I find N.T. Wright challenging and stimulating as an author - and here he has some interesting things to say about reading the Bible.
(Unfortunately I could not embed this video so you'll need to click here - this will take you to youtube)
Friday, 7 December 2012
Getting the big picture
As we've been talking about making sense of the Bible a bit recently I thought I'd post this video, which I came across on Wednesday.
I find N.T. Wright challenging and stimulating as an author - and here he has some interesting things to say about reading the Bible.
(Unfortunately I could not embed this video so you'll need to click here - this will take you to youtube)
I find N.T. Wright challenging and stimulating as an author - and here he has some interesting things to say about reading the Bible.
(Unfortunately I could not embed this video so you'll need to click here - this will take you to youtube)
Thursday, 6 December 2012
Making Sense of Leviticus (Part 2)
Last Friday we started to think about how you make sense of a book of the Bible like Leviticus, which seems so out of touch and out of date with our lives as Christians in 2012.
Our starting point has to be a position of faith. We have to believe that the Bible is the Word of God and that God continues to speak through the Bible. I could back those statements up with verses (such as 2 Timothy 3:16 and Hebrews 4:12) but of course if you don't believe the Bible you're not going to be convinced by those kind of arguments.
We also read believing that the authors were inspired by the Holy Spirit and the same Holy Spirit will help us to understand and apply what we're reading - so we read prayerfully, asking God to help us.
If you wanted to you could sign up for courses, degree courses, you could write a PhD all on the subject of understanding and applying the Bible - so a few lines here isn't going to do more than just brush the surface. So just a few pointers.
Parts of the New Testament were written about 2000 years ago, and the Old Testament is much older than that. And it is not until relatively recently that we have moved from reading the Bible in community, to reading it as individuals. Obviously this was because people simply did not have a copy of the Bible, or they could not read. But as we struggle to understand and apply the Bible we need to remember that we are not doing this on our own, but we are part of a wider Christian community - maybe a local church, a house group, an on line forum etc. And so we are always able to share with others what we think God may be saying - and those who are further along this road than us will be able to affirm, question or challenge our interpretation and application.
We'll look at how to read in a couple of days time, but if you are looking for a couple of really good books on this subject you could do a lot worse than How to read the Bible for all its worth by Fee and Stuart. They also have another very good book called How to read the Bible book by book.
Our starting point has to be a position of faith. We have to believe that the Bible is the Word of God and that God continues to speak through the Bible. I could back those statements up with verses (such as 2 Timothy 3:16 and Hebrews 4:12) but of course if you don't believe the Bible you're not going to be convinced by those kind of arguments.
We also read believing that the authors were inspired by the Holy Spirit and the same Holy Spirit will help us to understand and apply what we're reading - so we read prayerfully, asking God to help us.
If you wanted to you could sign up for courses, degree courses, you could write a PhD all on the subject of understanding and applying the Bible - so a few lines here isn't going to do more than just brush the surface. So just a few pointers.
Parts of the New Testament were written about 2000 years ago, and the Old Testament is much older than that. And it is not until relatively recently that we have moved from reading the Bible in community, to reading it as individuals. Obviously this was because people simply did not have a copy of the Bible, or they could not read. But as we struggle to understand and apply the Bible we need to remember that we are not doing this on our own, but we are part of a wider Christian community - maybe a local church, a house group, an on line forum etc. And so we are always able to share with others what we think God may be saying - and those who are further along this road than us will be able to affirm, question or challenge our interpretation and application.
We'll look at how to read in a couple of days time, but if you are looking for a couple of really good books on this subject you could do a lot worse than How to read the Bible for all its worth by Fee and Stuart. They also have another very good book called How to read the Bible book by book.
Wednesday, 5 December 2012
Are you ready for Christmas?
Are you ready for Christmas?
Usually when we ask that question we mean: have you written the cards, is the food all ready, are the presents wrapped, is the Christmas tree up...
As a minister it often means: are the posters printed, have the invitations been distributed, are the services planned...
Last Sunday was Advent Sunday - the first day of Advent. Advent is a period of preparation in the run up to Christmas. Not preparation in terms of those things listed above, but the kind of preparation that comes from reflecting on the true significance of Christmas.
Preparing to celebrate Christmas really only makes sense when we recognise the past, present and future nature of our faith - this has nothing to do with Dickens' Christmas Carol!
Past: We celebrate that Jesus came and was born as a baby about 2000 years ago.
Present: We thank God that we can know the reality of Immanuel - God with us, right now in the present, through the Holy Spirit.
Future: We look forward to day when Jesus will come again.
Our lives in the present should reflect our belief in the past and our hope for the future.
So, are you ready for Christmas?
Of course there are some people who just can't wait...
Usually when we ask that question we mean: have you written the cards, is the food all ready, are the presents wrapped, is the Christmas tree up...
As a minister it often means: are the posters printed, have the invitations been distributed, are the services planned...
Last Sunday was Advent Sunday - the first day of Advent. Advent is a period of preparation in the run up to Christmas. Not preparation in terms of those things listed above, but the kind of preparation that comes from reflecting on the true significance of Christmas.
Preparing to celebrate Christmas really only makes sense when we recognise the past, present and future nature of our faith - this has nothing to do with Dickens' Christmas Carol!
Past: We celebrate that Jesus came and was born as a baby about 2000 years ago.
Present: We thank God that we can know the reality of Immanuel - God with us, right now in the present, through the Holy Spirit.
Future: We look forward to day when Jesus will come again.
Our lives in the present should reflect our belief in the past and our hope for the future.
So, are you ready for Christmas?
Of course there are some people who just can't wait...
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| Youngest daughter caught red handed on December 3rd |
Tuesday, 4 December 2012
Motivation - Part 3
This is the third of four posts on Motivation. If you missed part one or part two click these links and read them first.
One of the inevitable things about training properly for a marathon is that you have to run a long way in training. Depending on the programme you're following this will usually mean at least one run of about 20 miles a few weeks before the big day. Of course you build up to this slowly, adding a mile to your weekly long run over the months leading up to that final 20 mile training run. And for most people who enter a marathon I'm guessing that the furthest they would normally run (when not training for a marathon) would be somewhere about 10-13 miles.
So once those long runs get beyond about 12 or 13 miles, and start taking over 2 hours to complete, you start to ache a bit during the last few miles.
One thing I realised during this week's 14 miler was that running anywhere close to home with about 4 miles to go provides incredible temptation to take a short cut and call it a day. After all, 11 or 12 miles is still a good effort - right? Instead it would be much better to be 7 miles from home at the halfway point because then the motivation to run 14 miles is simply the motivation of getting home.
So this week, this is roughly where I'll be at the half-way point of my long run - and once I've got this far I have no option but to turn around and run the 7.5 miles back home again.
One of the inevitable things about training properly for a marathon is that you have to run a long way in training. Depending on the programme you're following this will usually mean at least one run of about 20 miles a few weeks before the big day. Of course you build up to this slowly, adding a mile to your weekly long run over the months leading up to that final 20 mile training run. And for most people who enter a marathon I'm guessing that the furthest they would normally run (when not training for a marathon) would be somewhere about 10-13 miles.
So once those long runs get beyond about 12 or 13 miles, and start taking over 2 hours to complete, you start to ache a bit during the last few miles.
One thing I realised during this week's 14 miler was that running anywhere close to home with about 4 miles to go provides incredible temptation to take a short cut and call it a day. After all, 11 or 12 miles is still a good effort - right? Instead it would be much better to be 7 miles from home at the halfway point because then the motivation to run 14 miles is simply the motivation of getting home.
So this week, this is roughly where I'll be at the half-way point of my long run - and once I've got this far I have no option but to turn around and run the 7.5 miles back home again.
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