Romans Bible Study
Our Wednesday night Bible study (which was Hebrews last semester) got a second act. This semester we will be studying the book of Romans.
For those following the Hebrews Bible Study online, I realize I haven’t posted the concluding chapters, which I will do when I get a little spare time, but I invite you to follow our Romans Bible Study. Last night we kicked off this semester with a lifegroup party before we dig into Romans starting next Wednesday.
Our group experienced some pretty cool stuff last semester, and we were presented with one ministry opportunity after another, after another. And it sure is fun watching all of that continue to unfold. So, I think we will be expanding even more the ministry aspect of our lifegroup, but without shortchanging the Bible study itself. I’m hoping we can make the ministry stuff our extra-curricular activity, so we can have the study element, the ministry element, and the testimonial element, without having to cram all of it into 1.5 hours a week.
This will be the repository for all of the Romans Bible Study posts for now until the semester is over and I can compile all of the posts into one master post, so bookmark this page. The chapter links below will become active as the semester progresses.
Any suggestions regarding commentaries, extra reading, etc. would be much appreciated. I’ve ordered two commentaries (Stott’s Romans: Encountering the Gospel’s Power and Kuhatschek’s Romans: Becoming New in Christ), but they have yet to arrive.
It’s going to be another great semester!
- Romans Chapter 1
- Romans Chapter 2
- Romans Chapter 3
- Romans Chapter 4
- Romans Chapter 5
- Romans Chapter 6
- Romans Chapter 7
- Romans Chapter 8
- Romans Chapter 9
- Romans Chapter 10
- Romans Chapter 11
- Romans Chapter 12
- Romans Chapter 13
- Romans Chapter 14
- Romans Chapter 15
- Romans Chapter 16
Ode to Texas
Jesus: Creator, Created, Both or Other
We had an interesting discussion yesterday during our church’s Revelation Bible Study (we meet weekly, and it’s led by a good friend of mine who blogs about it at The Watchman’s Gaze). I didn’t at all mean to derail the discussion, and I think I only sidetracked us for a few minutes, but I want other opinions.
Revelation 3:14 provides:
To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this… (NASB)
Now, I don’t mean to call into question the divinity of Jesus, or his role as creator, but as “the Beginning of the creation of God,” was there a point in time where the manifestation of God as Jesus came into existence or did the representation of God as Jesus always exist?
Our discussion leader and our pastor (who blogs at the Monday Morning Review) were adamant (in a very friendly and cordial way-both are experienced in indulging my quirky rabbit trails) that Jesus always was. I, with very little other support around the table (except for possibly our pastor’s wife-who doesn’t blog yet), however, continue to be nagged with the metaphysical question of Jesus as “the Beginning of the creation of God” and as “…the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation…”
I certainly do not see it as heretical to think of Jesus coming into existence in some way as other reflections of God must have, His Word for example. I think we got hung up on the word “created.” And I don’t care if we use “created” or some other word to describe it. Physicists spend an awful lot of time and energy trying to figure out the moment of creation, but I want to know your thoughts about the time before that, specifically the moment of the creator.
Thoughts? Ideas? Scriptural Authority?
Top 50-Official and Unofficial
In case anyone missed it, like me until today, the Biblioblog Top 50 for December is out, officially and unofficially.
Personally, I prefer the unofficial rankings which have BOB at 11 (down 5 slots from #6 in November), while the official rankings have me at 17 (-11). Considering I took 3 weeks off in December, I can live with either.
Does God Ever Answer Prayer, “No!”?
I threw my Hebrews Bible Study group for a loop when I raised this question.
I suggested that scripture says He does not. I also confessed that my initial reaction to this question is to say, “Of course He does,” but I cannot find scriptural authority for that answer. I should also say that just about everyone who I have ever asked this question also says He does. I’m just not so sure. I realize this goes against everything that is rational and against everything we have ever been taught, but it is something I’ve been mulling over for quite some time now.
Now, my assertion, or suggestion really, requires several caveats (just to name a few):
- God can only do what God can do. I don’t think God is able to answer a prayer that would harm one believer in favor of another, for example. Nor do I think God is able to answer prayer that is made sinfully (translated selfishly, impatiently, etc.).
- God will not go against His Word. If a prayer is contrary to scripture, or requires something unscriptural of others, it cannot be answered.
- God cannot heal, relieve you of, or deliver you from certain conditions brought about by unforgiveness, for example, or willful sin, without the requisite forgiveness or confession and repentance.
- God’s answers aren’t always the answers we expect. For example, an answer to prayer for financial breakthrough might include learning about budgeting, or saving, or giving as prerequisites to God handing someone a big fat check; but, if the one praying just wants the check without the means to handle the funds, whose really saying, “No”?
There are others, of course, but, rather than simply tell me how wrong I am, I would ask that you think about the example(s) you come up with and see if they do not fit into one of these categories first. Our group raised a few interesting examples, and I will try and treat the categories of answers in a later post, but I want to know what you, my dear reader, think.
I’m Back
It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to post anything. Between work, campaign stuff, church, family, and infrequent internet access, blogging has taken a back seat. I’m looking forward to getting back in the groove, though.
I appreciate everyone continuing to comment and read (traffic was surprisingly steady), thanks. I hope you all have a very merry Christmas and wonderful new year.
God is Bigger than the Boogie Man
I think we, myself included, do our very best to complicate theology to our detriment. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for precision, but there are times when simple is better.
I was introduced to Veggie Tales a couple of weeks ago – my wife bought The Libster a DVD. And now that we’ve watched it a thousand times, I’m amazed by both the simplicity and profundity of something like the song “God is Bigger (than the Boogie Man)”.
I think this is a notion we give intellectual assent, but rarely employ in practice. We like the idea of having a big God, but we don’t like the responsibility of having a big God.
For example, I like the idea that God is bigger than the Boogie Man, but what happens when I meet the Boogie Man face-to-face (or, insert scary thing of your choice). I can think back to instances where I’ve cowered, forgot how big I thought God was, or simply realized that I didn’t believe what I thought I believed. Thankfully, there is grace for those situations, and, slowly but surely, I’m learning that God really is that big.
I’m not on the lookout for Boogie Men or Women, but I believe my God is bigger.
Electrical Outlet with USB Plug
I rarely ever use a triple exclamation point (!!!) on anything. But, I did in a comment on a post over at bryanlopez.com today because of this:
How cool is that? You can pre-order today.
Not Exactly the Holiday Inn
My regular readers will know that I’m a fan of searching out obscure, often lost, stuff in scripture. Well, I must admit, I never thought to research the inn in Bethlehem referenced in the story of the birth of Jesus.
Now, I don’t have to. It was the subject of our pastor’s sermon Sunday morning. I guess I do if I want to figure out if he’s right, there was a little scriptural hopscotch being played to make the connections he made, but my initial reaction was, “that’s pretty cool.” And I still haven’t come up with a reason why it’s wrong, so it must be right. Right? 
It’s worth a read, but you won’t get the full flavor just from his post, The Inn in Bethlehem. If you have a few minutes, give the podcast (Sacrifice and Relationships) a listen, too.
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2000 Comments
Thanks to Matt @ Broadcast Depth for BOB’s 2000th comment on Not Exactly the Holiday Inn.
I haven’t been near a computer for a few days, so I’m glad I didn’t miss it. But, since I didn’t realize it was approaching so quickly, I didn’t have the confetti and balloons ready. I’m sorry, Matt.
So, to honor Matt for the 2000th comment, please check out his excellent blog.