Guest blogger Sammy Frame will teach one of our iD courses for this upcoming semester. Interested? Here's what Sammy has to say...The Bible. Sixty-six books carefully written and compiled, spanning more than two millennia. Throughout its pages you can find the words of truth, the words of life, time-honored and time-tested principles that have proven priceless for countless generations. It has structured and shaped our world in profound ways. In it, God’s story unfolds, unbroken, precious, vibrant, and compelling. Tens of thousands of words so precious, so valuable, so rare, that mankind still searches through them looking for hope, promise, and eternity. A book so delectable, so enjoyable, and so fantastic that the ancient rabbis would compare it to the sweetest thing they knew: honey.
You can get your complete copy today from christianbook.com for $1.69.
So … maybe it’s not as valuable as it once was. And, despite how easy it may be to acquire a copy (we’ll give you one for free at PCC by the way), it doesn’t always seem that easy for people to read. For many it comes across as cryptic, old, irrelevant, boring, and (depending on the translation) difficult to read. Most folks tend to think of it as more like spinach than honey: good for you, but not all that tasteful. How, then, can a book that tells the story of God, the best selling book of all time, have come to this? How could the most important document in world history not be enjoyed?
In part, the answer lies not in its age or how exciting it seems, but in how we read it, in how we understand it. Like all communication, the Bible has to be interpreted, and interpretation can be a difficult thing to do. So, starting the evening of Sunday, January 11, let’s talk about how to interpret scripture. Let’s look at the Bible and wipe away the confusion. Let’s regain the excitement that the ancients felt whenever they encountered this beautiful, powerful book. Let’s learn and exercise some methods of interpretation together that will bring forth meaning from the Bible that we’ve never encountered. Come and join me for “Understanding the Bible”, an 8 week iD course on Sunday nights from 5:00 to 7:00 in the Art Room at Powhatan Elementary.
Perhaps, though, the Bible isn’t a strong point of connection to God for you or you don’t have much difficulty with it. Part of what PCC endeavors to accomplish in our community is to guide people to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. PCC’s iD program seeks to accomplish just this. If the Bible course doesn’t do it for you, try looking at some of our other course offerings that will help you along your journey of growing to become more and more like Jesus. Perhaps Chauncey Starkey's “Experiencing God” class, Bob Pino’s “The Tabernacle”, or Kevin Salyer's “S.H.A.P.E.” class can help you further your knowledge and love of Jesus. Check out all of our course offerings here.
You can get your complete copy today from christianbook.com for $1.69.
So … maybe it’s not as valuable as it once was. And, despite how easy it may be to acquire a copy (we’ll give you one for free at PCC by the way), it doesn’t always seem that easy for people to read. For many it comes across as cryptic, old, irrelevant, boring, and (depending on the translation) difficult to read. Most folks tend to think of it as more like spinach than honey: good for you, but not all that tasteful. How, then, can a book that tells the story of God, the best selling book of all time, have come to this? How could the most important document in world history not be enjoyed?
In part, the answer lies not in its age or how exciting it seems, but in how we read it, in how we understand it. Like all communication, the Bible has to be interpreted, and interpretation can be a difficult thing to do. So, starting the evening of Sunday, January 11, let’s talk about how to interpret scripture. Let’s look at the Bible and wipe away the confusion. Let’s regain the excitement that the ancients felt whenever they encountered this beautiful, powerful book. Let’s learn and exercise some methods of interpretation together that will bring forth meaning from the Bible that we’ve never encountered. Come and join me for “Understanding the Bible”, an 8 week iD course on Sunday nights from 5:00 to 7:00 in the Art Room at Powhatan Elementary.
Perhaps, though, the Bible isn’t a strong point of connection to God for you or you don’t have much difficulty with it. Part of what PCC endeavors to accomplish in our community is to guide people to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. PCC’s iD program seeks to accomplish just this. If the Bible course doesn’t do it for you, try looking at some of our other course offerings that will help you along your journey of growing to become more and more like Jesus. Perhaps Chauncey Starkey's “Experiencing God” class, Bob Pino’s “The Tabernacle”, or Kevin Salyer's “S.H.A.P.E.” class can help you further your knowledge and love of Jesus. Check out all of our course offerings here.
1 comment:
Good for you and your students to consider that no one interprets His word but He is the ONLY One capable of doing such things. So, His Bible interprets itself: you don't, I don't, no one does. During your course, please use the Bible alone...and in its entirety...to interpret His word. His word is not "easy to understand" since Jesus spoke in parables and WITHOUT a parable He did NOT speak...remembering that He is the Word, His whole Bible is a parable. His Bible will be able to guide you into all truth; don't let anyone deceive you, only He can reveal what He means.
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