Tips for Bible Reading – 4

(This is the fourth in an occasional series.)

#4 – Have pencil and paper ready.

This tip has two benefits.

First, we can more easily remember what we’ve read if we take the time to write some things down. I don’t know how many times I’ve finished reading something and have almost no idea of what I’d read. Taking notes, writing down important thoughts, and asking questions will help us learn and remember the content of God’s Word.

As you read, write down verses that mean something to you or that you’d like to memorize. If you have any thoughts about the passage, write them out. Outline the section you’re reading and try to find the main idea. If you’re engaged with the Scriptures, there will be all kinds of things that will capture your attention.

Second, writing down your questions about what you’ve read will help you learn and grow (of course, that includes your attempts to answer those questions!). When we read, we’ll have questions. We shouldn’t run away from them, but rather seek to find answers for them. When you have a question, write it down, but don’t stop reading. Come back to it later and try to find an answer to it. Write your answer down, too, by the way. If you’re reading through the gospel of Matthew, for instance, write down all the questions you have and work on answering them when you’ve finished reading the entire book. Believe me, it will be worth your while.

One reason for waiting to answer questions is that it can bog us down and derail our reading. It would be possible for us to spend weeks trying to answer a single question while our reading schedule comes to a screeching halt. Another reason is that the question may be answered in the book you’re reading.

What’s the difference between reading and study? A pencil and paper.

Of Cleaning and the Return of Christ

 

Why don’t we know when Jesus Christ will return to this earth?

Most likely for the same reason that when we hear that someone is coming to visit we vacuum, do the dishes, clean off the dining room table, and clean the litter box – we’re not paying that much attention and get lazy until we know we’ll actually have to do something. In other words, we procrastinate (why do today what I can put off until tomorrow?).

If we knew precisely when the Lord would return, it would be nearly impossible for us to resist the spiritual version of housecleaning before company arrives. If Jesus’ specific time of arrival was 9:29 a.m. February 19th, 2019 (that’s an arbitrary example – I’m not setting a date here!), most, if not all, of us would simply ignore Him and live in order to please ourselves until around 9:28 a.m on that day and then “get right with Him.” We’d know when He was coming, quickly do the housecleaning, and welcome Him with bright eyes and a bushy tail when we hear the doorbell ring.

Jesus said of His return,

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone” (Matt. 24:36).

“Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour” (Matt. 25:13).

“Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will come” (Mark 13:33).

“You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect” (Luke 12:40).

We don’t know when the Lord Jesus Christ will return to this earth as King and Judge. Therefore, we’re told to be ready and on the alert because it could be at any time. He may not return for a thousand years, but the possibility exists that it could be a lot sooner, too. The point is to be ready and “occupy” till He comes.

We need to get our house in order, so to speak, now. We can’t wait until right before we think Jesus might come back – it will come when we least expect it.

5 Good Books on the Death of Christ

Here are five good books on why Jesus Christ died and what His death accomplished.

1. The Passion of Jesus Christ: Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die by John Piper. Packed with more truth per-square-inch than just about any other.
2. The Cross of Christ by John R.W. Stott. A classic theological treatment of the subject.
3. Redemption Accomplished and Applied by John Murray. The first five chapters deal specifically with the death of Jesus.
4. The Great Exchange by Jerry Bridges and Bob Bevington. Comprehensive Biblical study of the atonement. Very well done.
5. The Truth of the Cross by R.C. Sproul. A readable introduction.

Tolle lege! (which interpreted means, “Take up and read!”)

Why Should We Read the Bible?

Donald Whitney, in his excellent book Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, explains the importance of “Bible intake” as he calls it.

No Spiritual Discipline is more important than the intake of God’s Word. Nothing can substitute for it. There is simply no healthy Christian life apart from a diet of the milk and meat of Scripture. The reasons for this are obvious. In the Bible God tells us about Himself, and especially about Jesus Christ, the incarnation of God. The Bible unfolds the Law of God to us and shows us how we’ve all broken it. There we learned how Christ died as a sinless, willing Substitute for breakers of God’s Law and how we must repent and believe in Him to be right with God. In the Bible we learn the ways and will of the Lord. We find in Scripture how to live in a way that is pleasing to God as well as best and most fulfilling for ourselves. None of this eternally essential information can be found anywhere else except the Bible. Therefore if we would know God and be Godly, we must know the Word of God – intimately. (p. 24)

If all of this is true, and it certainly is, how can we let our Bible sit on a shelf and gather dust? Tolle lege Coram Deo! (Take up and read before the face of God!)

5 Good Books on God

 

Here are five good books on God I would heartily recommend. None of them is exhaustive, of course, because God Himself is inexhaustible, but each of them has helped refine my view of the true and living Triune God. These five books are “good.” They may or may not be “the best,” but they are all good.

1. Your God Is Too Small by J.B. Phillips. Phillips helps us identify some of the false notions about God we may still hold on to.
2. Knowing God by J.I. Packer. A classic in the best sense of the word.
3. Knowledge of the Holyby A.W. Tozer. Small, but powerful.
4. The Attributes of God by A.W. Pink. Ditto.
5. The Existence and Attributes of God, by Stephen Charnock. Two volumes written by a Puritan pastor. I dare you to read it. Honestly!

Another good book is Almighty Over All by R.C. Sproul, Jr. The only reason it was not included in the list above – other than the fact that there would be one too many books – is that Sproul deals with the attribute of sovereignty only. Nevertheless, it’s a good and thought-provoking read.

Good books about God are essential as we live our lives Coram Deo (before the face of God). Enjoy!

In Defense of My Preaching

I’ve been thinking lately about why I preach the way I do. Every so often, everyone who preaches is called upon to defend what and how they preach.

I’m fully committed to an expository/expositional style of preaching. I preach through books of the Bible verse-by-verse and passage-by-passage. Simply defined, preaching of this type is when the main point of the text is the main point of the sermon. Preaching this way best fulfills the Great Commission the Lord Jesus gave His church in Matthew 28:18-20 -

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

There are a number of reasons for this. In expository/expositional preaching, the Word of God is preached and taught in its original context and not in a piece-meal fashion. The congregation knows and understands what the Bible teaches more readily than when other styles are used (in other words, biblical literacy rises). Good Bible study techniques are modeled on a consistent basis. The congregation is protected from the preacher’s favorite texts or “hobby horses” and instead the whole counsel of God is proclaimed. In expository/expositional preaching, the Bible is put in its proper place among God’s people – the authoritative and sufficient Word of God.

Topical and textual preaching are appropriate at times, but the regular diet of a congregation should be expository/expositional preaching.

It’s helpful for us to think through what we do and why do it, and then write it out. In this case, it was encouraging and solidified my commitment to expository preaching.

Parmesan Cheese

 

Last time we baked a pizza, the parmesan cheese served as a reminder.

The pizza was cooked, sliced, and ready to be put on the plate. I retrieved the container of 100% grated parmesan cheese from the refrigerator in order to add it to the two slices on my plate. I opened the wrong side of the container and proceeded to dump nearly a quarter of grated goodness on the pizza and the plate.

It was a reminder that I still have a long way to go, not only in successfully operating a container of parmesan but also in my spiritual growth. Paul wrote of this in Philippians 3:12-14 -

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

P.S. Tonight was a different story. The parmesan cheese came out of the proper side of the lid this time!

“I’ve Heard That Before”

True story. When Karen and I were in college, the pastor of the church we attended announced that he would be preaching through the book of Daniel when he completed the series he was doing. A man came up to the pastor after the sermon and said, “I’ve heard that before. I’ve studied Daniel. I’ll be back when you’re done.”

What an attitude! It’s as if he thought since he’d studied Daniel previously in his life, he never needed to look at it again. Maybe he thought that he wouldn’t hear anything new or different. Whatever the reason, he wasn’t going to hang around and listen (or learn anything).

Here’s what Peter, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, said:

Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

Peter wanted to continue to remind his readers of what was true, even though they had heard it before, so that they would know it and be able to teach it to others.

In other words, we need to hear things more than once because we don’t pick everything up immediately.  We all know that intuitively, whether we’re dealing with math, a foreign language, mechanics, driving a car, making spaghetti, writing a blog post, or knowing and understanding what God teaches us in His Word.  We need to hear the truth of God’s Word over and over again – not just once – for the reason that we forget far too easily.

Yes, we may have heard it before, but we need to hear it again.

Tips for Reading the Bible – 3

 

Third – Recognize the different types of reading.

All reading is not created equal. We don’t read everything the same way, in other words. Even the same book, article, story, or document can be read differently at different times. As we prepare to read something, we need to decide what type of reading we’ll engage in.

The first type is reading for familiarity. When we’ve finished, the goal is to know what we’ve read. We want to have a familiarity with the content. We don’t need to know everything about it, but rather have a general knowledge. As it relates to the Bible, reading for knowledge means that we’re attempting to be familiar with the content. After we’ve read  Jeremiah 1 or John 1 or Ephesians 1, we should be able to answer the question, “What did I just read?”

The secon type is reading for understanding. The goal in this type of reading is understanding and comprehension. It’s a deeper level of reading than the first. Not only do we know what we’ve read, but we also know what it means (not completely, of course, but a good understanding). If we were asked to, we could give a summary of what we’ve read and an outline of the author’s argument. In terms of reading the Bible, this takes it to the next level.

The third type is reading for mastery. This is the most intense and difficult kind of reading. The goal is to have a thorough and an almost exhaustive knowledge of what has been read. You could pass a test if you were asked to do so. In terms of the Bible, this is the most serious form of reading and study.

For those who are reading the Bible for the first time, or who haven’t read it for awhile, the first type of reading is highly recommended – read for familiarity. You don’t need to understand everything you’re reading yet and you certainly don’t need to master it yet. Both of those will come in time. But for now, read with the purpose of being familiar with the content and build from there.

Random Thoughts

 

Where do the people on TBN buy their clothes? Remind me not to shop there.

If the federal government can’t successfully manage “cash for clunkers,” why does anyone think it can manage health care with less cost and more quality?

Memo to the driver of a Prius on southbound I-5: Somewhere in your zeal to “save the planet,” can you please figure out what a turn signal is and use it, and stop darting in and out of lanes thus endangering every other driver. Just a thought.

Football is just around the corner. Yes!