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I just finished a great blog article on DownWriteHonest.com entitled, “It’s Not the Church’s Job!”  What I love about this article is the call to responsibility!  Take a read of the post through the link below.

It’s Not the Church’s Job!

What are your thoughts on the article?

Have you found yourself waking up to gray skies and feel like they are following you wherever you go? Does it feel like you’ve been forgotten by everyone; including God Himself? Sounds like you might be experiencing a bit of discouragement. Read the rest of this entry »

Are you looking to memorize scripture during the course of your day but find that you’re easily distracted from the various tasks you on your list?  If you’re like me you may find yourself sitting in front of a computer screen for 80% of your day or more.  Too bad there isn’t an easy to use tool to aid in Scripture memorization throughout the day.  Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday we started a new series titled “Everything you need to study the Bible – Super Resource List.” Today we will be continuing in the series by looking at another useful website when it comes to biblical study.  Read the rest of this entry »

One has to ask, “What did we do before the Internet?” I can remember as a kid seeing my dad study the Bible and having book after book open on the kitchen table jumping from one text to the other.  He also had this monstrous Bible that seemed to be a foot thick which contained four versions of the Bible side by side.  (In reality it was probably more like five to six inches thick.)  After almost 20 years of the Internet, most of the resources you would want to use to study the Bible can be found online at the click of the finger.

Over the next several posts, you will find a list of different sites that provide a wealth of resources for those who are studying God’s word.  If you have other sites that you use that aren’t listed here, leave a message in the comments and share with the rest of us.  To get things started, let’s look at the first site: Read the rest of this entry »

Have you ever walked into the tail end of a conversation and wonder what started the discussion?  The conversation made sense as you were apart of it, but when you found out the origination of the conversation it provided greater insight into the discussion.  The same is true with the Bible.  The Bible makes sense as you read it, but once you know the origination of the book, one gets greater insight into what it says.  Over the next several weeks, PursuingHim.com will be sharing the skinny or overview of the origination of the books of the New Testament in hopes that this will provide some further insights for studying God’s word.  These articles coincide with our Spring 2009 Lunch Bunch called New Testament Challenge.  Previously, we looked at the book of Matthew, this week we will be continuing with the book of Mark.

Read the rest of this entry »

“I want to study the Bible, I just don’t know how,” said John.  I’ve heard people say this time and time again.  Reading and studying the Bible is not as difficult as people make it.  A lot of times people just don’t know where to start.  The key is TO start.  Below you will find six steps to help you study God’s word.  These are six steps that I’ve found useful in my own Bible study times.

Read the rest of this entry »

Have you ever walked into the tail end of a conversation and wonder what started the discussion?  The conversation made sense as you were apart of it, but when you found out the origination of the conversation it provided greater insight into the discussion.  The same is true with the Bible.  The Bible makes sense as you read it, but once you know the origination of the book, one gets greater insight into what it says.  Over the next several weeks, PursuingHim.com will be sharing the skinny or overview of the origination of the books of the New Testament in hopes that this will provide some further insights for studying God’s word.  These articles coincide with our Spring 2009 Lunch Bunch called New Testament Challenge.  We’ll be starting things off with the book of Matthew.

The Book of Matthew

Publication Date: Most sources agree that the Gospel of Matthew was written between 50 – 70 A.D.

Author: While the author of the Good News of Matthew never tells us who they are, church tradition holds that Matthew wrote the text.  Matthew, (also known as Levi) was a tax collector who was an eye witness to Jesus’ life.  We can read about Jesus calling Matthew to “Follow Me,” in Mark 2:14.

Target Audience: The book of Matthew was written with the Jewish community as the primary audience.  Matthew wanted to show the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies and how they pointed to Jesus as the anticipated Messiah.  He also wanted to convey the fact that Jesus is the King that the Jewish community was looking for.  We see the wise men ask “Where is the King of the Jews?”  We also see Pilate asking Jesus, “Are you king of the Jews?”

Book Outline:

1. Prologue:  the birth of the King (Chapters 1, 2).
2. Narrative:  the preparation of the King (Chapters 3, 4).
3. First discourse:  the law of the Kingdom (Chapters 5-7).
4. Narrative:  the power of the King (Chapters 8, 9).
5. Second discourse:  the proclamation of the Kingdom (10).
6. Narrative:  the rejection of the King (11, 12).
7. Third discourse:  the growth of the Kingdom (13).
8. Narrative:  the mission of the King (14-17).
9. Fourth discourse:  the fellowship of the Kingdom (18).
10. Narrative:  the King goes to Jerusalem (19-23).
11. Fifth discourse:  the consummation of the Kingdom (24, 25).
12. Narrative:  the death and resurrection of the King (26:1-28:15).
13. Epilogue:  the great challenge of the Kingdom (28:16-20).

(The above outline is taken from Zondervan’s Pictorial Bible Dictionary. (1967). Grand Rapids: Merrill C. Tenney.)

Want to read more? Read the skinny on Mark; a book of the Bible.