One of my personal policies for my blog is that I never force an
entry. That is to say, I do not
want to put pressure on myself to come up with something to say, simply so I
can have something posted. I have had things to say since my last
entry, but I never felt compelled to say them through the medium of my
blog.
Well I am breaking my own policy out of obligation. The obligation is not something that I
am disappointed with though. The
obligation (I'm tired of saying obligation, duty would have been more fun) is
this, I have to do an assignment each week while I am at the Kanakuk Institute
(google it). These assignments can be in the format of an essay, a talk
outline, a lesson-plan, or a blog entry.
Naturally, I chose the blog entry.
So, are you reading my first assignment? Yes you are. This assignment is about the Inductive
Bible Study Method.
Say what?
Yeah I'm about to explain.
You think it's going to be a boring read don't you? Well shut up
thinking and read it anyway. You
aren't too busy to blow this off.
The Inductive Bible Study Method is a strategic plan for
studying the Bible in a way that allows the studier to understand the Word
literally. That definition sounds
like I copied it off of something, but I thought it up myself. Go me.
The three major areas of the IBSM are observation,
interpretation, and application.
Observation is simply examining what the text says. Some great things to look for are who,
what, when, where, why, and how. You also want to keep your eye out for words
and phrases that get repeated a lot.
Interpretation is
understanding what the text means.
Ok, so this is getting a little deeper. The biggest thing you want to remember to note is the
context that the text is written in.
If you pluck a single scripture out of somewhere without reading the
context that verse is set in, you can't really be confident that you know exactly what the author
meant by writing that verse. So
when Paul says that he can do all things through Christ who strengthens him. He is saying that whatever situation he
is in (rich, poor, prison, sickness, healthy) he can serve the Lord
faithfully. If you didn't read
through the context of that verse, you might think that he's saying that you
could run a marathon in an hour, or flap your arms and take off in flight, or
feel great after eating at Griff's / Steak n Shake. Context is a big deal y'all.
Alright, application is applying the meaning of the text to your
life. So, this is talking about
your belief and your behavior. If
you believe something, your behavior should prove that. For instance, if I believe that the
stove that I turned on 10 minutes ago is hot, I won't put my hand on it. Also, if I read in John 3:16 that God
so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes
in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life, my application to that is to
believe in Jesus. If I read in
Mark 12:31 that I shall love my neighbor as myself, I choose to believe that I
am supposed to do that. I should
apply that to my life and start loving my neighbors as myself. Application is mostly easy to
understand, yet many times it is difficult to put into practice.
So speaking of application, I have to answer the question of how
the Inductive Bible Study Method applies to my life. Well, I can start by saying that learning things like this
is exactly why I wanted to come to the Institute (the reason that I actually
came is that Polly made me). I've
gotten to the point in my quiet times that I've heard about most everything I
read, so it is familiar. However,
I don't grasp much meaning. The
results of these quiet times are two-fold. I don't feel like reading my Bible because I don't know what
I'm reading, and I am motivated to learn how to understand what I read at a
deeper level. So learning this
method of understanding the scriptures is meeting a need in my spiritual life
that can help me out of neutral and into drive.
Man I have to tell you though, this Kanakuk Institute life is
intense. I would say something cliche` like, "it aint for the weak and
faint-hearted," but if that were the case I wouldn't be here because I'm
definitely weak and faint-hearted.
If you want some more info on the Inductive Bible Study Method,
holler at your boy.
andygrass100@gmail.com
