Rethinking Modesty: Another Great Link

I have been studying and meditating quite a lot lately on our recent subject of modesty. I even completed my inductive Bible study on our passage, which is eye-opening and heart-changing, but I don't have time this morning to post it. Really quickly, I want to share with you a post (from a blogger I don't know) that I just happened to run across from a Facebook link this morning. Well-written and with all the feisty indignation that I appreciate, from a mom whose is set to fight the forces that want children to be tiny adults. The blog post is not specifically about modesty, but then again, IT IS. So much of our spiritual battle within this world is about modesty...or at least it begins with modesty. Versus a lack thereof.

Clover Lane: What About Our Girls? Childhood Cut Short

Get fired up. This is important.

Back with the actual inductive Bible study later...I hope you'll join in!

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. =)

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?