Brief thoughts/internal notes:
ties between the book of Proverbs and Jesus' teaching, esp. within the sermon on the mount & Johannine emphasis on the word. Potential subject for study/investigation. Step one: read the texts, exegete, exegete, exegete. Incredibly easy to be a bad Bible teacher, just be sloppy with the text, misquote, eisegete/read myself in as the be-all/end-all (gratitude: Stuart, Evan, Kelly - 10pm Tuesday meeting before teaching from Mt. 13 on a Wed. this spring; push to get to what Jesus said, instead of what I wanted him to say, and a reading that led to worship of God, not worship of self)
What does God say?
Don't take the verses out of context to try and beat someone over the head with them; rather, let the Word speak to you, rip your chest out, and then replace you. Malachi 3.6: is changelessness simply an attribute of God, or is it a reason to worship:
"I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed."
More of a statement on God's faithfulness/mercy, which leads to worship over who God is, than as simply a proof text to attack people.
Why are you reading the Bible?
Are you trying to argue with people and win fights? Do you look for ammunition or do you look for God? Mastery: who is mastering what? Am I over or under God? Critical exegesis: can be turned to good or evil: searching for what God says, or a means to discredit? information or transformation?
ties between the book of Proverbs and Jesus' teaching, esp. within the sermon on the mount & Johannine emphasis on the word. Potential subject for study/investigation. Step one: read the texts, exegete, exegete, exegete. Incredibly easy to be a bad Bible teacher, just be sloppy with the text, misquote, eisegete/read myself in as the be-all/end-all (gratitude: Stuart, Evan, Kelly - 10pm Tuesday meeting before teaching from Mt. 13 on a Wed. this spring; push to get to what Jesus said, instead of what I wanted him to say, and a reading that led to worship of God, not worship of self)
What does God say?
Don't take the verses out of context to try and beat someone over the head with them; rather, let the Word speak to you, rip your chest out, and then replace you. Malachi 3.6: is changelessness simply an attribute of God, or is it a reason to worship:
"I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed."
More of a statement on God's faithfulness/mercy, which leads to worship over who God is, than as simply a proof text to attack people.
Why are you reading the Bible?
Are you trying to argue with people and win fights? Do you look for ammunition or do you look for God? Mastery: who is mastering what? Am I over or under God? Critical exegesis: can be turned to good or evil: searching for what God says, or a means to discredit? information or transformation?
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