Making any resolutions this year?

We've reached that time of the year when people make New Year's Resolutions - many of which, statistically speaking, will have totally unravelled by the middle of January.

I expect for many Christians, the opportunity to pause and reflect generates a potentially guilt-ridden experience. We think about what we've done over the past year, we think about what we've not done over the past year and we know that we could have done so much better. We could have read the Bible more. We could have prayed more. We could have memorised more verses. We could have witnessed more. We could have given more.

One of the problems with this kind of reflection is that it focuses on us and what we've done - rather than on God: who he is and what he has done. Therefore it can very easily generate a spiral of failure and guilt and disappointment. I failed last year, so to make up for that, I'll set even more ambitious goals this year.  The trouble is that often, come the second week in January ...

Another problem with this kind of approach is that it focuses on the things that we do rather than the people that we are. It sees Spiritual Disciplines as an end in themselves rather than the means to a totally different end. The measure of a 'good' Christian is someone who reads their Bible and prays for x minutes every day or gives y percent of their income to the church...

Part of our Vision here at CBC is that we are seeking to become more like Jesus - therefore in terms of our 'doing' - we do those things that will help us towards this goal and we don't do those things that will pull us away from this goal. And when it comes to looking back and reflecting, the guide by which we measure our progress is not the amount of stuff that we have done, but whether or not we are a bit more like Jesus than we were before. And whilst we know that Bible reading and prayer (for example) are disciplines that will help us on this journey, we also know, from experience, that the struggles and hardships that we've been through in the past twelve months may have also shaped us on this journey too.

Those of you who know me will know that I'm the kind of person who likes tick boxes and spreadsheets. I also like routine. And therefore there is always the danger that any Bible reading programme (for example) becomes a habit that is done in order to tick off today's box, rather than being something that I do in order to spend time with God, which in turn will help me be a little bit more like Jesus. The danger is that as long as the box is ticked the job is done. A 'successful' year is one in which all 1189 boxes on the Bible reading plan are ticked by 31 December regardless of the impact that any of those chapters made in shaping me to be a little bit more like Jesus.

I do believe that it is good to stop and pause and reflect - to spend time thinking about what God has done in me and through me - we just need to be careful what we're looking for and how we measure 'success'. We also should be thinking and praying about what God wants to do now - in me and through me. It is also good to be thinking about the big objectives (e.g. to be more like Jesus) and to reflect on how God might want that to happen in the next 3, 6, 9 or 12 months: to invite the Holy Spirit to challenge us on how our practice of the Spiritual Disciplines is helping or hindering that big objective. We also need to remember that it is not primarily about what we do - it is God who works in us - and therefore we should not underestimate or overlook the way that God is moulding us through the circumstances that he has allowed us to go through.

For the last few years, I have followed a Bible in a Year reading programme. These have been great. They provide a good overview of the whole Bible story, but they also help to show how the whole thing fits together. Most BiaY programmes typically have you read a couple of Old Testament chapters, a Psalm and a passage from the New Testament each day and so you are able to start making these links. But it is a lot of reading each day and once you get a day or two behind it can be hard to catch up, and as I said earlier, for someone like me, there is the danger that it just becomes an exercise in box ticking. There are similar programmes that cover just the New Testament; or the whole Bible, but in two or three years rather than just one. But - even a Bible in a Year programme will only require about 20-25 minutes reading a day, which might seem a lot when compared to how much we're reading now, but not so much when we consider the other things that we spend far more than 20-25 minutes doing each day.

Spiritual Disciplines, such as Bible reading and prayer, are a key part in our journey of faith. But it is possible that the doing of these disciplines has no more benefit than the not doing. So as we look back over the past year it is important not to miss the hidden things that God has been doing in us to make us more like Jesus - but it is also important not to be lulled into a false sense of security by the things that we have done and ticked off, but which have had no real impact on us. Things that have just become a habit.

If you have been thinking about how you want to read the Bible in 2018 you haven't got long left to make up your mind. Whatever approach you go for remember that it's not about the reading for reading's sake - it's about spending time with God, meeting him in the pages and hearing his voice.

And if you're wanting to read the Bible through in a year - go for it. 

You'll find lots of Bible Apps that will help you in your journey.





This video is from a great resource that I used a couple of years ago put together by the guys over at Join the Bible Project. Once you sign up they'll email you encouragement on a regular basis as well as having some really helpful short videos that will make reading Leviticus a whole lot more rewarding. There are videos for every book of the Bible as well as videos on key themes that you'll come across. Click this link to take a look at their website - scroll down towards the bottom of the page to sign up for the Read the Bible in One Year.

Other places you might look for useful resources are the Bible Society, Scripture Union's WordLive or Bible Gateway's different reading plans.

Another thing I have found is that this sort of adventure is a lot easier when you're doing it with someone. Not that you necessarily read together, but you chat about what you've read, what's been encouraging, what's been difficult to understand, what's challenged you. Also you keep each other on track and accountable. This may be someone that you physically meet with or it may be by email or on social media.

Meet the Nativity

Just in case you missed this year's Christmas offering from the guys over at Speak Life here are all four episodes of 'Meet the Nativity'.

You'll find more on Youtube and Facebook.

Meet the Nativity 1: The boyfriend



Meet the Nativity 2: The girlfriend



Meet the Nativity 3: The stepmother



Meet the Nativity 4: The father

Saul comes to a sticky end

This Sunday we finished our series in 1 Samuel and as a few people were away, because of the weather, here is the audio recording alongside the slides I used. I've split it into three parts for convenience.



I've not included the recording of the reading but you'll find the text of 1 Samuel 28 here.

We didn't read 1 Samuel 31, but it's only a short chapter and you can find it here.

Also here is the Poster from the guys at the Bible Project - which you can download for yourself here.

Here's the last part.



If you want to have a look at the home group notes this week you'll find them here.

Advent - wait for it

How good are you at waiting for things?

This morning I was taking a whole school assembly (primary) on the theme of Advent and exploring this idea of waiting.

When we think about waiting, in relation to Advent, I expect that most people, if they think anything at all, think about it as a time of waiting and preparation for Christmas. Most of the children had no difficulty at all identifying an Advent Calendar - and even several of the staff put up their hands to say that they had one on the go.

Christmas is only 18 days away now - I got one of the children to hold up my iPad with a countdown timer on it - days, hours, minutes and seconds...



Whilst it can be quite hard waiting for Christmas - at least we know how long we have to wait.

It's a bit like the new style bus shelters with the little screens that inform you of how long it is until the next bus comes. It might be 15 minutes away, but at least you know that and that makes the waiting a little easier. Having worked in Kenya and Pakistan I have spent many times waiting beside roads for lifts that may or may not turn up, and you certainly have no idea how long you are going to have to wait.

But Advent is also about this second kind of waiting - waiting for something when you don't know how long you are going to have to wait. Because Advent is not primarily about waiting for Christmas. It is about remembering that the one who came as a baby over 2000 years ago has promised that he will come back again. During his time on earth, Jesus told his friends and disciples that although no one knows when that will be we are to make sure that we are ready.

Advent is so much more than simply eating a chocolate a day as you look forward to opening presents - rather it is a time of sober reflection and preparation as we remember Jesus' challenge to be ready for his second coming.

What's Christmas all about?

It's been great to have the opportunity these last few weeks of visiting my local primary school to take Keystage 2 RE lessons looking at Christmas - what it's all about and why it is important to Christians.

Here are a few of the resources that I've used this year.

First, we separated out which parts of their Christmas story come from the Bible and which parts are simply tradition. The children enjoyed this video from Igniter Media 




If you've not come across the FreeBibleImages resources yet then visit their website now. They have a whole range of pictures covering the Christmas story to help it be retold with stunning images.

Picture Credit: www.LumoProject.com

Then there are all the resources available via RE:quest - a website that resources those teaching RE and taking assemblies etc who want to explore the big questions of what Christians believe and the Bible teaches.

Click here to watch the video we used to explore why Christmas is important to Christians.

If you know of any other resources let me know - I'll need some different ones next year!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving. 

I first celebrated Thanksgiving in 1992 when I was teaching in Kenya, sharing a house with a guy from California and working with an organisation where Americans outnumbered everyone else. Americans celebrate Thanksgiving - and they generously invited us to join in too.

According to Wikipedia, which is often my first port of call when I want to know something about something that I know nothing about, Thanksgiving was traditionally a harvest celebration - see here for example. And similar to a harvest festival in the UK involved giving thanks to God for his provision.

Having worked with other Americans since 1992, that was not my only exposure to Thanksgiving traditions - most recently being involved in the making of a sweet potato and marshmallow casserole a couple of years ago.

I wonder how many people in the UK, wandering along our high streets realise that today is Thanksgiving. They can't miss the fact that tomorrow is Black Friday - the posters are stuck in every single window - but how many realise the 'link' between Black Friday and Thanksgiving.

On Tuesday I was taking an RE lesson, exploring the meaning of Christmas and why Christmas is important to Christians, and in the Q&A session at the end one girl asked, 'why do people celebrate Christmas if they don't believe in Jesus?' What a great question - and my answer was something along the lines of, 'I don't know, it makes no sense to me, you'll have to ask them'.

Of course, Christmas and Black Friday/Thanksgiving, as well as Halloween and Easter have become just another opportunity for the retail industry to try and trick gullible customers into parting with their cash by convincing them that this is a really good deal that will bring them satisfaction which they could not otherwise experience.

I'm not surprised that the retail industry in the UK plays up Black Friday whilst ignoring Thanksgiving. If they were to get people to focus on the things that they are really thankful for on Thursday, those people might be less inclined to spend their cash on Friday.

Thanksgiving is an important theme in the Bible - but it is the kind of thanksgiving that would want no part in Black Friday. Harvest thanksgiving celebrations were an important part of Jesus' life - three of Israel's annual feasts were linked to different harvests in the agricultural calendar. And so thanking God for his blessing and his provision, rather than taking things for granted, is an important discipline for Christians. But biblical thankfulness is not just limited to God's physical or material blessing. 

In Philippians Paul writes '...in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God...'. For the New Testament writers, their focus was on an eternal future. Their joy was based not on getting a few hundred pounds off the latest flatscreen TV, but on the hope they had for the future. A hope and a future that meant that they could rejoice, even in the face of genuine suffering, persecution and even death. They were thankful for and/or looking forward to:

• the free gift of complete forgiveness for all their sins  (Romans 6:23).
• never having to earn their justification by keeping the law (Galatians 2:16).
• the grace they would need at all times so that they could abound in every good work God had for them (2 Corinthians 9:8).
• that God would complete the good work he began in them (Philippians 1:6).
• eternal life (1 Corinthians 15:52–53).
• being with Jesus and being like Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:8) (1 John 3:2).

We have so much to be thankful for. Of course, it is right to be thankful for the 'stuff' that we have. But the celebration of Christmas without a belief in Jesus, or the marketing of Black Friday without any reference to Thanksgiving alerts us to the danger of becoming so focused on the things that we see that we lose sight of the things that we can't see - the things that really matter. 

Let's give thanks to God for the ways he has truly blessed us.

If you wanted to read some more about this theme of thanksgiving you could start here.

Lights in the darkness

Once a month the three church communities within the village (Anglican, Baptist and Catholic) put on a joint event called Oasis Tea. We avoid putting ages on our publicity ('for the over 55s' etc) but Oasis generally (but not exclusively) attracts the more senior members of our community.

Each month one of the churches is 'in charge' and responsible for the refreshments as well as leading a short 'service'. This includes a short prayer, a couple of traditional hymns, a Bible reading and a short talk. The themes for our talks are put together at the beginning of the year and sometimes link in the with the church calendar. Several times I have had to put my talk together with 'Wikipedia' and 'Google' working overtime as I have no idea about dates in the Anglican or Catholic calendar!

My last Oasis of the year was back in September and coincided with Michaelmas Day. Anything I can tell you about Michaelmas will come straight from Wikipedia so if you want to know more you know where to look!

One of the themes though, which is a familiar picture throughout the Bible is the battle between 'light' and 'dark'. Some of the traditions around this day are to do with seeking God's protection over the winter months with the long, dark nights. In the New Testament Jesus is described as the 'Light of the World' which is a theme that we will pick up again at Christmas.

One of the things that I like to do at Oasis is a simple take-home craft. Expanding the idea that often our newspapers often seem full of bad news, and that as Christians we have the capacity to punch holes in the darkness, we made small pyramid-shaped lamps.

If you wanted to make one for yourself transfer the pattern below onto the paper you want to use.

I used A4 paper with newsprint photocopied on to it just to give it a bit of extra strength.

Cut it out, fold and stick the triangle sections together - but do not put any glue on the tabs around the square base.

Place a battery powered tea-light on the square base and bring the pyramid over the top - sliding the long tab under the base to stop the top popping open again. There is no need to use glue on this part - otherwise you won't be able to open the lid and turn your tea-light off!

Please don't try this with a real tea-light and a naked flame! It won't end well.

Memory Verses

This morning at CBC I briefly talked about how memorising Bible verses is one of several spiritual disciplines that will help us as we seek to become more familiar with hearing God's voice.

God can and does speak to us in a whole variety of ways, but most commonly God will speak to us through the Bible - which is, after all, God's word. The more of the Bible that we have in us the more opportunities we give God to speak to us.

Of course, as is the case with any spiritual discipline, the goal of memorising Scripture is not simply to know lots of verses off by heart. Just as the purpose of reading through the Bible in a year isn't about ticking chapters off a list. It's not about learning the Bible off by heart as much as taking the Bible to heart. Memorisation should be accompanied by reflection and application and prayer.

Back in the 1990s I spent a year teaching in Kenya during which time I came across The Navigators - a Christian organisation that works with secondary school and university students, sharing the gospel and making disciples. They had lots of helpful illustrations including this one about the Bible:

This was where I first came across their Topical Memory System - essentially six sets of twelve cards with verses arranged in themes. The cards are designed with the intention that you carry them with you for easy reference and review as you go about your day.

My first set was pickpocketed on a bus in Nairobi!

Now, cards have been replaced with a whole range of apps that help with the memorising process.

If you're looking for somewhere to start have a look at the Fighter Verse app

Should a Christian be mindful?

According to an article in the Guardian newspaper, a group of MPs were joined in the House of Commons this week by Sri Lankan government ministers, an MP for Israel’s Likud party as well as politicians from 15 other countries in order to meditate together and explore whether 'mindfulness can help reset the conduct of national and international politics'. They were led in a 'series of secular meditations intended to focus their awareness and increase compassion'.

If you have not yet come across the term 'mindfulness' you are probably part of a shrinking minority. An increasing number of organisations, including the NHS, schools and prisons are taking an interest in the benefits of 'mindfulness'. Even if you're browsing for magazines in a local shop you are likely to come across various mindfulness colouring books.

Wikipedia describes mindfulness as 'the psychological process of bringing one's attention to experiences occurring in the present moment, which can be developed through the practice of meditation and other training.' The practice requires a person to focus on their breathing as an aid to meditation.

In terms of origins, mindfulness has its roots in Zen Buddhism.

I confess that I don't know a lot about mindfulness, and am aware that, within the Christian community, opinion is split - just as opinion is split over yoga, for example. 

There are those who would argue that mindfulness, as practised today in the west, has no connection to its Buddhist roots. That its meditation techniques can easily be reclaimed by the Christian community. That this is one of those outreach opportunities that provide overlap with what 'we' believe and what 'they' believe and that gives us the opportunity to talk about prayer and reflection on the Bible - similar to Paul's behaviour in Acts 17.

This week I was at the Christian Resources Exhibition and noticed the following book on one of the book stands. I didn't read it - I just took a photo - but my guess from the title is that the author takes a fairly positive view from a Christian perspective. I may be totally wrong - if you've read the book and want to correct me, please do!

Then, at the other end of the spectrum, there are those see mindfulness as thinly disguised Buddhism and something that Christians should have nothing to do with. That any involvement is opening ourselves up to ungodly spiritual forces. That at a time when Christianity is being excluded from the work place other religions are being embraced.

Those are two alternative views and I am sure that there are a whole range of views in between those two extremes. Even if you're part of a fairly small church community there is probably quite a spread of opinion on this subject from within that community.

As I say, I don't know a lot on this subject, so more by way of starting a conversation, here are a few thoughts.

At CBC we're currently working our way through the Old Testament book of 1 Samuel, and personally, I've just finished reading Ezekiel and am now on Daniel. Samuela and Ezekiel are books which contain more than enough warnings of the dangers of mixing the worship of God with anything else. Daniel is an interesting mix of stories of no compromise (lions' dens and fiery furnaces) and seeking wisdom to work within a hostile spiritual climate. Maybe seeking wisdom and a willingness to stand alone are the way ahead. At least we should be careful on what we do and err on the side of caution.

The supporters of mindfulness list the health benefits that it brings - particularly those benefits to mental health. In the House of Commons this week the mindfulness exercise was partly aimed at improving the thinking and the behaviour of those involved in politics. 

No doubt those Christians who are more positive towards mindfulness would see similar benefits through things like prayer and what has traditionally been called the 'quiet time' - a time (usually first thing in the morning) for Bible reading, mediating/reflecting on that reading and prayer. 

For me, the issue here then becomes one of whether these spiritual disciplines 'work' for the Christian because of the psycological or physiological impact of the practice or because of the focus of the practice - i.e. God. Because, if we believe that it is the latter, then why would we settle for the former?

A focus that is on anything other than God is idolatry. Anything that suggests that the answers to our ultimate questions can be found anywhere else outside of God is idolatry. Anything that encourages me to focus inward rather than on God is idolatry.

I'm not sure where that gets us other than getting the conversation started...over to you.

Fear of the Lord

Yesterday, at CBC, we were continuing our series in 1 Samuel, and from chapter 12 we asked ourselves what it means to 'fear the Lord' (e.g. verse 14) - and how this fits into our understanding of faith and church. And so we asked ourselves, how do we understand this phrase, that is so common throughout the Old Testament, in the light of the cross? Or what about verses like 1 John 4:18 that seem to set up fear and love as being mutually exclusive.

Here are a couple of videos that explore this theme a little more.

Harvest

Last Sunday we celebrated Harvest at CBC. Thanking God for his provision and goodness as well as taking the opportunity to remember that God expects us to be generous with what he has so generously given us. We had a collection of food for Cambridge City Foodbank.

This short video gives you a brief idea of the work of the Trussell Trust and Foodbanks up and down this country.



As well as looking locally, we also watched the following video about the work that BMS World Mission are doing in Thailand.

Wonderfully Made: feature video from BMS World Mission on Vimeo.

1 Samuel

On Sunday we started a new teaching series looking at the Old Testament book of 1 Samuel. Here's a great overview from the guys over at The Bible Project.

Proverbs on Wealth

This morning at CBC we're finishing off our mini-series in Proverbs by looking at what that book has to say on the subject of Wealth. Here are some of the resources that I mentioned or referred to.

I mentioned the great introductory videos from The Bible Project, giving an overveiw of Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. You'll find those videos by clicking here.

On Sunday I referred to a number of verses from Proverbs, but some of these verses only appeared on the screen. Here is a list of all the verses referred to, in the order they were used:

10:22
3:9
3:14
18:10-11
23:4-5
11:4
15:16
16:8
14:31
22:2
31:8-9
23:6-7
11:24-25

As a part of my preparation, I put together the following list of verses in Proverbs that are linked to the topic of wealth, as well as giving an indication of how that verse links to the topic. Some verses, for example, mention that there are other things that are better than wealth, or the importance of being generous and not stingy with what we have...

Obviously, this image is slightly challenging to read, so you can download either a pdf copy or Numbers spreadsheet using the links below.

You may not necessarily agree with all my categories - and there may be verses that I have not included - I don't claim that this is an authoritative list, but you may find it helpful if you want to explore the subject further. I certainly found it helpful putting it together.

Download pdf version

Download Numbers spreadsheet version

We mentioned some statistics regarding world poverty, whilst recognising that stats don't paint the full picture and often over simplify complicated situations. I didn't use the following video but you might find it interesting.



Here is one more video - this is the TED talk that looks at the question - does money make you mean?

Proverbs

On Sunday mornings over the summer we have been looking at different themes from the book of Proverbs. So far we've looked at what Proverbs has to say about Work, Words and Wisdom. This Sunday, in the final talk in the series, we're going to be thinking about Wealth.

If you've not done so already and you want more of an overview of the book of Proverbs or  a bit more insight into the Old Testament Wisdom literature then there are some great resources from the guys over at The Bible Project.

The wisdom of Proverbs is supposed to read in the context of the questions and issues raised by Job and the book of Ecclesiastes as well as the wider Old Testament and whole Bible contexts. Here's what those books are about and how they are read together.








You'll also find their traditional poster style videos and posters here as well as lots of other helpful resources.

Literary Styles in the Bible

If you're a regular visitor to CBC or to this blog you will have heard me talk about the great resources that are available from the people over at The Bible Project.

As well as their short summaries/introductions for every book of the Bible they are now 3/14ths of the way through a series on Reading the Bible. The first video looked at 'What is the Bible?', the second at 'The story of the Bible'.

They have recently released the third video in the series looking at the different literary styles in the Bible. 

If you've not seen it yet - here it is:

Today's video

If you were at CBC this morning you will know that some of our visuals were hit by the cyber-gremlins - still no idea why or what...but as promised - you can watch the whole thing here.

Making a start on Revelation

On Sunday we started a new teaching series looking at the first five chapters of Revelation. Some I know, are a bit disappointed that we're not going further - as most of what is technically referred to as, 'the weird stuff', only starts at chapter six. 

But a good overview of the whole book is important for understanding the first few chapters. One of the challenges of understanding Revelation is that there is a lot of symbolism and imagery that we are not familiar with - and unless we know how it applied to the Christians John was writing to in AD 90, we won't be able to properly apply his words to 2017.

If you're looking for a clear but short overview then look no further than the guys over at www.jointhebibleproject.com Head over there in a few minutes and have a look at some of the great resources they have on offer. Below are their two intro videos to the book of Revelation.

As well as Sunday mornings there will also be home group notes - and your home groups may throw up some interesting questions.

Powerful images

A number of people have asked me about the video resources that I used at the different services over Easter. In case you missed any of them, here they are.

This first one I split into two parts - going as far as the death of Jesus on Good Friday, and then going from Jesus' final breath to the end of the video on Easter Sunday.




You'll find the powerful track from Crowder that we listened to at http://vevo.ly/XbkBLc

Then on Resurrection Day we had:




and

Bible Study Resources

On Sunday at CBC we were talking about being biblical - and one of the things I said was that none of the Bible was written with us in mind. So when Paul was writing the letter to the Galatians he was not thinking about the Christians at CBC. 

And I specifically mentioned a verse that is often quoted, Jeremiah 29:11, "for I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future". Maybe I should say I mentioned a verse that is often misquoted - because Jeremiah wrote these words to the exiles in Babylon - not to the Christians at CBC.

My point was not that none of the Bible was written to us and therefore it doesn't apply or isn't relevant. 

Part of what it means to be biblical is that we believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, that it is a living word, and that it is relevant and speaks today through the Holy Spirit.

My point was that therefore we always need to go through a process of interpretation. That's obvious when we read a verse where it is clear that the biblical context is far removed from our context - say, a verse in Leviticus about not wearing clothes made from two types of material. But it is not always so obvious when we read a verse like Jeremiah 29:11. 

There are two main stages in this process of interpretation.

The first is to work out the meaning of the text in its original context - what did it mean then. The technical term for this stage in the process is 'exegesis'.

Once that's done we then ask God to show us how that applies in our situation - what does it mean now. This part of the process is called 'hermeneutics'.

On Sunday I mentioned some additional resources that can help us with the first part of this process. This first part in this process involves knowing something about the historical context about when a passage was written. We need to know something about the literary context - part of this involves reading more than just one verse - but unless you know Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic you are probably going to need some help here too. And then we're going to need some help understanding unfamiliar words.

Alongside the Holy Spirit and prayer, a good friend or home group and a good Bible translation the following are useful resources.

A Study Bible


A good study Bible is a great place to start because alongside the Bible text you will find helpful notes that will give you a brief insight into relevant issues. Lots of study Bibles are available - I currently use the NIV Life Application Study Bible and the NIV Study Bible.

The advantage with a Study Bible is that you only need to purchase one book and everything is contained in that one volume. This saves both space and money.

One of the disadvantages is that the notes are necessarily short and brief. Another danger is that because the notes are right there on the page we go straight to someone else's notes rather than prayerfully reflecting on the text itself and listening to God.

Of course many of these resources are available online or can be purchased via various apps and computer programs. 

For a number of years now I have used Olive Tree Bible Software. I have this on my laptop, iPad and phone which means I can have a whole library in my pocket. Another great advantage of using this kind of software is that it quickly links a whole range of resources together around a particular verse or passage.


A Commentary

The second resource that I mentioned was a commentary. A commentary is basically a book where someone else writes about the interpretive process. So it will tell you about the historical context. The linguistic issues. The literary context. Difficult words. Many commentaries will also make an attempt at application.

There are hundreds and hundreds of different commentaries to choose from - but a single volume commentary is a good place to start - this deals with the whole Bible in one book but in a bit more detail than the Study Bible.

I use the IVP New Bible Commentary and also the Africa Bible Commentary - which is written from an African perspective for an African audience and provides some value insights that get missed when we read from a purely white, western perspective.

You might decide, maybe because you're preaching on a particular book of the Bible, that you need more information than can be provided in a single volume commentary. This is when you start to turn to specific commentaries - a whole commentary written about one book of the Bible. You won't be surprised to discover that once again there are a whole variety to choose from. I tend to use commentaries from the NIV Application Commentary series and the BST (Bible Speaks Today) series.

A Bible Dictionary

A Bible dictionary will help you with those words that you don't understand, but will also contain information about the people and places that you read about in the Bible. The main dictionary that I regularly use is the IVP New Bible Dictionary.

Obviously, there is a whole range of resources and some of them are quite expensive. So if you want to borrow or have a look at some of them just let me know.

Being biblical

This week I'm re-blogging some slightly edited 'cut and paste' posts that I've written in the past - to expand on some of the things we glossed over on Sunday when we were thinking about what it means to be biblical.

Broadly speaking, when we talk about what it means to be biblical, I guess most of us mean that we believe the Bible and that what we do is governed by what we read in the Bible. The trouble is is that it's not quite as simple as that. We don't do everything that's written in the Bible. 

There are parts of the Old Testament that we would say are cultural and therefore do not apply to us any longer - the question then becomes: how do you decide which bits apply and which bits don't and on what basis do you make that call?

So for example, there will be those who say that it is wrong for a Christian to have a tattoo - and they would base this on Leviticus 19:28. But these same people are happy to ignore another verse earlier in the same chapter verse 19 by wearing clothes that are made of mixed fibres.

And things are not always any easier in the New Testament. Here at CBC we have women in leadership, we have women preachers. Within the Baptist Union we have women ministers. The General Secretary of the Baptist Union is currently a woman. And yet doesn't Paul quite clearly say that this should not be the case in places like 1 Corinthians 14:34?

So what do we mean when we say that we are biblical?

Firstly we recognise that the Bible was written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and within its pages we read the story of God and his interaction with men and women throughout history. Therefore when we read the Bible we discover God and find out what God is like.

And although the Bible is divided into two main parts, as well as containing lots of smaller books, it contains one overarching story - and therefore all those smaller parts have to be read and understood within the context of the single overarching story.

At the heart of this story we find Jesus - and the events of the first Easter - the cross and the empty grave. And therefore we learn to read the rest of the story from the perspective of the cross and the empty grave - but also bearing in mind that this story has a beginning and it has an end.

We also appreciate that the times in which we now live are very different to the times when the Bible was written - and therefore all of the Bible is cultural (and not just bits about tattoos or wearing clothes made of two kinds of fibre). And therefore it is never simply the case that we do something because it is written in the Bible.

So when we read the Bible we need to understand first of all what it was saying then - and then ask God to help us answer the question, "if that's what it said then - what is it saying to me now?" So - why is it that Israel were not allowed tattoos? Is it something to do with the practices of the nations around them? And if so why did they have to be different? Are there any similar issues that apply today (which may or may not have anything to do with tattoos)?

Because the Bible is the story of God it is important that we read it. Not just in church on a Sunday but daily - asking God to speak to us as we do so. This is not always easy and there are all kinds of things that can easily get in the way of this discipline.

 


Last year I read through the Bible following the Read Scripture plan from the great people at the Join the Bible Project. One of the great things about this scheme is that at the beginning of every new book, and at various other points along the way they have short (7-8 minute) videos that help explain the book, and provide pointers in understanding what you're reading. You can find out more by visiting their website here.

If you're looking for a book to help you understand and read the Bible I'd highly recommend these two:

How to read the Bible for all its worth and How to read the Bible book by book.