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Hi, Welcome to
Issues and Answers.
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I'm C. A. Murray. Let me ask you
a question. Have you ever gotten
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a flyer in the mail or perhaps
you've turned on your television
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set or the radio and heard a
preacher or a teacher talking
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about a piece of scripture,
discussing a piece of scripture,
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that sounded somewhat foreign
to you. You've looked at that
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scripture and you've gotten
one idea from it but what you're
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hearing sounds totally different
than what you got from it? Well
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the issue is how do you discuss
or how do you look at the Bible
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and read out of the Bible what
it has to say to you. That's our
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topic for today, Bible Study.
And here with me to really talk
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about this issue is Dr. Lee
Gugliotto. Good doctor, good to
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have you here.
It's good to be here.
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Now we could say Gugliotto or
we could say Gugliautto or from
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Brooklyn you
would say Gugliautta.
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That's true. Probably the
easiest thing is just call me
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Lee. Most people are
relieved to hear the name Lee.
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The good doctor is Brooklyn born
and we were talking about having
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sometime in New York myself.
But he's traveled the world and
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his burden has been for the last
several years Bible study, how
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to study, what to study, how to
study so that you're reading out
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of the Bible what it has to
say to you as opposed to reading
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into the Bible your own
preconceived notions or what you
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would like the Bible to say. So
That's our burden today. That's
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the issue we want to wrestle
with-how to study the Bible
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and get what the Bible has to
say to us. Yeah, Yeah. I guess
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Lee the easiest question
to ask is what is Bible Study?
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Well you know there are a lot
of answers to that question and
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many people feel certain that
their answer is the best. For me
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I think the Bible should
determine what Bible study is.
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So let's take a look at a couple
of passages and see if we can't
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understand what Bible study
is. We could start by looking at
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1 John chapter 2 and verse 27.
That's the first letter of John,
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not the gospel. First letter
of John chapter 2 verse 27.
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We'll wait to see when we get
there because by the time we get
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there everybody at home should
be there. I sure hope they have
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their Bibles out.
I sure hope they do.
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And are staying with
us. That's important.
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Verse 27 reads: As for you
the anointing which you received
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from him abides in you and you
have no need for anyone to teach
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you, but as his anointing
teaches you about all things
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and is true and is not a lie and
just as it has taught you, you
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abide in him. Now there's a
couple of startling things in
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that verse. Number one you
probably want to know is what is
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this anointing that abides in me
and what does John mean when he
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says because of this anointing
you don't need anyone to teach
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you because the anointing
teaches you. Well, let's start
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by talking about what anointing
is. Anointing in the Old
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Testament refers to the idea of
oil being poured out on a person
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equipping him with the Holy
Spirit for his work; usually for
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priests and kings. Now that
sounds very ancient and what
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does that have to do with
people today. Well according to
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Revelation 1:5 and 6 Jesus has
made us kings and priests both,
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you see, to God as Father. So
that means that each one of us
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needs an anointing to equip
us for our ministry as kings and
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priests for God. According
to Ephesians 4:30 we have been
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sealed, every true believer,
has been sealed by God with the
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Spirit until redemption day. So
we have this anointing, the Holy
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Spirit has been poured out on us
and preparing us for our kingly
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and priestly work. And who is
this Holy Spirit that has been
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poured out upon us. Well if
you go to John chapter 16 and we
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could pick it up at verse 13:
But when he the Spirit of Truth
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comes he will guide you into all
truth for he will not speak on
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his own initiative but whatever
he hears he will speak and he
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will disclose to you what is
to come, so the Spirit that has
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been poured out on us is none
other than the Holy Spirit who
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is also our divinely appointed
teacher. Get the picture. We've
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been anointed with a Spirit who
will be with us until redemption
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day and that Spirit is the Holy
Spirit who guides us into all
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truth, God's
divinely appointed teacher.
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So when we talk about the
anointing then are we talking
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about a sort of formal
bestowal of the Spirit?
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We're talking about something
that happens to every believer.
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See this is not some kind
of special ceremony but this is
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another way Paul uses of
describing what happens to each
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one of us at our conversion. So
The Holy Spirit has entered our
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lives. He is the Spirit
who empowers us for all of this
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wonderful ministry that God
has called us to but at the same
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time he's our teacher. And he'll
be with us until the day of
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redemption, which is why
John says you don't need another
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teacher. You have an anointing
that will last forever and so
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you don't need anybody else to
teach you. And that's a question
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because you know we talked to
a number of people about Bible
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study teaching and it amazes me.
I would like to know even myself
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I've heard many answers. Why is
it that people would want anyone
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else to teach them other than
God's Holy Spirit. We have the
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Spirit that guides us into truth
He's an infallible teacher. He
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always leads us into truth
and every pupil of his gets an
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education that is divinely
inspired and divinely transacted
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So why would anybody want
anyone else to teach them?
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It amazes me but a lot of people
don't realize what God has done
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and so they want to sit
under Chehe ministries or other
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ministries reading books and so
on rather than actually get into
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the Bible to
study for themselves.
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Now having said that you have
a Ph. D. in this so obviously
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there are pitfalls that have
to be avoided that one must work
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their way around and through.
You know, you start off as a
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babe and then you get your sea
legs where you get a little bit
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stronger. So there are some
things even when we sit under
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the presence of the Spirit
when we're going through word
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ourselves that we need to
avoid that we need to look at.
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Well one is first of all one of
the great misconceptions about
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Bible study. I want to go back
to John 16:13 again. OK. But
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he the Spirit of truth comes
he will guide you into all truth
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for he will not speak on his own
initiative but whatever he hears
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he will speak and he will
disclose to you what is to come.
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Verse 14: He will glorify Me for
he will take of mine and will
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disclose it to you. Verse 15:
All things that the Father has
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are mine, therefore I said
that he takes of mine and will
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disclose it to you. Get the
picture. The Holy Spirit is not
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original. When he speaks to us
he is repeating what he is told.
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And who's telling him these
things? Jesus is telling him
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these things. So the first thing
we need to understand about
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Bible study is Bible study
is not getting in your Bible to
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learn about Jesus. Bible study
is getting into your Bible to
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learn from Jesus. Through the
Holy Spirit's ministry Jesus is
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our teacher. Jesus is the one
who is actually speaking to us.
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Now I think if people understood
that more clearly they would not
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elect to take substitutions for
Christ as their teacher because
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Bible study is not an academic
exercise, it's not a research
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project. It's an experience
with Jesus. So that's one of the
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first and most important, I
think, misunderstandings about
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Bible study that
need to be cleared out.
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Lee, that's an important point.
The point I hear you making is
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why would you want to get
it second hand? Get it straight
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from the source. You can get
it from Jesus, go to the source.
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And if you get it from Christ
and getting it from Christ is
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more than just learning facts.
Getting it from Christ is an
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experience whereby Jesus is able
to transform us and work within
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us and bring us further along
in our progress in the Christian
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life. So it's not a matter of,
oh I need to look up something
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and find out about it.
Every time we open our Bibles we
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ought to consider it an
opportunity to be with God.
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In fact, one of our pioneers
once said that God's word isn't
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merely written but spoken. The
Bible is God's voice speaking to
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us just as surely as though
we could hear it with our ears.
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If we realize this that
God himself addresses us in our
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Bibles then with what
earnestness we would search it's
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precepts, with what
determination we would
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open it's pages. Even
the reading and contemplation
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of the scriptures would be
regarded as an audience with the
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infinite. Powerful, powerful.
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Every time you open your
Bible you may not see it because
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you're still in your
surroundings but you've been
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transported into the throne room
of grace with God and you have
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a personal interview with God
and his undivided attention and
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the Infinite One, the God who
knows everything, is prepared
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to instruct you about anything
and everything you want to know.
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That's Bible study.
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All right, then let's move
around because the question
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as we prioritize then we need
to wrestle with what then is the
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most important aspect of
Bible study? Where do we start?
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Well it's actually now where we
start. You have to have a goal
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and that determines where you
start. The most important aspect
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of Bible study is clearly
application because what does it
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matter if you've been very
careful about analyzing the text
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and allowing it to speak to you
and authenticating what you're
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getting from the Bible by
looking up words and places and
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people and things. What good is
all of that if it doesn't change
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your life? I mean James makes it
very clear. We're not supposed
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to be just hearers of the word.
We're supposed to be doers of
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the word. So all Bible study
must be geared in the direction
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that will enable us to go from
the scriptures to real life and
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to allow the Bible to have the
full impact on us that it really
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should. So before
we open the pages I
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think you're saying we have to
be prepared in mind and heart to
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say whatever I find here,
whatever the Spirit shows me,
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I'm going to do.
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Absolutely. Yeah, you have to
come to the Bible prepared for
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change, always come prepared
for change. Another thing about
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Bible study-there are two
approaches to Bible study. Some
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people study the Bible... I'm
sure the audience at home has
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heard these words... Inductively
and others study deductively and
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then some blend the two. But
let's differentiate between the
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two. The deductive student of
the Bible comes with an agenda.
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The deductive student of the
Bible has something in mind and
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comes to the Bible looking
for support for what that person
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already thinks and is governed
by preconceived notions and
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these preconceived notions have
an effect on what the person
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gets out of the Bible. Because
they're trying to deduce from
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the scriptures what they can
that fits with what they already
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know. Now inductive
Bible students are different.
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Inductive students of the Bible
don't come with any particular
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agenda other than to learn.
So when they come to the Bible
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instead of saying you know I
need to see if I can find such
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and such in the scriptures or
does this back up what I already
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know. You come to the Bible just
with the idea I want to learn
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and so I'm willing to just
gather information. I'm going to
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hold myself back from drawing
conclusions. I'm just going to
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study and I'm going to gather
information and then when the
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Holy Spirit convinces me that
there's nothing else left to
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collect, then it seems to me
I have enough finally to start
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drawing conclusions from the
text and without a set agenda
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you can learn virtually
anything from the Bible.
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Yeah, Praise God. I think you'll
agree with me, the Bible is such
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a broad book, such a
comprehensive book that
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if you come with a preconception
you will find things to support
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your preconception. You know,
whatever it is you come with
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you'll find enough stuff in
there to sort of build a little
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platform on. Yeah,
that's very true and I
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find that that is the case. You
know, we've talked with a lot of
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people; we've been teaching
Bible study now for many years.
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Ever since we won that
gold medallion for the handbook,
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we found ourselves in the midst
of discussions on hermeneutics.
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People at home are probably
going Herman who? Hermeneutics.
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Hermeneutics refers to the
principles of Bible study. It's
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the machinery, the methodology
and the techniques you use for
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Bible study as opposed to
interpretation itself, what we
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would call exegesis.
That's another fancy word.
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Yeah. I was going to ask you to
just take a little left term and
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deal with those two terms:
exegesis and eisegesis, what
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they are and what
mistakes attend from them both.
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Yeah, you see exegesis is
leading out of scripture, you're
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not manufacturing, you're not
reading into it. Eisegesis is
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read into scripture what you're
hoping to find there, what you
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think you see there. Exegesis is
reading it out, so that is the
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actual practice of Bible study.
But hermeneutics is the basis.
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It's the principles by which
we study the Bible. So a lot
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depends on your hermeneutic and
across Christendom there are a
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great deal of things that we
all agree on. When we wrote the
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handbook, what we did was we
dwelt on these sound principles
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of interpretation that
just about everybody agrees with
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and we got a gold medallion
from the Evangelical Christian
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Publishers Association because
scholars of many different
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denominations looked at the book
and said you know I can agree
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with that because the principles
were sound. It's when we attempt
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to do the actually
interpretation of the Bible some
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of us have extra principles that
we use. Some people come to the
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Bible for example and have a
very strong literal bent when
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they come to the Bible. Others
are a little more open and are
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willing to take each text as it
comes and ask God to help them
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to see what is the sense they
should take that passage in. And
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it does make a difference
because I can remember, this is
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a true story, back in 1958 the
Braves were playing the Yankees
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for the world series and I
remember it was the last game,
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ninth inning, and Warren Spawn
is on the mound for the Braves
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and Leo Durocher is the manager
of the Braves. Elston Howard
00:16:20.16\00:16:23.91
comes to the plate for the
Yankees, power hitting catcher
for the Yankees. There's
00:16:23.95\00:16:27.32
a couple of guys on base and
Durocher is a little frightened
00:16:27.36\00:16:31.58
so Durocher calls time, comes
running out, comes up to Warren
00:16:31.61\00:16:34.96
and says Warren you know we've
studied some movies of this guy.
00:16:35.00\00:16:39.19
You know you've faced him before
so whatever you do don't give
00:16:39.23\00:16:42.95
this guy a high inside fast ball
that's the last thing you want
00:16:42.99\00:16:46.53
to do. He leaves, runs back into
the dugout and Warren goes into
00:16:46.57\00:16:49.95
his major league windup, if you
remember Warren Spawn, that big
00:16:49.99\00:16:53.34
windup and fires in a high
inside fast ball which Elston
00:16:53.37\00:16:57.64
Howard creams for a three-run
homer. Now you'll probably say
00:16:57.67\00:17:01.64
Durocher is probably saying
didn't I just tell you not to do
00:17:01.68\00:17:05.91
that. Well the problem is the
last thing on our mind is what
00:17:05.94\00:17:10.86
we actually enact, the next
thing we do. And so if you come
00:17:10.90\00:17:15.25
to the Bible with preconceived
notions, those preconceived
00:17:15.29\00:17:19.86
notions are going to govern the
way you view scripture and as
00:17:19.89\00:17:24.03
much as people love the Lord and
really want the Bible to speak
00:17:24.06\00:17:28.21
to them, I mean after all, God
speaks to us through his word.
00:17:28.24\00:17:31.66
So you want to listen for that
still small voice. As much as
00:17:31.69\00:17:35.38
you want to do that you find
that your preconceived notions
00:17:35.42\00:17:39.27
do color the way you approach
the scriptures and they actually
00:17:39.31\00:17:43.64
taint the results you get. So
that is another difficulty you
00:17:43.67\00:17:47.97
you have to get past.
00:17:48.00\00:17:49.58
All right. Before our time slips
away I want you to wrestle with
00:17:49.62\00:17:52.94
for me, then given this
foundation that we set, how do
00:17:52.97\00:17:57.35
we actually study the Bible?
And, if you will, because you've
00:17:57.39\00:18:00.48
spent a lifetime doing this and
teaching this, what are some of
00:18:00.51\00:18:03.57
the major mistakes that you
see people committing in Bible
00:18:03.60\00:18:06.91
study? How do we do it and what
are the pitfalls we need to sort
00:18:06.95\00:18:09.79
of dance around
as we try to study?
00:18:09.82\00:18:11.09
Well one of the first things you
don't want to do is just rush in
00:18:11.13\00:18:14.07
to study a text. You may assume
I've heard things about this
00:18:14.10\00:18:18.48
text, I've been told about this
book, this passage, and you rush
00:18:18.52\00:18:23.25
right in to look at that passage
The probability is that you're
00:18:23.28\00:18:28.27
going to isolate that passage
from its context. The context is
00:18:28.31\00:18:33.20
the world the writer created for
the words, people, places and
00:18:33.23\00:18:37.67
things in his book. You cannot
understand them unless you see
00:18:37.71\00:18:41.86
them against the backdrop of
that world. If you disconnect
00:18:41.90\00:18:46.71
them from the writer's reasons
for writing, or the time in
00:18:46.75\00:18:51.23
which he writes or the location
he's dealing with and the
00:18:51.27\00:18:55.68
circumstances of the people in
the book and the situations and
00:18:55.72\00:18:59.10
so on. If you detach it from
those things you can make the
00:18:59.14\00:19:02.89
Bible say just about anything
you want it to say. And so
00:19:02.92\00:19:07.63
context is key. You must get
the context. To start with you
00:19:07.67\00:19:12.09
should get a big picture of the
whole book. Do not rush into a
00:19:12.12\00:19:16.51
passage but get a big
picture of the whole book.
00:19:16.54\00:19:19.91
This is important Lee and I want
to stay with this just a second.
00:19:19.95\00:19:23.41
Because having taken your course
having sat under you, you stress
00:19:23.44\00:19:27.73
context quite a lot. You do not
rip a text out of its context.
00:19:27.77\00:19:32.03
So you're saying rather than
just dive into that one text
00:19:32.06\00:19:34.76
look at the whole book, look
at the milieu that it sits in
00:19:34.79\00:19:37.64
before you go to that text
and don't just go there because
00:19:37.68\00:19:40.50
you're going to go sort of off.
00:19:40.53\00:19:41.99
Well you can make a passage say
anything you want. So when you
00:19:42.03\00:19:46.38
come to the text you should come
to it gradually starting with
00:19:46.42\00:19:50.35
the big picture of the whole
book: Who wrote it, when did he
00:19:50.39\00:19:53.78
write it, where did he write,
who was he writing to, who does
00:19:53.82\00:19:57.24
he write about to that audience?
Why does he write the book?
00:19:57.28\00:20:00.56
And so on. And you want to get
an outline of the book so you
00:20:00.60\00:20:04.07
can start to see how parts
of the book fit together. If you
00:20:04.11\00:20:07.54
have a particular passage you
want to study, you can move in
00:20:07.57\00:20:11.23
on that passage now because
you can see where it fits in the
00:20:11.27\00:20:14.88
book. One of the things that
people should remember is try to
00:20:14.91\00:20:18.76
study the book a passage at a
time. Even if you want to just
00:20:18.80\00:20:22.62
learn what one verse means,
don't tackle that verse by
00:20:22.65\00:20:26.02
itself. Look in your Bible,
almost any Bible, whether it's
00:20:26.06\00:20:29.54
just a reading Bible or a study
Bible like this one, when you
00:20:29.58\00:20:33.03
look in your Bible,
you'll notice that there are
00:20:33.06\00:20:36.78
subheadings throughout the Bible
Those subheadings are dividing
00:20:36.82\00:20:41.10
the book into passages, that is
units of thought, collections of
00:20:41.13\00:20:46.14
verses that are all dealing with
one subject or one topic, one
00:20:46.17\00:20:50.90
main character, one event, or
so on. So it pays to study those
00:20:50.94\00:20:55.23
verses together as a unit
because they're all dealing with
00:20:55.26\00:20:58.61
that topic. Even the verse you
want to learn about is part of
00:20:58.65\00:21:01.97
this collection that
works together as a single unit.
00:21:02.00\00:21:06.06
So you want to study the Bible
a passage at a time. Find out
00:21:06.10\00:21:10.64
what the passage before has to
say and the simplest way to do
00:21:10.67\00:21:14.61
that is to see what does the
passage before have in common
00:21:14.65\00:21:18.56
with the passage
00:21:18.59\00:21:19.76
that you want to study. Just
look at what they have in common
00:21:19.79\00:21:23.96
So for example if I'm studying
Psalm 23 and I look at Psalm 22
00:21:24.00\00:21:27.78
which is... You know the book
of Psalms breaks up into various
00:21:27.81\00:21:31.56
psalms. Each psalm is a passage.
So Psalm 22 is the passage
00:21:31.60\00:21:36.58
before Psalm 23. When I look
at Psalm 22, Psalm 22 is about a
00:21:36.62\00:21:40.90
life and death struggle for
David. He is under attack. He
00:21:40.94\00:21:45.15
expects to die. His enemies
are closing in, they're about to
00:21:45.18\00:21:49.86
destroy him. We see his faith
take a hit and then bounce back,
00:21:49.90\00:21:54.42
take another hit and bounce
back and finally out of nowhere
00:21:54.46\00:21:59.45
he just suddenly says I will let
the whole congregation of the
00:21:59.48\00:22:04.44
righteous know how you
delivered me from death.
00:22:04.47\00:22:06.64
It's like whoa, faith finally
just triumphs there and then
00:22:06.68\00:22:10.39
he talks about that and then
he talks about how he's going to
00:22:10.42\00:22:14.05
let the congregation know, the
uttermost parts of the earth are
00:22:14.08\00:22:17.68
going to know about this.
He even says that he's going to
00:22:17.71\00:22:20.93
throw a tremendous banquet,
a feast that he's going to
00:22:20.97\00:22:24.12
celebrate God rescuing him from
this certain death situation and
00:22:24.16\00:22:28.68
everybody's going to come and
eat. Even the poor are going to
00:22:28.71\00:22:32.63
come and eat and be satisfied.
Well you read all that. Then you
00:22:32.67\00:22:37.05
get to Psalm 23 and Psalm 23
David talks about yea though I
00:22:37.09\00:22:41.43
walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, I will fear no
00:22:41.47\00:22:45.94
evil for thou art with me. Thy
rod and they staff they comfort
00:22:45.98\00:22:49.93
me and in the next verse, thou
preparest a table before me in
00:22:49.96\00:22:53.35
the presence of mine enemies.
There's a connection between
00:22:53.39\00:22:57.91
these two Psalms. Psalm 23
seems to be reflecting on the
00:22:57.95\00:23:02.10
circumstances of Psalm 22 where
David was going through the
00:23:02.14\00:23:06.34
valley of certain death. Death
was hanging over him like a
00:23:06.37\00:23:11.62
specter and he was fearless
about it and by faith he claims
00:23:11.65\00:23:16.17
victory, promises God he
will celebrate with everyone and
00:23:16.20\00:23:19.97
there'll be a table and he'll
let everyone know that God set
00:23:20.00\00:23:23.74
the table for him because
it's God's victory they're
00:23:23.77\00:23:26.36
celebrating. So you see the
connection. And then you could
00:23:26.40\00:23:30.60
do the same thing when you look
at Psalm 23 and Psalm 24. You
00:23:30.63\00:23:34.19
start looking for what do they
have in common. Because these
00:23:34.23\00:23:37.88
passages before and after are
going to help you to understand
00:23:37.91\00:23:41.53
basically the context of
that little part you want to
00:23:41.56\00:23:46.12
understand. So I mean we could
go into more detail about that
00:23:46.16\00:23:48.95
but I mean that's
a pretty good idea.
00:23:48.98\00:23:51.22
I'm sort of pausing here
a little bit. It's a little
00:23:51.26\00:23:54.84
counterintuitive but it's also
very, very important because
00:23:54.88\00:23:58.03
you're saying if I want
to really understand the 23rd
00:23:58.06\00:24:01.73
psalm I don't start with the
23rd psalm. I start with Psalm
00:24:01.77\00:24:05.04
22 or maybe even 21, but I get
a whole context with that. So
00:24:05.08\00:24:09.38
long before I get Psalm 23 I've
done serious study in the verses
00:24:09.42\00:24:13.06
that precede it and maybe even
those that come after it so I
00:24:13.10\00:24:16.71
can understand the one
that I'm really keying on.
00:24:16.74\00:24:18.48
Absolutely. In fact, if you look
at an outline of the book of
00:24:18.52\00:24:21.61
Psalms you know the book of
Psalms breaks up into five books
00:24:21.64\00:24:24.70
The first book seems to
deal with law and kingship, the
00:24:24.73\00:24:29.66
foundations of the Jewish
experience. Then the next part
00:24:29.70\00:24:34.56
deals with the temple. Then you
start trying to understand that.
00:24:34.60\00:24:38.30
Why would the temple follow
on kingship. Well the problem is
00:24:38.33\00:24:42.49
that not everybody can keep the
law, not everybody is perfect
00:24:42.52\00:24:46.70
all the time and not everybody
obeys the king, disobeys and so
00:24:46.73\00:24:49.46
on. So what do you want to
do with it. If you want to go to
00:24:49.50\00:24:52.20
with it? You want to go
to the temple where you find
00:24:52.23\00:24:55.93
forgiveness for sin and you can
reconcile with God and reconcile
00:24:55.97\00:24:59.49
with those you've hurt and
so on. And so you can see...
00:24:59.52\00:25:02.66
And then Psalm 23 is right
in that first section, law and
00:25:02.69\00:25:05.83
kingship that prepares us for
the temple. So I mean, you want
00:25:05.87\00:25:09.66
to understand Psalm 23 see it in
a bigger picture, see it in the
00:25:09.69\00:25:13.18
bigger picture, so context is
very important. The second thing
00:25:13.22\00:25:16.59
that you really need to do
is you need to do some analysis.
00:25:16.62\00:25:20.19
One of the things that we
show people to do is look for
00:25:20.23\00:25:23.72
repetition. Writers repeat
what's important to them the
00:25:23.75\00:25:27.17
more they repeat them the more
important it is. So if you look
00:25:27.21\00:25:30.53
for repetition what you're going
to see is the way the writer's
00:25:30.57\00:25:33.86
thoughts flow through the
passage. What you do is every
00:25:33.89\00:25:37.77
time you see something that's
the same, similar or related
00:25:37.81\00:25:41.48
mark it with one color. You find
something else. Look at that
00:25:41.51\00:25:44.93
thing. What's the same, similar
or related to it. Mark it with
00:25:44.97\00:25:48.14
another color. Pretty soon you
have all these different colors
00:25:48.18\00:25:51.36
and you can see how the book
breaks up and without being a
00:25:51.40\00:25:56.08
scholar of Hebrew or Greek
or an expert in exegesis you can
00:25:56.11\00:26:00.30
see insights into what's
happening just be using a simple
00:26:00.33\00:26:04.45
technique. Then you want to look
up things. Find out what these
00:26:04.49\00:26:08.15
words meant in the original
language. Use a Strong's
00:26:08.18\00:26:11.20
Concordance. You want to see the
people, places and things in the
00:26:11.24\00:26:14.93
original setting so look them
up in a Bible dictionary and get
00:26:14.96\00:26:18.94
some insights into who they are.
Then you can lay out all your
00:26:18.97\00:26:22.38
research in front of you and
then you can go verse by verse
00:26:22.42\00:26:25.70
and start pulling things
together trying to understand.
00:26:25.74\00:26:28.95
And the way people learn is they
ask questions. You know people
00:26:28.99\00:26:32.97
don't just look at the Bible and
yep I understand, I understand
00:26:33.00\00:26:36.95
that. As they're going
through their mind is trying to
00:26:36.98\00:26:39.34
understand everything. There are
certain laws of thinking. What
00:26:39.38\00:26:44.23
we try to do is we try to
get what we see to fit what we
00:26:44.26\00:26:47.20
already know. But when we don't
understand, we ask questions.
00:26:47.24\00:26:50.60
That's what those definitions
and descriptions are for and as
00:26:50.63\00:26:53.96
you start to pull things
together it all starts to come
00:26:53.99\00:26:56.58
together. Before you know it,
the Holy Spirit has put you in
00:26:56.62\00:27:00.02
touch with the writer and
you understand the book and you
00:27:00.06\00:27:03.39
understand the passage and it's
been a tremendous blessing and
00:27:03.43\00:27:06.64
and a journey. Praise
God, praise God. You know
00:27:06.67\00:27:08.46
we have just begun to scratch
the surface of this weighty and
00:27:08.50\00:27:13.48
important subject. Weighty and
important because our eternal
00:27:13.51\00:27:18.32
destinies depend upon it. It's
dependent upon the fact that we
00:27:18.36\00:27:22.28
have read and studied and know
what to do before we attempt to.
00:27:22.32\00:27:26.21
Bible study is as much a
Christian life principle without
00:27:26.24\00:27:30.80
which you can't life normal
Christianity as prayer. So you
00:27:30.84\00:27:34.15
got to be able to study the
Bible for yourself or how can
00:27:34.18\00:27:37.46
you live the
normal Christian life?
00:27:37.49\00:27:39.16
Good Doctor
thank you so very much.
00:27:39.19\00:27:40.83
It's been great to be here.
00:27:40.86\00:27:42.46
This is just the beginning of a
series of programs that our good
00:27:42.50\00:27:47.78
doctor is going to be out
guest. Join us again here on
00:27:47.81\00:27:50.82
Issues and Answers as we talk
more about these things that
00:27:50.86\00:27:53.84
affect not only today
but tomorrow and forever.
00:27:53.87\00:27:56.17
God bless you.
00:27:56.20\00:27:57.32