Andy's Seminar Part three (final)

The key to studying and understanding scripture is in asking questions of what you read!

1. Let The Bible Interpret Itself.

In reading the Bible we can come across concepts phrases customs etc which are either unfamiliar or need clarifyin Find other places in the Bible where these issues are spoken of or mentioned. Compare them and see what they say in each of the contexts

As our example, we will take John 2, the wedding at cana and work through this passage using these guidelines.

As we read the passage we need to enquire about the significance of 'weddings' and 'wine.' Other words which are associated are 'marriage', 'vine'.

Check out Matthew 22-1-14 Revelation 19:7 and 9, Luke 22:18, Amos 9:13, Joel 3:18

Scripture talks of the end of time in terms of a wedding – the wedding of the Son of God to His bride The Church.

Wine is a symbol of the new kingdom: Amos 9:13, Joel 3:18, Zec 9:15/17, Luke 22:18

2. Distance Yourself From The Text

Try and look objectively at the situation which the text originally described or addressed. We want to understand this before trying to see what the text has to say to us. Sometimes commentaries can help here.

Some of the questions we can ask here is:

• What is the setting in life
• What was the historical situation
• What were the social or political conditions
• Who was the writer? Who were the hearers/readers
• What point did the writer want to make.

Being responsible for a wedding was an honour. To run out of wine at a wedding was not just a disaster from a fun point of view, but shameful for the bridegroom. It was the responsibility of the bridegroom to provide the wine.

3. Question The Text

A text may raise all sort of questions and it’s impossible to prepare a check list. Not all questions can be answered from the text. Some questions can be even misleading.

• What is the passage saying
• Why is it saying it
• Why is it saying it here

What was Mary’s motive in telling Jesus that the wine had run out? Did she expect a miracle? Why does she persist despite Jesus’ apparent rebuke? What does Jesus mean by ‘It’s not my time yet?’ Is Jesus going to have a wedding?

Maybe a misleading question is Was Jesus drinking at the wedding?

4. Understand The Present Situation

A silly question you may think. But it involves at least two important activities:
thought, meditation, analysis, etc allowing the biblical passage we are interested in to give us a sphere of reference.

We need to understand more than ourselves as individuals. We need to understand the bodies which we are apart of; our church, locality, nation and world. How do we do this? By reading, not just theology or Christian books, but novels, newspapers, watching films, looking at art, listening to music, discussion.

Weddings are times of hope, joy and dreams. The future looks bright, the possibilities are unlimited. There is a sense of things can only get better, and all thoughts of difficulties, hard times or tragedies are forgotten.

5. Bring The Bible And The Present Situation Together

This is were hermeneutics really takes place: the situation the Bible portrays is seen to Have a bearing on our situation.

Scholars call this the two horizons which need to be brought together. The Bible passage has it’s own horizon or viewpoint and so has the reader. By questioning both positions a real communication can take place between them.

It is possible that when Mary confronted Jesus with the problem of the lack of wine at the wedding Jesus’ response indicates that he is not the bridegroom, it’s not his wedding and so he is not responsible for the provision of the wine. Yet his response could also imply that one day he will be a bridegroom and that he will be responsible for the wine.

The Bible tells us that the wedding be at the end of time, when there will be no more tears, no more diseases and no more death. It will be the fulfilment of hope and the culmination of history. A place where the new wine, the best wine, will be poured.

In Jesus we have the beginning of this hope, the beginning of the new wine. It is not yet fulfilled but it will be one day.

6. Respond To The Message

The hard thinking has been done and the straight forward but necessary last steps remains – obedience to what God has showed us.

Andy's Seminar part 2

HOW DO WE READ OR STUDY THE BIBLE?

There are different ways of engaging with the Bible:

Reading the Bible: It must be with him constantly and he must read it as long as he lives, so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and observe all the words of this law and these statutes and carry them out. Deu 17:19

Listening to the Bible being read: So he read it before the plaza in front of the Water Gate from dawn till noon before the men and women and those children who could understand. All the people were eager to hear the book of the law. Neh 8:3

Hearing the Bible being preached: They read from the book of God's law, explaining it and imparting insight. Thus the people gained understanding from what was read. Neh 8:8

Meditation: O how I love your law! All day long I meditate on it. Psa 119:97

It is useful to develop a variety of ways of reading the Bible. And variety can help us to concentrate. Also, some parts of the Bible need a different approach; e.g. you can meditate on a psalm or Proverb, but trying to meditate on a verse from the story of Jacob may be a waste of time – you would really need to read the whole story.

Reading or listening through the Bible in a year, two years or three years is a good habit. Find a good reading plan. I use the Robert Murray McCheyne plan. It takes you through the Old Testament once and the New Testament and Psalms twice in a year. You can download the plan from the net.

Why not read large chunks of the Bible in one go. Try reading a whole book – it takes 2 hours to read the Gospel of mark. Reading whole books is very useful to getting the big picture.

Asking questions of the text you are reading is always good. Three questions to ask when you’re reading the Bible are:

1. What is the passage saying
2. Why is it saying it
3. Why is it saying it here

Spend time meditating on the some verses in the Bible. Maybe you have done your Bible reading for the day, or listened to it on CD and a verse, or two really strike you. Stop. Re-read them and then focus on those verse only. Think through what they mean – think of any other places in the Bible which speak of these verses, or relate to them. Memorize the verses. And then think how the verses apply to you now. How can you change?

On top of this we should also set aside time to study the Bible.

A minister once heard a famous preacher preach and was so impressed he went to the preacher and asked how he managed to teach so well. The preacher said “You really don’t want to know.” The minister said, “I do, really, please tell me.” The preacher said “Before I study a passage I read the book 25 times.”

Andy's Seminar

At re:generate, Andy Morgan did a brilliant seminar on why and how to read the Bible. Here is part one. Read it, digest it, and then let me know that you read it by making a comment (as simple as "thanks" will do)
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What we will look at this morning is not just HOW to engage with the Bible but WHY we should. It is not until we know WHY that we can understand and appreciate the HOW.

QUESTION: What makes someone healthy?

Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
1Ti 4:7-8

To be truly healthy is more than just having a six pack. You need to be spiritually healthy as well – Paul says here train yourself for godliness, which is MORE valuable than going to the gym. You can be extremely healthy and fit but still be in hell!

QUESTION: Why do you think we should read & study the Bible?

The Bible helps us to become healthy. And this means we need to get into the Bible.

The size of your Bible, or Reading the Bible does not make you more Holy. It helps us to begin to know God’s character, to know what it is he wants from us, to understand how we can continue in relationship with God, deepen it and to grow in it. We must read the Bible and THEN DO WHAT IT SAYS.

Every scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the person dedicated to God may be capable and equipped for every good work.
2Ti 3:16-17

The Bible trains us in righteousness, makes us capable and equips us for every good work. What the word “Capable” means here is competent; able to meet all demands.

The Bible will train us and make us able to meet all demands of life and equip for the things God has in store for us.

The Dictionary defines the word “study” as the devotion of time and attention to acquiring information or knowledge.”

Not a bad definition. And there are people who acquire lots of information and knowledge about God. But if just acquiring knowledge and information about God is the goal of reading scripture then no wonder people can be bored reading or studying the Bible.

The POINT of devoting time and attention to acquiring information and knowledge about God is so that we can get to know God’s character. Once we start to know God’s character, we are able to move beyond the plain facts that we learn and start experiencing the truth that lay behind the facts.

So our definition of studying the Bible could be: To devote time and attention to acquiring knowledge and information about God so that we can start to know and understand something of God’s character so that by the Holy Spirit we can experience the truth of who God is.

When we realize that reading the Bible is about experiencing the truth of who God is and getting to know his character, then we should devote time and attention to it.

The facts and truth of scripture become reality through the Holy Spirit that is within us. Remember the disciples – they had three years with Jesus himself – a fine seminary education – yet Jesus told them, just before he departed to go back to his Father, that they should go to Jerusalem and wait. Wait for what? THE HOLY SPIRIT!

Growing in our walk with God – being a disciple (which means learner) is to be trained. And the Bible is our training manual.

Every scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the person dedicated to God may be capable and equipped for every good work.
2Ti 3:16-17

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people. It trains us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,
Tit 2:11-12

We read the Bible to be trained – the word used in the original language is paideia – which relates to the upbringing of children who need direction, teaching, instruction and discipline.

To be trained in righteousness, to correct us, and to help us know what is of God and what is not of God. And this in turn helps us to live a godly life in our culture today. Look at what the Psalmist says: (Psalm 119)

Before we look at the HOW to read the Bible I just want to say that the Bible is NEVER dry. If it is, it is because we are dry. The Bible is always alive. It is the Word of God. So if you ever hear someone say that the Bible is dry, what they really mean is that they are not experiencing the truth of who God is as they read it.

(to be continued...)

Macs

Here is a little study for you... It will only take a few minutes. Open your Bibles to 2Corinthians 8 and read the first 8 verses. Now, get out a pen and paper and list everything you learn in the passage about the Macedonians. Notice how they are described, how they gave to others, etc. What were their priorities? Now, just to let me know you have completed this study (I am watching who participates), write a brief (one sentance is fine) comment on what you learned.

Hope

Are we having fun yet? I gave you one of those sorts of questions that teachers do which drive some people crazy – namely to figure out what I noticed that I want you to notice as well! Your responses thus far included…

Lead, warn, direct, preporation (sic), serve, obey, encourage, preach, persue (sic) and teach. [the (sic) here means spelling in context – in other words I did not correct it]

Two of you nailed it. I would take either preach or teach as the main thrust of what Paul is specifically telling Timothy as a leader that he must do. For Paul, preaching and teaching go hand in hand. They are similar actions that differ mostly in their context. A good preacher is also a teacher. In other words, you ought to learn something new in the sermon each week at your church, or be caused think in a fresh way about something.

Now lets go back a step. I mentioned in a previous post that according to George Barna, leadership is about calling, character, and competencies. I will spend more time on that when we do our next training day. Read Romans 5 (specifically verses 1-5). The context is that Paul is talking about how we are justified by faith and saved by grace. Overall the chapter is fairly heavy stuff, but notice the chain of progression in verses 3-5. He is arguing that suffering can lead to hope. It is worth knowing that when Paul uses the word ‘hope’ it is not like we use the word today. Modern use of the word implies wishful thinking (I hope to buy a cool car someday) but rather a confident knowing that the future holds great things. Along the way between suffering and hope, character is produced.

Read also Psalm 139 and think about how character is developed and how hope is expressed by the writer.

Enjoy! See most of you on Friday at Mondo. Those who are not going, please please please be praying for the students to be really challenged to live a courageous faith!

Leadership Lessons

Well done all who participated in this task! All of you found passages relevant to some aspect of leadership. I want to review these, point out a few things and then give you a brief assignment. If you did not read everyones responses to the last post, be sure you do before reading this post.

Several of you went straight to a primary source for instructions on leadership. Paul’s letters to Timothy and Titus are from a leader to a leader and much of it is direct instruction on leading in the church. Y’all would do well to read the Timothy epistles and Titus. Some of you noted that the references to marriage and parenthood are not as relevant but really they are. As young leaders, you need to be in good relationships in the family. This is the toughest place to live out your faith. I find it incredibly challenging!

Ephesians 5:22-33 is a challenging and controversial passage! Plenty of people don’t like what this says! I do think it relates to leadership, but simply in that the instruction is for the man is to be the spiritual leader of the home. Girls, if that is disturbing, look closely at how challenging are the instructions to the husband. Note the comparison to Christ and the church. Husbands are called to be servants to wives! The mystery he mentions is that Jesus would leave heaven on behalf of us (the church) to come die for us.

Acts 18:9-11 is a good reminder that God will protect and provide for his leaders. It also reminds us that the most important task for a leader is to teach the word of God.

In John 13:3-4, 12-17 we see Jesus turn the popular notion of leaders as rulers on it’s head. In other words, Jesus challenges leaders to do the very thing that most leaders would not touch.

1 Cor. 9:19-23 is a great passage on evangelism and how we need to reach out to people where they are at. The danger is that we need to not get caught up in the ways of those we are trying to reach. In other words, we don’t become drug users in order to share the gospel with drug users. Paul is talking in these verses about crossing socio-economic boundaries, not moral boundaries.

Hebrews 13:17 Leaders are also followers. Every leader has a leader whom they need to be obedient to. Glad this verse came up!

Matthew 20:25-28 Again, Jesus turns the expectations of leadership upside down and demands that leaders serve people, not the other way around.

Exodus 18:19-23 An excellent example of the fact that leaders need to delegate tasks. Moses was serving as the judge deciding in disputes between people and got overwhelmed by the amount of work that he was doing himself. God’s plan is the leadership is shared into manageable amounts. Too often leaders get caught in the trap of doing it all themselves. Rectors and youth ministers struggle with this all the time.

Now the assignment… Read the following passages:
1 Timothy 4
2 Timothy 2:14-26
2 Timothy 3:10 thru 4:5

In one word, what is the dominant task that Timothy is instructed to do?

What is leadership?

Well, we have done some good thinking here. I read in a book that there are more than 350 different published definitions of the word leadership out there. Yet, somehow we all have a good idea of what a leader is, we can usually spot them, but when it comes to defining the word, we come up with a variety of definitions.

From your responses, I think we all agree that a leader needs followers to actually be a leader. It is someone who people follow in some way or another. It may be personally (meaning that this person influences your life) or corporately (meaning they influence a variety of people in a similar way). Several of you rightly noted that it is a gift or trait, something not everyone has. Imagine walking into a room at school where a club you belong to meets and everyone sits in a chair, the adult sponsor of the club then tells you all to look under your seat. One person has a gold star stuck to the underside of the seat and that person will be the club’s next president. Most of you recognize that sort of situation might not work out well because not everyone is a leader and leadership is not a job or position. What if the person did not have the respect of others? What if they could not make any decisions?

I also noticed that some of you were defining a ‘good leader’ or a specifically Christian leader, which is helpful but I want to draw your attention to the broadest way to look at this first. Adolf Hitler was a very effective leader. He had a clear vision and achieved much. He mobilized people with his vision and took over most of Europe. Bin Laden is also a leader with a specific purpose – to destroy America. That tells me that leadership is about vision, influence, purpose, etc and does not require the same moral standards that we have.

Now a good Christian leader is something else. George Barna, in his research and writing, has named three ingredients needed for spiritual leadership. He identifies Calling, Character, and Competencies as what makes a leader. The calling is what identifies the gift of leadership. Calling is both an internal and external thing. What I mean by that is that if I think I am a leader and others tell me that they see leadership traits in me, the calling is confirmed both internally and externally. If others do not see it within us, we probably are not leaders. Keep in mind that God gives us gifts when he needs us to have them. Some folks don’t rise to leadership early in life, others do. Character is what many of you identified in terms of being worth following, leading in the right direction, having the respect of others, etc. Competencies are the skills needed to lead others. Several of you identified that leaders need to be listeners. Not because they have to find out where people want to go in order to lead them there, but in order to know where people are at in order to lead them to a better place. Competency also includes skills in decision making, discerning, teaching or communicating vision, etc.

Now, the assignment. Give me a passage in scripture that defines or describes leadership. I am looking for specific verses rather than a book or character. For example, Nehemiah was a great leader but there is not instruction there on how to lead or what leaders need. So that is not what I am looking for. Your best bet is to start by looking in the epistles. When we have a bunch, we will look more closely at a few to see what they teach us.

Defining the word

Okay, here is the question for this week. How do you define the word leadership? Don't look it up in a dictionary and decide your answer before you read the others comments. I don't want a bunch of people saying "I agree with..." rather I want your definition of the word (one you have learned or thought out).

Welcome and test

welcome to our first attempt to continue the conversation on leadership, servanthood, and scripture. add a comment such as 'hello' just to make sure it works. We will begin discussions soon.