Why and How Should I Read the Bible?

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Title - Why and How Should I Pray?
Church - Living Word Lutheran in Katy, Texas (ELCA)
Author - Pastor Mike Aus
Citations -
Quality - Good quality, volume at about 80%

Summary - The church's spiritual growth campaign for this season of Lent involves discussing the core beliefs and questions of Christianity in small groups. The second part of the series involves the importance of reading and understanding the Bible. At its core, the Bible is the record of God's redemptive acts in human history. Here is a list of some FAQs about the Bible:

1. Is there a conflict between the Bible and science?

No. The Bible was quite advanced in terms of dietary restrictions. The Bible does not require you to believe that the world was created in 6, 24 hour days. More likely, it was created in six epochs. A day is a full revolution of the earth relative to the sun. The sun wasn't created until the fourth day. Time is relative to the observer, and on the first days the observer was God.

2. Are there any missing books of the Bible?

No. Though "The DaVinci Code" claims that there are many books excluded from the Bible, but this isn't true. There are ancient texts that discuss the life of Jesus that have been published in English and have been studied. There was no conspiracy to keep them out. The greatest scholars of the ancient world discovered that they were either forgeries, frauds or of otherwise questionable content.

3. Should we read the Bible without context? Does it have meaning?

If you read the Bible without context, it could lose its meaning. Reading the Bible in soundbytes or off bumper stickers could lead to contradictions. For instance, Jesus says "Turn the other cheek." What he is talking about is a specific type of hit that a Roman would do to someone of lower standing on the right cheek. So, when Jesus was talking about being slapped on the cheek he said "you turn to them the left cheek." That means that if you turned your cheek, they'd have to hit you another way and treat you as an equal. So, Jesus wasn't saying that you should "accept it when someone attacks you," but rather "You're going to have to hit me in a way that aknowledges me as a social equal. Stand up for yourself and take control in a non-violent way."

4. Does the Bible work by osmosis?

Not quite. People love the Bible in theory but not in reality. The Bible isn't meant to be kept behind emergency glass or gathering dust on your nightstand. Read it as best you can (a verse a day, a chatper a day, a book a day. Whatever it takes).

5. What is the power of the Bible? Got an example?

Excellent question. Here's an example:

Not a single Jew died in Bulgaria, a fascist and Nazi-allied company. The Jews of Sophia, Bulgaria were corraled by the SS to be shipped off to Aushwitz. An Orthodox Bishop, Metropolitan Kiril, and 300 members of his churched showed up at the train station and surrounded the barbedwire enclosure. Metropolitan Kiril walked into the middle of the enclosure, in the middle of the Jews and shouts one verse, from the book of Ruth, that changed the destinty of that nation: "Wheresoever you go, I will go. And where you lodge, I will lodge. And your people will be my people. And your God will be my God." The crowd surrounding the enclosure grew to thousands and the SS troops left without the Jews and never came back. That is but one story of many.

What does the Bible call us to do?

The Bible calls us to stand up to Tyranny, to stand in solidarity with the poor, the downtrodden and oppressed.

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For more information on Metropolitan Kiril and the efforts of Bulgarian Christians to save the Jewish community in Bulgaria:
An Essay, from the movie The Optimists, which is about that historical event.

Why Did Jesus Have to Die?

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Title - Why Did Jesus Have to Die?
Church - Living Word Lutheran in Katy, Texas (ELCA)
Author - Pastor Mike Aus
Citations - 2 Corinthians 5:19-21, Philippians 2 5-18, 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10
Quality - There are a few small clicks

Summary - The church's spiritual growth campaign for this season of Lent involves discussing the core beliefs and questions of Christianity in small groups. One of the key questions is: why did Jesus have to die? A popular theory is that God was angry with us and had to take it out on someone and so Jesus took the brunt for us. It's the "I'm mad at you, but I'll kick the dog instead" theory. This is a quesitonable reading of scripture. This turns God into an angry tyrant that needs the murder of his son before he can forgive. But this is irreconcilible with the story of the prodigal son. Jesus suffers through the worst the Roman world could hand him and still forgives us and absorbs all our sin, always and forever. It's because of God's love, not God's anger.

Living in Grace - Part Three

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Title - Living in Grace - Part Three
Church - Living Word Lutheran in Katy, Texas (ELCA)
Author - Pastor Mike Aus
Citations - Luke 5:17, Matthew 18:21-25,

Summary - A three part discussion of how to understand and live in God's grace. The first part discussed how we are far harder on ourselves than God would ever be. The second part focuses on how to act with grace towards other people. The third part discusses forgiveness and the prevelance of the concept in the New Testament. What would the world be like if we attempted to be as forgiving and compassionate as Jesus?

Living In Grace - Part Two

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Title - Live
Church - Living Word Lutheran in Katy, Texas (ELCA)
Author - Pastor Mike Aus
Citations - Mark 1:40, Matthew 7:1, 1 Corinthians 13:12, Exodus 20:3

Summary - A three part discussion of how to understand and live in God's grace. The first part discussed how we are far harder on ourselves than God would ever be. The second part focuses on how to act with grace towards other people. Pastor Mike points out that depression is a chemical issue and not a sin and we should not judge people for having it. The compassion of Jesus towards others was overwhelming (from the gut), but often our actions towards others lack compassion ( Feel guilty? Don't be hard on yourself, that's part one).

The Meaning of Life Part Three

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Title - The Meaning of Life Part Three
Church - Living Word Lutheran in Katy, Texas (ELCA)
Author - Pastor Mike Aus
Citations - Micah 6:8, Phillippians 2:5-8, 1 Peter 4:15, Matthew 7:1-3, Luke 14:14,

Summary - The final in a three part series about the new motto of Living Word Lutheran Church: "Do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with your God," Micah 6:8. This section focuses on the portion relating to living humbly. The focus of a humble Christian life is based on working on one's own spiritual journey and not meddling in other people's lives and gossiping as judging another person humbles them and exhaults yourself.

"We should fear and love God that we may not deceitfully belie, betray, slander, or defame our neighbor, but defend him, [think and] speak well of him, and put the best construction on everything." - Martin Luther, "The Small Catechism"