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Editor: Rev. Kelvin Franklin
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If you haven't visited the Bible Place in a while, we invite you to take a look at the newly design home page. We've made updates to the overall layout as part of our continuing commitment to help spread the Word of God. We welcome your feedback and comments. Stop in a visit!
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The Bible Place is hosting its first annual "Back to the Bible Conference" 6-7 October 2001 at the Unity Baptist Church, 2403 W. Mercury Blvd, Hampton, Virginia. The vision of the conference, slated to be an annual event, is to promote the reading and the studying of God's Word as a fundamental element of the life of Christian Believers everywhere.
The conference is non-denominational in nature and welcome individuals and churches to participate. During the conference, seminars will be presented on teaching people methods and principles for reading and studying the bible: a how-to process they we pray and hope people will take back to their churches and congregations.
We are seeking to fulfill a vision the Lord has given to us which is to strengthen the church by fostering a culture where the Bible is read and followed as an integral part of our daily lives.
Additionally, the conference will serve as forum for fellowship for those who participate in the Bible Place's chat rooms. We will hold meeting with the Peace Keepers who monitor our chat rooms as well as fellowship with some of the many visitors who frequent the rooms.
Thanks to the open generosity of the Unity Baptist Church Family who is allowing us the use of their facilities we are now able to offer the conference free of charge. We praise God for this avenue being opened as we have always not wanted to place a charge on the cost of hearing and learning the WORD of God.
We look forward to seeing as many of you as can attend.
Click on this link to find out more details on the schedule, speakers and location.
http://www.bibleplace.com/conf/index.htm
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"Questions Jesus Asked" is the latest in bible studies being taught by Paul Esposito. This bible study chat will be hosted at the Bible Place Christian Chat on Thursdays from 9-10 P.M EST (8-9 Central Time).
Paul Esposito, who is currently studying to become a minister will lead the study. He hails from Florida. Paul has a wonderful spirit, he loves the Lord, and has a great passion to teach his word.
Each teacher is personally contacted to ensure they have the Christian qualities that we desire in those who serve with us at the Bible Place. We seek people filled with love, care and compassion and earnest desire to seek and follow the truth.
Doctrinally, all our teachers must agree and abide by our statement of faith. Beyond these truths, we follow our site's concept that we are not here to teach people what to believe but to:
1. Lead them into a study of the scriptures.
2. Teach them to read the word.
3. Trust that the Holy Spirit will speak to their heart and lead them into the ways of truth (St John 14:26, St John 16:12-16, 1 John 2:27).
All are we welcome to visit this and our other online bible studies.
Click here for the bible study chat:
http://www.bibleplace.com/biblechat/ChristianChat.htm
(2 Tim 2:15 KJV) Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
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One of the age-old questions of life as a Christian is "How Do I Grow Spiritually or Why Am I Not Growing Quick Enough?"
We want to share with you the insights God has placed in our hearts concerning this issue and more importantly provide you with a simplistic approach you can use as your road map to discover unlimited spiritual growth (spiritual maturity). To help you achieve spiritual growth, we will also provide you with HOW-TO information on reading the bible for those who want to learn more about the WORD of God.
In a world where technology is constantly evolving ever quicker, the tendency for some is to look for some new formula or technical innovations that will aid us in our quest to grow spiritually. Some emerge themselves in an ever-growing mountain of church work and meetings in hopes of spiritual growth. Still others attend every service, every bible study, every sermon, or watch every televangelist and celebrity preacher in the hopes of hearing enough words to attain that spiritual growth. Unfortunately, for far too many Christians, after years of search and effort they never achieve the level of spiritual maturity they desire and are truly capable of reaching. Driven, sometime by feelings of guilt and disappointment, they continue to labor to grow spiritually. Some see it as a never-ending test of their faith. Others just simply give up seeing the goal of spiritual maturity as being unreachable. Don't give up hope just yet. Read on! The Bible gives us the answer to this dilemma.
The bible lists one key ingredient to spiritual growth, "(1 Pet 2:2 KJV) As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby."
The WORD of God, the bible, is the key ingredient to your spiritual growth. The WORD is to the spiritual man what natural food is to your physical body. As a baby must have a mother's milk as nourishment when it is born into this world to sustain life and growth, so must we have the WORD of God as our nourishment if we are to grow spiritually and reach spiritual maturity. The bible teaches us there are three things we MUST do to understand and grow in the Word and achieve spiritual maturity: we must (1) read the WORD, (2) study the WORD, and (3) meditate on the WORD if we hope to ever achieve spiritual growth [reach our unlimited destination].
This simplistic three-step process the Lord revealed to me is what I call a "Word Map". Word Map implies that there are specific steps that we can take (a journey) that will guarantee us spiritual growth. This Word Map (laid out in the scriptures) will take you on a journey of spiritual enlightenment where you can discover the deep treasures of the word of God and establishes an ever-growing personal relationship with God.
Before we talk about this Word Map, let's take a moment to look at factors that may have hindered our desire and need to read the word. One attitude could be that reading and studying the word to understand the Bible should be left solely to the preachers, pastors, teachers and evangelist and is not the responsibility of the average church member. Another possible factor is that the church leadership does not focus its congregations on the need to read and study the word. Or it could be that we do not see the need of reading and studying in our daily lives as a key component of the Christian life. Hopefully, the ideas covered in this lesson will dispel these myths and launch you on your journey.
The two most important principles that I feel I will share with you, other than this specific how-to steps of your journey is that: (1) You SHOULD make reading, studying, and meditating SEPARATE
ACTIVITIES and (2) It is NOT your job to understand the scriptures as that is the job of the Holy Spirit/Ghost. Your responsibility is to read study and meditate on the WORD. When we do our job, then the Holy Spirit can do His job and bring understanding and knowledge to that which we have read (Review scriptures: St John 14:26, St John 16:13, 2 Peter 1:20-21, and 1 John 2:26-27).
(1.) Reading: The First Step of the Journey.
(a.) Why Read you ask? I think the Bible makes it clear that there is a need for those who believe in God to read his word.
(Mat 4:4 KJV) But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
(Mat 6:11 KJV) Give us this day our daily bread.
(John 1:1 KJV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God.
(John 1:14 KJV) And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
(John 6:51 KJV) I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
(Rom 10:17 KJV) So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of
God.
These scriptures support the fact that we are to live by the Word of God.
What the Lord taught me about reading is that we should read for content and not for understanding. In other words, we DO need to read to find out what is in the word. While we may not understand what we are reading, that is okay. We now start to know what is in the word. As we think on the word (which is the process of meditation) as we go from day to day, the Holy Spirit, in his own time starts to show us the meaning of the words (content) that we read. When the Holy Spirit shows us the deeper meaning of those words then we achieve "Understanding". In short, it is the job of the Holy Spirit to bring understanding. I cannot say this strong enough "IT IS NOT YOUR JOB TO UNDERSTAND THE SCRIPTURES, THAT IS THE WORD AND THE JOB OF THE HOLY SPIRIT." Our responsibilities lies in the three things that God taught us to do concerning the word: 1. READ, 2. STUDY, and 3. MEDITATE.
(b.) How to Read the Bible.
I am going to suggest a number of reading patters that you can use. The idea is for you to pick the one that most suits your needs. After you complete one (read the whole bible) you can change. The goal is consistency and a diet of at least one chapter a day for the rest of your life.
PATTERN 1: Start in ST JOHN and read through to REVELATIONS. Then start in GENESIS and read through to ST JOHN. 1 Chapter a day required.
PATTERN 2: Start in ST JOHN and GENESIS at the same time and read one chapter from each of these beginning points a day. 2 Chapters a day required.
PATTERN 3: Same as Pattern #2 except that when you reach REVELATIONS, go to ST MATTHEW and begin reading. After reading the old testament once, continue to read in a cycle from ST MATTHEW to REVELATIONS.
The reason I suggest starting with the new testament is because it will lay the foundation that will give you a greater understanding and appreciation for the old testament. The reason I start at ST JOHN is because it begin with the statement "In the beginning" the same as GENESIS. ST JOHN also gives a lot of insight into salvation, Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit that will be of great benefit as you begin your spiritual walk.
PROVERB PATTERN: Reading 1 proverb a day, you can read the book of PROVERBS in a month (31 chapters). Proverbs will give you a lot of wisdom and insight for daily living.
PSALMS PATTERN: Reading 5 psalms a day you can read the book of PSALMS in a month also. This book will provide a lot of encouragement and guidance during the many trials that you may face.
As you read, you will be surprised to find out that the bible will explain itself. Notice how I bring scriptures together from all over the bible to explain these principles that I am laying forth.
For example to understand the GODHEAD, you have to know: GENESIS 1:26 (Let us make man), 1 TIMOTHY 3:16 (great is the mystery of godliness), ROMANS 1:20 (even his eternal power and Godhead), 1 JOHN 5:7 (For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one), ST JOHN 1:1 (In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God), ST JOHN 1:14 (And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us) and many others.
Simply reading will give you a good foundation in the word of God and prepare you to study and worship the Lord. You will now be able to listen to the preached word and gain more from it.
In our newsletter next month we will cover steps 2 and 3 of the journey and launch you on a journey to spiritual growth.
Click here to read the entire original Spiritual Growth lesson as posted on our web site:
http://www.bibleplace.com/growth.htm.
Thanks to Tracy Ebron, a devoted Christian, for the wonderful fellowship we had in authoring this topic.
Coming Lesson: "FELLOWSHIP - A FOUNDATIONAL TRUTH OF THE CHURCH"
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Bible Place provides individuals the opportunities to share their gifts and talents through this online ministry. We believe that each member of the body of Christ has been given a gift and we offer them the opportunity to share it in an online environment.
You can become an online author and submit your poems, writings, sermons, teachings and studies. These will be posted so others can share and enjoy:
http://www.bibleplace.com/writersinfo.htm
You can become a monitor in our chat rooms. Our monitors are called Peace Keepers. They oversee our chat rooms to ensure our guest can enjoy a warm, loving, Christ-centered discussions and chats:
http://www.bibleplace.com/biblechat/monitors.html
Bible Place also seeks ministers, teachers and other knowledgeable members to lead bible studies and discussions.
http://www.bibleplace.com/teacher.htm
Read our Statement of Faith Here:
http://www.bibleplace.com/faith_statement.htm
Chat in our main Chat room:
http://www.bibleplace.com/biblechat/biblestudy/
See a listing of our chat rooms:
http://www.bibleplace.com/bible_chat.htm
Become a Bible Place Peace Keeper:
http://www.bibleplace.com/biblechat/monitors.html
Teach or lead a discussion:
http://www.bibleplace.com/teacher.htm
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Copyright 2001 KC Enterprises
The Sword's Edge newsletter is a free newsletter
distributed by The Bible Place.
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