More Than Skin Deep

      Now stop right there! This is not going to be a post about how true beauty is on the inside or anything like that -- not that I have a problem with those kinds of posts, but that is NOT what I'm going to do here. This is actually going to be a post with guys -- who will be are futures leaders -- in mind. BUT don't tune out ladies; this is every bit as important for you as it is for them!

     With that out of the way, let us begin. The new year is almost here, Christmas, the oh so special remembrance of Jesus' Christ's birth, (should be) fresh in our hearts and minds. Something that has been recently pressed into my mind is the importance of studying the Bible -- and I mean really studying the Bible!

     In the words of one of my favorite teachers, John MacArthur, "When reading the Bible, we have to understand that we are Aliens reading and Alien text." I'm not talking about the little green men that fly around in silver saucers here, but the traditional definition of alien:

"Belonging to, characteristic of, or constituting another and very different place, society, or person; strange" (The American Heritage Dictionary)

       The Bible was written, literally, thousands of years ago; in a different language; with different people, politics, values, geography, culture, figures of speech, customs; and WE -- today --  are not brought up knowing any of these. How can we possibly expect to understand -- I mean really understand the deep issues and meaning of the Bible -- without putting in a great amount of effort to understand the Bible the way the writer (God) intended it to be understood?

     People spend lifetimes studying and learning in order to be able to rightly divide scripture; is it unreasonable that we Christians today should devote some time and effort into understand the Bible? Taking time to begin devotions is the first step to understanding and studying the Bible, but it is just that: the FIRST step. To end there is not enough. As Christians, we are to devote all of our essence to being the best representatives of Jesus Christ that we can be; part of this effort is learning and truly understanding the Bible.

     God has been pressuring me, personally, lately to begin to dig down deep into His word -- to truly understand what I believe, why I believe it, and, most importantly, what He actually says. It is my desire to grow in my knowledge of Jesus Christ and the Bible. I ask that you, my beloved audience, join me in the journey of deeply studying the Bible as The Author intended it to be understood -- All to the Glory of God!

     Here are some resources to help get you started:

     Grace To You is John MacArthur's  website. He is an amazing pastor at Grace Church in California and one of the founders for the Master's College. He is a gifted teacher and is so passionate for everyone to learn the Bible that he has posted all of his sermons for free online! He style of "preaching" isn't really "preaching" at all, it's much more like "seminary lectures" -- but have no fear! He makes everything easy to understand and throws in some entertaining humor as well.

     Here is a searchable list of his sermons:

http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/title

     Here is a searchable list of all of his resources:

http://www.gty.org/resources

     In my blog's sidebar is a link to the Blue Letter Bible -- which has absolutely saved my hide in many a theological project. The Blue Letter Bible has (virtually) every translation of the Bible that is automatically paired with a lexical interlinear of the original language (all you have to do is click the verse reference!) Here is another link to it:

http://www.blueletterbible.org/index.cfm

     Beginning study of the Bible can be intimidating; however, if you pursue understanding with a heart of devotion to the Lord, God will honor your desire. Being the master of all thing, He will provide you with both the resources and the teachers necessary for understanding His Word. He is smart enough to know what you need and when you need it ;)