Bible study group

From the very day we have chosen to accept Christ as our savior, we have been given the responsibilities and duties that a Christian should abide with. Our lives are no longer ours, but as a service to God. Our God is a merciful, understanding the weakness of our flesh and always there to support us when in need. However let us not forget that He expects us to place Him above all, to love him with all our heart, will and to the best of our ability.

The service that is mentioned earlier does not restrict to our roles as members or leaders in church or fellowship. The service is a 24/7, full time commitment with our entire lives. Every thought that goes through our minds, every word we speak, actions we take. In the world of temptations, confusion, bombardments of various theologies, we have to know where our stand lies.

Ever had difficulty preaching to a friend about God? Dumbfounded by some questions and theories that questions the basis of your faith? Finding it hard to resist any worldly temptations? Basically it is not enough to simply have a faith the size of a pea. It is not enough to have a shallow understanding of the very faith that you depend on with your life.

It is a quest that we are all on, to fight the spiritual battle. Our faith is real, something that requires real time actions. To equip ourselves, we would all need to read the bible.

I believe there shouldn't be any debates regarding this topic. It isn't so much of a should or should not. It is more like an impossible task to most people. Some have even resorted to undermining the importance of reading the Bible. However I would assume that there are no such people within the fellowship. The purpose of this post isn't to convince you that reading the bible is good and should be done. If necessary, another post titled "Importance of reading the Bible" would be posted soon. With regards to the reading of the bible, many have tried and failed. Resigned to failure of the tremendous task of reading the word of God.

Too boring (You probably don't read much do you). Too repetitive. Too thick (Note that there are mini sized bibles that is thinner than your average text material). No time (And why are you reading this online? What are you doing online anyway? Chatting? Checking your face book account?) Can't read. (Alright and what exactly are you doing now?) The list of excuses goes on. For more, kindly post your own at the end of this post.

I can assure you that it is not an impossible task. According to research, it takes 70 hours to finish reading the bible at an average speed. (This is based on a pastor who preached in my church earlier this year.) Alright I’ll assume that you read at a crawling pace. Let’s say 140 hours. This breaks down to 23 minutes a day for a year. Alright you have a really short attention span. Take two years then. Maybe three. The point is, set a goal to achieve.

If anyone here feels that the bible is too dry, in the sense that you find it too bland for your taste, there are always materials to make your quest much more interesting. I am currently using a Chinese bible with sub notes at the side, maps, and character analysis to aid with my reading. There are also guide books (similar to Final Fantasy) as well. All these will be recommended when you....

Join the bible study group. I understand that perhaps some of us just don't like doing something alone. Alright the bible study group's objective is to allow you to have accountability and companions on the similar quest to have a constant habit of reading the bible and hence doing quiet time. Take note that the bible study group is not group tuition, where you would attend class each week for 1 and a half hours such that you can read the bible together. It is more like an informal group setting, where we meet up on certain regularity (depending on the numbers in the group and the needs of everyone) to share on what we have learnt and provide support to one another. This means that the support can be done anytime, anywhere such as through SMS, Emails, when you meet during fellowship etc. Isn't it great that we now have another topic to talk about, other than the clothes we wear and the hairstyles we have?

This is in no way a desperate call for people to join this study group. Even if there is just one person out there who feels that YES THIS IS MY CALLING, I NEED TO JOIN NOW, it is fine. If there is no one, it's alright too. Just remember, the battle has already been won, it just depends if we are willing to submit and commit to following Christ. Just as the 603550 men fit for battle, (not counting the women and children and other men not fit for battle which would have amounted to a population of at least 2 million) were afraid of fighting for the promised land when they left Egypt and resulted in 40 years in the wilderness, your actions now would result in a similar result. Choose your path wisely or risk resulting in entering spiritual wilderness.

If you are interested in joining the bible study group, kindly approach me, Cheehan during fellowship.

To end, there was a survey done by American adults with regards to their knowledge on Christianity. The results were appalling. Here are some of the results.
- 60% can’t name five of the ten commandments
- 50% of high school seniors think Sodom and Gomorrah were married. (These are the two cities destroyed by God in Genesis because they were filled with sin)
- Only one third know that Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount.
- Fewer than half can identify Genesis as the first book of the Bible

[Cheehan]