This is an article from a pastor friend of mine. I thought it was great and something we should all read and think about.
"Think about it. We are immersed in a Bible study culture. We have Sunday School, small groups, cell groups, women’s studies, men’s studies, youth discipleship classes, age group Bible studies, missions studies, off-campus studies, home Bible studies, precept studies, Beth Moore Bible studies, business Bible studies, denominational studies, non-denominational studies, distance learning... and those are just the ones I can come up with off the top of my head.
There’s nothing wrong with Bible study. I’m all for it. I encourage it. We need it. We are raising the most biblically illiterate generation in recent memory. We need to know, study and love the Word of God. But when is enough, enough?
I was talking to some older men the other day about how, when they were young, they often only had a preacher one or two Sundays out of the month. When my dad was growing up, they went to the Baptist church twice a month and to the Methodist church the other two weeks. They were active Baptist church members, but the Baptists didn’t have church but twice a month. If they wanted a day of worship each week, they had to go to the Methodist church.
It seems the older generation knows their Bible better than those of us who have been blessed to have multiple Bible studies and options. Their Bibles seem more worn. Because of the limited opportunities, they never looked at Bible study as an option.
Psalm 119 talks about the importance of the Word. Numerous terms are given to describe the Word and the benefit of knowing Scripture and hiding it in our hearts. We all know how blessed we can be to sit under the teaching of a Sunday School teacher who has studied the Word and come to the class well prepared to feed us.
It is my hope as a pastor to bring food, not scraps, to the table when I preach. On a typical Sunday I preach two distinctively different messages. My prayer is always that those who are listening and (thankfully) taking notes are absorbing the truth, not just letting it go in one ear and out the other." Mike Catt
1 comment:
We have numerous studies that we can be consumed with. I beleive the issue is the application. Are we taking what we get from the Word and all of the studies we are in and putting it to use in our lives? I can be so consumed in what to study next. It comes down to the simple fact of getting into God's Word and then applying it to our life. I want my Bible to be worn and tattered - I want to be in it more times than not!
Thanks for the blog, Miss Kasey!
Paula
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