 | Pastor Bill Emmerling, Jr. is the lead pastor at Grace Place Pittsburg, meeting at the Homer Cole Community Center in Pittsburg. Ordained at Grace Place of Lamar, MO, Bill has a heart to see Godly men together lead their families for the glory of Jesus the Messiah. He has been married to the bride of his youth, Sharri, for 22 years and has two daughters and a son. Bill has earned a B.S. in Physics, a secondary teaching certification and studied Theology/Philosophy at Lincoln Christian Seminary. He may be reached at pittsburg@grace-place.org or by phone at 620-670-4510 |
Religion
2013-05-29 10:27:44
How to read the Bible
Q-In most faiths people are urged to read the Bible. The Bible is a very big book. How
does one go about reading the Bible? Where does one start? Other than understanding
what happened in the past, is the Old Testament relevant any longer?
A-Let me applaud you for wanting to better understand God’s revealed Word, the Bible (which by the way means “the Book”). Initially, the Bible can seem very daunting; yet if one takes the time to understand how it is assembled, reading the Bible can be very rewarding, exciting, and more importantly, reveal God’s will for our lives and enable us to know him better.
Let me start with the last question first, “…is the Old Testament relevant any longer?”
My short response is Yes…
“So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.” (Heb 6:17-18 ESV)
[see also Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 7:21 and James 1:17; emphasis added]
It is important to remember that God doesn’t change; it is in his steadfast character that we find hope regardless of our circumstances, knowing He ALWAYS keeps his promises. What we are allowed to see may change, we may see difference aspects or qualities of God at different times; yet God doesn’t change. So if we want a complete understanding of God and how he interacts with mankind, we need to understand all of his word. Further, to understand the New Testament, we must understand the Old Testament, as the New Testament is the fulfillment of Old Testament promises.
In reading the Bible, always remember it is a real message, from the very real and living God. He wrote specific things to specific people in specific places for specific purposes. Please understand, the Bible is not written as a novel or a textbook. It is really a collection of books/writings from God to His people, and His people responding to Him (i.e. the Psalms).
The Old Testament contains three general sections being History, Wisdom/Writings, and the Prophets (speaking God’s Heart to His People). The New Testament has the Gospels (1st hand biographies and teachings of Jesus), Acts (of the Holy Spirit in his disciples), Letters (with teaching and encouragement) and Revelation (Jesus’ revelation for what is to come).
For an overview of the Bible, let me suggest the following reading plan shown in the chart below, which can be done in 2-3 weeks (based loosely on a plan @ http://tinyurl.com/3eqaf2d by Dane Ortlund):
After this, I would recommend reading entire books of the Bible, as each book or psalm was intended to be read/heard in its entirety. A good starting point would be perhaps the gospel of John, and Paul’s letter to the Romans. There are as many reading plans as there are people. The important thing is that you read God’s word and get to know the Lord of the Universe, our Savior.
