Issachar Gazette: Common Sense in an Age of Vain Ideology
Abre mis ojos
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The decision to start studying the Bible seriously can be a daunting prospect. This post is meant to provide some useful starters to kick things off. It is not meant to be exhaustive, and I have not included many authors I admire like Oswald Chambers, Bob Sorge, Ravi Zacharias, GK Chesterton, whose works are worthy of investigation as well. This is a starter's list.
1. Remember the Holy Spirit is your teacher so invite Him to design your personal curriculum (which Books to read first) and to instruct You. Be explicit in your invitation. Read John 14-16
2. Get a good study bible: I recommend
§ NKJV New Spirit-Filled bible (Hayford) § Revival study bible (Tamara Winslow et al)
3. Get a Bible Atlas - there are some online maps here: http://www.godweb.org/atlasindex.htm
But I recommend getting a physical resource e.g.
§ Nelson's Complete Book of Bible Maps & Charts (note that bulk buys are really worth it so pool your resources to purchase at Christian Book Distributors)
§ Holman Book of Biblical Charts, Maps and Reconstructions
4. Use online facilities like Bible Gateway to check other versions of the Bible. I find the Amplified Bible very useful, for, uh, amplification. There are useful commentaries there as well e.g. Matthew Henry etc...
5. There are some wonderful online teaching resources:
Lance Lambert Bible Studies http://www.lancelambert.org/
Tamara Winslow's teachings available: (the depth and insight is unparalleled) http://www.tamarawinslow.com/resources.htm
6. It is often useful to read short expository books in conjunction with reading the Bible text itself. I found Watchman Nee's "Sit, Walk, Stand" extraordinary useful to help understand Ephesians. I was inspired to zip through all the Pauline epistles thereafter, especially Galatians, Philippians.
7. Unless expressly instructed by Him, do not read the Bible from A to Z or from Genesis to Revelation. Very often, that can only lead to the tiresome accumulation of information or "yay I've read Leviticus but have no idea what it means" syndrome. It is useful to be thematic. If you are at the starter's line, I recommend this:
a. Read the Gospels and understand the character of Christ and His mission and what He expects of us disciples.
b. Read Acts of the Apostles to understand our mission and call, correlated with Mark 16. A great complement to read with this would be the real life workings of the Lord God through contemporary disciples like
§ Jackie Pullinger, Chasing the Dragon
c. Intersperse your reading with the Psalms (for the poetic in your soul) and Proverbs (a proverb a day keeps stupidity away)
Allender & Longman, The Cry of the Soul: How our emotions reveal our deepest questions about God
d. The great doctrinal texts are: Romans and Hebrews (written to 2nd generation Christians and explaining the nature of the Old and New Covenant)
e. If you want to chase up e.g. gifts of the Holy Spirit, obviously read 1 and 2 Corinthians and Ephesians. Good expositions would include
Dennis Bennet: The Holy Spirit and You
Surprised by the Power of the Spirit: Jack Deere
The beauty of spiritual language, Jack Hayford
f. A great exposition on Holiness:
§ RC Sproul, The Holiness of God
g. On matters of spiritual warfare
§ John Paul Jackson, Unmasking the Jezebel Spirit
h. On inner healing
Floyd McClung, Father Heart of God
Jack Hayford, Rebuilding the Real You
i. Deliverance
Pigs in the Parlor, Frank and Ida Mae Hammond
j. Read the great Constitutional texts - a constitution sets down basic or fundamental laws. A good start is Genesis, Leviticus especially Chapters 17-18 and Deuteronomy). Here it can start getting complex so some worthy studies include
Richard Booker, The Miracle of the Scarlet Thread (will show the one consistent theme running from Genesis to Revelation: Christ and His sacrifice)
Derek Prince: Blessing or Curse: You can chose (unpacks Deut 28 and cleans you up)
John Rankin, First the Gospel, then politics Vol 1: Only Genesis (this man is a genius and has great spiritual insight)
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