. Sometimes people are tempted to put a teacher or leader on a pedestal as “the keeper of all knowledge.” Discussion helps level the playing field: by inviting discussion, leaders affirm that they are also students of the Word, and that each person can learn from everyone else.

6. Discussion fosters relationships among members. When people talk and share, they build bridges between one another. Especially in a small group setting, discussion is critical for developing true relationships with one another.

© 2008 Paula Marolewski

You have my permission to reprint and distribute this article as long as it is distributed in its entirety, including all links and copyright information. This article is not to be sold or included with anything that is sold.

True or False? You should bring a Bible to a Bible study.

The answer is True, but if you happen to forget (hmm?) and you have a PDA phone, you have Boopsie! You can perform a fast, free Bible search right on your mobile phone.

John Wesley, a college student from Aberdeen, Maryland is a Boopsie user and new Bible study student.

He knew the rules. Anyone that didn’t bring their Bible to the young adults’ study group was assigned to bring donuts the following week. He remembered this as he entered the room – and realized his Bible was back at home on his nightstand. Thankfully John had a backup plan.

“I told the group that I had my Bible.” Wesley recalls. Then I pulled my iPhone out of my pocket. At first they thought I was kidding, but I assured them that with Boopsie’s mobile search I could keep up with our discussion on chapter 13 of First Corinthians.”

Boopsie provides the fastest, free search available on any mobile device (BlackBerry, iPhone, Windows Mobile, Palm, and more). The quick-to-display interface gives users faster results than a more traditional search tool launched from a web browser- all from their mobile phone.

Boopsie’s smart prefix search allows users to enter just the first few letters of each word. So instead of entering “For God so loved the world”, users just type “go so lov wor” to find John 3:16. Boopsie starts narrowing the results as soon as the first letter is given, so there’s no waiting till the Enter key is pressed to get information. That means less work for thumbs, and faster, more useful results.

Wesley did indeed show the Bible study group that his mobile phone Bible could keep up with the discussion. He accessed the New Revised Standard Bible channel through Boopsie then entered “1 cor 13″. A split second later he started reciting the chapter to the rest of the group. The traditionalists in the room seemed a little offended at first, but they became more and more intrigued.

“When I got to ‘Love is patient, love is kind’ in verse four, someone thought they could stump me by asking if I could provide the King James translation,” Wesley recalls. “Just a few seconds later after I switched over to the King James channel, I read, ‘Love suffers long and is kind.’ After that, no one challenged Boopsie as an acceptable Bible alternative, the only Bible search tool needed.

The moral of the story: Simply put, Boopsie offers a free mobile phone Bible download anyone with a PDA can use. Now that’s using mobile find to enlighten one’s life.

“At the next week’s Bible study, I noticed several people quietly take out their mobile devices and fire up Boopsie. I turned a room full of skeptics into a room full of Boopsie believers with a free bible for mobile phone users. Now that’s faith.

“And I never did have to bring donuts.”