Monthly Archives: May 2017

Maturing in Faith

Philippians 4:13Andrée Seu Peterson, in an article entitled “Learning Curves” in World magazine asks the question. “Why would you ever assume that you can’t do all things by Christ who strengthens you?” (World Magazine, March 4, 2017, p. 63). The Bible tells us we can, of course, but the devil and our human nature keep telling us we can’t.

We should never let stumbles or setbacks along the way in our Christian walk prevent us from moving forward, from carrying on, from dusting ourselves off and getting back to work. We must always look at any failure (large or small, real or perceived) as a learning experience. “How can I do that better the next time?” “What can I do to adjust my approach?” “What do I need to avoid?”

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What Is a Bible Study Exactly?

Bible studyThe answer to the question of what a Bible study is seems at first glance to be a simple one: an in-depth look at Scripture. But a recent article in Christianity Today entitled “Let Bible Studies Be Bible Studies” reveals that the answer can actually be fairly complex in our church today.

“Over time, ‘Bible study’ has become a catchall to describe all kinds of gatherings,” the writer of the article, Jan Wilkin, explains. “As we have expanded our use of the term, we have decreased the number of actual Bible studies we offer” (Christianity Today, March 2017, p. 26).

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The Bible Reads Us

Bible reading

Let the Bible read you.

In the Winter/Spring 2017 issue of the Concordia Journal, Prof. Erik Herrmann says in an article on the relevance of remembering the Reformation, “There is a saying that ‘there are some books that you read, and then there are some books that read you.’ For Luther, the Bible was that second kind of book. He did not see the Scriptures primarily as the object of our interpretation, but rather we are the objects as the Scriptures interpret us” (Concordia Journal, Winter/Spring 2017, p. 24).

Letting the Bible read us instead of us reading the Bible completely changes our approach to the study of Scripture. We are not to lay our own thoughts and opinions and values onto Scripture. Instead, we need to let the messages of Scripture overlay onto us and reveal where we are at in our spiritual lives.

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Recapturing Awe

aweIn the Bible we often read about how the people of God were in awe of God and Jesus:

The Israelites trembled when they say the thunder and lightning and trumpet blasts announcing the presence of God on Mt. Sinai.

The wise men bowed down and worshiped Jesus when they came into his presence bearing gifts.

The disciples marveled at Jesus when he stilled the storm.

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Embracing Informality

emojisAnother new reality of communication outlined by Pastor Matt Peeples is that communication is becoming increasingly informal. The formal memos are gone, the business letters on crisp parchment paper are no longer needed. Important business matters are now commonly related through mass emails often containing emoticons. Instant messages are used to call meetings and gather information. We can get texts from our bosses any time of day or night. The rules of grammar and spelling and complete sentences are no longer seen as too necessary. Many words are shortened.

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The Benedict Option

BenedictIn their March 2017 Christianity Today did a cover article on the Benedict Option and I was recently in an acquisitions meeting in which the Benedict Option was discussed. So I did some digging into the topic and here is what I found:

The “Benedict Option” means partaking in a communal withdrawal from the mainstream, for the sake of sheltering one’s faith and family from corrosive modernity and cultivating a more traditional way of life.

Now I am getting a better sense of why this concept is being discussed with more frequency as our secular society is tending to go more and more off course from traditional Christian values.

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