Nine ways to study the bible

1.     Textual – Read the words for knowledge

2.     Historical – Compare historical significance

3.     Literary -  Prose and poetry

4.     Exegetical – word study what do the words mean in the original language.

5.     Theological – Do the study of God in the scriptures

6.     Devotional – Spiritual inspiration

7.     Theme – Ideas in different books of the bible

8.     Topical – Study by Subject matter

9.     Biographical -  Study the people of the bible

Worship Attendance ???

As a youth in Lamesa, Texas I remember attending First Christian Church every Sunday. That was a time when church attendance was high as that is what you did on Sunday morning. Most of our membership was in worship on any given Sunday. Today church attendance has declined all across America. Even the very large congregations only have about fifty percent in attendance.

There are a lot of reasons for this decline in average attendance. For one in the fifties and sixties nothing else was happening on Sunday morning or Wednesday night. Nothing was planned because no one would attend as we were all at church. Today soccer practice is held on Sunday morning and kids and parents skip worship for that. Lots of other choices are offered on Sunday morning and many just choose to sleep in. You can forget about Wednesday night as many congregations have given up trying to have worship on that night. The culture we live in has changed and church is not the only game in town.

In an interesting way those who do attend worship are there because they really want to be in worship. It is an important event in their lives to gather with others to worship God. There is a significant value that comes with consciously choosing God over all the glitz of our modern culture. It is not just what you do on Sunday morning as it was in the fifties but a gathering of people who love God and remember what God has done for them. The core of the church can be stronger because of their commitment.

It has been noted that in many congregations older people make up most of the congregation. Perhaps that is true because when you reach a certain age you begin to realize that the day of accounting is getting closer and it is time to cram for your final exam. This is really true for all of us because young or old we never know when that day will come. Where are you when worship hour is on for your church?

Making the Bible into an Idol

A few days ago I was talking with a man about the Bible and talked about the process for choosing which books went into the Bible we have now.  He almost put his fingers in his ears! He actually said to me; “God gave us the Bible exactly as it is in the King James Authorized Bible. How can you preach the Word of God if you don’t believe that?” He did not want to hear anything else. His faith is so weak that any change in his preconceptions would shatter it.

It is scandalous for Christians if we remain content about our own ignorance and understanding of the Bible. This includes the history of how the Bible came to us and the movement of people in the Holy Land. The more I learn and understand about the scriptures the more powerful they become for me. This even includes all the human frailties that produced it. We must understand that God did not dictate word for word the Bible we have today.

For well over two thousand years over forty-four authors told their stores about their relationship with God. Some of it was passed down by word of mouth from one generation to the next before it was written down. When it was written it was in at least three different languages and has been translated into hundreds.

To accept what that man believes about the Bible is to make an idol out of the book.

The Super Saint

One of the problems with being a retired preacher is that when I listen to sermons by other preachers I can get distracted by thoughts of others ways I could have preached on that scripture. I also hear a word or phrase in the sermon that has me thinking about its meaning. Today Pastor Mike was preaching about the prodigal son from Luke. So I was really distracted and it is so hard to preach on such a familiar parable and give it a new twist. There are so many themes in that story and I have preached most of them over the years.

Today Pastor Mike honed in on the oldest son who claimed to be the perfect son who worked so hard and never disobeyed. Mike referred to him as a “Super Saint” and that set my mind to racing. I have known a lot of super saints in the churches I have served.  One was Molly a formidable woman who wielded a lot of power behind the scenes in the congregation. She would often tout the fact that she never sinned.

One Sunday the scripture was from I John1:10

“If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.”

I read that scripture several times during the sermon and Molly was fit to be tied. Her husband almost died laughing. Molly quit saying that she never sinned and for a long time she was not too happy with me. Her husband on the other hand was very happy.

Until today I had not thought of Molly the super saint in a long time.

Church Is For Sinners

After more than 40 years as a pastor of Christian churches I know there are people who attend church who are sinners, who do not live up to their stated beliefs and some who are out right hypocrites. The church has never been a rest home for saints it is a hospital for sinners and the church is where they belong. In a sense it is all of us for we all sin in one way or another.

Many people become members of a church because their parents took them to church every Sunday and it is a habit – a good one but a habit. Some attend because their spouse demands it and well you know how that works. Some go to church because their lives are super controlled by companies, government and others and their volunteer organizations like the church are the only place where they exert control, often by being obnoxious.

There are also a few faithful saints in the church but not many. I believe that when a sinner is worshiping – for what ever reason – there is the possibility that the Holy Spirit will touch them and bring about change. I have been a witness to this event many times. It takes many forms but the results do happen. It may be a thought expressed in the sermon. It may be a scripture read that the sinner never heard before. It may be a loving act by another member of the church. What ever it is a “religious experience” happens and the sinner is changed forever.

Do sinners belong in church? You bet we do!

Faith and Doubt

Faith and Doubt are two sides of the same coin and this applies to more than religion. There are many beliefs systems such as economic, political, social, and personal. You may have faith in democracy or in capitalism and you may at the same time have doubts about aspects of either. Doubts are those little nagging questions that have never been fully answered for us.

Doubts actually helps us strengthen our belief systems because being able to question what we believe either gives us a stronger understanding or causes us to change to a better system. What may be better for us may not be appreciated by those around us. We have to be able to answer our own doubts and questions in order to articulate our concepts to other fellow travelers.

In our republic we are always questioning our leaders and that is a good thing. In dictatorships questions are not allowed and that leads to oppression and pain. Today we have a variety of political groups that raise plenty of doubts about their opponents and that can be good but we also need to evaluate their bias and question their version of the truth. 

Antidisestablishmentarianism

When I was in High School in the late 1950’s the longest word in the English language at 28 letters was “Antidisestablishmentarianism” and I was intrigued.  Once I discovered the longest word I had to find out what it meant.  That was the point when I was introduce to the concept of the separation of Church and State.

The word was created in the mid nineteenth century in England. At that time the Church of England was [and still is] the official established church. The church and state are united therefore established. The queen of England is the official head of the Church of England. It is her signature and seal that officially appoints Bishops and Archbishops. This is also the reason we have the King James Bible because in 1611 King James of England “authorized” it to be printed as the official printed English bible. It made all other English languages illegal. For hundreds of years it was the only English language available to the masses.

Around 1800 a movement in England began agitating for the Church of England to be “disestablished” and they began to get noticed.  That prompted yet another movement who did not want change in the church. They liked things the way they were, thank you very much. They were the antidistablishment movement, meaning that they were against the idea disestablishment of the Church of England.

To identify the concept of this movement the word “antidisestablishmentarianism was coined.

In our US constitution bill of rights we forbid the “establishment” of a state religion like they have in England and other countries. By the constitution we separate Church and State and I believe that we are the better for it. We have over three hundred and fifty “Christian” church groups and many other non-Christian religions in the United States. To make any one of them the “established religion” would do great harm to all the rest.