Our study groups are reading the last part of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and the beginning of Acts of the Apostles this week. This makes for a real immersion into the Gospel story and the teaching of Jesus. One of the things we have all noticed as we read our 12 pages a day is that we have the ability to make the connections between all of the books of the Bible because we have read them all recently enough to keep some of what we read in mind.
Every few pages I ask myself, "Did Jesus really say that? I don't remember it." Or "what can that mean?" Others are troubled by some of the hard sayings of Jesus that they are encountering. " The parables aren't clear to me," said one. "Often the one who makes a bad choice in the parable meets with no mercy, or worse yet, destruction. As a teaching device, that works. But where is the mercy Jesus speaks of in the next breath?"
Most agree that reading the New Testament has a very different "feel" after finishing the Old Testament first. Several have told me that they feel a call to return to study of the OT when they are finished with BIND. So we're planning to offer a couple of OT Bible study classes.
The Reformed understanding of interpretation of scripture is that scripture must be read in the context of all of scripture--not verses in isolation. This course has really reinforced the importance of that teaching to me. We are all tempted to focus on the passages that are agreeable to us and disregard or ignore the passages that challenge our assumptions and trouble our spirits.
This afternoon I attended the launch of the newly published BIND curriculum by Zondervan. I came back with a copy of the new starter kit to use for our next class. As I mentioned before, we are using a "Beta" test version this fall so I've been eager to see the finished product. Yes, we'll offer it after the New Year since I've had folks ask me when we were going to do it again.
If you are interested in reading more about the newly published curriculum, click on Bible in 90 Days which is on my blogroll. You can purchase at a discount through that site which is sponsored by the Bible in 90 Days non-profit organization.
Most agree that reading the New Testament has a very different "feel" after finishing the Old Testament first. Several have told me that they feel a call to return to study of the OT when they are finished with BIND. So we're planning to offer a couple of OT Bible study classes.
The Reformed understanding of interpretation of scripture is that scripture must be read in the context of all of scripture--not verses in isolation. This course has really reinforced the importance of that teaching to me. We are all tempted to focus on the passages that are agreeable to us and disregard or ignore the passages that challenge our assumptions and trouble our spirits.
This afternoon I attended the launch of the newly published BIND curriculum by Zondervan. I came back with a copy of the new starter kit to use for our next class. As I mentioned before, we are using a "Beta" test version this fall so I've been eager to see the finished product. Yes, we'll offer it after the New Year since I've had folks ask me when we were going to do it again.
If you are interested in reading more about the newly published curriculum, click on Bible in 90 Days which is on my blogroll. You can purchase at a discount through that site which is sponsored by the Bible in 90 Days non-profit organization.
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