It's the last Theology Thursday of 2011! Once again, I'd like to encourage you all to join me with adopting a book and reading through the Bible in a year in 2012.
"How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. With my whole heart I have sought You; oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You. Blessed are You, O LORD! Teach me Your statutes. With my lips I have declared all the judgements of Your mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, as much as in all riches. I will meditate on Your precepts, and contemplate Your ways. I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word." - Psalm 119 9-16
As a Christian, wife, mother of a little girl and two fur-babies, Mississippi State Bulldog, and PhD, I lead a very busy life. If you add on top of that my obsession for organization and loves for couponing, sewing, knitting, cooking, reading, gardening, and a host of other random hobbies, you've got the recipe for...well...variety. And variety is the spice of life!
Showing posts with label reading challenge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reading challenge. Show all posts
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Thursday, September 15, 2011
MrsDrPoe: The Importance of Context
Another Theology Thursday is upon us, and as always I invite you to open up your Bibles as we look at a portion of God's word.
Several weeks ago I heard a parable about a man who attempted to have God speak to him by opening the Bible to random passages of scripture. He first turned to a passage that said "Judas hanged himself." Then he turned to one that said, "Go and do likewise," and the final passage he examined read, "What you must do, do quickly." I was again reminded of this story while reading the account of Jesus' temptation in Matt 4:5-7:
Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you.' and, 'In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.'" Jesus said to him, "It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'"
As we discover from the man in the story and from Satan's antics, taking random whole or partial verses from the Bible and piecing them together can cause us to 'see' false commands of God. Jesus points out in the passage above that the whole of the scriptures must be taken into account when determining the meaning of any one verse; thus, context is crucial!
Think about the Old Testament phrase, "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." Just about everyone is familiar with that phrase, and it is often used in our culture to justify vigilantes. We can pick out verses in Ex 21:24, Lev 24:20, and Deut 19:21 that contain this phrase, so we can affirm that it is 'scriptural.' If we further examine the context in Deut 19:15-21 however, we can see that if a man poked out another man's eye, the first man would by law loose an eye...but only AFTER two or three witnesses of the incident had presented their testimony to the priests and judges and they had determined that the witnesses were telling the truth. Regardless of whether or not we are subject to the OT laws, this verse is so often misused because we fail to examine it in context.
In Mark 1:38 Jesus tells the disciples, "Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth." This point- that Jesus came to teach and preach- should dictate our actions. If we consider ourselves to be followers of Christ, and we are not reading, learning, and examining His teachings, we're fooling ourselves. But in order to know the truth that He presents in the scriptures, we cannot pick out random verses; instead, we must read the Bible in its entirety...we must read verses in context to gain full understanding of the teaching of Jesus!
No matter our age, walk of life, etc., Christians should be a people who engulf themselves in God's word. I hope that you see the importance of context and that you will choose to join us in reading your Bible daily today! (annual schedules, 90 day schedules)
Several weeks ago I heard a parable about a man who attempted to have God speak to him by opening the Bible to random passages of scripture. He first turned to a passage that said "Judas hanged himself." Then he turned to one that said, "Go and do likewise," and the final passage he examined read, "What you must do, do quickly." I was again reminded of this story while reading the account of Jesus' temptation in Matt 4:5-7:
Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you.' and, 'In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.'" Jesus said to him, "It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'"
As we discover from the man in the story and from Satan's antics, taking random whole or partial verses from the Bible and piecing them together can cause us to 'see' false commands of God. Jesus points out in the passage above that the whole of the scriptures must be taken into account when determining the meaning of any one verse; thus, context is crucial!
Think about the Old Testament phrase, "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." Just about everyone is familiar with that phrase, and it is often used in our culture to justify vigilantes. We can pick out verses in Ex 21:24, Lev 24:20, and Deut 19:21 that contain this phrase, so we can affirm that it is 'scriptural.' If we further examine the context in Deut 19:15-21 however, we can see that if a man poked out another man's eye, the first man would by law loose an eye...but only AFTER two or three witnesses of the incident had presented their testimony to the priests and judges and they had determined that the witnesses were telling the truth. Regardless of whether or not we are subject to the OT laws, this verse is so often misused because we fail to examine it in context.
In Mark 1:38 Jesus tells the disciples, "Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth." This point- that Jesus came to teach and preach- should dictate our actions. If we consider ourselves to be followers of Christ, and we are not reading, learning, and examining His teachings, we're fooling ourselves. But in order to know the truth that He presents in the scriptures, we cannot pick out random verses; instead, we must read the Bible in its entirety...we must read verses in context to gain full understanding of the teaching of Jesus!
No matter our age, walk of life, etc., Christians should be a people who engulf themselves in God's word. I hope that you see the importance of context and that you will choose to join us in reading your Bible daily today! (annual schedules, 90 day schedules)
Thursday, June 9, 2011
MrsDrPoe: Spiritual Summer Challenges Update
Good morning all! To start this Theology Thursday off, I'd like to update you on our progress with the family mission statement and summer Bible reading challenges I discussed a few weeks ago. The reading is going well; I've adapted one of the plans for myself, and it was worked out great thus far. Mr. Poe and I have also finished our family mission statement! Grammatically, it's a bit simplistic, but I love the symmetry:
We are the Poes.
We serve the Lord, Jehovah.
We serve our neighbors.
We serve each other.
As Poes we multiply words,
but we prefer numbers.
We are growing.
We are content.
We are blessed.
We are the Poes.
Have you accepted the challenges? How are you progressing?
We serve the Lord, Jehovah.
We serve our neighbors.
We serve each other.
As Poes we multiply words,
but we prefer numbers.
We are growing.
We are content.
We are blessed.
We are the Poes.
Have you accepted the challenges? How are you progressing?
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