The Bible Should Change You

I grew up in church my entire life. As a kid, I learned all the stories in Sunday School, memorized all the verses in AWANA, and had many godly people pouring into my life and relationship with God. But none of that could compare to the life transformation that took place in me when I started doing one simple thing… studying the Bible for myself.

I was in Jr. High at the time and, honestly, living a pretty hypocritical life. I went through all the right motions at church, but at school would do anything to fit in and be popular. During those years I continued to be involved in our church’s youth ministry and had different men leading me in a small group setting as well as mentoring me on a personal level. On one occasion, I remember a volunteer leader named Matt talking to me about the importance of studying my Bible for myself. Now, I already knew the Bible was important. I already knew it was the very Word of God. I already knew it was the authority in my life. (Remember, I went through AWANA!) But that day talking with Matt he made me act on what I knew. He said, “Jared, I challenge you to read your Bible every day for the next month.” Whoa whoa whoa, why so legalistic? It’s not legalistic, it’s that Matt knew the Bible could do something I needed most. So, I was up for the challenge and jumped in.

I don’t remember what book of the Bible I started studying. I don’t know if you could even say I was studying the Bible, because all I knew at the time was how to read it. But each day I would get ready for school and before leaving I would read one chapter. Maybe on an especially good day I would pray when I was done reading that chapter. And you know what happened? Nothing. I can’t remember any new insights of God that took place those first two weeks as I read the Bible. But then I missed a day of reading.

The one month challenge of reading the Bible every day got the best of me and I failed. I hate failure. But guess what happened on that day. I remember standing outside on the field at recess, as a seventh grader, and whatever the circumstances where, I was having a bad day. So I stopped just for a moment and started thinking, “What’s wrong with me today?” I even said a quick prayer to ask God what was wrong with me. (He could have listed a whole bunch of things when I opened up that can… but He didn’t.) All I remember sensing at that time in my mind or heart, or both, was I didn’t read the Bible today! I DIDN’T READ GOD’S WORD TODAY!

That’s when it struck me. There was something different about this book than any other book I had ever read. This book wasn’t as much about me reading it for comprehension, as it was about opening my life to allow God to read me and guide me. That’s what did it for me. The challenge resumed, but not as a challenge, as a new desire in my heart to actually get to interact with and know the Almighty!

This book wasn’t as much about me reading it for comprehension, as it was about opening my life to allow God to read me and guide me.

I wish I could say that every day since has started with a deep time in God’s Word, but it hasn’t. The more complex my life became, the harder it was to prioritize time with God. See, many Christians (maybe even the majority) struggle with reading the Bible daily because it doesn’t seem to make much of a difference in their lives and to top it off, it’s hard to understand sometimes. But let me give some tips I’ve learned over the years following my realization of the importance of reading the Bible. And not only reading your Bible, but studying God’s Word. And not only studying to understand, but studying to be transformed by God. I’m not always ritualistic about this process, but here are some steps I try to take when I encounter God’s Word, both in preparation for preaching as well as personal study.

1. Start with prayer.

It doesn’t have to be long, but start by asking God to use this time to shape you. A prayer I like to say is something I picked up from one of my theology professors in college, “Lord, open your Word to my mind that I may understand it. And open my heart to your Word that I may be transformed by it.”

2. Ask questions of the text.

Read a section of verses as many times as needed and simply come up with questions. For example: Who is saying this? Who is receiving this? Where are they located? What does that word mean? Are there any repeated words or themes? Etc. This is a hard step to take because we can be in such a hurry to figure out what a passage means. But good questions will help reveal the meaning. Also, a pen and paper are handy for this step.

3. Write a sentence or two capturing the “big idea”.

Once you’ve gathered the big themes from your selected verses, make an attempt at stating the overall message or “big idea” in your own words. You might want to write several drafts of this statement to refine the words that really capture the heart of the passage. And don’t be scared about getting the “right answer”. This is about you drawing near to God, not taking a quiz.

4. Pray about how it applies to you and changes your life.

Finally, and most importantly, reflect on your own life in light of what God’s Word says. Are there sins to confess? Relationships that need to be restored? Habits that need to be started or stopped? The Bible is not just to be understood but to be practiced so our lives are transformed by God Himself. And transformation doesn’t happen after one time of studying, or one month of studying. We invest in the long-term process of God’s authoritative Word molding us over months and years and decades of communing with Him.

Where will you begin?

If this excites you but you don’t know where to start, consider studying the gospel of Mark. At Green Hills we’ll be hearing sermons from this book for the next 7 months, so let’s dig in and seek to know Jesus more as we strive to follow Him more closely.

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Below is a breakdown of the passage we’ll study each week on Sunday Morning. We’re already two weeks into our series but study at your own pace – one each week or faster if you’d like. May the Lord bless your study of His Word!

Date	Text
Apr 23	Mark 1:1-13
30	Mark 1:14-20
May 7	Mark 1:21-45
14	Mark 2:1-12
21	Mark 2:13-22
28	Mark 2:23-3:12
Jun 4	Mark 3:13-35
11	Mark 4:1-34
18	Mark 4:35-5:43
25	Mark 6:1-32
Jul 2	Mark 6:33-56
9	Mark 7:1-23
16	Mark 7:24-37
23	Mark 8:1-26
30	Mark 8:27-9:13
Aug 6	Mark 9:14-29
13	Mark 9:30-50
20	Mark 10:1-12
27	Mark 10:13-45
Sep 3	Mark 10:46-52
10	Mark 11:1-26
17	Mark 11:27-12:12
24	Mark 12:13-44
Oct 1	Mark 13:1-23
8	Mark 13:24-37
15	Mark 14:1-11
22	Mark 14:12-26
29	Mark 14:27-52
Nov 5	Mark 14:53-15:15
12	Mark 15:16-47
19	Mark 16:1-8
26	Mark 16:9-20

Three lessons I learned after “Praying Through” for a month straight

In the month of March, our Spanish speaking congregation decided to pray every day at noon for our Nation’s current political climate, specifically as it relates to immigration. It was an intriguing idea so I thought I might give a try, after all, it appeared to be a fairly low commitment with a clear end date. Now, I’m not here to declare one way or another the merits of immigration laws. Instead however, I’d like to reflect on my own journey as I “Prayed Through” the month with my Spanish-speaking brothers and sisters.

It should be noted that I am a third-generation, Mexican-American who speaks only English, (except when I’m at a Mexican restaurant ordering Carne Asada Enchiladas. Suddenly, I have a great Spanish accent).  So whenever threats of immigration-crack-down blast through my TV, I don’t have any personal apprehension about my future. And if I’m being brutally honest, I don’t typically consider others who are daily living in the fear of suddenly being uprooted from a future they’ve dreamed of for themselves, their children and their children’s children. When it comes to immigration, it might be fair to say that I’m somewhat apathetic.

I don’t typically consider others who are daily living in the fear of suddenly being uprooted from a future they’ve dreamed of for themselves, their children and their children’s children.

Praying through is not about convenience. It’s about consistency. “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” ~Romans 12:12

After praying through for a month straight, I’ve discovered there isn’t a “perfect time,” free from any potential inconvenience. Had I picked an early morning, I certainly would have “slept through” instead of prayed through. Likewise, my evenings are filled with long rehearsals and hang outs so…again no dependable free time.

Perhaps I shouldn’t have set my alarm to go off at noon every day but that was the declared time so I followed suit. There were a few lunch meetings when that alarm starting buzzing unexpectedly. But while it might not have always been ideal, that alarm never let me forget to pray. Some days may have gotten snoozed more than others but every single day saw me pause to lift up other people sometime between noon and 1pm.

It didn’t HAVE TO happen at noon. It just HAD TO happen. Without the alarm, I would have conveniently missed my opportunity to stop and pray daily. Stopping to pray was not always convenient but it was most certainly consistent.

Praying through was made complete because I was praying through with others. “On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, you also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.” ~ 2 Corinthians 1:10b-11 

My friend had also taken on the month-long endeavor and it served both as an encouragement and accountability as we checked in with each other. I know it’s much more spiritual to pray in the secret recesses of my prayer closet…a holy time just between me and the Lord but this was a higher level of discipline and I needed the accountability to see it through. I needed to check in with someone else who understood what it meant when I said, “I’m struggling to think of different ways to pray over the same topic.” It was he who asked if this exercise had spurred me to talk about immigration with people who better understood its implications. Without his simple but ingenious encouragement, I would have prayed in uninspiring, monotonous circles.

Then, on March 31^st, at about 12:08, I was filled with joy that I had actually done it! I had prayed through, every day, for a whole month. And since I knew my friend was also feeling something similar, I felt compelled to text him se we could rejoice together. I was a part of a bigger payer effort because he was doing it too…and we were a part of something even grander because the entire Spanish congregation was lifting one another up every day, along with us. Friends, That’s a lot of prayer.

Praying through opened the eyes of my heart to a hurting world – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” ~2 Corinthians 1:3-4

At the advice of my friend, I started talking with families who were feeling the pains of this immigration concern and my heart was broken when one young man said, “you can pray for my little sister. She is paranoid that the police are going to take our parents away and she will be all alone.” This pierced my heart through my throat. I know this family. They are very good, God-fearing people. This is not something that should be burdening a sweet young child. I now had several days of prayer fuel.

At about day 23, I was spending the afternoon with my daughter and my 12 o’clock alarm started buzzing while we were getting pedicures. As I considered how I would direct my prayers, my mind focused on the Vietnamese lady before me, cheerfully working away. I wondered what she thought about this immigration situation. She unlocked my limited view and I instantly envisioned our hurting world in desperate need of the peace and hope that comes only from knowing Jesus Christ. She was the one who helped me see beyond myself, beyond our laws, even beyond the Spanish, to something much, much bigger. The next 8 days of prayer took on a whole new level of urgency.

I believe it’s fairer now to say that my apathy for immigration reform has been transformed into a more passionate empathy for the world around; all because I committed to pray through with my friends.

Why it’s time for every Believer to stop arguing about Trump.

The close of 2016 brought one solitary moment of silent disbelief as Trump was dubbed the victor of, arguably, the most polarizing election in our nation’s history. I think liberals and conservatives all up and down the aisle were in some form of stunned disbelief that Donald Trump was going to be The President, like, in real life. The whole nation…maybe the world, unanimously murmured, “wha….? {silence}?” And when that brief moment of shock passed and reality began to sink in, so defiant rage and prideful ecstasy erupted across these supposedly “United” States of America.

Now before we go any further here, I should disclose that my vote was not cast for Hillary Clinton nor was it cast for Donald Trump. In fact, as the election drew closer, I was not silent about voting 3^rd party and voting conservative. The election also fostered in me an old ideal that we may need to seriously consider a legitimate 3-party system. The divisiveness of our two-party structure seems to be escalating to dangerous levels. But that’s probably a discussion for another day.

We are so blessed to live in the land of free speech and free election but as I spent some time in 1st Peter, I began to wonder – At what point did believers elevate national privilege to a higher status than that of our holy duty to submit?

1 Peter 2

¹³ For the Lord’s sake, submit to all human authority—whether the king as head of state, ¹⁴ or the officials he has appointed. For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor those who do right.

¹⁵ It is God’s will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you. ¹⁶ For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil.¹⁷ Respect everyone, and love the family of believers.Fear God, and respect the king.

Scripture makes no bones about it. Submit.

Submit to The-Sovereign-God’s-Appointed-Ruler. The “state,” just like the “home” and “the church” are all God-ordained institutions and the believer is commanded to submit and pray. (Rom 13:6, 1 Tim 2:1-4) If we say we fear God, then we also must say we respect the king (v. 17). For in doing so, we preserve the moral order established for our good. Of course that isn’t even the primary reason to submit.

At what point did believers elevate national privilege to a higher status than that of our holy duty to submit?

When we submit, we willingly silence our grumblings which in turn, just might silence the mouth of the opposing complainer. “It is God’s will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you.” Could it be that if we freely and wholly surrender ourselves to the result of the democratic process, we might bring our Divided States back into “The United States of America,” aka “One Nation, under God?” Does anyone believe it’s even worth the try?

As compelling as that notion is, it still isn’t the primary reason we choose to submit.

The primary reason for submitting is that God is glorified in us when we do. We obey “For the Lord’s sake.” We live in holy order. We live obediently. God is glorified. Let me put it another way.

When we perch ourselves on our soapbox to grumble publically about God’s appointed ruler, we are in blatant disobedience. Yes, believer, even when we grumble about something as seemingly righteous as education, SCOTUS or the refugees, our actions are completely counter to what God’s word commands of us in scripture. God knows the flaws and weaknesses of every leader in the entire world, for all of history. Nowhere does God give us allowance to whine about it, and certainly not day-in and day-out for weeks and months on end.

Now, please don’t hear me say we should be passive about defending the defenseless just because our Ruler Du Jour happens to have a different moral compass. Certainly not! That, too, would be counter to Scripture.

Psalm 82:3 “Give justice to the poor and the orphan; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute. 4 Rescue the poor and helpless; deliver them from the grasp of evil people.”

Isaiah 1:17 “Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.”

If we take a hard look at ourselves, many of us have no choice but to admit that we have done little more than complain about the current administration and use the defenseless as an excuse to do so. These verses above do not say “complain about your rulers for by doing so you help the helpless.” No, it is saying we need to do the work. Do good. Help the oppressed. Rescue them.

It is reasonable to assume that the believer who is putting their hands to good work doesn’t really have time to tirade on social media or at the local coffee shop. They are too busy helping the helpless and too wise to fall into the trap of uselessly and arrogantly ‘monologuing’.

If you find yourself coming to a similar conclusion about yourself, I ask only one thing:

Until you can speak from the experience of actually defending the hopeless, choose to silence yourself.

Trump Supporter, silence your arrogance and your pride. God is not glorified in that behavior.

Trump Detractor, silence your arrogance and contention. God is not glorified in that behavior.

Now that we’ve freed up our time from all of the complaining, we actually might have the space to do something to help our fatherless neighbor kid, or volunteer at the local Pregnancy Care Clinic, or hand out blankets on Skid Row or start a letter writing campaign to Washington DC, or support the missionary who is working with refugees on the other side of the world. Let us be glad our administration is flawed. It gives us the opportunity to reap the glorious benefits of giving of ourselves to those in need. By choosing this path, we believers are obeying lots of scriptural mandates but most importantly, God will be glorified in us.