Monday, January 4, 2010

Curious? Do A Bible Search!

Curious? Do A Bible Search!
As a seminary student, I am always looking for more information about the Bible. As I study to become a pastor for other people, it is extremely important that I learn all I can about the Bible and that I utilize all of the resources that are available to me. I had never heard of a Bible search until recently, but doing them has radically changed my ability to learn and process information about the Bible.




What I love about studying the Bible is that I am always curious and hungry to learn more. I am a firm believer that people should spend their lives doing things of value that they deeply enjoy. So when the change came for me to further my education with seminary I jumped at it. Just a few months into my classes, the Bible search tools that I have been taught have by far been the most valuable source of new knowledge that I have discovered.

Are you curious to learn more about the Bible? Perhaps you are taking a Bible class or are just wanting to learn for your own benefit. It doesn't matter why you want to know more, it simply matters that you can know more by doing a Bible search or two on the information you are seeking. I love that a Bible search can both satisfy my curiousity and yet leave me desiring more knowledge. What a great thing!

A Bible search can happen in many ways. There are many great tools to be used, but by far some of the best can be found in libraries, at bookshops, or even on the internet. Basically, a Bible search is done whenever a learner uses tools to try to gain more knowledge about a particular passage or theme in Scripture. The Bible search doesn't have to be official, it simply has to be helpful in teaching you more about the Bible.

If you are curious about learning more about a Bible search tool or two, find someone to talk with. This may mean talking with a pastor or setting up a time to meet with a Bible professor at a local college. Do whatever you can to be proactive about doing a Bible search to do more. You will be so glad that you did and the knowledge you learn will be the most helpful thing in the world for you and your future.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Credit Secrets Bible Review - Good Or Bad?

Credit Secrets Bible Review - Good Or Bad?
I decided to write this Credit Secrets Bible review after having a chance to see what the ebook is all about. If you've ever wondered how you can raise your credit score and get on your way to owning the home or car of your dreams, you'll find this brief review of particular interest and quite possibly the answer to your problems. In it, I will go over whether or not I feel the Credit Secrets Bible is a viable way of raising your credit score to a respectable level in just a few short months.

Terry Price has developed a system to increase your credit rating up to 249 points, or so he claims in his Credit Secrets Bible. Once I looked into the system, I discovered that not only is it possible, but it's ridiculously easy to do. If you can read and write at the 7th grade level, you can do it.

The Credit Secrets Bible gives you the special phone number to call to get the truth about those no-credit-check credit cards. You can even learn about the 3-step system that other credit specialists charge almost $800 to implement, that will repair your shattered credit. Interested in paying off debt for 27 cents on the dollar? Wondering if it's legal and ethical to create an Alternate Credit File? Not only is it possible, but you can do it yourself with this invaluable ebook!

Even if you're currently getting tons of collection calls, The Credit Secrets Bible can give you a letter that will stop them all forever. From protecting yourself from predatory lending practices to stopping foreclosure, this guide has everything you need.

I really can't recommend The Credit Secrets Bible highly enough. It's something that can benefit people with any credit score, from perfect to pathetic.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Can Society Understand the Bible Today?

Can Society Understand the Bible Today?

Many people desire to know more about the Bible. When they try to read it they find it difficult to understand, and at times, a little dry in some portions, as they put it. But the Bible is really not difficult to understand, it just takes some time, and a couple of other factors. But more important, is that the joy that the truths of God's precious Word can give to a person who understands it - are almost beyond belief!

The Bible, and its truths, David said, are "more to be desired than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb" (Psalm 19:10). He loved the Word of God, and so do those who know how to understand it. But first, let me say that learning the Bible cannot be done overnight. Its truths are deep, and it must be slowly and carefully dug out with some work - like school - which is progressive in nature.

Here are five things that will help to open the door of the Bible to your understanding.

1. Through The Teacher

The Teacher is ready to make all things clear to you - one at a time. He is always near to a believer and ready to show you "great and mighty things, which thou knowest not" (Jeremiah 33:3).

The conditions under which He teaches you are simple - you must be one of His children. This simply means that Christ has become your Savior through your simply telling Him that you hate your sins, and are sorry to God for having committed them. Then by confessing to God that you believe that Christ is the Son of God you can be buried with him in baptism.  Then, His Spirit comes to live within and He is ready to teach and to guide you.  Acts 2:38; Romans 6-3-6.

When you, as a believer who is willing to be taught, and follow, ask Him to teach you just before you open it and read. David prayed: "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law" (Psalm 119:18).

2. Continued Obedience

It may seem strange to you that this is mentioned next - rather than some academic principle. As strange as it may seem, obedience is the next thing that helps open the door to your understanding. It is not a means to an end after baptism.  Jesus put it like this, in John 7:17: “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine..." Now the word "doctrine" is not something to be afraid of, it simply means the "teachings" of the Bible. Jesus was saying that those who are willing to obey Him, and seek first the Kingdom of God, are those whose heart the Spirit can instruct to understand the Bible.

3. Keeping Faith

An individual, who is not willing to believe, will not be able to understand the deeper truths of the Word of God. They will just be so much foolishness to that person. But a believer, on the other hand, through faith can have their eyes opened to see things that an unbelieving person will never see.

4. Through Other Scriptures

The Bible is a Book that will largely interpret itself, if we will not let our preconceived prejudices distort what we read. For instance, when many people read the story of the birth of Christ in Matthew, they automatically follow the mistaken views of others in their understanding of the story here. This is only given to show how a preconceived idea can overshadow the real truth of the Bible. One such example is that everyone assumes there were three wise men because there were three gifts.  Maybe one could assume this however the Bible does not actually say their were three of them.

The principle here is to let other Scripture verses show you what a particular passage means. “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little” (Isaiah 28:10). If you will look up other verses dealing with the same subject, it will help you, along with the other principles to understand God’s Word.

5. Through our Preachers




Those teachers of the Word of God in that nearby Bible-teaching church are the best ways to help you to understand the Bible. While they are not perfect, they are given the task of making plain to the people the Word of God, and its meaning.

These five things can greatly help you to understand the Bible better, along with a regular and daily reading of it. If you have not read the whole Bible through, start with the Gospel of John, and then go to Matthew and read through the New Testament – follow that by reading through the whole Bible. Following these steps carefully will allow you to begin to get a rich and enjoyable understanding of God’s precious Word.

Friday, January 1, 2010

Can Society Live By The Bible Today?

Can Society Live By The Bible Today?

That Holy Book, called the Bible, is the only Book like it. While many know that it is a holy Book, they do not know exactly what the Bible is, or why it was given. Once those two thoughts can be understood, then we will be able to answer the above question satisfactorily.

In an effort to be able to answer both at the same time, this outline should help to answer the question, Is the Bible something we can use to live by? To this question, the only reasonable answer is a definite Yes.



1.  Yes, Because Its Author Is Divine

The Scriptures declare themselves to be of God. In II Timothy 3:16 the Bible tells us "All scripture is given by inspiration of God..." This word "inspiration" does not refer to the type of inspiration a poet, or a writer gets today. No, this was a special thing. It referred to the fact that "God-breathed" out the Scriptures from Himself. That is actually the Greek meaning of the word. In other words, the idea is that God so directed that "men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" (II Peter 1:21), with the result that the words of the written Bible were inerrant (incapable of any error).

In applying this truth a little further, it can be seen that God was able to produce an infallible Book because He is Himself infallible. He also knows all things (omniscient), and He knows what we will need to live for Him.

2.  Yes, Because He Has Given Believers His Spirit

This here is a point that needs to be very seriously considered. It is the dividing line between who can follow the teachings of the Bible, and who cannot. Having religion is not enough, and having the Ten Commandments is not enough to please God. He requires that we be made new by His Spirit - new, in the sense that our old way of life, and thoughts, are forsaken, and He moves in after baptism - and forgives the past transgressions, and His presence transforms the believer. Apart from this transformation that He makes in us, there can be no salvation. Christ died to bring us forgiveness, and redemption, and a new life - a life through the Spirit of God, and of His Son is us. His Spirit enables the believer to do what he could not do before.

3.  Yes, Because It Covers All The Bases

Should the believer today live by the Bible? Yes, and he can, because God knew everything that he would ever face - through all the ages of the earth. The Bible was given, first to point mankind to the Savior, Christ, and then so "that the man of God may be perfect (mature), throughly furnished unto all good works" - this comes right after the above verse on inspiration. It is a Book that perfects the believer, and makes him so that God might be able to bless the life.

4.  Yes, Because It Brings Blessing From Him

What a joy the believer has who seeks to be guided by the Bible! They are specially blessed by God Himself. In Psalm 1, the Bible tells us that, if a believer will walk different from those around him, and according to the Bible, that God will bless him - and he will be happy (not necessarily trouble free). In fact, the promise goes, if that believer will stay in the Bible, and daily think on its teachings with the intent to live by them, then God will bless them. His blessing will be compared to making them "like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper" (Psalm 1:1-3).

5.  Yes, Because It Prepares Us To Meet Him

My final point is this, that the Bible should be followed because He gave it to prepare us. In the Bible we read of His love, and of His Sacrifice that Christ paid for us to be able to live with Him one day. Apart from some necessary do's and don'ts, the Bible is basically a letter of love - to the believer. When a believer follows the Bible, then the Spirit can guide him better, and give that person a greater joy and peace. Trouble comes so often for the believer - because we are not following Him. Obedience strengthens our relationship with Him. When a person loves God with all their heart, it is never an issue because then we will understand that all He wants us to do is because of love, and it will enable us to draw closer to Him in love. Following Him prepares us to live apart from sin, and in a sinless environment – Heaven itself.

David declared the condition of the believer who follows the Word carefully: “Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart” (Psalm 119:2).