Sunday, August 21, 2011

It's Been a While

I haven't blogged in over a month!  Well, at least not on here.  Summer is a busy time for all of us. As the fall schedule approaches, things tend to settle down into a more predictable routine.  This fall, I'll be teaching in 2 different school districts' community education programs, working part-time in our church office, home schooling my 2 youngest sons and working my direct sales business, Thirty One Gifts.  Not to mention my continued work in free-lance writing.  But, I will find time to blog!  After all, I teach my writing students the importance of blogging, so I must set a good example.

This summer, I was introduced to yet another "Bible Study Book" put out by a popular author of women's Bible Studies.  The problem with these "Bible Study Books" is that they really aren't true Bible studies.  They really are commentaries.  Bible study involves the Bible and a study tool or two such as a concordance or a lexicon.  Bible dictionaries are also useful and important.  I may have to start a movement away from "Bible study books" as they are frustrating me more and more.  I don't buy them; they are usually given to me as a gift. I don't like to re-gift them and pass them on simply because I don't approve of them and don't consider them something I could give someone in good conscience.

Women need to be grounded in the Word. Period.  We don't need someone's ideals, suggestions for easy Christian living or ways to organize our lives.  We need to be grounded in the Word.  Priscilla (of Aquilla & Priscilla, the Book of Acts) was grounded in the Word.  She was able to minister right beside her husband and be a huge help because she was grounded in the Word.

I've made a few observations about women's Bible studies that I'd like to share with you:

1. Women's Bible study books are generally focused on people, not God.
2. Women's Bible study books are generally result-oriented rather than God-oriented.  A certain response is sought and the author feels good when that response is given. The response does not represent the heart, it represents the emotion of the moment.
3. Women's Bible study books often build on one another, making the reader feel that she has to buy the next one, or "must have" the previous one.

This blog writing is not complete on this subject, but I'm tired and it's late so I'm going to stop before I say something stupid in my exhaustion.  However, I will be coming back to this topic more and more because women need to be grounded in the Word, not fed fluff and stuff.

~Tricia

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