#031: Back From The Storm

How should we interpret the text of the Bible?  Pastor Steve offers some practical advice for how to study the Bible. Also Mark talks about the topic of forgiveness in prayer and the 4th question in the Westminster Confession: "What is God?"

This week's podcast is published a couple days later than normal. I'm just returning from vacation.  Here's what I have lined up for you in this week's podcast:

[0:00]  Intro. I talk about my trip to Myrtle Beach and the stormy weather on the way back.

[13:45] Forgiveness and Prayer. We continue to consider the Lord's Prayer as our model for our daily prayers. In this week's podcast we discuss the issue of forgiveness - forgiving others and forgiving ourselves.

[25:25] Question 4. What is God? That's an uncomfortable question.  We're much more comfortable talking about Who is God? We'll take 3 podcast sessions to get started on this question. This theological study comes from G.I. Williamson's book on the Westminster Shorter Catechism.

[39:55] CR Sermon: "How To Interpret A Text." Steve does an excellent job teaching for me this week.  Here are some highlights. A verse of the Bible means what it means.  There may be many applications but only one meaning. There are no secrets in the Bible.  We should look for the most obvious meaning. Steve also shares some great advice about prayer. You can't fall when you're on your knees! If God does not give you what you're asking for, he will give you something better. We're not always good at asking for what is best for us. Prayer is the passwoord to all God wants to do in our life. Prayer is not a spare tire to be taken out when things go wrong.  Prayer is the steerin wheel that guides us! Finally this valuable tidbit: Prayerlessness is practical atheism! This is a great talk! Don't miss it! Thanks so much Pastor Steve!

Music for this week's podcast is The Storm from Ray Boltz's album, Allegiance.

#030: Godly Training

The secret to great Bible study is asking great questions. In this week's podcast we talk about the 4 key questions we should ask each time we study God's Word. Our podcast is really godly training because we also talk about meditation on Scripture, prayer, and theology.

I'm publishing the podcast a day earlier than normal so that Mary Kay and I can get away a little sooner tonight after the CR worship service for a week's R&R. Here's what I have lined up for you in this week's podcast:

[05:19]  Meditation and S.P.A.C.E.P.E.T.S. I talk about the reason we should meditate on Scripture. Then we use an acrostic to remember the application questions we should ask when we meditate.

[17:25] 6-Part Model Prayer. We continue to consider the Lord's Prayer as our model for our daily prayers.

[28:19] Question 3. What's God's Word for anyway? This two-part answer transitions us into the rest of our theological study from G.I. Williamson's book on the Westminster Shorter Catechism.

[37:26] CR Sermon: "How To Study The Bible." I've prerecorded this week's 40 Days In The Word sermon for the podcast. We consider 4 questions in every Bible study. In this podcast we use Philippians 2:19-30 as an example of a Bible passage we will study together. At first glance it doesn't appear that there is much here. However, using the 4 questions, we discover 5 marks of a godly man or woman. Many thanks to Rick Warren for writing this sermon and making it available for us to use!

Music for this week's podcast is "Gonna Fly Now (Theme From Rocky)."

#029: Seeing Clearly Now

When we read the Bible, how can we see clearly what God wants us to see? In this podcast we'll 4 good things that happens when God opens my eyes. We'll talk about 5 ways to prepar ourselves to see what God wants me to see.

Here's what I have lined up for you in this week's podcast:

[8:00] 4 Questions To Ask Before Posting Political on Facebook or Twitter.  The Pastors.com staff put this good advice up on Aug. 14th. It seemed most appropriate now as we are entering the final weeks of the U.S. national election.  I talk about the importance of showing perfect courtesy to all people all the time.

[20:34] The 6-Part Model Prayer. We continue our discussion about our prayer life by looking at the model prayer Jesus gave us.  Most of us know this model prayer as "The Lord's Prayer." How can we use this prayer to form our own more personal prayer life?

 [32:26] Question 3 - What's God's Word For? We continue our discussion of the Westminster Confession with the important transition question. The answer to this question sets up the next 104 questions! Listen and you'll hear why. We continue to use G.I Williamson's Shorter Catechism book.

[45:15] CR Sermon: "Seeing What God Wants Me To See" In this 4th part of the 40 Days In The Word series we consider the subject of illumination. What happens when God opens my eyes? How can I prepare myself? You can follow along with the YouVersion sermon notes.

[1:40:15] Wrap Up - Friends invited us over after church so I didn't wrap up until Monday morning. Short and sweet!

Music for this week's podcast is "I Can See Clearly Now" by Johnny Nash.

#028: Back From The Beach

The Bible is unlike any other book. There is a good reason it is called the HOLY Bible. It has the ability to change us in remarkable ways. Also Pastor Mark is back from his beach vacation.

Here's what I have lined up for you this week:

[0:00] Opening - I'm back from vacation and I promise not to talk about it too much!

[08:40] 10 Things God Can't Do.   I know this sounds wrong, but you'll be so encouraged when you hear this.  Thanks to Shannon O'Dell for his article in Pastors.com.

[24:00] Right Attitude of Prayer. We continue the series on prayer we began last week on the podcast. This week we consider what Jesus teaches about the attitude of prayer right before he teaches us the Lord's Prayer.

[39:39] 3 Characteristics of God's Word. This week in the doctrine segment we continue to look at question #2 of the Westminster Confession of Faith. We are using G.I. Williamson's instructional book: "The Westminster Shorter Catechism."

[53:36] CR Sermon: "How The Bible Changes Us." This sermon was written by Rick Warren and is the 3rd sermon in the 40 Days In The Word series. This is also the first sermon ever delivered by Pastor Steve Thoman at Church Requel. He did a great job!

[1:35:12] Wrap Up. I wrap up the podcast with some final thoughts.

Music for this week's podcast is "[Sittin' On] The Dock Of The Bay" by Otis Redding.