You again prove why simple people can follow Jesus easier than most, especially the higher critics. If you read the Bible with such an eye then there's no need to complicate it. Thank you for helping me get a fresh understanding of what the kingdom of God really means.
Amen! The Kingdom is here indeed and as you said proclaiming that we are part of that Kingdom in this fallen world makes us enemy #1 to Satan. It's this reason why I believe that God wants us not to make the world a better place but, to be the better place in a fallen world and that is the Kingdom. It's effectively an outpost of His Kingdom in Heaven. Are you familiar with the author Frank Viola? I think you would really like his book that addresses the Kingdom called Insurgence: Reclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom. He has a substack (frankviola.substack.com) as well as a great blog and other resources on his website (frankviola.org). I'd highly recommend it. God bless you. Looking forward to what you have next on the Kingdom and more.
Indeed. I find that it also helps to read scripture slowly. When you read it quickly and assume you know what it says, God will throw something subtle in there and you might miss it.
Read slowly and/or read often. And listen. My preference is for slower, generally, but sometimes with passages I don't understand very well I go a bit faster, knowing that I will be in a somewhat different place when I return to them.
I am in a "60+" Sunday school class that does whole-book studies and can sometimes take weeks to complete a chapter. We've been in Hebrews for quite a while now, often advancing only a few verses during a session. The room was full today, and there was an unusually wide range of backgrounds and experience, which I think is ideal, and lots of interaction. Nobody appears to be in a hurry.
More recently I have ventured into the Greek, NT and LXX, and I am looking now at learning a little Hebrew as well. That's another way to go about it, not as difficult as it might appear, and at my level of fluency it is SLOW! But talk about subtleties.
You again prove why simple people can follow Jesus easier than most, especially the higher critics. If you read the Bible with such an eye then there's no need to complicate it. Thank you for helping me get a fresh understanding of what the kingdom of God really means.
Thanks for the kind words. Much appreciated.
Amen! The Kingdom is here indeed and as you said proclaiming that we are part of that Kingdom in this fallen world makes us enemy #1 to Satan. It's this reason why I believe that God wants us not to make the world a better place but, to be the better place in a fallen world and that is the Kingdom. It's effectively an outpost of His Kingdom in Heaven. Are you familiar with the author Frank Viola? I think you would really like his book that addresses the Kingdom called Insurgence: Reclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom. He has a substack (frankviola.substack.com) as well as a great blog and other resources on his website (frankviola.org). I'd highly recommend it. God bless you. Looking forward to what you have next on the Kingdom and more.
Thanks for the kind words and the pointer to Viola. I'm not familiar with him but will check him out.
Isn't it amazing what you can learn from scripture, when you read it yourself.
Indeed. I find that it also helps to read scripture slowly. When you read it quickly and assume you know what it says, God will throw something subtle in there and you might miss it.
Read slowly and/or read often. And listen. My preference is for slower, generally, but sometimes with passages I don't understand very well I go a bit faster, knowing that I will be in a somewhat different place when I return to them.
I am in a "60+" Sunday school class that does whole-book studies and can sometimes take weeks to complete a chapter. We've been in Hebrews for quite a while now, often advancing only a few verses during a session. The room was full today, and there was an unusually wide range of backgrounds and experience, which I think is ideal, and lots of interaction. Nobody appears to be in a hurry.
More recently I have ventured into the Greek, NT and LXX, and I am looking now at learning a little Hebrew as well. That's another way to go about it, not as difficult as it might appear, and at my level of fluency it is SLOW! But talk about subtleties.