Book of James

 Join us as we tackle the Book of James.

Known to be the PROVERBS of the New Testament, we will dig in to learn what James has to tell us and maybe do some healing along the way.

This is one of my favorite books.  Out of 108 verses in the 5 chapters 61 of them are imperatives or commands.  That's a lot of clear thinking & instruction from God we can look forward to.

We are using The Passion Translation as we work our way through this book.

You can find that translation free online HERE.

And if you want to know more about this translation check that out HERE.

We aren't promoting any one translation.  We just find it helpful to change the translation we are using when reading a familiar book.  It makes you slow down and think about what is really being said.

Episode 4: Better Covenants Part 2

 

Welcome to Episode 4!

We continue our discussion of Covenants and how this understanding changes how we view the Bible.

• The Bible is not a rule book but a written record of God's covenant journey with humanity.
• The lens through which we see the Bible determines what we think it says.
• Our understanding of Scripture affects how we live.

We talk about God testing the Israelites not to see what they were made of, but to show them who HE is.

We fill in some details on the other types of covenants.

 

10 Commandments are the terms of the Kinship Covenant

Before the law when the Israelites grumble they are not punished.

After the law when they grumble they are punished.

Deuteronomy is written as a typical Vassal Covenant contract.

1:1-5 preamble

1-4 Historical prologue (history of un/faithfulness)

5-26 Stipulations

27-30 Ratification (lesser king agrees)

31-34 Dynasty succession / Covenant continuity (Joshua takes over)

Better Covenant Theology Part 1

 

This is a deeper series on the Covenants.

You may be thinking, "What a yawn," and we get that, but this topic has really impacted our lives and our faith -- but most importantly the way we see God!

This will be a multi part series as we go a little deeper into this topic.

We've created a PowerPoint you may want to use to follow along.

Today we'll start talking about what Better Covenant Theology is and why it's important.

The lens or bias that we read the Bible impact how we see God and how we live our lives.

Ask yourself the question...

What does your lens or bias
tell you about
the Bible
and God?

Episode 1: Proverbs 31

Proverbs 31 is a chapter known the world over to be the example for what a godly woman is.

Many are inspired by who she is and what she accomplishes.

However, many are overwhelmed and beaten up by these verses.  They read them and think they are not good enough and don't measure up.  

Bridgette, Kris & Max read through these verses and come up with different perspectives to see this final chapter of Proverbs.

Kris tried to look around her daily life as a Christian woman and translate those ideas into things in every woman's life.  Raising children, working a job, being wise, trying to make it all happen.

Max did some word studies and approached this text with the idea of the Holy Spirit and Temple theology.

Bridgette wondered what Rabbi's teach about this chapter.

Together they will chew on God's word, share some insight and ponder what God's purpose in these verses is for our lives today.

An Idea...

Hey there,

We are Max, Kris & Bridgette.

So my friend Max & I started getting together on Sunday's to do a Bible study.  Just pick a book or a topic and dive in and see where it takes us.  We've both been like that for years.  Unafraid to try on alternate points of view, trying to understand what we believe and what the world looks like through another lens.  It was nice to pick this up again this past year.

Then we invited another friend Kris, to join us.  We've been watching video's and talking about faith and Jesus.  Then Kris suggests we record our sessions.

Hmmmm.  

So here we are.

Disclaimers:

None of us know how to do this.

None of us claim to be theologians.

We just love God and are in pursuit of truth and understanding.

Sometimes this journey takes us to different places.  Sometimes we ultimate decide we don't agree with ideas we've come up with.  Sometimes we'll make changes in our beliefs alter our path slightly.

I've done a lot of that this past year.

We just thought it might be cool to share this with others.  

Hope you find something worthwhile in the process.

~Bridgette