Familiar Made Unfamiliar

    This past year, studying my Bible has been something I have thoroughly enjoyed. I give credit to Tom Kelby, my pastor, and Mark Driscoll, pastor of Marshill Church in Seattle.  I grew up with a Bible in my hands, have read it through and for the last 5 years have made an effort to do devotions every day. But more recently, I have been learning to actually study it. I have used Rick Warren's 12 Ways to Study God's Word, and also just read the Scripture and analyzed every detail of it. This is something Joey and I like to do together too!  There are so many hidden truths and connections in Scripture that come only when you study it. God wants us to study His word.  If we only read it to grasp the basis of the story, or we pass over text we don't quite understand, we may miss crucial and very interesting points in His Word.  It has been fascinating, and I would like to share how fascinating with you. I hope this section encourages you to read your Bible more deeply and to invest time into learning some of its parallels and connections.  I think so many of us (me included), know Bible stories the way they are told in Sunday school- which I believe is not how God wants us to understand them. It was a good introduction when we were elementary, but now we are have matured, and so should the understanding of the story.  

• Leanne