Simple Thoughts

Long awaited post...

So, I've been told by a certain someone that I don't post enough, and that I should be writing even if I don't have anything to say. Sorry, I'll do better...

I just got back yesterday from a week long InterVarsity camp thing and it was completely amazing. How is it that God can use a week and meet each person in a different way and it be exactly what they need? Oh, wait...He's God! It was refreshing and renewing and I'm so very thankful for the time I got to spend with everyone (I'm sorry your ankle got hurt, Sarah, but you still looked good while jumping :)

For this week long camp (I really don't like calling it that because I think it sounds far too elementary, but I can't think if anything else, so I'll just grin and bear it if I have to) I chose a track called Loving God's Story, and it was a Bible overview. I really had no idea what to expect, but it ended up being so much of what I needed. Especially for drawing me back into the Old Testament, the beginning of God's story of His relationship with us, the brokenness and the desire to redeem it. His justice and mercy and forgiveness. My passion for His Word was really renewed over the course of the track. A passion that I've definitely not kept in good enough check during the business of the school year. I really have learned that it's not right to dwell on how bad you've done in the past. Once you've repented, think only on how you will change the behavior. Live forgiven (thanks, Caleb! Love ya!) and know it's more than likely that you'll mess up again.

So, to round out the lengthiness of this post, I need to tell a little story. I was looking at books online today and came across a topical Bible. Now, for those of you who aren't as uneducated as to the existence of this as me, I apologize. I was kind of disgusted. It's bad enought when people take things verse by verse without studying and investigating the "context," but to dedicate a whole Bible to letting people read scriptures grouped by "ideas" is horrible in my opinion. Talk about asking for things to be taken out of context. (thank you Nick for showing me how to attach links...I think I'll go a little link crazy for awhile)

Here's a quick example of a topical verse search gone wrong. I was in Sunday school and we had split into 2 groups. One group was looking up scriptures about Heaven and the other about hell. I was in the group looking at Heaven, but some of the verses were clearly talking about the sky or "the heavens." It was like the leader had just done a quick concordance search for any scripture with the word heaven in it without looking into the context of each verse. This is a very innocent example, but things like this happen all the time, allowing people to use the Word in the way it suits them best. Even Satan tried to use scripture for his own good when he tempted Christ. People try to use it to benefit themselves in their own situation, make themselves feel better, or make a point that the author of the text was clearly not making.

I like to suggest reading things book by book. Getting the author's style and overall meaning before going back and picking up the smaller themes or important verses. Doing manuscripts studies of books and longer passages, ignoring chapter and verse markings. And, if I'm wrong about this whole topical Bible thing, feel free to correct me. I've never even seen it before, so I might have the wrong idea of what it really is. From what it looks like to me, I don't think it's a good thing to be encouraging among believers.

Well, it's getting late, my post is getting entirely too long, and I'm running out of things to say. All signs point toward me being done for the night. I have a long week ahead of me and I still haven't had the chance to catch up since Cedar. Since I know how to do it now (thanks again, Nick :), I'll post a couple of pictures of my adventures at Cedar campus when I get a hold of them. Goodnight everyone! And, God bless!

posted by Katie @ 12:37 AM