reading and pondering

I heard a recent exchange among men on the importance of "the spiritual discipline of study." Was good, but not entirely sure what to think of it, except I have either misplaced, or never owned my own copy of the book they were referring to (good author). I will be looking at that book soon. One of our pastors, Sharon, in the past has taken us through Lectio Divina in reading Scripture, and it was good.

My point here is that I think we need to learn to read the Bible well. This will involve rereading it, to be sure. And reading it slowly and carefully. Pondering its meaning both for the original readers, and for us today. And trying to catch something of God's voice to us through that.

I have listened to the Bible being read I think dozens of times in my life. That is good, and keeps me in all the books throughout the year. Yet I find that the best reading I do is the kind where I can stop and ponder what I just read. If we sweep over a book, that is good as well, because a cardinal sin of Bible reading, and Bible memory is to take one "precious promise" or whatever from Scripture out of context. We need to read each part of every book in the context of that book.

But we also need to let what we read soak in. We need to ponder and think through each thought we read. And see it all in terms of the Story of God, and how we fit into that story.

This takes time and effort. It certainly involves being in the Book daily, or at least regularly. But it also involves living life and reading other books and listening to others. The Bible reflects real life and the real world, so that we need not be threatened by what we hear and read out there, as we continue to read Scripture. Indeed, we'll often find it eveh helpful to us. Of course not all of us are readers, though probably most bloggers are, so that most anyone who will read this, is. But I find that we need to be in Scripture reguarly, and we understand Scripture better as we seek to grow in living as fully as we can in this life before God through Christ with other believers for the sake of the world.

What has any of you found to be true from your own life and experience in this?

better understanding Scripture and Jesus

From chapter 3, "Stringing Pearls" in Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith, by Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg.

Stringing pearls is a metaphor for the practice of Jewish rabbis bringing Scripture passages together which had common words. The passages were considered in their own context and then how they shed light on each other. Jesus used this and for us to begin to better study and understand Scripture, we need to learn to recognize it, and study accordingly.

I remember when I was a relatively young Christian engaged with an intelligent young man my age, over whether Jesus is Deity or not. He believed not, and I was trying to persuade him that Jesus is indeed God as well as human. I was probably using some conventional, popular evangelical ways of doing so, but did not get through to him. I wish I would have understood the truth which this chapter unfolds for us.

When it is realized all that "good shepherd" and "Son of Man" meant from the Hebrew/Aramaic Scripture, our Old Testament and Jesus' Bible, then we understand why Jesus' words were so powerful and scandalous to those who did not accept his message and mission. "Good shepherd" was an allusion to Ezekiel 34 where God says he will send a good shepherd to care for and lead his people, and judge the bad shepherds, or leaders of his people, in the process. And indeed will shepherd them himself. And "Son of Man" refers to Daniel 7 which Jesus quotes from during the trial to the Jewish religious leaders before his crucifixion. He is one like a son of man, which suggests this figure is more than human, and all peoples on earth worship him. And in Matthew 25, as the son of man, he separates the sheep from the goats, something ascribed to God, again in Ezekiel 34.

At Jesus' baptism we see passages from the Torah (Law or Teaching), Writings and the Prophets alluded to by the voice from heaven. So that Jesus is in effect called Messiah, Sacrificial Lamb, and Servant on whom the Spirit is so that he will bring God's good justice and reign to humankind and the earth.

This is a rich chapter. As true throughout this book, there is always something good for any serious Bible student, but one does not get bogged down or overwhelmed with too much. And good end notes for those who want to pursue further study. Along with good questions at the end of each chapter to stimulate further thinking or discussion in groups.

This chapter can help us better ponder and understand Scripture and Jesus' fulfillment of it as we learn more and more to read and see it as Jesus did. We then understand more clearly his claims and our place in his ongoing mission and work in the world today.

From any of you who read it, what stood out to you? And any thoughts on this from anyone?

Next week , chapter 4, "Following the Rabbi."

all Scripture

We are told in 2 Timothy that "All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable." Yes, we need it all.

I'm thankful for how well rounded Scripture is, and how it helps us to the goal of God's kingdom in the new creation through Jesus. Like the people in Scripture we experience many things, and we struggle in many ways. This is why it's important for us to be in Scripture, and all of it.

For me, as I've shared here a number of times, The Bible Experience is a real gift from God in helping keep me in Scripture. And it's important to get into passages and see them related to the whole and how our lives fit in with reference to that. Takes time and an openness which refuses to force anything out of a passage or out of the Bible itself. But an openness which is receptive to whatever God may be saying to us about God's will on earth.

David is a good case in point. A man after God's own heart, who could celebrate with his whole being in the joy and worship of the Lord. Yet who could also sin so grievously in the matter of Bathsheba and Uriah the Hittite. But did repent. Just one example among so many more of parts from "all Scripture" which we need.

Any more thoughts on this?

By the way, Spring is more than in the air here. Quite warm this morning, and we're loving it!

Easter Scripture reading

Jesus Has Risen
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

The Guards' Report
While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, "You are to say, 'His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.' If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.

The Great Commission
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Matthew 28:1-20

Scripture reading for Holy Saturday

The Burial of Jesus
As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.

The Guard at the Tomb
The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. "Sir," they said, "we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise again.' So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first."

"Take a guard," Pilate answered. "Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how." So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

Matthew 27:57-66

Good Friday reading from Scripture

The Crucifixion of Jesus
As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. They came to a place called Golgotha (which means "the place of the skull"). There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, "You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!"

In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. "He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! He's the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.' " In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

The Death of Jesus
From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" (which means "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?").

When some of those standing there heard this, they said, "He's calling Elijah."

Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to save him."

And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus' resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, "Surely he was the Son of God!"

Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee's sons.

Matthew 27:32-56

good Bible reading and study

Yesterday in Scot's study on James, he pointed out that we need to read the passage which tells us to "consider it pure joy when we face trials of many kinds," in light of the rest of book of James. Then Scot listed some of the problems going on there, mentioned in the book: essentially about the rich oppressing the poor, even among professing believers. 

While I don't think we have to exclude other trials not mentioned in James, I do think this is an apt example of how we need to read Scripture. We need to read a passage well, in its immediate context, be that a pericope (like a parable, or a story/event of Jesus and his disciples, etc.), or with reference to the rest of the book, and then from there with reference to books like it (example, other books by the same Biblical author, others of the same genre like wisdom or apocalyptic), and from there the same testament whether "old" as in the Hebrew Bible, or "new". Then at last with reference to all of Scripture.

I'm not against Bible promise books, but I think such tend to faciliate reading Scripture out of context. It is possible to miss the point of a passage, or verse entirely, possibly interpreting it concerned about our own interests and according to our own worldview, which may be at odds with the interests and worldview in Christ God is calling us toward.

Again, I commend that study at Jesus Creed. And that we learn more and more to read Scripture, God's word well, in its context. Such a study can help us toward that. It was a good reminder for me.

What would you like to add here?

tradition and interpretation

In Christian Protestant circles we are familiar with the term Sola scriptura, which simply means the one source from which we draw from for our faith and practice as Christians is Scripture. Of course not all Christians agree, both Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox putting tradition in a place either almost or completely parallel with Scripture. Often in a kind of reciprocal relationship. While I believe Scripture must be our ground for faith and practice, we Protestants often little realize just how important tradition is.

Scripture itself promises that the Spirit will guide Christ's disciples into all truth. And that the church itself is the pillar and foundation of the truth. Of course Christ is the Cornerstone, the one on whom our faith is founded. The church was involved in that founding from Christ by the Spirit. The apostles and prophets receiving from God for us this faith that is ours in Jesus. And the church continues to be the entity/body in which we are to learn and grow in the Lord.

When I hear someone say tradition and interpretation don't matter; it's the Bible that is the word of God, I wince a bit. Whenever we read any of Scripture there is always a combination of interpretation and tradition occuring. Unless we're just doing so as an individual with our own interpretation. But that is not God's intention.

We can think we're reading the Bible for ourselves, and that is important. But we little realize just how much tradition and interpretation are present in our reading of it. Even in the translation of Scripture from the Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic, there is invariably interpretation going on. True in the most "literal" translation, if it really is a translation. Because the translator is trying to get to the meaning of a manuscript in one language and put it in the closest parallel meaning of another language.

We all need to read the Bible, God's word for ourselves. The Spirit can help us in our own private reading if we do so prayerfully with the desire to know God more and God's will for us in Jesus. But we must not imagine that tradition either should not or does not impact us. It does. Nor should we think we're not interpreting as we read. Indeed we are. To think otherwise has resulted in people promoting errors from not reading Scripture well, and in context. And it has also resulted in unnecessary divisions among us Christians. That is not to say there aren't divisions that had a good reason for occuring at their start. But properly speaking such divisions must not cause us to be aloof from other true Christian churches and people. There is, after all only one body along with our one faith.

With our inevitable differences in interpreting matters that while important are not crucial for us being in the faith, let us seek to emphasize what is essential. In that we need unity in the faith. In nonessentials liberty. And in all things, love (from the words of Augustine).

What might you like to add to this a bit heavy theological post?

reading the Bible as story

One of my excellent seminary professors, Dr. Joe Crawford who taught systematic and historical theology, etc., now with the Lord, had a passion for truth which was infectious. I especially remember the time he got me excited about wanting to read Henri Crouzel's book on Origen. While I was there, Dr. Crawford talked about how reading the Bible as story, revolutionized his theology. He wrote a manuscript on that later. I think it was an evolving, growing process for him. On a lesser scale this is true of me as well. Scot McKnight's new, interesting and I believe excellent little book, Blue Parakeet.

I open this up. Do any of you identify? And what does reading the Bible as story look like, or mean for you and for your understanding of the truth as it is in Jesus? How might reading the Bible as story differ from other ways of reading it? Is it natural to the Bible itself? Is it reading the Bible contextually? And what about places in the Bible which are not narrative, such as wisdom literature (example: Proverbs, Song of Songs), or the book of Romans?

Of course we must read the Bible contextually. Good Bible reading and study should consider a passage, or verse in its immediate context, then in the context of the entire book, and then contextually in books by the same human author, next within the new or old covenant scheme, and at last with reference to the entire Book. Word studies can be helpful as well, as long as we note that the same word will mean different things at times, depending on its context. Good Bible reading and study does all of this either closely or by recall (not that we should think that we have to go through all of this consciously).

To understand any teaching sufficiently it must be put into the whole and in the context of story (Genesis through Revelation), but we take the entire teaching along into the story. We can't just take the part we want and leave the difficult or unwanted part of it, perhaps a difficult part to understand, behind. And it must be factored into the story.

Though it is not necessary for anyone to engage in good Bible reading and study, to have background information as to the world in the day the Scripture was written, with reference to its culture and practices is likewise helpful (an understatement, really, especially with regard to some matters such as women and slaves).

When we do this we avoid what I believe is the error of "bullet lists" to teach a systematic theology. Taken by themselves they can be quite different than when taken up and read with reference to the whole story from Genesis through Revelation. Not that we want to change the meaning in its original context. But that this meaning must be factored into the whole of the story.

One example I posted on recently is predestination and election. If I study the relevant passages on their own, it would appear that many of them are only about assurance of salvation through the work of God, as our good friend Andrew, has so aptly pointed out in his comments on that posting. But considered in the story we find that there is more to consider. Other factors weigh in on that discussion as well, and on nearly any other discussion, factors on which Christians disagree. For example in my case, even though I believe God does a work in Christians to help them persevere, I believe the imperative to make one's calling and election sure, makes it clear that our assurance is dependent on us remaining in the faith, and that a true Christian can apostasize. But in the grace of God in Jesus, as we trust, we can be assured of salvation- in the present and future, based on the work of Jesus.

And aside from the differences Christians have over interpreting the relevant texts, we need to see such teachings in the sweep of the entire story of God. This means predestination and election are not just about one's salvation, as important as that is, but it's with reference to what that salvation entails. That in Jesus, we become a part of God's ongoing work in the world through him, a work that has to do with the new creation, thus touching all of creation, including human culture, as well as helping others come into this new life for themselves. We receive the light and become the light of the world, in Jesus.

This is an overly long post, and for that I apologize. But just a sketch and example as to why I believe we need to read and think through everything with reference to the entire story, and not just within its own immediate context. I am certainly working on this, myself.

What would you like to add here- and with reference to the above questions and thoughts?

remaining in the word

I think it's important to be in the word, the entire word of God, Scripture. It's important to test our theology, that is, what we believe, according to the word. We need good theology, but we must be careful not to read Scripture through our theological lens. Instead we should seek to read it alongside theology. Then our theological understanding is always put to the test of Scripture.

This is where the Reformers and Rome parted, and practicing this with the Reformers means I'm not beholden to them, either. I'm beholden to God's word only. But to think that with Scripture- tradition, reason and experience carry no weight is mistaken. We can learn from each other, and I've found it interesting how I can learn from someone writing on infant baptism for example, something I don't hold to. We need to be those who are ever applying ourselves to the reading and study of God's word, and learning from each other in this. Only then can we get the full orbed picture of Jesus, and of what God is doing in the world in Jesus.

Of course there are parts that are hard to understand and easy to misunderstand. Some parts I flat out won't understand. But faithful practice involves working at understanding. God's truth in Jesus is given to us by grace through faith to live out. Not just to believe. And it's also relational, not just didactic (teaching-oriented as in head learning), or maybe didactic as in a follower in a relational sort of way. So that we seek to so learn as apprentices of Jesus, to live in obedience to God.

How do you view theology? And what helps you to get into all of Scripture?

A book I'd recommend related to this, and which is my source for speaking of looking with theology and not through it is Blue Parakeet, by Scot McKnight. I believe you will find it an interesting, stimulating read.

review of The Blue Parakeet, by Scot McKnight

The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible, by Scot McKnight

I was fortunate to be one of the readers of Jesus Creed, to receive Zondervan's offer of an "advance reader copy" of this book. This was offered to the first set number of those responding- I believe I got in on the second wave/offer of this- with the understanding that we are to post a review of the book.

For me this is an advance in my understanding of how we're to read the Bible. Scot clearly helps us see the different ways Christians read Scripture which he believes- and I agree- are mistaken. Here is his list, especially referring to difficult passages:

• to treat the Bible as a collection of laws
• to treat the Bible as a collection of blessing and promises
• to treat the Bible as a Rohrschach inkblot onto which we can project our own ideas
• to treat the Bible as a giant puzzle that we are to puzzle together
• to treat one of the Bible's authors as a Maestro

(p. 209)

Scot deals with each to help us learn to read the Bible in a better way- reflective of the major place narrative has in its writing- as the Story of God in Jesus in which we can find our story, written with us in view and for us. As we learn to read the Bible as story we learn that God speaks through major characters (such as Moses and John) in their ways for their days. And that this is meant to be carried on in every time and culture in various ways for different days. Of course each "lead us to the person of the Story: Jesus Christ" who is "the goal and the center of each wiki-story." (p. 210)

Scot lists "the major elements of that story:

1. God and creation
2. Adam and Eve as Eikons who crack the Eikon
3. God's covenant community, where humans are restored to God, self, others, and the world
4. Jesus Christ, who is the Story and in whose story we are to live
5. the church as Jesus' covenant community
6. the consummation, when all the designs of our Creator God will finally be realized forever and ever

(p. 210)

Another important point Scot makes is that we should read the Bible with tradition, and not through (the lens of) tradition. In other words we can learn alot from "the Great Tradition" of the church, and not have to reinvent the wheel, or many of the good things that follow, and we should. But we also must remember that tradition is not infallible, while God's word, Scripture, is. So all tradition must be critiqued on the basis of Scripture.

Scot also helps us consider just how we pick and choose what directly is for today, what may be lived out today in another way, and what might have no bearing today whatsoever. Both in Old and New Testament passages.

The title, The Blue Parakeet came from Scot and his wife Kris actually seeing a blue parakeet in their back yard, and the reaction sparrows had to this strange newcomer. At first the sparrows were terrified. But then they began to imitate the parakeet, in rapt attention to it.

Scot likens that blue parakeet to passages in the Bible which leave us with clues of how God is working in ways that are surprising and outside of the norm. What women did in both the Old and New Testaments (WDWD- as in What Did Women Do?) is noted in some highlights. I agree with Scot on women and ministry, as well as the words in Genesis 3:16: "Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you," as applying to the fall, and not to be a part of the new creation beginning now, in Jesus. And he explains that well.

Scot takes a good look at 1 Timothy 2:9-15 with the interesting question as to how we live out all that is written there today. So far for me, along with the 1 Corinthians 14 passage (note the passage both in the book, an appendix and the footnotes, and its textual problem), this is the clearest and most compelling understanding of this issue. I think Scot gives us good reasons to understand from the passages, particularly from 1 Timothy that after women learn, and thus no longer need to be silent, then they can do what we find them doing throughout the Bible, and especially in the New Testament: both lead and teach.

This is a fine book written clearly for the entire church by a first rate Bible, New Testament and Jesus scholar. My wife Deb, read it and likes it, as well. It is a book I will want to refer to and reread, definitely one of those few books I'd buy, being on a relatively tight book budget. Pick it up and read. It will at least challenge your thinking.

keep reading

We can be discouraged because we can see ourselves as not good readers, and thus we can fail to read, period, or do alot less reading then we should. Or we can pick up a book and lose interest in it, or have trouble finishing books we actually like. Or we can be slow readers. True of me, the best books I want to read slowly, though sometimes you can get caught up and carried along by a page turner!

I've been guilty and am guilty at times of all the above. But I've learned over the years not to let that discourage me. There is nothing I'd rather do every day than read. Doesn't have to be a long read, but I enjoy reading. We need to be encouraged to keep at it, as a part of fulfilling the Jesus Creed in seeking to love God with all our minds.

Above all, we need to keep reading or hearing God's word, Scripture. This is a Book we need to get into, as well as it getting into us. Like Eugene Peterson reminds us from Scripture, We're to eat this Book!

How is reading clearly beneficial to you? And how can reading be a pitfall to us?

meditating on God's word

Meditating on God's word is something we need to do, day and night. In other words, regularly. It's good to read widely, and I aspire to that. It's important to read good commentaries on Scripture and books with reference to the faith. I believe strongly in that, and I don't think we can read the Bible properly or correctly, just on our own, even with the help of the Spirit. The Spirit can help us, individually, in our reading, don't get me wrong. But the Spirit chooses to work through the Church, Christ's Body, so we'd best do both: being in Scripture ourselves, along with others informally and formally. See here, for an excellent explanation on this.

I've recently been working through an excellent commentary on Philemon, Colossians and Ephesians- while at work in my factory job, slowly going over Ephesians. Saying it over and over in my mind has helped me to appreciate its beauty and power as God's word spoken in Jesus into my life. And having listened to The Bible Experience, I can hear the voices reading it, and I've found this helpful. I am, admittedly, an audio learner; it seems that I learn best by hearing, though a combination in using our senses to learn, is good.

It's good and important to be reading all of Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, but it's also good and important to simply dwell in a passage or a book, for awhile. Let the words sink in to our minds and hearts and lives. Ponder over them. And respond to God's grace in Jesus. Even if that means just being silent before God.

What would you like to add to these thoughts on this?

back to what I'm used to

It may be in part because I'm tired and rather exhausted this week, due in no small part to lack of sleep early in the week for good reason. And with that exhaustion, or as a part of it, I have developed a minor case of depression or a kind of aimless spirit, especially apparent to me, today.

In the past I wrote how I had been reading alot of Scripture but was finding myself in a hurry to get it over with. Not good of course. So I quit that kind of reading altogether for awhile, being in the word some daily, but not at all like the past.

Now I realize I need to get back to my normal course of reading (as well as listening to) Scripture, though modified, and probably not set in stone, yet regular with only exceptional misses. It's back to what I'm used to. Or as David told King Saul, before he was to step out into battle against Goliath, "I'm not used to these," so he set aside Saul's armor and took his sling and five stones which he was used to, and in the name of the Lord, he slew that giant.

And it won't hurt for me to keep working on catching up on my sleep.

bite-sized pieces

This evening, in responding to Andrew's comment here, I was led to think of what I've been doing recently in relation to reading Scripture, which for me so far has proved to be far more satisfying than my recent past practice, or practice before that.

Over the years and certainly so in recent months I would most every day go through relatively large portions of Scripture. It was good, especially early on, as I was hearing God's word read and through parts of it, I believe God was speaking to my heart, while the rest I was getting exposed to. I think whenever we read Scripture we should simply value each reading for the reading itself in relation to the goal of such reading: to hear God and know him and his will for us better.

Lately, as I stated in an earlier post, I had become fatigued over all the Scripture reading both morning and evening, and found myself just wanting to get it done. Not good in really getting the point as to why it is given to us.

I then simply stopped reading pretty much altogether for awhile, just taking in some from The Bible Experience, and a short portion daily from Scripture. After a couple weeks of this I knew I needed to really get back into the word again.

So now I'm taking it in throughout the day in bite-sized pieces. Smaller portions, read with prayer. I'm liking it. I think it's helping prevent me from missing the point of why it's given, something I'm good at doing, I'm afraid.

We're to meditate, and in the words of Scripture, "eat this book" (to Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the Apostle John in the Revelation). This involves the whole thing, not just the parts we like. I really kind of dislike these little promise books that have verses pasted in to help people in this and that trouble. Sometimes such verses are taken out of context, though I wouldn't say they don't do any good at all for people. But we need to learn to take in the whole, all of God's word from Genesis to Revelation.

Yet for me, at least now, I need to do so frequently in bite-sized pieces. Not too much at a time and with prayer. And often every day, being my goal.

We need to be those who are hungry for God's word because we love God and want in Jesus to grow in his will in our character and actions. And simply because we know we need it, even if most of the time we don't really understand what's going on in the process.

How about you? How do you like to take in Scripture? Or any thoughts about this that could help us?

being in the word

Lately, while I've been in the word daily, I really haven't been in it like I've been in the past, at all. Though I had been reading alot (relatively for me) of Scripture, I had often been just wanting to get it done. I had developed a rut in which while I was reading Scripture, which is good, I was not relishing it as God's word, as I should.

I don't know if my recent blogging through John Frye's book, Out of Print, had an impact here; though I don't doubt it. But for awhile I essentially stopped reading Scripture altogether (like a couple weeks and a few days) except for the passages I would get into most every day, as well as my listening to The Bible Experience.

It was refreshing yesterday to get back into a renewed meditative reading in Scripture, and I know this is important for me. Of course I need to hear it in our worship gatherings, and apply it to life. But I also need to regularly, "day and night" be in it. After all, since it is God's word (or for any sceptics out there, if it is God's word), I need to make the effort to be reading/hearing it, so that God can do his work in me, and so that my life can be changed by it, and according to it. Changed by God of course.

The difference for me from the past is that I no longer have rigid set times daily that I keep, which I did keep for some time. But that I do so regularly, because I want to do so, and because I love God and God's word. And because I want to really meet with God during special times in a shorter passage, for prayer in waiting on God in giving him my praises (I need to improve there) and requests, and looking to God for his answers or working.

What about you? What does being in the word mean for you as one in Jesus, and what might help us that you've learned in this endeavor?

imagination

I was recently sharing with a friend about how the voice portraying Jesus' voice in The Bible Experience, in the Revelation in the part of the seven letters to the churches, gives me a sense of the greatness and majesty of God we find in such places as in Isaiah.

While I believe Jesus is God, I like to major on the truth that God is Jesus. That we find God in Jesus as God's final word to us, this Word himself, being God and becoming human in the Son by the incarnation. In doing that we must not lose sight of the full revelation of God we find in Scripture, fulfilled in Jesus himself.

So it's good for me to listen to the gospels, accepting and loving them as they are, and I enjoy that same voice for Jesus in The Bible Experience (and available in mp3) in hearing them. In contrast to the same Jesus, glorified in the Revelation, enthroned and coming back to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords, on the new heaven and earth.

Imagination is a wonderful gift from God and never to be set aside. But at the same time, we need to work on being grounded in God's word- in Scripture. That will help us avoid imaginative flights which are our own fancies and not true to God's revelation given to us in Scripture and in Jesus. Doing the hard work in so being grounded, and seeking to do so in a relational, faith-oriented way to God, which means a journey of faith for us as his people in this world and in mission in Jesus to the world.

What would you like to add, here?

"unsurpassable" from John Frye

We now reach the final chapter of John Frye's new book: Out of Print: A Novel. Much has happened in this short story after the disappearance of God's word in every visible form anywhere. A new interest has taken hold all over the world, first among Christians as well as Jews, to recover the missing books by finding those who had committed Scripture to memory. And Christians along with people all over the world actually hearing the word of God spoken out loud in their own language. All kinds of people who previously had no knowledge of God's word because of this phenomenon are able to hear it for themselves and are drawn to Jesus who is really the subject of the Story in a real sense.

In this chapter God's word begins to reappear until it is finally all restored. You begin to see the passages coming back and the people of the story, mostly Christians and a Jewish rabbi, interacting with the meaning of it all. First the Jeremiah 31 passage on the promised new covenant appears. Then the Ezekiel 36 passage that speaks of the same thing. Next John 1:14 appears followed by John 5:39-40, and 2 Corinthians 3:2-3. As the Christian and Jewish leaders are trying to make sense of it all and are coming to some points of conviction on it, then 2 Corinthians 5:15-19 appears followed by John 17:22-23. Afterwards whole books of the Bible come back until at last it is all restored.

A major conclusion that stands out to me from the story and from the Christian leaders (from the Jewish leaders as well, shown by the Jewish rabbi and by the interest in Jesus some Jews were having) in the story is that the word is to become flesh. That is, it's to penetrate into our lives and change us from the inside out. This is done in Jesus, who is the Word made flesh. And all of us in him partake of this reality of the new covenant.

Another major thought from it is that the word heard gives the hearers the sense of wanting to respond to it. The Hebrew words for "listen" and "obey" are synonymous. In our culture of reading silently, the idea is that we're in charge. But when it's read out loud to us we are being acted on, and it's up to us to respond.

To get the impact on people and how this plays out you'll need to read the book for yourself. It is quite a wonderful story to the point that you almost have a hard time thinking it didn't happen! And I love the epilogue and how the story ends. Wonderful picture of God's grace (of course you'll have to have read the story before to get it) and you see the pastor's heart John has in his telling of it.

What about us? When we pick up the Bible day after day what difference does it make in our lives and why? Are we having a relationship with it or with the God of the Bible? Are we entering into the Story of God's word in Jesus for ourselves? Or is it prmarily a book just telling us what to do and not do? And what significance does the word becoming flesh in Jesus have for our own lives? What place does the word have in us and how?

These questions and many more can be asked from the reading of this book. What hits you in your reading of the book or of these posts about the book? What would you like to share here?

1. unthinkable
2. unexplainable
3. unstoppable

"unstoppable" from John Frye

What would it be like to have all the word of God seen on the face of the earth, gone (except for Esther and Genesis)? What impact might this have? In John Frye's wonderful story telling ability we read about what could happen if that was the case in his new book: Out of Print: A Novel.

Again these are very real people, down to earth, and John knows people well, a pastor for over thirty years. After the "unthinkable" had happened, followed by a period when people are at a loss to understand why ("unexplainable") we now see another miracle taking place, but in a different direction. From consternation and fear, we see God's word prevailing through people all over the world who had committed it to memory. In the effort most of the Bible was retrieved, including its original languages of Hebrew and Greek, as well as its translation into worldwide languages. The interest in hearing God's word recited by his people was a phenomenon in reading rooms all over the world. And people who would not have darkened the doors of a church were interested and listening. Even the Islamic scholars, who had suggested that the disappearance of the Jewish and Christian Scriptures was a judgment by Allah, were taken back by what had unfolded before them.

Towards the end of the chapter John describes through the conversation of tthe Christian friends in the story much of what John is getting at in telling this story. That in hearing God's word read out loud, people can begin to hear God's voice to them. And that the word of God and God's work through it is more important than our theological differences as Christians.

In the words of Harold Johnson, the evangelical professor in the story:

The Bible simply being recited has become a magnet for human attention. The way Jews are showing an interest in the New Testament and Christians are needing the Jews for the Old Testament is uncanny. Catholic and Protestant scholars are developing a deep respect for each other as they work together to have just the Bible itself accessible. The profound Christian-Jewish, Protestant-Catholic-Orthodox cooperation has caught the attention of the Muslim world. Something truly greater than our differences is causing us to communicate with each other. (p. 66)

Another important quote from Pastor Steve in the story:

The watching world is taking note of the love that Christians and Jews have for their Scriptures. The Bible is not being used anymore to harangue and judge and belittle and ostracisize others. It is simply being spoken and lived out by people who deeply treasure it. The Bible was meant to be a lived Book, not just a learened Book. Maybe it's as simple as "A love letter needs to be read in a loving way." (p. 71)

There are some parts of the story that need to be resolved. Like all the loving, painstaking work done by the husband and wife team, Hank and Karla. How God used the disappearance of his word in Luci's life and her leaving Wayne, her boyfriend because of that, since he has no interest in what she has found and wants the old Luci back. Some good story lines, and if you get a chance to meet John, you'll see the love and humanness which he has cast in this story and its fictional characters of very real people.

I really like what John is getting at in this story and I'm trying to "get it" better myself. And I haven't even uncovered all the themes in the chapter, like the difference between God and the Book of God. And yet how important that Book is as God's word to the world in Jesus.

This chapter alone has plenty of fodder for good discussion, and for a deeper appreciation of this wonderful gift we have from God, in Scripture. And one thing that comes out to me loud and clear is that nothing can stop God's word and his work of love in Jesus and we best get in line with it, and find our place in this Story of God. It is truly unstoppable!

What hits you about this chapter or what is said here or from the book itself? What would you like to say about this?

1. unthinkable
2. unexplainable

Next week: chapter 4: "unsurpassable".

"unexplainable" from John Frye

Hit with the unthinkable, the Bible's text disappearing everywhere, Christians are left with the question, "What on earth is going on?" This is from chapter 2, "Unexplainable" in John Frye's book, Out of Print: A Novel.

We see a pastor trying to grapple with this problem. His whole ministry was about helping people understand the word of God through his teaching. What would he do now that the entire Bible had disappeared (except for Esther and Genesis 34)? His little five year old son reassures his daddy that he'll be a good pastor, and lets him know that he still prays to Jesus. The pastor feels lost, but in the Sunday service the shaken congregation's faith seems to come alive, as he leads them in reciting Psalm 23. And they find various ones in their midst who have memorized other psalms.

Muslim scholars gather and decide that the best tentative explanation they can come up with is that Allah has done this to judge the Christians and Jews for wrongs done against Muslims through the centuries to this day. A televangelist to keep the money coming in lets people know that Jesus told him that the devil stole the word, relating that to Jesus' parable of the sower where the devil steals the word before it can take root in people's hearts. The seminary professor in conference with other Christian and Biblical scholars simply doesn't know, but casts doubt on the idea that the devil could do something that God promised would never be done.

I wonder about us here in the United States. We have access to so many different translations, renderings and editions of the Bible. What do we do with this great gift we have? What if all the sudden it disappeared, no more words to read of it anywhere? What would we make of that? And indeed something of the same has happened in countries in which the Bible was prohibited. The accounts show many whose faith became strengthened and to whom God's word became more precious than ever. But why? And how? And what is involved in that?

You are left hanging after this chapter, wondering what might come next. Though some light is beginning to break through as people begin to see the importance of God's word, Scripture, being hidden in their heart, in their memory- establishing their relationship with God and life in the world. And how in that Jesus is central, as a small group led by the pastor sings He is Lord .

John knows people well, a pastor for nearly 30 years in one church and pastoring again. These fictional people come to life and are as real as you and me, as well as the problem they face. I'm left intrigued and wondering just what this means for us who often lazily read our Bibles and find the words at times tedious and all too familiar.

What about us? What does the Bible mean to us? What place does it have in our hearts and lives? How might we be misusing the Bible, or missing the point in our use of it? Or for some of us, why do we neglect the Bible at times? Could there be a good time for setting it aside temporarily? Why or why not?

These and other questions we can ask as we ponder this chapter. It's a time of hurt and pain in the story. But often those times are times of needed change.

What thoughts might you have on this, or possible explanations to the "unexplainable"?

1. unthinkable

Next week: chapter 3, "Unstoppable"