Bill's Bible Blog

Hello subscribers! If you’ve been wondering why I haven’t posted a new blog recently, there’s a story behind that..

I’d been working on Genesis chapter 26, the third installment in the topic of Generational Sin, when I made the MOST AMAZING DISCOVERY! As I followed up on that discovery and continued to work through my planned study, I just kept writing and writing for over a week and a half. When I finally had said everything I wanted to say about the topic, I realized I had waaaay too much for one blog. However, I realized that the extra material outside of Genesis 26 would make a perfect concluding fourth blog of the miniseries.

As I was trying to figure out how to disentangle the two parts, our Fall Men’s Bible studies started up. I considered and prayed about which topic to sign up for and felt drawn to the one on the Gospel of Mark. We began last week and I found out why God had led me to that one.

To understand the reason, I refer back to my first blog in the D series. I had heard a comment from Matt Slick on Christian radio that he finds it works best if he approaches study of the Bible with a devotional attitude rather than a scholarly attitude.

I was immediately convicted by God as my approach to studying the Bible has been predominantly scholastic. Since that moment of conviction, I’ve been praying and staying alert for God’s answer about how I can grow as a worshipper when it comes to approaching His Word, the Holy Bible. It turns out this Bible study on the Gospel of Mark, using study and video materials by Francis Chan, is God’s answer for that need in my life that He Himself had shown me.

At the end of a trailer showing him at key places in Israel where Jesus had visited, which also serves as an introduction to the study, Pastor Chan prayed this: “These are Holy, Holy, Holy places. It is sad if you have lost the fascination of God emptying Himself and taking the form of a man. God, I pray as we trace together and journey through the life of your Son (in Mark), that we treat it as sacred, as holy, holy, holy, like no other Name on the earth. Change our hearts, God. Help us to see that everything else is so ridiculous compared to this one great truth of you becoming man, dying on a cross for all of our sins; rising from the dead. God, teach us how to marvel again. Teach us to be fascinated with the Good News of Jesus Christ.”

I was touched deeply by this prayer and knew that this was what I was looking for, that this is what I needed as the next step of growth in my life as a Christian, as a disciple of Jesus Christ. I emailed the pastor in charge and my former small group leader, who is also in the study, and wrote: PLEASE pray this for me!!! So, I decided to put off finishing the D series so that I can focus my Bible study time on Mark, because I now realize I need to do more than understand what the Bible says. I need to feel what it means deep down in my heart.

Feelings don’t come easy for me. I was diagnosed with ADHD in school and that puts me on the autism spectrum. We on the spectrum, even though high functioning as I am, have great difficulty with emotions and social interaction.

So, please be patient with me as I try to open up my feelings to the significance of what we are studying each week. It may be a little raw, I may be off base, I may even be crude, but I’m going to share what I put in my journaling in the following blogs this semester. Please pray for me to grow in the areas of feelings, devotion and worship. I’ll be glad to pray for you too if you’ll leave your request in a Comment.

A word of encouragement would also be welcome as I walk this journey. Think of me like a child first learning to walk. I’ve always seen parents and grandparents be super encouraging and supportive of their children taking their first steps. That positiveness, I’m sure, is what keeps the kids trying when they fail and fall the first few times.

I’m going to fall. I’m going to fail, but with the support and encouragement of my brothers and sisters in the faith, and A LOT of help from Daddy God, I am confident I will be able to do what God has shown me that I need to do.

THANK YOU!