So faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ Rom 10:17.

We all know that verse and quote it by rote, which is the problem—we don't think about what it says.  What we have just acknowledged in our quoting is that we can only have as much faith as our knowledge (or lack of) allows.

Every place we have worshipped, we have started a women's Bible class.  We could make a few points about that—about how women are the ones who willingly gather on a continuous basis for extra Bible study—but that's not the issue today.  Today I want to share with you things I have learned over the past 40 plus years about how to have a profitable women's Bible class.

1.  Do not allow it to become a hen party or a gossipfest.  I have heard that accusation in many places.  I have even had women refuse to come to my class because they assume that is what it is.  In fact, even after assurances, I had one woman tell me I was a liar and walk away "because they're all that way." 

It is one thing to have a pre-determined amount of time set aside at the beginning of class (no more than 10 minutes) to share who needs our service that week—meals, visits, prayers, etc., especially before a prayer.  It's quite another to gossip.  

2.  Make it a real study time.   Everyone should understand that there will be work involved outside of class time.  We aren't coming to rehash the same old stuff, things we have known since childhood and can discuss off the cuff.  That would be a waste of a busy woman's time.  Don't allow it to become a gabfest either, but a directed discussion that will actually help people learn and grow.

I have always had a trusted partner to help get the conversation back on track with a carefully worded question.  That way it doesn't sound like a rebuke when we suddenly stop the scattergun approach that has caused the class to stray from topic and go back to the matter at hand—which is learning something new.

I have lost count of the times women have come to class only to leave after a week or two "because it's too much work."  Yes, it's work to learn something new.  You actually have to think a little bit.  You might even need to change your mind about a few things, but isn't that more exciting than the same old same old?

3.  Choose good, deep material that is suitable to the group.  If most of you are widows, why study "How to be a Good Wife?"  In fact, though it is never wrong to revisit those types of studies, even a class full of young wives and mothers needs to learn other things too.  How about the Psalms?  How about the prophets?  How about a topical study like faith?

And don't judge a workbook by its title.  Ask someone who has used it.  For example, my Born of a Woman is often dismissed as "just another women of the Bible book."  Ask someone who has studied it.  You couldn't be more wrong.  I am sure the same is true of many other books out there. 

And a word of caution:  I am hearing about a lot of classes using material that is not Biblical at all.  It isn't that I am against using anything written by someone from a denomination.  I pick up commentaries and Bible dictionaries all the time and the vast majority of the time, they are written by Calvinists of various stripes.  But I know what I am reading, I know what those folks believe, and I know what to beware of.  If you don't, you had better put it down until you do.

And that also means you need to choose a knowledgeable teacher.  She needs to be willing to work harder than ever before in finding those things that are new to everyone, and be willing to go to others (perhaps a preacher or elder?) for help.  What would I have done without a husband who is a walking concordance, whose specialties include Romans, Ezekiel and Revelation, and the history of the Biblical text?  I don't know, but he isn't even the only one I have mined for information.  Don't be too proud to ask for help.

4.  Make it practical.  We are just finishing a three year study I wrote on the prophets.  But we always include the question:  So what does that mean for me?  How can I use this lesson that Isaiah or Micah or Haggai taught?  If all you are learning is pie-in-the-sky theory, how much good will that be to you tomorrow morning?  Theology is great, and yes, women can learn it no matter what anyone else might think, but it won't help you when your life falls apart, when your faith is tested, and you wonder how to put the pieces back together if you haven't learned how to apply the lessons it teaches.

5.  Make your class a safe place.  "What happens in class, stays in class."  Your gathering should be a place where women can ask questions that might raise eyebrows, where women can share faults and weaknesses, and where they can seek advice on touchy, extremely private problems knowing that it won't wind up spread all over the church, where they won't be laughed at, and where their faith won't be questioned. 

However, as a wiser, older woman, that doesn't mean you can't share with a preacher that a certain topic might be a good one for an upcoming sermon without mentioning any names at all.  It doesn't mean that if a soul is in mortal danger you shouldn't go to the elders and ask for help to deal with it.  If you can't trust them to be discreet, why are they your elders?  And they are ultimately responsible for every soul in their care.

6.  Use this class not only to gain knowledge but to deepen relationships.  It really shouldn't have, but it has astounded me how close these groups of mine have become.  Part of that comes from getting together outside of class as well.  The Tuesday morning class breaks about 11:15 and many go out to lunch.  The third Sunday afternoon class eats a fast potluck lunch together, along with the husbands and children, before returning to the building for our 2 hours of study.  We have gone to the hospital together.  We have visited homes together.  When you feel comfortable and safe with one another (see number 5) you want to be together, and togetherness fosters closeness and understanding.  Use it.

7.  Invite others.  Sometimes it's hard to change the dynamic of a group.  We tend to want to keep it all to ourselves.  That's not what a Christian does.  Just as we want to share the gospel, we should want to share with our sisters what we have found in our Bible study group. 

Don't be discouraged.  If you have a class of depth that requires some work, it won't be as popular as the old hen parties of old.  But somewhere more women hunger for the Word just like you did, and they will be forever grateful if you find them.
 
Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. (1Pet 2:2-3)

Dene Ward

A certain young lady I know can name all the kings of Israel and Judah in order.  Her classmates in Bible class, whom I suppose were embarrassed that they could not do the same thing, told her, "All you know is a bunch of useless information."  Let me tell you something:  nothing in the Bible is useless information.  If you cannot use it now, someday when you learn a little more and dig a little deeper, I guarantee it will come in handy.

              Do you want an example?  A scholar named L. R. Helyer has pointed out that the Eastern cultures have an eastern orientation.  In other words, they face east to determine direction, while we Occidentals tend to face north to do the same thing.  Do you remember when Abraham and Lot separated because their flocks were too large to dwell side by side (Gen 13)?  Abraham stood in the Promised Land and said, "Do you want the left or the right?"  Abraham would have been facing east when he did that, and he would have meant, "Do you want the north or the south?"  And by that he meant the northern or the southern half of the Promised Land.  Abraham, to whom the promise was given, was generous enough to share that land with his nephew.  So what was Lot's choice?

              "But Lot journeyed east [completely out of the land].  These four words ring increasingly ominous as the story continues.  But notice, even here, the distinction that is made between Abram who settled in the land of Canaan and Lot who settled among the cities of the valley.  It is clear from [Gen 13:12] that the territory chosen by Lot lies outside the borders of Canaan" (Growth of the Seed, Nathan Ward). 

             If the story of Genesis is the choosing of the line of the Messiah—which I believe it is—here is one reason Lot was rejected from that line.  He wanted a land that looked well-watered and fruitful, even if it contained the most wicked heathen of the time, rather than trusting the promises of God and staying in the Land.

              BUT—would you have ever known that if you had not known about the eastern orientation of the Oriental peoples?  Would you have ever realized the significance of the choice he was offered versus the choice he made if you hadn't noticed that it was "the left or the right?"

              Now think a little more.  Is that orientation the reason the tabernacle and, ultimately, the Temple, faced east?  I don't know, but maybe it's something worth considering.  In fact, maybe any mention of direction might be worth studying yet again to find its significance, if any.

              If God had it recorded for us, it isn't useless.  In some fashion it will add to our knowledge and appreciation of him.  If I can't figure it out yet, it's up to me to work at it, not look down on someone who has gone to the trouble of learning as much as possible, even if it does not appear pertinent at the moment.

              Details matter.  Don't discard them like so much rubbish.
 
For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. (Matt 5:18)
 
Dene Ward

Everyone who cooks on a budget knows what filler is.  If you called things by the order of their ingredients, I served my family dumplings and chicken, spaghetti with sauce and meat, and potato and beef stew.  At times it should probably have been called loaf meat instead of meat loaf.  Even now the two of us split a chicken breast between us or share one pork chop, then load the plate with “filler.”  Filler is the cheap stuff, the stuff that costs a miniscule amount of the protein on the plate, but fills up the eater twice as fast—potatoes, rice, noodles, bread. 

              Sometimes we treat certain verses in the Bible as filler.  We skim the genealogies and miss relationships and facts that would open up the ‘more interesting” parts.  We treat the addresses and farewells in the epistles the same way.

              All who are with me send greetings to you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all, Titus 3:15. 

              I was working on some class material on faith when I read that passage and nearly skipped over it as useless.  Then I found an alternate translation, one of those I seldom look at because they are just a bit too loose, but it opened my mind to the possibilities in this verse.  Greetings to you from everyone here. Greet all of our friends who share in our faith. I pray that the Lord will be kind to all of you! (Contemporary English Version)

              Look at that middle sentence:  Greet all of our friends who share in our faith.  Now read the other one again. Greet those who love us in the faith.

              How many of your friends and neighbors will tell you that you can be a Christian without participating in what they sneeringly call “organized religion?”  What they mean by that is they can have faith in God without having to worry about being members of a church, answering to the ordained authority in that church, or being obligated to serve anyone else in that church.  Yet Paul told Titus that part of being in the faith was recognizing (greeting) the others who share that faith with you, those who, because of that shared faith, love you. 

              Those friends will tell you, “Of course I love people,” but John said, “Let us not love in word or in talk, but in deed and in truth,” 1 John 3:18.  You can’t sit at home in your easy chair and love anyone.

              The New Testament tells us in passage after passage that our lives are judged by how we treat “one another.”  Love one another, we are told.  Be at peace with one another.  Welcome one another.  Instruct one another.  Wait for one another.  Care for one another.  Comfort one another.  Agree with one another.  Serve one another.  Bear one another’s burdens. Be kind to one another and forgive one another.  Bear with one another.  Submit to one another.  Encourage one another.  Show hospitality to one another.  Confess your faults to one another.  Consider one another.  Exhort one another.  Do good to one another.  I defy anyone to do these things outside the fellowship of a group of people.

              And I pity anyone who has not experienced the joy of bumping into a brother or sister as you run your daily errands, who has not felt instant camaraderie with people you have never met before when you walk into a meetinghouse in an unfamiliar city, the absolute sense of haven and relief that spreads through you simply because you and someone else are bound by the grace of God.  As Paul seems to imply in that “filler” of a verse, it cannot help but affect your faith.
 
…and the Lord added to the church daily such as were being saved, Acts 2:47.
 
Dene Ward

(This will make a lot of more sense to you if you go to http://www.flightpaths.org/denes-blog/bussenwuddy, and read it first.)

              I told you awhile back about our first overnight with our grandson Silas.  It was fun, it was sweet, it was exhilarating, and it was a little frustrating at times when we weren’t sure what he wanted. 

              The “bussenwuddy” nearly got us.  Luckily I had cared enough to listen to the things he talked about to recognize “Buzz” and “Woody” from the Toy Story DVD.  Good thing I was the one listening.  Buzz and Woody could have been next door neighbors as far as Keith was concerned.  When you are profoundly deaf, you don’t casually pick up on bits and pieces of conversation or those things “everyone knows.”  You don’t immediately recognize normal words for all that.  No wonder he was lost.

              How well do you hear God?  Even if you recognize the words, do you know enough to make the correct associations and figure things out?  I know people do not know their Bible enough to be familiar with apocalyptic language when they turn the beautiful promises of the book of Revelation into some futuristic Armageddon between political nations (which, have you noticed, change with every generation’s “interpretation,” which ought to tell them something).  I know they don’t care enough to study carefully the entire communication God gave to us when they come up with ideas a real disciple can shoot holes through with half a dozen scriptures off the tip of his tongue.

              But how are we doing?  I hear more faulty exegesis from brethren these days than I do from my neighbors.  Taking things literally that are obviously hyperboles simply because they cannot comprehend a Lord who cared enough to come as one of us, speaking as one of us, including the use of hyperboles and humorous comparisons; refusing to see the obvious parallels between elements of the new covenant and those of the old because they have decided that “nailed to the cross” means don’t ever even look at the Old Testament again, much less study it; spending so much time fighting the heresies of mainstream denominationalism that they miss the important fundamentals of a sure hope and a grace beyond measure—these are just a few of the problems.

              What do you think of when you read “Christ in you, the hope of glory” Col 1:27?  Does the Shekinah even cross your mind, that physical manifestation of God’s glory that dwelt over the mercy seat?  Or is it just another “bussenwuddy” that eludes you, and robs you of a greater, more magnificent promise than you ever imagined?  I could go on.

              Knowing God’s word, not just superficially, but deeply, can lead to a greater understanding and a more heartfelt faith.  Facts may seem cold, but without them you are missing a lot.  You cannot make connections.  You cannot take your understanding to a deeper level.  You cannot see parallels and applications that will make your life more acceptable to your Father.

              Take the time to learn those facts.  How do you think you will ever come to a better knowledge of God if you don’t know what He said?  All it will be is a “bussenwuddy” on deaf ears.
 
For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Corinthians 2:11-14
 
Dene Ward

Now that I have tried to encourage the late beginners, it’s time to work on the rest of us—the ones who have been there, claiming to lay hold on the hope of life eternal from childhood.
              I once had a 6 year old piano student who progressed faster than any other that age.  Her mother had limited her children to one extracurricular activity and this one chose piano.  Because she was limited in how thinly she spread herself by a wise parent who knew that even children can suffer from stress, she regularly practiced more than I asked of her and could pick up on concepts that often had older students completely stumped.  She had “trained her powers of discernment by constant practice.”  Is it any wonder that I was ready to put her in a competition her first year, instead of waiting a year as I usually did?  Is it any wonder that she won first place at her level at a state competition the first time she went?
              When I was a child, people in the church were known for their Bible knowledge.  What has happened to us?  People who have been Christians for thirty or forty years cannot find their way through the Old Testament.  They cannot quote standard proof-texts.  When they try to recall those basic old stories, Jacob winds up married to Rebekah and Isaac to Rachel; Moses builds the ark and Daniel gets tossed into the fiery furnace.  You hear them introducing the preacher as either the Pastor or THE Minister of the church, as if there were only supposed to be one person serving in God’s family.  Hosea’s warning rings frighteningly in my ears--My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, 4:6.
              When I was young, children actually came home from school every afternoon.  Families actually ate their evening meals together.  Television time and content was limited by parents who were home to supervise their children. 
              As we said last time, we apply the passage in Heb 5, what it takes to learn and grow, in every aspect of life BUT the one it was meant for.  We know what it takes to get a promotion at work, or to keep a job.  We know what it takes to pass a written driving test.  We know what we must do if we hope to learn anything new, whether a sport or art or subject we are interested in.  There is no excuse for not doing this with the subject we claim to be more important than any other in our lives.
              I find myself wondering what would happen if we made it a point to limit our children’s activities like the mother of my young student, so that there would be time for family Bible studies every night.  What if we turned that television off just one night a week, or turned it off one hour earlier every night so that we could study?  As a teacher, I can tell you what would happen.  We would KNOW God’s word, and with it in our hearts we could not help but BE better people.
             
With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!
I have stored up your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes!
With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth.
In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches.
I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.
I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.  Psalm 119:10-16
 
Dene Ward

I taught piano from the time I was 16 years old, and earned a degree in music education (piano and vocal) with a stress on piano pedagogy.  It seemed the ideal way to help with our family income without leaving my children.  Indeed, my children were also my students, and any time I had to go out of town for a competition they went too.
              I had students ranging in ages from 4 to 80, and I usually found that the students on the extreme ends of that range were the ones who took most of my energy.  I once had a 70 year old from a town 30 miles distant.  He was a real joy because of his intense interest and zealous practice.  He studied his theory lessons so hard that he regularly came to his lesson with a list of questions that took nearly half his allotted time to answer. 
              Once, when we were studying chords, he despaired at ever being able to instantly play one from its symbol alone.  Memorizing the difference between an A7, Am7, Adim7, AMaj7, as well as the standard A, Am, A+, and Adim took him several minutes and a lot of concentration. 
              “You do it!” he once said in exasperation, pushing the theory book my way on the rack, and I calmly played them one after the other simply by reading the symbols.
              “How long till I can do that?” he grumbled.
              I reminded him that I have been at this since I was 7, and had four years of college theory under my belt, too.  It would be a shame if I couldn’t do it.
              That reminded me of Heb 5:12-14:   For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
              We apply that principle to life without thinking, as he did to his music lessons, but we want to make excuses when it comes to spiritual matters.  My student, because of his diligent practice and meditation on the theoretical aspects of music and harmony, had come a long way in a short time.  Though he might have been impatient with himself, when I asked him to go back to a piece he had struggled with the year before and he found it simple to play, he could recognize his growth and improvement.  He “trained himself with constant practice” and was ready for some pretty solid food in the way of piano compositions and music theory.
              It is easy to look down on yourself when all you see is your failings and others’ abilities.  If you became a Christian later in life, not having grown up with the Bible narratives taught in every children’s Bible class, not having heard sermon after sermon for years, it will be a struggle for you to catch up.  If you have simply sat on a pew handed down as if it were an inheritance, and only wakened to your commitment to the Lord as an adult, you might be behind, too. 
              There is a wealth of information in the scriptures, and as you get older, learning seems to take far more effort.  For me numbers especially become more and more confusing.  I remember passages because I memorized them as a child.  Start calling out numbers to me now and they will leave my mind immediately, or, if somehow remembered, will come out transposed. 
              Don’t give up—just practice more.  If a 70 year old man can learn chord symbols, if he can play thirteen major scales, and thirteen minors in all three variations, if he can become one of the best music students I ever had, you can certainly do the same for God.  And if you ever despair, take a look back a year or so ago.  Don’t you see the improvement?  Don’t you see the fruit of your effort?  You know more, you understand more, you can even answer questions you could not have comprehended when you first started.
              That is, you can, if you have been working at it.
 
Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress, 1 Tim 4:15.
 
Dene Ward

My jogging time has been cut drastically.  What happened?  My music studio began a boom that resulted in two dozen lessons a week with the associated paperwork, bookkeeping, lesson prep, and concerto and art song accompaniment practice, often as much as 90 pages—I couldn’t even get through it all once in an hour of playing time.  I no longer had 8-10 hours a week to spend jogging and exercising. So I adjusted the five mile jog down to three, and the exercise to thirty minutes a day instead of 45. But I was still exercising, wasn’t I?  The Lord understands if life gets a little busy.  Maybe, but He won’t alter the formula of calories in/calories out just for me.
 
           Then foot injuries with the corrective surgeries that followed slowed me down to a walk, and now a chronic illness brings along with it activity restrictions—no exertion, no lifting, no bending over among others.  Suddenly jogging and heavy exercise is a thing of the past, but it wasn’t my fault.  I was doing the best I could.  Yes, but…

              You can look at me and see the results.  It’s pretty obvious.  Returning from one of the many surgeries I have had, I walked into the ladies room and nearly ran over a sixty-something lady with gray hair, all bent over as if the weight of the world were on her.  “Excuse me, ma’am,” I said, then nearly fainted when I realized it was a mirror and I was talking to myself.  At that point I was barely over fifty.

              But it didn’t happen overnight.  Gradually I had to cut back on the exercise time and gradually the weight piled back on.  Gradually the nearly constant pain put lines in my face and grayed my hair.  Suddenly, I am not only back where I thought I would never be again, but even worse.

              When my problem became apparent, we looked around for a way to fix it.  I now have an elliptical machine in the middle of my kitchen.  I can set the resistance to something my body can handle without harm, and there is no danger of stepping in a hole or tripping over a limb or vine when I “walk,” as often happens these days.  It isn’t quite the same thing, but it is far better than sitting in a chair all day.  My fitness, which will never again be like it was during those years of jogging, is increasing, probably less than one fencepost at a time, but increasing nevertheless.

              Losing your spiritual fitness happens the same way.  It can start when you are suddenly satisfied with your progress and think you have arrived.  You can think that while still saying the words I have heard out of so many mouths, “I know I am not perfect.”  It isn’t just Satan who excels at fooling us. 

              The Hebrew writer reminds us, We must pay closer attention to what we have heard lest we drift away from it, Heb 2:1.  You can wander back one fencepost down the road and still see your way back pretty easily.  But one fencepost will lead to another and another until you have rounded a curve and the goal is no longer in sight.  When you can’t see it, it seems much farther away than it really is, and that’s when you give up—that’s when you say, “Might as well go a little further.  It can’t be any worse.”

              Yes, it can.  You can get caught back there, time ending on a day when you meant to turn around and head back where you belonged, but suddenly it’s too late.  God won’t reset the clock for us either.  So turn back now, while you still can.  Just go one fencepost at a time and you will soon be back around that corner within sight of the goal, making progress perhaps not as quickly as you would like, but in the right direction, which is all that really counts in the end.
 
"Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. Isa 55:6-7
 
Dene Ward

Last year I read a book that proved by extensive research of ancient writings that mainstream Protestant belief is completely different from the beliefs of the apostles and the first century church.  The author wrote page after page quoting men who were companions or students of the apostles, men who knew firsthand what Peter, Paul, John, and the others believed.  You would think that by the end of the book the man would have taught himself straight into restoring the New Testament church.  But no, he stopped short.  In fact, he said it was impossible to restore the real thing, and the doctrines he had chosen to attack were only a few.  He never questioned his own desire to keep a few of those “heretical” -isms for himself. 

              I thought about that this morning and went on a rambling train track of other doctrines.  Finally, I hit the premillenial kingdom.  Do you realize that no one even heard of that in the first century?  In fact, it did not become a popular belief until the 1800s.  How can we possibly believe that the men who stood by the Lord as He proclaimed His kingdom and the others who learned directly from them could have missed it?  How can it be that everyone in the next 1800 years was wrong? 

              The problem with that doctrine is the same one the apostles first had.  They thought that the kingdom was a physical one, one that included physical armies that would destroy Rome and install a Jewish Messiah on the throne in Jerusalem.  Even they should have known better.  The prophet Jeremiah prophesied that no descendant of Jeconiah (a Davidic king shortly before the captivity) would ever reign in Jerusalem, Jer 22:28-30.  That includes the Messiah.

              Finally those men got it, and they fought that carnal notion of anything physical, or even future, about the kingdom for the rest of their lives.  John made it plain that he was in that kingdom, even while he sat on the isle of Patmos writing the book of Revelation, 1:9.  We are in a spiritual kingdom, one where we win victories by overcoming temptation and defeating our selfish desires, one where two natural enemies, like a lion and a lamb, can sit next to each other in peace because we are all “one in Christ Jesus.”

              The belief in a physical kingdom here on this earth?  Isn’t that a bit like an astronaut candidate stepping out of a training simulation and proclaiming, “I just landed on the moon?”  Our inheritance is far better than a physical earth--it is “incorruptible, undefiled, [one] that fades not away, reserved in Heaven,” 1 Pet 1:4.  Why should I want something on this earth when I can have that? 

              But it will be newly created, you say?  No, Jesus said my reward is already created, “from the foundation of the world,” Matt 25:34.

              It will last a thousand years?  Then what?  We cease to exist?  No, no, no.  I was promised “eternal life” Matt 19:29; 25:46; John 3:16; 4:14; 5:24; 6:40; 10:28; Rom 2:7; 5:21; 6:23; 1 Tim 6:12, and—well, there are dozens more, but surely that makes the point.  No wonder no one in the first 18 centuries after Christ lived believed such a doctrine.

              We are supposed to have matured in Christ, to have gone beyond the belief in a material, physical kingdom, just as those apostles finally did.  Our kingdom is"not of this world."  It may not look like much to the unbeliever, but we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18.  We have a kingdom right now far greater than anything a mortal man can dream up.  It’s just that only those with spiritual eyesight can see it. 

              But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable hosts of angels, and to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel…At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens…Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:22-29.
 
Dene Ward

No, I am not going to give you any study "shortcuts."  In my experience, they aren't worth much.  The actual process of studying, the time spent and the work done, is what matters.  If you are trying to save time and still learn copious amounts of scripture, your heart is not in it.  God expects you to care enough about Him and His Word that you don't mind the time it takes.  Besides that, it just won't work.

              The issue here is one we all have, and have more and more as we age—remembering what we learned.  At the risk of having people laugh at me, I am going to tell you some of the things I do to overcome this problem.  I do not expect you to follow the same procedures as I, but to be emboldened to find your own memory crutches, the things that make sense to your mind and that work for you.  Mine may not do that.  We all seem to learn in different ways, so pay attention to your own particular abilities and use them to the best.

              First, there is absolutely nothing wrong with making up little songs to help memorize scriptures or lists in scriptures.  You did it as a child when you learned the apostles, the sons of Jacob, and the books of the Bible.  The list does not have to rhyme and you do not have to come up with a new tune.  Using an old one, even something like "Mary Had a Little Lamb," is just fine.  It's perfectly scriptural:  "teaching and admonishing yourselves in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs."  I knew a woman who memorized scores of passages just by singing them.  What's wrong with that?  If anyone laughs at you, just ask them how many passages they know by memory!

              Then there are mnemonic devices.  I had a terrible time remembering which prophets spoke to Israel and which to Judah.  Finally I wrote them down and there it was—only two to Israel, Hosea and Amos.  "HA!"  I said to myself, and ever since then I have remembered it.  H for Hosea and A for Amos—HA!  It can be just that silly.  I even shared it with my classes and now they can remember it too.  When they do forget, I just look at them and say, "HA!" and instantly the two names are practically shouted across the classroom, usually with a laugh.

              Then there are the spelling similarities.  Ever since I was a child and learned the story of the divided kingdom, I instantly noticed the names of the first king of each nation:  Jeroboam and Rehoboam.  Out of 8 letters, 6 are the same.  So which was king in which kingdom?  In this case you remember a negative:  Jeroboam (which begins with a J) was NOT the king of Judah (which also begins with a J).  Maybe I was a lazy child, but I did that from the beginning as soon as I saw those two names and have never had trouble since.

              The alphabet is common in many of my devices.  How about Leah and Rachel?  Whose handmaid was Bilhah and whose was Zilpah?  I just sat down one day and looked at the names and the letters they started with.  If you put the sisters in alphabetical order (L and R) and the handmaids in reverse alphabetical order (Z and B), you've got it.  Leah's handmaid was Zilpah and Rachel's was Bilhah.

              Maybe because I have studied them for so long, I don't really have any trouble matching husbands and wives in the Bible, but I have noticed that a lot of folks do.  I've heard people marry off Rebekah to Abraham more times than I have fingers and toes.  If you are one of those folks, here is the perfect opportunity for you to try this out for yourself.  First get your Bible and write down the husbands and wives, matching them up correctly (that's why you got your Bible).  Look at the names.  Look at the letters the names begin with.  Look at other facts about the couple.  Find something that makes sense to you and then spend a little time working on it.  The devices themselves must be easier to remember than the thing you are trying to remember or it defeats the purpose, but if you work for a little while now, it will save you hours of having to look up the basic facts, and you can then spend your study time on the depths of the Word.

              And don't worry if anyone laughs at you.
 
​​​​​​​ I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. (Ps 119:15)
 
Dene Ward
 

Part 14 of the series.  For the earlier segments, click on "Bible Study" on the right sidebar.

Just as we should know some basics about Hebrew in order to avoid making foolish errors in our reasoning, we should know at least a little about Greek, the language of the New Testament.  So let's learn a little something about it.

              First, at the time of the New Testament, Greek was written in uppercase letters only.  That's important because too many times I have heard people in Bible classes say something like, "Well, it has to be talking about the Holy Spirit because it's capitalized."  ALL the letters are capitalized.  In fact, in our culture we would be thinking that God is yelling at us, which of course He isn't, though I am sure He would like to fairly often.  When the translators see the word "SPIRIT" they must make the decision whether it means the Deity or an attitude, like school spirit or a spirit of unity.  These men are often so reverent that when they are not certain which it means, they will capitalize it to make sure they do not insult the Holy Spirit.  That was the mindset of the very early translations and translators, a wonderful mindset to be sure, but one that can and has often caused misinterpretations.  Be careful with those capital letters and don't make any arguments based upon them.

              Second, no spaces existed between words and there was no punctuation.  In the classic example, imagine you saw this sentence:  ISAWABUNDANCEONTHETABLE.  Now, is that "I saw a bun dance on the table," or "I saw abundance on the table?"  The translators go primarily by context as well as common sense.  I have never seen a bun dance on the table, neither the waltz nor the polka, but I have seen many feasts where indeed there was abundance on the table.  That's why the translators are acknowledged scholars.  They are used to handling that ancient language and all its peculiarities.

              The point about punctuation is also important.  Everyone knows that Paul had a penchant for long sentences, as in Eph 1:3-14.  That is one sentence.  The newer versions cater to our culture's desire for what I call "business writing"—short sentences that are simple to read and understand.  That's fine in business writing.  It is NOT fine when we are discussing important and profound subjects.  You should always keep an older version handy when you are studying from a new one (NIV, ESV, etc.) so you know exactly what was written and see the connections.  If your version includes a phrase or words four sentences later that were actually in the original one sentence, you may miss it.  Yet these are the markers for the beginning and end of a thought. Yes, it is more difficult to read and comprehend a long sentence, but this is your soul we are talking about.  You are supposed to be so deeply interested in these things that you will pore over them for hours, not give them a quick scan and move on.  The New Testament is not a collection of sound bites!

              Now about those italics.  Words written in Italics are supposed to be words "not actually in the Greek."  Many times those words are implied or even necessary to the Greek word they support, another thing those scholars know that we don't.  (If you took Latin in high school like I did, this probably makes perfect sense to you.)  When we say, "That italicized word is not there," a majority of the time (one scholar told me 99%), we are wrong.  It has to be there because of the word choice by the author. Please be careful when you start spouting off about a language you neither understand nor speak

              Having said all this about Hebrew and Greek, remember that very few points can be made from those languages that cannot be made from any language, including English. Our loving God would never have left us with something we could not understand and follow when He planned to judge us by it.
             
Dene Ward