Bible Study on Romans

We need to dig into God's Word personally but we especially need to do Bible study within the context of community.  I spent some time yesterday in a wonderful Bible study with other local Pastors.  The Bible study text was Romans 11:33-12:1.  Here are some of the spiritual insights shared:

1.  This whole section of scripture is sandwiched in-between God's mercy.  Verse 32 precedes this hymn of scripture that God's mercy is with all people, even in their disobedience.  Then Paul breaks out in doxology and praise that sounds like a prayer.  Finally in what follows, chapter twelve speaks about the mercy of God and how it leads us now into obedience.  There is this beautiful flow of undeserved grace and mercy that flows into praise and son and end with a mercy that sustains us in holy obedience.

2.  There are many doublets in this section:  Disobedience and mercy, wisdom and knowledge, unsearchable judgments and the mysterious ways of God, the mind of God and God's generosity ending with Trinitarian praise (v.36).

3.  There is a powerful call to humility in this biblical text.  We do not counsel God or even truly know God or his ways.  We are all dependent upon God's Spirit to help us understand and grow spiritually.  There is a kind of contrast of no one knows the mind of God by human understanding but we can have the mind of God by the Holy Spirit teaching us.

4.  We think we know what terms like "mercy" and "sacrifice" mean but Romans challenges our pride and knowledge concerning God and language.  We only know God's mercy from what we have experienced and there is so much more.  We only know sacrifice in what we have sacrificed which is usually very little.  Sacrifice for some Christians means persecution and for others, even martyrdom.

5.  This whole section of Scripture is a hymn of praise to God.  Our theology needs to give way to doxology and our concerns need to give way to naked praise before a Holy God.

How (Not) To Read The Bible

"The secret of knowing the Bible is you don't know how to read the Bible"

When we think we know and understand the Bible, when we think we have mastered it and should be a teacher to others, this is a grave deception because God's Word is to master us and not the other way around.  Here are some things God is teaching me in how to read the Bible;

1.  Read the Bible in small parts and not large chunks.  Eat God's Word slowly.  Don't digest it too fast or it may give you indigestion.  Don't overeat because that is unhealthy.  If you learn the Bible by spending a longer and slower process on one book of the Bible, you will know that one book better than the little you know about the whole Bible.

2.  Read the Bible in community and not just alone.  Let the Holy Spirit be your tutor and teacher but remember that Jesus meets us where two or three are gathered together.  Read personally but don't neglect to read the Scriptures in community.  God Word is written in community and needs to also be studied in community.

3.  Read the Bible spiritually and not just literally.  The literal is the surface reading of the Bible.  But God wants us to go deeper like deep sea diver looking for lost treasure in the ocean of truth.  There are two spiritual sides to truth so don't just look at one side.  There are fleshly eyes where we read the Bible with self-love and there are spiritual eyes that read the Bible through the lens of God's love.  We should appreciate the literal but never stop there on your spiritual journey.  This is a starting point and God wants to take us all much deeper into the world of the Spirit and the world of heaven on earth.

4.  Read the Bible slowly and not quickly.  We do not gain biblical understanding by reading the Bible on the run or in a hurry.  Take the Bible in slowly and carefully.  Meditate on God's Word and slowly marinate in it as it immerses you into its own world.  If we read too fast we may miss what God's Word and Spirit is trying to reveal to us.

5.  Read the Bible with your imagination and not just your mind.  The mind wants to exercise human logic, reason, and uniformity but the Bible has so many more dimensions and layers to it.  We need to not just ask questions of logic of the Bible but we need to imaginatively enter into its story and let that story shape and direct our lives.  Learn to feel what the story is saying.  Imagine yourself in the story.  How does that perspective change what you see?  How does the Bible change how you see?

6.  Read the Bible with your emotions and not just your will.  Take the Prodigal son story for example.  Do we identify with the younger or older brother?  And what about the Father?  Do we identify with being a Father?  What's is it like to love a child that has gone out into the far country?  What's it's like to feel the Father's pain when his children does not appreciate how good they really have it at home?  When we enter into the Bible with all our heart, mind, emotions, and soul, then reading the Scriptures goes from being a duty to turning into a delight.

7.  Read the Bible out loud and not just in silence.  Read the Psalms out loud while walking or standing.  Sing the Psalms as a prayer to God or as a love song to God.  Read God's promises and shout them out.  There will always be times of silence in reading and reflecting on Scripture but there are also wonderful moments to read Scripture with your own voice while you hear God's voice which sounds allot like your voice, but tells you things you would never tell yourself.

Dare We Enter the Holy of Holies?

"My Beloved is Mine, and I am His" (Song of Solomon 2:16)

The modern church has lost so many ancient spiritual practices and an understanding of life which is both a sacrament and a means of grace for God.  One of the books I just started a Bible study on is the Song of Songs (or Song of Solomon).  I mean when is the last time you read this book of the Bible? 

For some people it is too erotic in regards of the intimate language in the love relationship of the King and his bride.  For others it is too deep, too poetic, and too symbolic to understand its deeper spiritual meaning for so many Christians, this book of the Bible is either ignored or simply avoided.  Not so in the early church much less for Jews.  This is one of the most spiritually enriching books of the Bible for those who have spiritual eyes to see.

Jewish wisdom tradition identifies three areas of worship for the temple and therefore there are three areas for the believer to enter into God's presence.  There is the outer court, the inner court, and finally the Holy of Holies which only the High priest could enter once a year.  We now know Jesus has broken down the walls and is our new high priest and invites us all into the holy of holies, the direct presence of God through his Holy Spirit (Hebrews 7-10).  Ancient Jews said that the book of Job is where we enter into the outer temple court.  The book of Ecclesiastes is the entrance way into the inner temple court and the Song of Songs is the entrance way into the Holy of Holies.

What we find in the Song of Songs is a very spiritually deep and enriching book about the King Jesus and His love for His bride, the church.  The whole book is a love song between the Messiah and His bride.  The bride desires to be a life-long true companion of the King and the King wants to purify His bride and capture and captivate the bride's heart. 

This is by far the hardest and most difficult Bible studies I have led because all of us, including the teacher has to ask God at times what the deeper meaning of the verse is all about.  Without the help of the Holy Spirit, this can not be Bible study as usual.  A great dependence on God and the Spirit's illumination is the only way to gain a deeper appreciation and spiritual understanding of this book. 

I believe every person studying this book can gain wisdom and spiritual insight of not only who they are as God's son or daughter but God as the great lover of our souls.  God invites us all to feast at his great banqueting table and dine with His Son King Jesus.  Once we leave behind reading the Bible through fleshly eyes and an over reliance on the literal and physical, then we begin to see things we have never seen before in the Bible through spiritual eyes as we begin to see things by the Spirit's help through God's eyes.  Once we learn this spiritual way of reading the Bible, we can read the rest of Scripture in a deeper and fuller way.

When we gaze on the beauty of Christ and the glory of the King of Kings, we will never be the same.  What satisfied us before will not do anymore.  What we focused on before does not interest us anymore.  Our gaze is fixed firmly on Christ our Lord and King.  We discover in the Song of Songs not only how far love goes for us but we also discover how God desires and wins our hearts for eternity.  God invites all but only a few dare to enter in (Matthew 20:16).  When it comes to reading, meditating, and contemplating the Song of Songs, will you read it?  I dare you!

Transforming Discipleship

"IN THE SAME WAY THE CHURCH EXISTS FOR NOTHING ELSE BUT TO DRAW MEN INTO CHRIST, TO MAKE THEM LITTLE CHRISTS. IF THEY ARE NOT DOING THAT, ALL THE CATHEDRALS, CLERGY, MISSIONS, SERMONS, EVEN THE BIBLE ITSELF, ARE SIMPLY A WASTE OF TIME" - C. S. LEWIS

I have two daughters in college. Did I tell you I have two daughters in college? My oldest daughter told me she wants to find a Bible Study that will teach her about discipleship and how to live that out before her peers. She also said she was frustrated that when it comes to the church or ministries of the church, nobody has really mentored her or given her accountability in her walk with God. As I think more about the issues of discipleship, my daughter is so right on two missing ingredients today which are mentors and accountability when it comes to the great ommission of discipleship.

2 Corinthians 3: 12 says, "Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech" and goes onto say in v.14 "but their minds were blinded" or v. 15, "a veil lies on their heart.". Paul's argument is the blindness and veil Israel has regarding Christ. But I can't help but think that when it comes to the church today, the church is blinded and has a veil over its eyes when it comes to this important issue of transforming discipleship. Listen to Paul's last words in this chapter, "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as the Spirit of the Lord (v.18).

Where are the little Christ's today? Where are the unveiled Christians who are being transformed by the glory of Christ into his image?

Three areas God is challenging me in this area of discipleship:
1. We must disciple our children first.
2. Learn discipleship in community or small group (live it out).
3. Mentor and hold others accountable (disciples reproducing and making other disciples).

Prayer partners, groups of three or more people asking accountability questions, and raising the hard issues concerning the church and faith today; etc.

How is your life being tranformed this week by Christ?

Roswell

I watched the first season of Roswell which is about teens with alien powers that know this is not their home and their home is somewhere beyond the heavens. Are not Jesus followers supposed to be resident aliens where this earthly place is not our home but our home is in heaven?

In the last week, I've had three people tell me they pray and ask for the Holy Spirit every day which comes from Jesus' teaching about the Good Father (Luke 11:11-13). God the Father gives the Holy Spirit to those who keep asking Him. I started praying this prayer today as another discipleship experiment. Where this leads, only God knows.

So I have been studying Luke chapter eleven which starts with the Lord's prayer. Then Jesus gives several teachings on prayer going from the parables about prayer like the persistent friend and the good father and then we read about Christ healing a demonized person and Christ's power is stronger than Satan's power.

Can it be that as we pray and ask for the Holy Spirit that God is empowering, leading, and giving us spiritual power for the day?

Is there "more" to the Christian life or even to our prayer life?