Job study 40 weeks

I will be starting the 40 week journey through the book of Job. I will not be alone doing this I have a buddy of mine joining me. This will be interesting because I have not done a study on the Bible for quite a long time. starting a Bible study was a result of one of my pastors sermons and talking with a buddy that I will be doing this study with.

I have realized that I have a hard time reading the Bible without some accountability. Reading through the Bible has really changed since I have became a parent.

Part of my journey is going to be writing down and documenting my thoughts and ideas. So here we go.

old style thinking

I am currently re-reading the Pilgrim's Progress and was fascinated by how John B had so much information pertaining to good works. Nearly everything was by what evaluated by what you did and you were judged based upon your actions. Although what you do, did not make them xian, but it was why they did those things. The why was not to earn grace or earn the rewards of the new kingdom, it was an overflow of the joy that was in the heart. that is why we should do good things, because that is our response to the grace that was bestowed upon us. If a person continually does crap, crap is in the heart. If a person does good, good is in the heart, then you look at the motivation behind the good works.

It should be easy to see how does crap and assume they are not xain or they have little understanding of what has happened. They either need to be educated if they claim Jesus, or they should be witnessed to. For those who do crap, and claim to be xain and say they don't need anymore education of Jesus should be tossed aside and your efforts put to someone who will listen process change their heart.

Sorry for the incomplete thought for this post, more to come and more to understand, for me anyways.

Yeah I know...

...It has been a very long time since my last post which said I will post in a few days. In my defense, Jesus said he was coming back soon and it has been 2000 years. Since I got my excuse out of they way, I thought I would update what I have been thinking about.

Church.
I finished out my last post with what is church actually supposed to be and I never finished it. there are some specific things that need to happen like; community of people in large and small context such as congregation and one-on-one (small groups).Biblical teaching from the leadership on the Bible, using the Bible. Moving the congregation towards a Biblical view of the world, and not letting the world change our view of Xainty. Growth of people moving into areas of responsibility and stagnant people leaving for whatever petty excuses. A leading of loving God first and showing more of what that looks like. I could go on but not right now.

New Book.
Crazy Love. For those that I go to church with, this book has been talked about many times. But I have to stress that this book has changed my look at God. What was wrong with me before, nothing, that was the issue. I was not doing anything to move towards Jesus, I was doing that Christian thing of looking good, being active in church, singing along, but where was the Love? Crazy Love is about God love and what that looks like. Not the works side of things but the aspect of giving love because it is God.
One statement that hit me was If I could have heaven and all that was promised with that, but no Jesus, would I still want to be there?

well really, would you still want to be in Heaven?

a moment at last

Ever since my last post (I know 7 months ago) I have been extremely busy. Here is a rundown of a few major events. Doug: Kidney failed and replaced. Adoption: Almost completed with home study and will be in waiting pool very shortly. Summer: Had 3 weekends at home since May 1st, fishing 5 times. Church: Starting new program to increase Biblical understanding in which is called Catalyst.

I have a challenge for myself and if anybody cares they can challenge me on it. I have heard and been thinking about how the world and Xian thinkers have influenced my answers when it comes to the Bible. I was asked about Revelations a few times and I answered rather assuredly, but then thought about it and realized that it came from a Xian author and it wasn't actually from the Bible. So here it is. When I am asked a question about the Bible, I want to be able to bring up where that answer is, not just "oh it's in there somewhere." I have a feeling that this will be more challenging than I thought. Not a new revelation to anybody, but it will increase my knowledge. We are influenced too much by what others people think, and most times not what God has already said about that subject. Let my thought be as Your thoughts. Amen

The church thing is getting me excited to get back into our church. Which bring me to a question that I have asked my self for the last 8 years or so, and has been more on my mind since our leadership decided to go with a different program. What is the purpose of meeting at a Church? Fluff answers like " To worship God" will not count. WE can worship God anywhere anytime. I want a more thoughtful approach. I will blog again in a couple of days to either respond if anybody comments, or just give my definition of the reason we have church at a specific location if nobody answers.

New Read

I am looking for new topics that can be done with a couple of genreations of guys. I have been looking at different topics, different books of the Bible and nothing has really struck me as "A-Ha, that what we should do!" I am however working on my First John Piper book (not the small 4x4 100pgs long), called "When I don't desire God: How to fight for Joy." This is a harder book for me to read because it makes me stop, process, react to his own thoughts and take a closer look at my reaction in a different way compared to "Wild at Heart".

Wild at Heart looks at the Heart from the past point of view to see how it affects your future actions and helps you overcome it, where John piper takes it from this moment and work forward into eternity. While both books are good, it will be intresting to see how this unfolds into my life.

Here is the link to the e-book
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/OnlineBooks/ByTitle/1600_When_I_Dont_Desire_God/

Guys, if you have any good Bible Study ideas please let me know.