Part IV - The Good Fight: Our Own Challenge

At least six of us participated online in our first inductive Bible study this past week! Woo hoo! It was really fantastic to read how the other ladies put the passage into their own words - and then add some extra insights, too. This process really did help me "see" the verse and meditate on it instead of just "calling words." I hope it did the same for you, whether you joined in online or at home.

I've been brainstorming about the next step. Well, actually, I've been brainstorming about waiting two weeks in between each new inductive Bible study (one week more at this point). So...a new inductive Bible study two times a month. I'll tell you why...I want to add an activity to go along with the passage. My mother taught me to use an application story at the end of teaching a Bible lesson to children - and when I do that, it definitely seems to tie it all together for them. So I want to do something similar.

I thought we could use another week to really explore what a certain passage means to our lives. Because we don't want to just look into the mirror and then turn and immediately forget what we look like. (James 1:22-25) We want to be doers, not just hearers.

So, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is this:

Take your notebook (or computer) and Bible and go, by yourself, to a coffee shop or cafe' or bookstore. Somewhere you can sit and people-watch quietly. For thirty minutes. Read our passage again. Read your paraphrase again. And then observe the people around you. Of course, we cannot see people's hearts and true intentions and the state of their eternal souls by doing this exercise...BUT, we can start training ourselves to see people the way God sees them. Is there someone who was rude to the person working behind the counter? Or rude to you? Is there someone whose behavior makes you want to roll your eyes or shake your head? God loves them. Just remember that. God loves you, but He Loves Them, Too. Even when they run into you and don't even say, "Sorry." Be God's voice and God's hands and God's patience. Don't be sullen if the line is long and they get your order wrong. Recognize that as being entirely unimportant in the whole scheme of things.

The whole point is realizing that each person there is someone who God would like to see in Heaven. You could have a hand in that. I'm not expecting you to say, "Hey, how is your spiritual life?" to each person in that coffee shop, but while you're sitting there, be thinking of ways you can reach out to "preach the word, be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke and exhort, with complete patience and teaching." How can you make that happen in your life?

Part III: Thoughts on The Good Fight

I really enjoyed paraphrasing this passage from II Timothy 4:1-8. It was interesting to envision Paul writing a letter to his friend and helper Timothy on the subject of staying true to God while the world around him changes. Wouldn't all of this wisdom be great advice for us today also? Because that's our challenge, too.

Alright, here's the scripture if you're just joining us. Below it you'll find my paraphrase of this passage and then my thoughts at the end. Inductive Bible study style. =)

"I charge you in the presence of God 

and of Christ Jesus, 

who is to judge the living and the dead, 

and by his appearing and his kingdom: 

preach the word; 

be ready in season and out of season; 

reprove, rebuke, and exhort, 

with complete patience and teaching. 

For the time is coming when people 

will not endure sound teaching, 

but having itching ears they will accumulate 

for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 

and will turn away from listening 

to the truth and wander off into myths. 

As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, 

do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 

For I am already being poured out 

as a drink offering, 

and the time of my departure has come. 

I have fought the good fight, 

I have finished the race, 

I have kept the faith. 

Henceforth there is laid up for me 

the crown of righteousness, 

which the Lord, the righteous judge, 

will award to me on that Day, 

and not only to me but also 

to all who have loved his appearing."

II Timothy 4:1-8

My paraphrase:

With the God of Heaven and His son, the Christ Jesus (the world's judge) looking on, I issue you a challenge: Be active in preaching the good news. Always be prepared, whether you are literally on the "mission field" or not. You will have to correct some, but do it gently and with much patience. There will come a time when many people will leave the sound teaching straight from the Bible. They will want to hear something novel...something new and different. They will find teachers to teach them these things, to fulfill their own wants, which will cause them to stray from God's wants. But you - you should always guard against these untruths, even if it involves pain and suffering. Keep being what you know you should be - an evangelist.

My time on earth may be ending, but I feel triumphant that I am able to state with assurance: "I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith."

Because of the truth of that statement, I have a crown set aside for me when I enter heaven. It's a crown of righteousness that the Lord, the only righteous judge, will give me as a reward for being faithful to Him. But I am not the only one who will receive it...all of us who love him faithfully will receive one.

My thoughts:

*Paul calls for a great deal of ACTION. Preach, Be Ready, Reprove, Rebuke, Exhort, Teach. Do the work of an evangelist. Fulfill your ministry. There's no sitting back and all that, "I'm O.K., you're O.K." jazz.

*He tells Timothy to be prepared "in season and out of season." I liken this unto being ready to answer questions/tell the good news whether one is literally teaching a Bible class...or just simply talking to a friend.

*It is entirely possible to turn away from the truth and follow our own desires. See how those don't correlate? Our fleshly desires often lead us in the opposite way of the truth.

*Some will need correction as they are no longer seeking God's truth...even if they think they are.

*Paul's statement regarding the good fight, the race, and the faith is a very powerful analogy. It's the very best feeling that any of us could express at the end of our lives. He was able to say this with assurance because he, himself, had completed the challenge he was now giving Timothy.

*We will receive a crown of righteousness if we remain faithful to Him! Not one of those fake tiaras for playing dress up. This will be the real deal. And won't it be amazing to meet Paul in Heaven??

Your turn - if you haven't participated yet, but would like to, post your own paraphrase/thoughts on your blog and link back to this one. Let me know so I can add you to the link post. =) Hope you all got as much out of this study as I have. We'll start a new one soon!

I'm off to read the other blog posts now! I didn't read them in depth before finishing my own study and I'm excited to read them today. =)

Happy Friday!

Kristen

Part II - The Good Fight: Links!

(Edited to add a fifth link)

If you've been here lately, you know that we're in the process of beginning our first group inductive Bible study here on PrettySweet: HeavenMinded. We're pretty excited about it! Our passage is II Timothy 4:1-8. If you haven't been here, well, you will be wondering WHATINTHEWORLD is an inductive Bible study? Find out here.

We've got five participants (that I know of) with their posts already up! I'm going to go ahead and give you the links to those posts now and I'll keep adding any others who would like to be added. Just send me a message or let me know. And remember - if you're not a blogger but you are on Facebook, you are welcome to join in the discussion by writing a "note." Not all of us may be able to read it, but your Facebook friends can, so go right ahead. And if you just want to write some thoughts in the comment section here, well, that's more than fine, too. =)

1. The Fastest of the Fast: Jennifer from Hart to Heart: I Have Fought the Good Fight

2. The Second Fastest But Still-Very-Fast: Becky from Slipping Through My Fingers: A Charge

3. Here's another!! Yea!! Brittany from Wonderwheat:  My First Inductive Bible Study

4. One more! Woo hoo! Kathy from Moments to Memories: The Good Fight

5. And all the way from Malaysia! Kimberly from Go Into All the World: Inductive Bible Study #1

6. And here's mine...

P.S. I am LOVING reading these other studies. It always amazes me to get insights from other people. Even if they say it just a little bit differently from what I paraphrased, I am able to understand the verses a bit more. Sometimes, though, we can all say things pretty differently, allowing for even great insights. Great work, ladies! Great work. =)

Part 1 - The Good Fight

Welcome to our first Heaven-Minded inductive Bible study! If you're new (or need to review the instructions) take a few minutes to read this first. Great! We're good to go.

I've chosen II Timothy 4:1-8 for us to study this time. It will be very familiar to you already, most likely. The other day I heard a quote, though, to the effect of, "If you see a familiar verse, it means you need to read it more carefully." I know I do that quite a lot...see a verse somewhere, recognize it immediately and skip on to something I feel that I don't know as well. But let's try this. Let's try to extract something(s) out of this passage that we didn't notice before. I know that we will.

You are welcome to use the quote from my English Standard Version, but also feel free to use your own version. Obviously, we should get the most insights from all of us using different versions. =)

"I charge you in the presence of God 
and of Christ Jesus, 
who is to judge the living and the dead, 
and by his appearing and his kingdom: 
preach the word; 
be ready in season and out of season; 
reprove, rebuke, and exhort, 
with complete patience and teaching. 
For the time is coming when people 
will not endure sound teaching, 
but having itching ears they will accumulate 
for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 
and will turn away from listening 
to the truth and wander off into myths. 
As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, 
do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 


For I am already being poured out 
as a drink offering, 
and the time of my departure has come. 
I have fought the good fight, 
I have finished the race, 
I have kept the faith. 
Henceforth there is laid up for me 
the crown of righteousness, 
which the Lord, the righteous judge, 
will award to me on that Day, 
and not only to me but also 
to all who have loved his appearing."


II Timothy 4:1-8


Let me know if you're planning to blog about this particular Bible study this week. We'll get everybody linked up somehow! You can link back to this post. And I'll send out a links update, on, say, Friday or so, with everyone's posts. If you don't have a blog but want to participate, remember that you can write a "note" on Facebook. Totally acceptable. =)

Devotional Thoughts: Let Your Light Shine

First of all, I'm so glad that you guys are excited to participate in our new challenges! I'll be scouting out the perfect passage to start with at the beginning of this next week. Stay tuned. In the meantime, let's change gears for a moment...

Sometimes I will want to pass along links to other devotionals, information, or good websites. Today is one of those days. Below is a link to an article I got this morning from The Christian Courier in Stockton, CA. I would encourage you to sign up for their email newsletters. We sign up for coupons, for home decor or crafting tips, for birthday party ideas, for financial advice, for recipes...all delivered to our inbox. Have some non-worldliness delivered to your inbox, too. =)

Read the whole thing - it got really good in the second half.

Let Your Light Shine

P.S. The picture above shows my Grandaddy's old globe - and the "votive holder" is really a teacup from a set that my friend Kevin brought back from China. Both of these items are from people who really do let their lights shine...to me, their combination makes a beyond perfect illustration for this lesson. =)

Inductive Bible Study

If you read the post below entitled "Write it Out," then you have gotten the first step down already in doing an inductive Bible study. As I said before, our friend Kevin taught us how to do this a few years back - we've done it in a few Bible classes since...I've done it on my own...and Jeremy and I have done a few studies together, too. It's super great for any situation, I think.

Here's what you do. Wait, first of all, I would recommend purchasing a notebook to keep all of these studies in one place. Dedicated for Bible study. And don't get a tiny one either - you need a lot of room to write...enough to make at least two columns, side by side. I would also recommend a spiral-bound notebook because things are just easier that way. =) Now, if you're sitting there without the luxury of a notebook beside you, don't despair, though. Try it on a plain piece of paper and then staple your study into your notebook later. Don't let perfection stop you from starting.

This is how Kevin first taught us. Everything was on one page. I tend to write kinda big, though, and I don't do terribly well on unlined paper, so the notebook idea was perfect for me.

Alright, now find a section of verses you want to study. It can be five verses or it can be a whole chapter. Let me warn you, though - if you pick a whole chapter and it's pretty long, well, you'll be writing for awhile. Might feel like you're back in school. So I suggest starting out with a smaller bite and going from there.

Open your notebook and begin by drawing a (somewhat) straight line down the center of the page. On the left side you are going to copy, word for word, your actual Bible text. Think about what you're writing. Don't write fast and sloppy, like you can't wait to get it finished. You want to be able to focus on what you're doing. And you want to be able to read it again.

On the right side of the page, you are going to write, in your own words, what the Bible text says. Sometimes it's a little difficult to paraphrase something, but just do your best. It gets easier. Also, if you get stuck on something, (as in, you're not sure if you understand the text - and therefore, have a problem with the paraphrasing part) I find it good to make a little question mark or a star beside your paraphrase. It's something you can go back and look up later.

After you finish the whole section of text-copying and subsequent paraphrasing, go back and make notes on what YOU can take out of this passage. Maybe you realize something that you need to change about yourself. Something that you need to add to your thought processes when making a decision. Maybe you need to rearrange your brain cells, as my Grandaddy would say. Here's also where you can make notes or jot questions about a particular passage/paraphrase. Or just some thoughts in general. It doesn't have to be extremely structured...just focus on the general themes from the verse and go from there.

If you're doing this Bible study in a group setting, it's great to hear others' rewording of the text. Obviously, no one will have the exact same paraphrase; it's entirely possible that someone else's thoughts may clear up a question you had in your mind.

And that's it! It's incredibly simple but super effective. Try it and see.

Every once in awhile, I plan to throw a challenge at you. Maybe at the beginning of a week I may send out a passage for you to complete an inductive Bible study on. And we can convene at the end of the week to look at the results. Interested?

Write it Out

A few years ago, our friend Kevin taught us to do something called an inductive Bible study. It's an excellent way to go about studying the Bible. I'll have to tell you more about it sometime. One of the reasons I believe it's so successful, though, is because you write out the scripture you're studying. I find when I write something out, it helps me to think about it more deeply. I keep myself from just "calling out words." And when I can go back and look in my Bible study notebook and see God's words written in my handwriting, it's powerful.

Try it with these verses:

When I look at your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place, 
What is man that you are mindful of him?
And the son of man that you care for him?


Yet you have made him a little lower 
than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,
all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, 
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.


O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Psalms 8:3-9 (English Standard Version)

Friends and Figs

First of all, thanks to you, dear readers, for following me over to the new blog. I have read - and have been thrilled by - your comments. I look forward to studying the Bible together. I hope we can train (or retrain) ourselves to think about heavenly things in every object we see, in every person or situation we encounter. Today, let's consider an object: the fig. But I've got to get you up to speed in a roundabout way...let's see...

Most usually, one's friends are all around the same age. It's easy that way...you go to Bible class together - or you are young marrieds or young singles together - or you have kids who go to school together. Many friendships fall into that easy pattern. It makes sense. And for the healthy friendships, they are, indeed, continual blessings. I have been also blessed, though, to become friends with a group of ladies who are both older and younger than me. Did I say that right? You can't be "both older and younger than me." It's a paradox...I hope you can figure it out. ;)

These ladies come together for a common interest. Actually, two common interests: tea parties and Christian education. Here's how it fits together. And it's almost time for our committee to start meeting again! I'm getting excited.

But this post is not about a tea party - it's about a fig tree. Albeit a fig tree belonging to one of the ladies on the tea party committee. See how it all comes full circle?

Ms. Laurel has been on the tea party committee for many years and I have so enjoyed getting to know her a bit better in that setting. She's a former FHU president's wife who still stays very active in university life, along with being active in our congregation and in the community. Right now, she and her husband are on a mission trip to India. You might want to check out her blog about this very topic. It continues to be a very interesting read...yes, many things about Indian culture seem primitive but they have Wi-Fi, so she's able to post while on the trip! Crazy.

Last year after the BIG tea party, our committee decided to visit a tea room ourselves and do a little relaxing and celebrating. Charlene's Colony of Shoppes (with the Just Divine Tea Room) was a ways away, so we embarked on a field trip. You can see the evidence here. There were six of us who went - Debbie, Margaret, Sasha, Laurel, Rhonda, and me - and we had a fantastic time talking on the way there and on the way back and all the time in between. I do so love being around these ladies!

Well, sometime during all this conversation, the topic turned to figs. I cannot explain how this happened. But several of the ladies raved about fresh figs and I mentioned that I had never tasted one. Since I am a regular food blog reader, I already had a suspicion that I had long been missing something! I had never seen them sold in a grocery store around these parts, so I assumed that they just weren't grown around here. Maybe they're too delicate to ship or something? Anyway, I found out that Ms. Laurel and her husband have a fig tree in their yard, so this was a very exciting discovery. Especially when she told me that she would make sure I had some figs when their tree produced later. Yes, please!

She was true to her word, hand-delivering a bowl of fresh figs to our house sometime later. I was charmed by her thoughtfulness and giddy when she suggested that I could come pick more myself. Giddy because those fresh figs are marvelous! Oh! I was astounded at the flavor and loved the texture, too. Jeremy enjoyed them also, yet noted that they "tasted nothing like Fig Newtons." ;)

Besides the delicious flavor, we were also very intrigued that we were eating something that dated back to Biblical times. Really, to the very beginning of the world. Soak that in. There was at least one fig tree that God planted in the Garden of Eden. The GARDEN of EDEN. Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves together to make clothes when they became aware of their nakedness. (Genesis 3:7) And now I know exactly what fig leaves look like - they're pretty huge - larger than many other leaves, so it makes perfect sense that they would have been chosen for coverings. (So sorry I don't have any pictures, and I wouldn't really recommend a "fig leaf" search on Google because there are some pictures with people showing, um, lots of skin. Be very warned.) There are numerous other mentions of figs or fig trees in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Speaking of the New Testament, Jesus and his disciples obviously ate from fig trees while on their journeys. This passage in particular is very interesting to me.

"On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And he said to it, 'May no one ever eat fruit from you again.' And his disciples heard it." (Mark 11:12-14, English Standard Version)

Jeremy and I talked about this seeming harsh - the apostle Mark had even noted that "it was not the season for figs." But it's more likely that we don't know the whole story. Let's keep going. Immediately after this is the section in my Bible called "Jesus Cleanses the Temple."

"And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. And he was teaching them and saying to them, 'Is it not written, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations"? But you have made it a den of robbers.' And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. And when evening came they went out of the city.


As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. And Peter remembered and said to him, 'Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.' (Mark 11:15-21)

Is it just a coincidence that the verses about Jesus cleansing the temple are sandwiched between the verses about the withered fig tree? A side note: too many times we stop reading a passage and think, "I don't get this. This doesn't make sense." And we close the Bible and walk away, wondering. I'm tired of doing that. I am going to start trying to make sense of seemingly confusing scriptures. We didn't even have to look much further for a possible explanation for the harsh withering of the fig tree.

Don't you think that the Son of God could have known, even before walking up to the tree, that there wouldn't be any figs? Could it be that the fig tree event was foreshadowing for his "withering" of those disgracing the temple? It seems he was making a statement about much more than just figs. If we "misuse the temple," he won't stand for that.

Jesus was a master teacher and prescribed to the theory of "teachable moments" long before that phrase was coined. So there's more teaching he does after they pass by the tree a second time.

"And Jesus answered them, 'Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, "Be taken up and thrown into the sea," and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses." (Mark 11:22-25, ESV)

A tutorial on prayer. Ask with belief and without doubting. Forgive those who need forgiving, so that you also can be forgiven.

So simple.

So difficult.

All from considering a fig tree.

Why the New Blog?

I've been considering adding a second blog for awhile now...I've thought about it and prayed about it and considered it some more. The time it will take - the responsibility it will add. But I have come to realize that it's worth any extra time or responsibility that it will add. First of all, I love writing and sharing our life with you...blogging is very fulfilling to me. And yes, I blog about both important things and frivolous things and I truly enjoy every last bit of it. I pray that what I write encourages you, uplifts you, or at the very least makes you smile for half-a-second.

The thing is that I feel compelled to write more frequently about more important things. Like truly understanding God's Word - the Bible. For years I have been a Christian; I even grew up in a Christian home, thankfully. I know a lot of Bible facts and stories (though I need to learn even more) and I frequently enjoy teaching the kindergarten kids in Bible class. But much of the time I have been given thus far has not been used to my fullest potential because I hadn't totally taken God's Word into my heart. Believed it with everything inside me. Obeyed it even when I didn't want to. Spread the gospel effusively, with joyfulness. Not recognizing the peace that passes understanding. I have been a slacker. And the Devil loooved that about me. Isn't that just horrible to think about??

During the past few years God has been softening my heart, though, through a series of events and readings and conversations and sermons and prayers. I feel like I'm finally headed in the right direction. I still am journeying toward a fuller understanding of the gospel, but I'm excited about that journey of becoming - and finally, being - Heaven-Minded. It's what God demands of us and I certainly don't want to disappoint Him.

I have a feeling that there are many others out there just like me - or even sort of like me - and that you yearn to find your way to Him also. I'm glad you're here. I want you to come here often and I want you to contribute your thoughts, but more importantly...your findings directly from the Bible and how we can tuck God's word into our very hearts. Not for safe-keeping but as a call for ACTION.

Join me if you're tired of complacency.

Join me if you're weary of glossing over the truth in favor of something prettier.

Join me if you want to start pleasing God instead of only yourself.

I'll be here. Find me.