Study

Well I'm back from the Holy Day. I had a good Christmas. I hope you did too.

My sister gave me a 400th anniversary edition of The Holy Bible of 1611. It's a good one. Not one of those fakes that is just a KJV with a fancy cover. It's not the 400th anniversary of the KJV. But this is a good one. It is so nice to see all the original spelling and the introductory letters. And the complete Apocrypha including the stuff left out of the Douay version of 1610. (Or at least all that they had translated in 1611.) Christmas Eve I must have read Luke 2:1-20 five times. And a couple more times Christmas morning. I have been using it in my devotional time. The old spelling takes just a little getting used to. But it is worth it to see all the original footnotes and cross references.

My mom gave me a copy of "How to read the Bible for all its worth." I'm about half finished with it already. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to do some really serious study. I guess the best description I can give it is that it helps to see the difference between exegesis and hermeneutics and how to do both effectively and efficiently. I wanted it because it is required reading for most Theology degrees I have looked into. That's something I plan for 2011 Lord willing is to go back to school and study Theology. That's something I have always wanted to do. Mainly for the diploma but also to see what it is like to study under a formalized curriculum. My Pastor says going back to school might slow down my studies. But we'll see if God will open that door or not. I have other plans for 2011 Lord willing. I'll probably write about those next week.
My sister's boyfriend gave me a copy of "The Miracle of the Scarlet Thread" by Dr. Richard Booker. It is based on a sermon outline from 1961. The sermon was preached by Dr. W. A. Criswell at The First Baptist Church in Dallas Texas on New Year's Eve 1961. The story goes that every Sunday when it was time for the service to end Pastor Criswell would say to his congregation, "I seem to be out of time." So as a gift to him on New Year's Eve they told him he could start preaching at 8pm and preach until midnight. Then they would have a fellowship dinner in celebration of the New year. He began at 8pm preaching a sermon he had written that traces the blood of Christ from Genesis to Revelation. It is said that at midnight he looked out at the congregation and said, "I seem to be out of time." So the sermon went 4 hours and he never finished. I'm looking forward to reading it as soon as I finish the other book.

I know some people think I'm a geek for all the time I spend in study. But that's what moves me. I want to learn. I don't study to prove myself right or to prove someone else wrong. I study because I want to know the truth. And the truth will make us free. Amen? You will rarely ever learn the truth if you insist on having your Bible spoon fed to you. In fact you will probably just be fed false doctrine instead.

2 Timothy 2:15 "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." KJV
I like this one too. "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God…" NKJV.
Some people say "Oh that's a bad translation because it says you don't have to study!" No No! That's a good translation because it gives a clearer understanding of what is in the Greek. It doesn't say don't study. It says be diligent! That means study and them some. What good is study if there is no learning? And what good is learning if there is no application? We are to do everything diligently to present ourselves approved before God. And this begins with study. But it must also include prayer, and living what we learn, and sharing what we learn with others. (Hence the reason for my blog.)

Peace and blessings to you all.
Shannon