Phrasing the Scriptures

Phrasing, also called Block Diagramming, has become an integral part of my Bible study. Along with Arcing,  I find it very useful in order to find the flow of thought in the text. Below is Biblearc's video on their Phrasing module.


BibleArc's Phrasing Module from Bethlehem College & Seminary on Vimeo.

I hope that when you watched it you became as excited as I did when I watched it for the first time. I have been a fan of Phrasing for sometime, and until Biblearc got the Phrasing module up and running, had been content to Phrase on my own using a word processor.

Biblearc's module makes it super easy to to split the passage into phrases, indent them, and subordinate them with arrows showing which phrases are subordinate to the main anchor phrase. Back in November I took a Phrasing class offered by Biblearc. Below is a screenshot from one of the homework assignments.

Homework Assignment from Titus

We phrased our way through the entire book of Titus. But don't let that fool you; this small book was challenging and a bit difficult, at first. With all the arrows and labels it looks a bit confusing, but it really is a very helpful discipline to learn. Once you make it a regular practice you will find yourself able to be more proficient. Practice makes perfect and Phrasing & Arcing are no exceptions.

I can't recommend Phrasing and Arcing enough! I get excited about using these tools to discover the Truths of God's Word for myself. I hope you'll jump on over to Biblearc and begin learning these study methods. Once you do, I promise you will not be sorry.


Soli Deo Gloria,
Steven

Hermeneutics part 5: Using Arcing During the Observation Phase

Arc of Ephesians 1:1-14

My Arcing "Discovery"

Arcing has become an invaluable study tool for me. I remember when I first stumbled upon the site a few years ago. I was excited! I needed something fresh for my Bible study and this seemed to be it. I hungrily ate up the tutorial videos and began my journey into Arcing.

But there was one problem: I didn't really understand it fully. Here I sat after completing my first Arc on my own, staring blankly at a page full of labels. I understood what the labels were and what they meant, I just didn't understand what to do with them.

"Okay," I thought to myself, "I have a completed Arc. Now what?"

This was the question I kept asking myself over and over. I just didn't seem to be able to make the connection to the passage as a whole. Sure, I knew why 3a & 3b was an Action/Purpose, but how would I use that in teaching? I eventually lost interest and quit altogether.

Then a couple of months ago, the middle of May, to be exact, I took an interest in the book of Ephesians. Spiritually, I felt dry and needed to be refreshed. I started reading the book of Ephesians and my wonder for Jesus began creeping back in–in trickles at first, and as I read and re-read the book it came in waves that crashed over me and seemed to re-hydrate my spiritual life. That's when I went back to re-evaluate Arcing.

I took a different approach this time. I was determined not to quit until I had really grasped everything. I found the Power Point presentation online and read through it. And there, I discovered something that I had never known: How to "trace" back your Arcs to the main proposition of the entire passage.

This revolutionized Arcing for me! After I learned this the labels began making more sense. They were all interdependent upon the main proposition as a whole and part of the argument that was being used. Now, the book of Ephesians was really coming alive for me. I am excited as I continue this process. I am even signing up for a basic Arcing course in September, just to make sure that I've "got it."

Since the premise of Arcing to graphically display the flow of the thought in the author's text (it's so much more than that, though) I thought it would be helpful to use it during the Observation phase of hermeneutics. If you click the picture above it will take you to the the BibleArc website and the particular passage of Ephesians I have arced out.

Using Arcing in Observation

Now comes the big question: how do use Arcing during the observation phase?

First, you must understand what Arcing is. Arcing gives the flow of thought relationship in a passage. It is accomplished by dividing your passage into propositions. A proposition is simply a verbal idea (a statement containing a subject and a verb). Each new verbal idea is a new proposition. For example, if I say, "I drove to the hardware store in order to buy some nuts and bolts," I would have two separate propositions. 'I drove' contains the subject 'I' and the verb 'drove' (the prepositional phrase, 'to the hardware store' is part of the verbal idea). It is one proposition. The subject 'I,' which is implied by the verb 'bought' is another proposition. These two propositions relate to each other by the connecting thought 'in order to' which implies a purpose for the action, "I drove to the hardware store."

This example seems a bit simplified yet Scripture is argued upon these very grammatical ideas. The New Testament authors wrote for specific reasons to address a specific audience to propagate specific instructions. Of course, Arcing is a method that is not limited to the New Testament. I am only using this is as example.

When Arcing a passage you are seeking to determine what the author's main point of the passage is. Sometimes it obvious from the start. Other times you have to really work at it.

The observation part of hermeneutics is important because you're trying to determine the flow of thought, anyway. This is where Arcing comes in handy. Understanding how each proposition relates to each other and then to the passage as a whole will begin to answer some of the questions of the text, such as, why did Paul use that particular phrase?, or what did the author mean by that?

Using an example from the Arc of Ephesians 1:1-14, let's briefly look at propositions 4a-4b:

Proposition 4a tells us that God chose believers before the foundation of the world. That is, God chose those whom would be saved before He even created the Earth. At this point my Calvinist mind takes over. I automatically think that Paul is espousing the doctrine of predestination as the main theme. However, looking at proposition 4b pops the bubble on that idea. This "choosing" that God has done is for a purpose. The word 'that' at the beginning of 4b signals a Purpose connection to the Action of the choosing. The choosing is done with a view of having a people who are (a) holy & blameless, and (b) the holy and blameless people would be able to stand in the presence of the all consuming God without being consumed! Therefore, I would label these two propositions with an Action/Purpose relationship. Now I understand why Paul addresses predestination in this portion of Scripture. It is not to defend God's sovereignty in choosing His people, it is to declare God's purpose of having a people to Himself in the first place.

Let's look at one more example using the set of propositions from 7a-10b:

There are a lot of labels in this screenshot but I have marked the propositions that I would like to point out. Notice the Action/Purpose relationship that encompasses 7a-10b. This is important because verse 7 begins by telling believers that we have redemption. Often times, we see something like this and automatically smile because we get me-focused. But again, Paul pops our bubble as we trace the flow of thought in his argument. He goes on to explain that this redemption actually has it's fulfillment in God's plan through Jesus Christ for the purpose of uniting all things in His Son. Our redemption is included in this.

This kind of smacks in the face of modern-day preaching that would make the whole of salvation about our blessings, our redemption, and our inheritance. Paul makes it abundantly clear that salvation is for the purpose of God's glory and the exaltation and fulfillment of the ages in Christ rather than about us going to Heaven to have a big family reunion, which seems to be the predominate thought here in the Southern United States.

When Arcing is done correctly it can open up our understanding of the flow of the passage to a greater degree. Once we understand the flow of thought we will be able to easily move into word studies and interpretation with much more confidence.

If you would like to better understand Arcing or learn the method yourself I would encourage you to visit BibleArc and begin digging in. Thanks for reading.


Until we come to full maturity,
Steven

Join the Ephesians Study Group Online!

I (Steven) am hosting a study group online through the book of Ephesians. We'll be using the
Arcing/Bracketing/Phrasing method. The group is open to ANYONE who wants to dig deeper into God's Word using the Arcing method. Don't be intimidated. If you'd like to join just go to this link and request membership. There will be three things that you must do after joining:

1. Read the Arcing tutorial that has been posted. It's in PDF format so no matter what system you're using you can download it or view it right there on the site. 
2. Complete the weeks reading and Arcing assignment, also posted in the group.
3. Interact with the group discussions and share your insights.

That's pretty much it. if you're interested just hit the link and sign up. If you wanna know more about Arcing then please visit the Biblearc website for instructional videos and tutorials. 

Hermeneutics part 4: The 3 Steps of the Observation Phase

Do you remember the four steps of hermeneutics? Here is a quick reminder:

• Grasp the text in their town - what did it mean to the original audience?
• Measure the width of the river to cross - what are the differences between the Biblical audience and me/us? 
• Cross the priciplizing bridge - what is the theological principle in this text?
• Grasp the text in our town - how should the individual Christian today apply this text? 

Welcome to the beginning of the first step–Grasp the text in their town. Today, you begin the actual process of interpreting a Biblical text. So let's get ready!

In our last hermeneutics post we discussed the importance of observing the text. Today, I would like to briefly discuss the three steps to the observation phase.

Someone once said that in order to really understand something you first must read it. Then, when you are finished you must read it again. Afterwards, to really begin to grasp the meaning you read it again...and again...and again.

You get the idea. Reading a text over and over will help you understand the flow of thought and argument an author is presenting. Therefore, we could say that the first step in observation is:

1. Read the text. In fact, you may want to read and re-read as many times as you need in order to really understand what is going on. I would personally recommend that one read the text at least 10-15 times before going any further. This is especially helpful if you are beginning a book study. Ideally, it is better to read the entire book in one sitting, if at all possible. There are several short books where this could be easily accomplished. Again, I cannot overstate how important this first step is. If one cannot grasp the flow of thought & the meaning of authorial intent then the rest of the study will be fruitless.
2. Observe the text. This next step is just as important! Observing the text means you are reading the text, but with intent. That is, you are now reading to look for specific things: coordinating conjunctions, repeated words/phrases, verbs of action, figures of speech, comparisons, and many other clues that will help you better understand and apply the meaning of the text (pp. 30-38 in Grasping God's Word). One helpful way (and this is also suggested in the book) is to copy & paste your text to a text document such as MS Word or Pages, or even a plain text and then print out the text to mark it up. Mark them in a way that is unique for you to understand so that you will know what you are looking at later on. Below, I've submitted my own example from a sermon in Acts that I preached a few years ago. I hope it will be helpful for you to see a real example. Examples are also provided in the book. 
3. Evaluate the text. One sure way to quickly gain the main points or thoughts of an author is to Phrase or Block Diagram a text. Phrasing is a method that takes all of the main thoughts and clauses and puts them on the left while indenting all of their subordinating clauses underneath of them. The example below is a a Phrase or Block Diagram, though at the time I was still perfecting the methods. It is a tool that I continue to use to this day. For more about phrasing just visit Biblearc.com (Phrasing) as well as their video examples. This English example video is excellent!

BD-Acts_1_1-8.1

Your next step is to find a passage and begin to observe. I recommend a something simple to start with. 1Peter is a good place to begin. Copy & paste and print out the first 9 verses and begin the observation phase. Remember to leave at least 2 spaces between each line so that you have plenty of room to note any significant points, such as comparisons, conjunctions, contrasts, etc. Happy hunting!

Hermeneutics part 3: Beginning the Observation Phase

I'm a big fan of the new Sherlock Holmes series, starring Benedict Cumberbatch. It's kinda like a modern twist on an old classic, which usually doesn't sit well with my taste, but somehow BBC made this really work.

One of the most impressive features of the show is Sherlock's ability to notice the seemingly insignificant things. These usually turn out to play a role in solving the crime. Something as simple as stain on a shirt, or a particular type of clothing always betrays the villain.

Bible study is the same way. It's the little things that add to the whole and make significant contributions to the story. For example, in John 4 we have the account of Jesus' encounter with a Samaritan women at Jacob's well. Jesus asks her for a drink and then launches into discourse about Himself being the Living Water.





This all seems a bit insignificant until we learn that the Samaritans were hated by the Jews! Normally, any self-respecting Jew that had to travel to the Northern part of Israel would travel all the way around Samaria to keep from "tainting" himself.

Samaritans were considered half-breeds, to some extent. During the Northern exile Assyria carried off most of the inhabitants of Northern Israel, leaving only the poorest of the land. Remember, Israel was split in two, Judah in the Southern half, and Israel in the Northern half during the reign of Rehoboam. When Assyria carried them off they re-settled the land with peoples from their other conquests. The people of Israel eventually began to inter-marry with these Gentile captives, and thus the Samaritans were born.

The Jews were not allowed to intermingle with other nations, hence their hatred for these people.

By the time of Jesus most Jews would go to great lengths to avoid them. When going to the Northern Israel they made it a point to walk all the way around their land. But notice the map above. The line represents Jesus' own journey. He didn't avoid Samaria. In fact, He took the most direct route. We know from John 4 that the entire village became believers on account of the woman's testimony. And it all started with Jesus' trip to Samaria.

My point is that I would not have known this significant piece of information without practicing the observation phase. This would have been just another lovely story about a woman accepting Christ as Messiah, and therefore would have lost its original impact.

Observation is the most important step in any Bible study. I can't overstate this enough. When we read we should be reading purposely, with intent, allowing our eyes to rest on every word, sentence, and paragraph.

Like Sherlock Holmes we need to break out the magnifying glass and begin to look for "clues" that will help us to grow in our relationship with Christ. In the next post we will discuss and lay out all the steps to the observation phase.

Thanks for stopping by, and stay tuned for the next post. But be warned–from here on out the real work begins!

Outlining the Hermeneutical Process

One of the most influential books in my Christian life was Grasping God's Word. I became a Christian in April of 1997, and I desired to understand the Bible in greater depth. The only outlet I had at the time was church (not that that is bad). For first several years of my Christian walk I didn't really have any concept of personal study accept for what I could soak up from regular attendance at church and Christian radio. These were great sources of learning and comfort to my soul.

But life really begin to change for me in 2012 when a fellow brother in ministerial training handed me his copy of Grasping God's Word. By that time, I had been walking with the Lord for nearly 14 years. The pastor I was training under took me aside and began teaching me how to teach. I knew about context and application but almost everything else in between was foreign to me–at least until that book hit my hands!

 I had already read two other books about hermeneutics: Gordon Fee's, New Testament Exegesis: A Handbook for Students and Pastors, and Walter Kaiser's Towards and Exegetical Theology. Both were excellent books and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to students of hermeneutics. However, they focused more on the exegetical process rather than the entire process of beginning-to-end hermeneutics.

But Grasping God's Word was different. It seemed to start with the assumption that the reader had no hermeneutical knowledge whatsoever. That was exactly what I needed! Sure, I could keep Scripture in context. Yes, I could point out some background information about the culture. I could even draw up an application of sorts for the congregation. But I was still lacking in that I was all over the place with the text without any real coherent sermon outline or points. 

In this post I will assume that you, the reader, is exactly as I was. The process I am using is straight from the book Grasping God's Word and is straightforward and easy. That's where we're going to start. So let's begin the hermeneutical process.

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Like every other thing that is done hermeneutics has a process. That process includes steps which need to occur before moving on to the next step. In this post I will give the basic process with a brief explanation of each one. Be aware, though, that each step has their own steps, or sub-steps, if you prefer, that also must be followed. One of the greatest temptations of hermeneutics is to rush the process and "skip steps" so that the next step can be completed. As tedious as each step is it is important to go through the entire process of each step before continuing.

There are four basic steps to the hermeneutical process:

• Grasping the text in their town - what did the text mean to the Biblical audience? 
• Measuring the width of the river to cross - What are the difference between the Biblical audience and us?
• Crossing the principlizing bridge - what is the theological principle in the this text?
• Grasping the text in our town - how should individual Christians today apply the theological principle in their lives? 

That's it! Sounds simple, doesn't it? Actually, it really is. One of the dangers that the author's point to should be mentioned here, as well. That danger is the student's expectations. Hermeneutics is a slow, tedious, long, and hard process. The payoff isn't immediate, and many people become frustrated and quit because they desire to become Bible scholars in a matter of months.

Grasping the text in their town

Crossing the priniplized bridge

Grasping the text in our town

In the next several posts we will take each process and define it in narrower terms. As we continue this process I would encourage you to practice each step. I will be using the examples from this book. After all is said and done we will pick a chapter of the Bible and walk through the entire process of hermeneutics. Hopefully, this will give you the confidence to continue studying God's Word independently.


God bless you as you seek to honor Him by diligently meditating on His Word.

Steven

Hermeneutics: Some Common Pitfalls

Last week I began our series on hermeneutics. Our goal is to study, not just read, God's Word so that we can understand it, apply it, and therefore, be sanctified by the Holy Spirit's work through the Word.

Before we get started with the actual process it's important to understand some of the pitfalls that are easy to fall into when doing hermeneutics–namely, the pitfall of US!! What do I mean? When we do hermeneutics we often approach it with a few biases that we weren't aware may of not been there:

1. Theological bias - Most of us already have theological disposition of some kind. When we approach a text we tend to view it through that theological lens. To be sure, many passages can come to the same conclusion despite those theological tendencies, but when other hard passages come into play, such as Romans 9, Revelation 3, the Levitical Law, etc., our biases really start to shine through. Hopefully, the hermeneutical process will squelch much of that to produce an honest interpretation of the passage.
2. Cultural connections - The culture that we are most accustomed to can even be a stumbling block sometimes. For example, a person who has grown up in the Middle East may read the sections about polygamy much differently than their Western counterparts. I remember in college two young men in the cafeteria debating over this very issue, both from different cultural backgrounds. Duvall & Hayes give other examples of this in Grasping God's Word. 
3. Social status - Jesus had a heart for the poor, and so should we. But we cannot interpret every single passage through that lens. Most of us struggle financially and can relate to many of the stories of the poor. However, we should not let that bias affect every interpretation of a given passage that we are studying. 
4. Personal upbringing - This has a lot do to with the first bias. The way we were raised to think about certain issues will also affect what we pre-bring to the text. Were we raised in an environment where social action was at the front line? Did our parents thrust us into the ministry with them? How were "non-desirable" people to be treated? This and scores of other things will most certainly affect our hermeneutics.

This is not to say that we can never properly interpret a passage of Scripture. It is simply to remind us that as we begin the interpretive process we must be aware of our own prejudices, and consequently, do our best to thrust them aside as we study Scripture. 

Can this be done? With that question looming I would just like to close this post with a few statements that remind us that it most certainly can be done!

1. Hermeneutics follows a set pattern of rules. We interpret every Scripture the exact same way. In other words, one would not use one particular hermeneutical process for the book of Genesis and then use a totally different approach to the Pauline epistles. This guards our own tendencies as stated above and gives accountability as we approach our own hot button issues in the Bible. 
2. Rules are "added" depending upon the genre you are studying. I know, I know. I just stated that the entire process is always the same. And it is. Particular genres introduce different dynamics to the equation and while the process itself doesn't change a number of other variables come into play which must be accounted for. So, when you are studying the book of Genesis it helps to understand that it is an historical narrative verses studying the book of Revelation which is in the form of an Apocalyptical/Epistle (letter). I will talk more about genres further into this series. 
3. Hermeneutics is process. Way too often we tend to jump straight to the interpretation of any given passage without fully going through the process. Understandably, time restraints often play into this. But for personal study we are really cheating ourselves by not following through on the entire process. Don't get too jumpy! It's going to be a long process but the pay-off will be well worth the travel. 

In our next post I will begin to lay out the process in steps. We will discuss the entire journey in a brief overview. From there on out we will pick a passage and actually begin to put some time in on the study of God's revelation to us. God bless, and keep coming back.

Steven 

Hermeneutics: What, How, Why, When, Where?

It's important to start 2015 right. And for the believer that usually means a resolution to read more of the Bible. And it's a good resolution. But how about a resolution, not only to read more of God's Word, but to study it!

Most people seem to be content with reading 3, or 4, or maybe even 5 chapters a day. But how many people would actually sit down for a solid hour to study? When I say study I don't just mean reading, and highlighting, and such. I mean digging deep; going beyond the norm and really understand and applying that Word to your daily living.

That's what the main goal is for hermeneutics. It's not just reading, it's studying and applying. And hopefully, God will grant me the grace to help you on your journey. This series intends to walk you through, step-by-step, the hermeneutical process. My goal is to get you started by taking 1 chapter from the Bible and really analyzing it to the point where you know exactly what it says and how you apply it. 1 chapter doesn't sound too ambitious, but you'll soon discover that it's a lot of work. Whew!

For this particular series I'm going to be using a few tools that you may want to invest in or find other comparable tools. Here's what you'll need in general:

1. I'm going to be using two key textbooks to outline the hermeneutical process. They are Grasping God's Word and Preaching God's Word. Both book are co-authored by the same author and compliment each other. Pictures of them are below. 
   
   
   
   


2. You'll also need some kind of text editor such as MS Word, Pages, Open Office, etc. Copying and pasting is much easier than trying to hand-write Scripture passages. 
3. I'll be mainly using Logos Bible software and making reference to theWord Bible software. You can use a plain old Bible but I believe software will make your time in the Word much more efficient. Don't worry about price, there are a lot of good free ones that work fine. I'll mention them during our journey. 
4. Most of all you'll need patience! This is not going to be an easy task. I promise you, at some point you'll get frustrated and want to quit. You'll get angry and slam your Bible shut. You'll think it's too hard. And it will be. Don't expect a pay-off right away. Study takes time but the fruit it reaps will be well worth it in the end. 

We're going to take this slow so that we can digest every little part. At the end of each section I'll try to post a short video walking you through the process of what we went over that day. I know some people need to actually see it in action to aid in the learning process. It's okay, I'm like that, too. 

That's pretty much it for this post. In the next post I'll discuss some common pitfalls of interpretation before we actually dive into a text. Remember, we're going to take this slow. We need to learn this process and practice a little at a time as we learn. In the end, we'll be able to put the whole thing together. 

God bless you in this new year, and I hope you'll keep coming back to enrich your time in the Word.

Soli Deo gloria!

Steven

The Best and Only Bible Reading Program You Will Ever Need!

It's getting close to that time of year again. 2015 is right around the corner. And with a new year comes new resolutions (for most of us anyway).

But there's one resolution that many Christians make every year. The faithful few make it to the end, while the rest of us slackers quite after only a few weeks or even a month.

What's the resolution? "I WILL faithfully read through the Bible this year!"

I can't tell you how many times I've made that same resolution, only to be distracted by other pursuits, some good, some not so good, while my daily Bible reading got shorter and shorter. After about a month I was no longer consistent. And within two months I had moved on to other forms of Bible study.

That is, until I came across "Professor Grant Horner's Bible Reading System." I CAN honestly say that this is the BEST and ONLY Bible reading program you will ever need. And I can almost guarantee that once you start using it, you will never use any other Bible reading program again!

So here's the deal...it takes work. However, the effort will be worth it. It truly is the only way I read my Bible now. Give it a month. It takes about that long to establish a habit.

Follow the instructions on the PDF exactly. That is the key to this system. If your mind wanders while your reading (like mine always does) don't sweat it. Just keep going and get through the text. I guarantee within a year, you will know your Bible very well!

By the way, you can find "Professor Grant Horner's Bible Reading System" in Olive Tree! If you have the Olive Tree app, just touch the little suitcase on the top right of your screen.

Touch "Reading Plans."

Professor Grant Horner should be at the top.

And there you are! It's as simple as that. One of the benefits of reading the program on Olive Tree is that it take less time than your physical Bible because at the end of each chapter is a button that takes you to the next chapter!

For those who would rather use a Bible here's the PDF instructions. I pray that you stick with it. If you do, the benefits you'll receive will be priceless!

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Why "Jesus Calling" Should be Added to the Bible

In our last post we looked at how the book Jesus Calling by Sarah Young was a direct assault on the sufficiency of Scripture. We saw that Jesus Calling encourages Christians to seek the voice of God outside of the only way He has promised to speak to His people, through the Scriptures. Nowhere does the Bible ever direct us to go outside of itself to hear the voice of God.

In this post we will be discussing whether or not Jesus Calling is on the same level as Scripture. If it is, it should be obeyed and honored by God's people in the same way that Scripture is.

Direct Revelation

Is the canon of Scripture closed or is God still giving special revelation? If God is still giving direct revelation today then it stands to reason that books such as Jesus Calling should be added to the canon.

2Timothy 3:16 makes it clear that "All Scripture is breathed out by God." And, since every word of God is authoritative, every word received must be heeded and obeyed. So, if someone claims to receive direct revelation from God and then writes down the messages they receive for all to read, they are, in essence, putting their writings on the same level as Scripture.

Sarah Young claims to receive direct revelation from Christ.

"The following year, I began to wonder if I could change my prayer times from monologue to dialogue. I had been writing in prayer journals for many years, but this was one- way communication: I did all the talking. Increasingly, I wanted to hear what God might want to communicate to me on a given day. I decided to "listen" with pen in hand, writing down whatever I "heard" in my mind," (JC P.10).

"My journaling thus changed from monologue to dialogue. This new way of communicating with God became the high point of my day," (JC p.12).

Jesus even gives her specific commands such as to listen for His directives, to walk closely with Him each moment and to relax in His "healing presence." Commands about remaining close to Jesus, walking in His presence, and giving anxiety over to Him are replete throughout the book.

"Walk closely with Me each moment, listening for My directives and enjoying My Companionship," (March 23, p.66).

"RELAX IN MY HEALING PRESENCE . As you spend time with Me, your thoughts tend to jump ahead to today’s plans and problems. Bring your mind back to Me for refreshment and renewal. Let the Light of My Presence soak into you, as you focus your thoughts on Me," (Jan. 2, p.3).

Notice the phrase, "Let the Light of My Presence soak into you." Soaking prayer is a part of contemplative spirituality, a dangerous practice that comes straight from Roman Catholic monasticism, brought into the Protestant Church with the help of Richard Foster and Dallas Willard. But that's for another post. For now, we are going to focus on the direct revelation that Young is supposedly receiving from Jesus Himself.

Young claims that only the Scriptures are infallible and inerrant:

"The Bible is the only infallible, inerrant Word of God, and I endeavor to keep my writings consistent with that unchanging standard, (J.C. P.12).

Is Jesus speaking or not? If He is, you better believe His words are infallible and inerrant! If there's any doubt whatsoever, it is foolish to write down and publish what may have come from either a deceitful heart, or worse, another spirit.

Only at the end of the introduction to the book does she say:

"I have written from the perspective of Jesus speaking, to help readers feel more personally connected with Him. So the first person singular ("I," "Me," "My," "Mine") always refers to Christ; "you" refers to you, the reader," (JC p.12).

Although she says she has "written from the perspective of Jesus speaking," on the very same page she says:

"My journaling thus changed from monologue to dialogue. This new way of communicating with God became the high point of my day," (JC p.12).

In the last paragraph of the introduction, she says,

"Themes of thankfulness and trust recurred often during my listening times. These themes are quite prevalent in the Bible, and they are essential for a close relationship with the Lord."

In an interview with CBN, Young says:

"It felt a little awkward the first time I tried it, but I did receive a short message. The content was biblical, and it addressed themes that were current in my life: trust, fear, and closeness to God."

So there is more going on than just writing from the "perspective of Jesus speaking," "dialogue" between Young and Jesus is taking place.

As I said in the beginning of this post, nowhere does Scripture command us to seek God's voice through impressions, inner voices, or promptings. But the Bible itself claims to be sufficient for all of life, and for every situation:

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV) All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

As I pointed out in the last post, the Word of God alone is what is needed to "complete, and equip" the Christian for "every good work."

God Has Spoken

The opening verses of the book of Hebrews make it clear that God has spoken once and for all through His Son in these last days:

Hebrews 1:1-2 (ESV) ​Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

(ESV Study Bible Notes) Four points of contrast occur between vv. 1 and 2: time of revelation ("long ago" vs. these last days); agent of revelation ("prophets" vs. Son); recipients of revelation ("fathers" vs. us); and, implicitly, the unity of the final revelation in the Son (cf. the "many times and in many ways" in v. 1, implying, by contrast, that this last revelation came at one time, in one way, in and through God's Son). Since God has spoken finally and fully in the Son, and since the NT fully reports and interprets this supreme revelation once the NT is written, the canon of Scripture is complete. No new books are needed to explain what God has done through his Son.

Is Jesus Calling on the Same Level as Scripture?

I think we can answer that question by looking at just one passage of Scripture.

Psalms 19:7-11 (ESV) 7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple:

Can Young say that the words she supposedly received from Jesus are "perfect" and "sure," making the simple wise?

8 the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;

Are the words of Jesus in J.C. "right" and "pure, enlightening the eyes" as Scripture claims to do?

9 the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.

Is every word of Jesus in J.C. "clean," "true, and righteous altogether?" Does J.C. cause us to fear the LORD as Scripture does?

10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.

Scripture has the right to make these claims, does J.C.?

11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

I think you can see my point. If Jesus has truly spoken to Sarah Young then His words to her are on the same level as Scripture; they have to be. Every word God speaks is authoritative and must be heeded and obeyed without question.

I'm sure Sarah Young would never have the audacity to say that J.C. is on the same level as the Bible. But if Jesus Himself spoke to her, and,"Every word of God proves true" (Proverbs 30:5) then the words of Jesus in J.C. should be added after of the book of Revelation.

 

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4 Essential Apps for Mobile Bible Study

Note: This post is not intended to be an exhaustive review of these apps. I highlight some of the better features to give you an idea of what each app can do. 

The mobile age has been thrust on us. And like it or not, we are apart of it. With the dawn of the tablet, the Kindle, and other large screen portable devices, we need not feel overwhelmed or threatened by all the pixels pounding their way into our homes.

In fact, we can take advantage of it; especially those of us who are believers. How so? In bygone days when one wanted to do Bible study on the go, it meant lugging around a bunch of books that weighed nearly as much as we did. Not to mention, if one had a large library then he would have to be pretty selective deciding which books were a necessity for the subject he was studying.

But in today's tech driven world, most times, we can access our entire libraries with a tap or swipe of the finger. And I'm no different. I've learned to take advantage of this truly digital era. I like my study to be just as mobile as me. For that reason, I'd like to share with you what I consider to be 4 essential apps for mobile Bible study. And don't worry. I've included lots of screenshots so you can kind of see what it all looks like. Ready? Here goes:

Bible App

Obviously, you'll need some kind of a Bible app to do mobile Bible study. Because I own a base package for my Mac I have the Logos app on my iPad, as well. It really is a nifty app, allowing you to to do word studies of the original languages on the go, taking notes on passages you're currently studying, and includes the popular Passage and Exegetical guides within the app, though somewhat much more limited than the than the desktop version. One of the biggest downsides of this app, though, is that it doesn't have the capabilities of doing word lookups & studies without an internet connection. Hopefully, this is something they will resolve in the near future, as it has been a long-standing request. For other good Bible apps, also check out Accordance and Olive Tree. Screenshots of the Logos app in action are below!

This is the Home Screen. It features a different verse every day, along with artwork to accompany the Scripture

An array of highlighting styles are available as well as pop-up cross references upon tapping on them. The references are hyperlinked so they can be followed as you tap on them

Long tapping on a word and then choosing the 'Look Up' option brings up the original languages word. You can then choose 'Bible Word Study,' for further info, which will be seen in the next screen shot

The Bible Word Study brings up a ring. Each segment reveals how the English translates the particular English rendering, along with the verse references

The Exegetical Guide pulls from your available grammars and critical apparatuses on the particular passage you happen to be studying at the moment

This is the word-by-word portion of the Exegetical Guide. Having this on the iPad is sweet!!

The Passage Guide is similar to the Exegetical Guide. It pulls all relevant resources from whatever passage you are studying

Pages

Pages is a simple, clean word processor with a lot of features packed into a mobile app. It has the ability to add columns, shapes, styles, and pretty much what you would expect from a word processor. Pages also allows you to export your documents in a PDF format right from the app itself. This is extremely useful, as we will look at with one of the other apps. The $9.99 price tag is bit high for my taste, but I was zealous when I first bought my iPad and went a little haywire. Check out the screenshots below. 

The Start-up Screen

Different shapes that can be added to enhance your document

There are a lot of different styling options. The usual, such as bold, italic, underline are also avialable

Galatians 1 pasted into a Pages document. I set it  up for two columns so it would "feel" more like reading from my Bible

This is where you change the layout (margins, headers, footers, etc). When pasting passages from the Bible in my documents I like to set the margins to .5 inches with double space. It gives a lot of room to make notes

Goodreader

By far, the most useful app that I use is Goodreader. This app is absolutely incredible and indispensable  for mobile Bible study. It has a number of capabilities, the main feature being able to mark up a PDF document almost anyway you can imagine. But the usefulness doesn't stop there. You can import your documents, pics, videos, even read your e-mail from within the app. It also allows you to use its built in web browser to download interesting links, which can be viewed offline. I tested this particular feature by downloading a link  and then turning of my wifi connection. I was still able to view the web article while offline. And for the $3.99 price tag, it's well worth it.

Drawing on a PDF is useful, and this is where the Pages app  works in cooperation with Goodreader. Simply export your pasted passage as a PDF and open it in Goodreader. There are a number of shapes and colors available. You can add arrows, lines, ovals, rectangles, highlights, etc., during the observation phase of your study. Hopefully, the screenshots below will demonstrate the power of this most awesome app!

This is what the text looks like unaltered. This screenshot is in the Pages app before opening it up in the Goodreader app

As you can see, there are a myriad of options for marking up a text: colors, shapes, text boxes, and such help with the observation phase. Even the thickness, weight, and shapes of the lines can be changed. In the pic above, I have devised my own system of different colors and shapes

This is the free-hand drawing option. It has a zoom feature that allows you to draw more precisely. Note, that everything in the box at the bottom is the same as the box on the top. The box can be moved to different parts of the text to accommodate drawing anywhere in the document. A stylus would probably be better for finer drawing, but I didn't have one handy at the time 

The app allows you to import you pics, as well. Notice the tic circles for selecting which pics you would like to import

This feature is great as it allows you to connect the most popular cloud services. Once connected, you can then open any of your docs in the app; even Word & PPts. And yes, I've tried it :)
You can even read your mail inside the app!

This cool feature allows you to open a web page in the app. It's particularly useful if you're like me and use web services such as CCEL (Christian Classics Ethereal Library) to read and study early church writings. 

Just to demonstrate, I've opened up our blog within Goodreader. Notice how it has two separate tabs that can be switched back and forth. It also has the classic "x" button to close out any given tab

Bible Vocab HD

My last essential app for mobile Bible study is Bible Vocab HD. This one is aimed more at the language geeks, but is very helpful for the lay person as well. You can dial in any passage or range of passages and get all the given original language words for that passage. It has a slideshow mode in which you can review and learn all the words in a passage. It also has a parsing slideshow mode so you can learn the parsing for each form as well. It is very useful for original language studies. Bible Vocab HD will cost you $5.99.

This is the screen where you dial in your passage. Currently, I have 3 in my list. Just tap on the 'Add Passage' link and the dial will open, allowing you to choose the range of passage(s) you desire

Here is Psalm 119:1-8, to give an example of how it looks. Notice the 'Parsing' on the top left and 'Vocab' on the top right. Pressing these will take you to the slideshow mode for study and quizzing yourself. Parsing is not yet available for Hebrew

Here is the New Testament. There are also options available for choosing which Greek New Testament you would like to use

Slide show mode. Just tap the screen to reveal the answer

The Parsing mode. The parsings are hidden until you tap the screen. It's a great way to learn your vocab and different forms of all the words in any given passage

Those are my 4 picks for essential apps for mobile Bible study. Feel free to drop me a comment if you have any questions. I hope this post has encouraged you to take advantage of technology for God's glory. Soli Deo Gloria!

Steven