A late start to the new year

Yeah, I realize that I haven't put anything on here in a long time. Mainly that is due to my laziness and lack of imagination. Lately I have been choosing to be entertained or informed rather than informing or entertaining. Thats ok and I have been enriched from it. So, here is a short explanation of things that are currently taking up my time.

I finished Crazy Love by Francis Chan. Its an amazing book that really has challenged my thoughts and actions. Over at SCL's other site The Prodigal John, he is having a weekly discussion of it. If you want to know more about the book, go read some of the topics that are speaking to people. It might give you a better idea of whats going on. I won't go into any real details right now, but might try and devote an entry talking about things that really hit me hard.

I have also been reading How to read the Bible for all its worth by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart. I have enjoyed the breakdown that these two professors use. They do a good job of trying to make something sort of daunting much more accessible to everyone. I haven't finished it but have already noticed a difference in the way I look at a passage of scripture now.

Those are the main books that have taken up my time (a couple fantasy baseball stuff as well, but I won't bore you). The other main thing that I have been thinking about is Driscoll's sermon series "The Peasant Princess". It deals with Song of Solomon/Songs. There is such great truth in his teachings of this scripture. I always find myself pondering over the things that each lesson tells. I have been watching them with my wife and its great. While I would say that there isn't a whole lot about our marriage that isn't practicing these principles, I know that there is still a lot to learn. I enjoy the fact that a proactive stance now on things we haven't foreseen, may allow us to avoid too many problems later.

Also, I have been watching Andy Stanley's series "Balanced" about finances. Its funny and informative, just like pretty much all his series, but its also made me think about our possessions in a different way. I understand that nothing is really mine, and to illustrate that Stanley asks if you were to borrow some one's vehicle, what percentage would they expect you to take care of? Obviously, its the whole thing, not just 10%. Now, the challenge is not this, but the idea that Stanley said that he won't buy a new item (toy, gadget, etc) if he wouldn't allow some one to borrow it. Can I honestly say that? I don't know. But, I would like to be that way. I don't want my goal to be to gain things, but rather to be a loving giver. Which leads to the thoughts that Crazy Love brings about. So, I guess I will have to talk about that soon.

So, that's whats going on with me. I will try not to let another month plus go by without spending some time sharing what God is laying on my heart and showing me through His teachings.

Study and the such

2 days of me being on here, some one must be riding an emotional high of others possibly checking out my thoughts. Yeah, I am willing to talk about myself in that manner. I am also on here because I actually have something that I am thinking about. One of the things that I mentioned that I wanted to talk about on here is the study that I am doing and what I am learning from it.

I got a Driscoll book recently entitled "New Testament: A Book that you will actually Read". It is really short and doesn't really give a whole lot of in depth analysis but there was one part that I found very interesting. At the end of the book, Driscoll talks about building your own Theological Library. He gives his suggestions for books and the such that he has found helpful and informative. I like the insight that this gives me and I might try and check out a couple of these books at some point as well. But the real sort of mind-blowing portion is that Driscoll says that he urges people to spend an average of 6 months when studying a book of the bible. If you work it out, that would mean if you averaged 6 months (some longer some shorter) to study a book, it would take you 33 years to get throught the whole bible. That is dedication. So, I am going to start with a short book and devote a couple months or until I think that I have wringed all I can out of it at this point in my life. That is how I feel God is leading me to study right now. That might change later, but I think its a decent idea.

On to other things, I am currently getting ready to say good-bye to another baseball season. Yes, the post-season will start in October, but for my team, we only have 6 games. It has been a year of greater than expectations, even by us fans, but still a little tough to take it that the Cubs won the division for 2 straight years. I know that as one who is supposed to live in the love of Christ that I shouldn't hate anything really, but I really think that God hates the Cubs as well. I say that with all the humor and sarcasm that I can muster with written words. Oh well, here's to hoping that the Cubs continue to do their normal post-season flop and I get to watch it. Is it so wrong to enjoy the defeat of your rival team? I think not.

The new television season has kicked off. I have a lot of shows that are normal watches for me. One of them started back up last week, Smallville. I loved the show for about 5 years. I have to say that the last couple years have seemed so much weaker than before. I still watch, but more out of loyalty than desire. I am sure that I could make some illusion to our Christian walk and someday I will break that off without even thinking, but today its not coming to me. Mainly I am just wanting it to end, Smallville not my walk.

I think that rambling about Smallville and baseball pretty much signal the end to another blog. Let's see what comes out next time.

Studying

One of those "dirty little secrets" that I have had for a long time is that I very rarely study the bible. You would think that as a person who was very keen on getting back to where God wants me the past year plus that I would whole-heartedly run toward the scripture. However, I have known that I should dive deep into His word.

I attempted to jumpstart myself in that manner earlier this year by reading the whole bible in 90 days. Yes, I actually completed it. The problem is that I went from wanting to do this to see it as a full story and a complete illustration of God to a person who was slowly just desiring the goal to be reached. There is no learning going on when you are just wanting to "get done". Then when you are finished with the whole bible, you feel like you have just completed a novel. How many people when they are finished with a novel goes back to reread a chapter that was just read? None that I know of. So, I hindered myself in this regard. I started the task with the wrong intentions. I wanted to accomplish reading the bible. It wasn't some spiritual journey that I was taking, but a reading assignment that I gave myself. Thus, I have struggled since wanting to dive back in.

I finally got around to trying something new. A friend pointed out to me a new method. They suggested that I started reading one chapter a week of any book. During that week, you read that chapter every day and you read whatever commentaries, histories, etc about that chapter and that book. What a great concept! I loved the idea. Where to start was what filled my mind. The next Sunday or so our pastor was talking about Zechariah and used it in his message. I thought, that sounds cool, maybe I will try there. I didn't think much about resources since we are now in the information age and can find pretty much anything on the internet, right? Well, that was a mistake. I lasted about 3 weeks. I gave up trying to find stuff online to read. I basically felt defeated. I felt like I failed. However, I do know the truth. If I had continued on, without trying to admit my mistake, that would have been worse.

Instead, I am starting all over. I don't just mean with a new book, I mean with a new outlook. I am starting as if I am a new Christian. Rather than just believing what I have been taught all these years about, "just read the bible", I started by listening to a sermon by Mark Driscoll from Mars Hill Church in Seattle. What a powerful message. I don't care how long you have been part of God's kingdom, this message will open your eyes at least a little. To me, its a lot. I won't go into a lot of what he says but just a few points.

The question that you have to ask yourself is what is your motive for studying scripture. That question will change why or how you are doing it all by itself. Just thinking about why you are doing something causes you to pause. It causes you to delve into your desires for the exercise. Driscoll points out that the purpose for reading the bible is relational and not functional. Just let that sink in. You read to bring more depth to your relationship with God. From that relationship, you will get the functional aspect that you were searching for, though it might not be in the manner you had originally thought.

Once you figure out your motive, then you worry about the method. This really helped me see my desire to read Zechariah not as a failure but as a challenge. Im not ready for it. I can admit that. There are things in that book that later in my spiritual walk will be useful to me, but I don't get them yet. Instead, God has something for me elsewhere in His word. The point that stuck out to me here from Driscoll is that you must pray. Seems pretty obvious, huh? Well, when you think about it this way, its revealing to me. He says that all scripture is inspired by God through the Holy Spirit and is made so that you need the Holy Spirit ministering to you for understanding. If you don't pray and get that ministering, you might miss the point of it. By praying, you are relying on God for your understanding instead of what you can come up with. I tend to think that God is a little smarter than myself.

I don't know if this encourages others or just is a great way for me to vent this all out as I learn it, but its something good to think about. If you would like to listen to this sermon, its on Mars Hill's website in the media library.