August 14th, 2017

h. So I mentioned in my last blog about my desire to challenge people about their Bible study habits as I have done in Costa Rica. As I stated one of the greatest lessons I ever learned is how to ask the right questions when studying scripture. How to notice things that invoke questions which challenge you to dig deeper. Before I got save I originally thought of pursuing a career in law enforcement. I was an MP in the military for 14 years and love investigating things. I also love reading Sherlock Holmes. What I learned in Seminary is that we need to approach our Bible study as if we were Sherlock Holmes, trying to find out what God has said in His word and how it applies to my life. One of my seminary professors once said, "You need to take with you two questions every time you study scripture. What does it say?  And what does it mean?" When you  understand those two questions you will know what God has said in His word. As I approach scripture though I noticed that at times I was also stopping and saying, "wait a minute, Why did he do that or that doesn't seem to make sense.." I am not saying I questioned the validity of God's word in anyway I just wanted to have a clear understanding based on my belief and premise that God's word is true and that there are no contradictions in it. So I want to start posting questions or showing you questions that I come up with as I approach scripture and how they might be answered. I am currently studying Ephesians to preach through it when I get back to Costa Rica. In chapter 1 in verse 15 as Paul is praying for the Ephesians he states the motivation for his prayer is that he had heard of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That caused me to start to study more about faith. Eventually through that study I came to the incident in Act 16 when Paul and Silas were in prison in Philippi. I am sure you know the story of how the jailer got saved. One problem I ran into in Costa Rica was that many people took the text where Paul says in verse 31 "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." Many of the Costa Ricans took that to mean if one in their household believed then the whole house hold would be saved. Later in the text one could show that Paul later explained the gospel to the whole house hold and they all eventually believed on their own. But one question that cropped up in my mind was when the jailer asked, "what must I do to be saved?" Did you ever wonder, why in the world did he ask that? Why when he discovered that the prisoners were still there, didn't he just shut the doors, go back to his house, and say "wow, that was close." What in the world cause him to realize his need for salvation? Those are the type of questions I am talking about when approaching scripture that compel you to dig deeper and use a Sherlock Holmes type of mind to investigate it. The answers to questions such as that will really challenge your walk as a believer. I tell you it will bless your soul when you do this. So I will hold off on giving you my conclusions so you can search it your self.  So my question for you is, are you asking the right questions?