Our new Bible study begins this Saturday. We will be LIVE at 10 am central time; 11 am eastern time. Afterward, it will be posted for supporters to view at your convenience. Remember if you're not already a supporter - become a supporter before Saturday to get in on the Bible study - the live gathering AND the recorded version are only available to supporters.
I'll explain more as we go along, so it doesn't feel like a lecture, but just a few things up front:
1) We will start with the four gospels, reading them side by side, comparing parallel passages, going through the gospel story all at once.
2) For the most part, we will be reading through the New Testament chronologically, to walk through the journey of the early Christians in the pages of the New Testament and other early Christian writings. (But in case you're wondering we will not be reading heretical documents like the gnostic "gospels" - those were written much later and do not reflect the experience of the mainstream Church or the teachings of Jesus and the apostles.)
3) We will be looking at the New Testament through the eyes of the original audience of the documents - the Original Church - and learning to interpret the Scriptures the way they did. (Not that we have to come to all the same conclusions they did, but their methodology is important since the early Christians are the ones who chose which documents should be included in the Bible as the New Testament and considered authoritative.)
4) A detailed description of the methodology we will be using is in my new book, Reading Scripture Like the Early Church. That's there if you want it, but you do not have to buy the book (or any book) for the Bible study, and there will be no homework! Just come along for the Journey!
That's enough for now - hope to see LIVE Saturday morning!
- Jim
Dear friends - Please take 10 minutes to watch this personal update from me:
I'm back, up and running, and ready to go - I should have a new JOURNEY episode within the next week or so - and because you are my loyal peeps, here is an exclusive, just-for-you, behind the scenes SNEAK PEEK into my new office:
I mentioned in The Journey that I wrote a song based on Isaiah 2, which is one of my favorite OT passages:
In days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain, and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it. Many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, That he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” For from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations, and set terms for many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!
I hope you like the song!
The problem with us men is that often we don't have the wisdom to be a father until we're a grandfather.
This may sounds like some ironic statement that makes you nod your head in agreement but shrug your shoulders in resignation, thinking, well there's nothing we can do about that. But the practical application of that is that it demonstrates how important it is for kids to grow up around their grandparents. But as in our culture the family becomes ever more fractured and spread out, that is harder and harder to do.
Lately I've been thinking that part of the problem is the whole concept of college. It used to be that everyone thought a person had to go to college to make a good living. Not only is that not the case (truck drivers make more money than I do) but now college has gone from useless to actually ruining our kids. But when I went to college, what you were supposed to do is figure out what career you wanted (as if anyone knows that at age 18) and then go away to the college ...
And don't forget, if you would like to read my latest novel:
The Sword and the Clover - just let me know by email.
I'm happy to send you the PDF version, even if you haven't been a monetary supporter of the community - all I ask is that you don't share it with anyone else.
My email address:
Keep in touch!
JIm
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