West Main

YOU ARE I TRY

Dissecting Frogs and Bible Study

Here is a strange thing: throughout my Christian walk, I have had the experience of both losing and gaining intimacy in my relationship to God while studying His Word. I say this experience is strange, because one might understandably think that one would automatically draw closer to God while studying His Word, and yet often the exact opposite seems to occur.

On the one hand, we have passages like Psalm 119 in which virtually every segment is a declaration of growing closer to God while reading and meditating upon His Word. For instance, the psalmist cries out, "My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to  your word" (Psalm 119:28). The psalmist sees a clear connection between his emotional well-being on one side, and the source of his encouragement in God's Word on the other side.

On the other hand, I have often had the experience of drifting further in my emotions away from God while engaged in Bible study. For example, I found myself often drifting away from God while in seminary. While in seminary, I was engaged in deep study of God's Word in terms of exegesis, theology, and history. Yet, despite such a disciplined and systematic study of God's Word, I found myself feeling more removed from God in terms of love and spiritual sensitivity. I was becoming more educated about God, but less relationally connected to God. Additionally, the experience of drifting apart from God is not limited to my seminary experience, but is something I have faced often in the course of my studies as a "full-time" minister.

Why does the psalmist grow closer to God when he studies and meditates on God's Word, but I often seem to grow further away from God when I study and meditate on His Word? One difference between the psalmist and me might be illustrated by the experience of dissecting a frog. Perhaps like many, you have had the experience of dissecting a frog while in a high school or middle-school biology class. In order to understand the biological workings of a frog, students dissect the frog and examine a frog's inner workings and structure. The upside of dissecting the frog is students are educated, but the downside is the frog is decimated. Our gain is the frog's loss. So, in studying the mechanics of "frogness," we kill the life of the frog.

In a similar fashion, we may study the Word of God as if we dissect a frog. We know the Word of God contains the promises of hope and life, and so we earnestly study Scripture. We want to know the mechanics of the Word's grammar, exegesis, history, and theology. We study multiple interpretations, and even dialogue about the applications, generalizations, and ethical implications of what we are reading. Yet, like dissecting a frog, we may become better educated about the mechanics of the Word, but possibly miss the life of the Word.

Finally, I am not advocating we do not study deeply the Word of God. Rather, I am advocating for a particular kind of reading. The psalmist never seems to study about God as much as he studies with God. When we try to study about God, there potentially enters a kind of disconnect that is great for dissection, but poor for life. There may be a subtle distinction between these two prepositions, "about" and "with," and yet the distinction is substantial. God's Word is not strictly about education, but relation. If our focus of study remains about God, then we are not necessarily growing closer to God. Only when we study with God, will we draw closer to God. The psalmist did not experience the drift away from God when studying the Word of God (Psalm 119), because the psalmist never left God to learn about God in the first place. Therefore, what I need to do is not necessarily learn how to read better, but perhaps what I need to learn is how to read with a better partner!

– Terry

FIREPROOF YOUR MARRIAGE

SESSION FOUR -  BREAKING FREE

December 1, 6-8:00 p.m.

SESSION FIVE -  FORGIVENESS

December 8, 6-8:00 p.m.

SESSION SIX  -  A BETTER WAY OF LOVING

December 15, 6-8:00 p.m.

Ladies Class Schedule

Ladies - please mark your calendars for our class schedule for the holiday season:

Nov 23 - No Class

Nov 30 - Dec 14 - Class

Dec 21- Jan 4, 2011 - Winter Break

We will resume class on January 11, 2011.

Men’s Retreat

Men - please reserve January 28-29, 2011, for the Men’s Retreat at Little River Christian Camp.

Thank You Notes:

* Thank you everyone for the wonderful service that you provided in memory of my mother, Barbara.  We appreciated the cookies that were made, the flowers, the beautiful singing and all those people who worked behind the scenes to make this a nice service for mom.  We love you all,    Teresa and Loren Bostwick and Family

* What a lovely surprise that you gave to us this past Sunday!  Thank you so much for honoring us, and for the beautiful flowers and gift cards.  It has been our blessing and pleasure to serve our West Main family in the office all of these years.

                 Our love,  Lorraine Ball  and Doris Sutherlin

Prayer Requests . . .

EEthel Flock is now home from the hospital ... Tony Testerman will be having disc fusion neck surgery on Friday ... For Glenn Williams, son-in-law of Evelyn Bates, is undergoing tests and is very ill ... For the son of Harold and Marie Anthony, Charles Anthony, who will have prostate surgery on Monday ... For our President and all of our military men, women and families.

Our Annual West Main Thanksgiving Dinner will be held at 2:00 p.m. on November 25^th.  Please invite your friends and neighbors to come join us for a wonderful afternoon of fellowship.  Please sign-up for the foods that you are bringing on the sign-up sheets posted in the lobby. For more information, please contact Betty Lake.

Anniversary Sunday and Potluck Luncheon was a great success.  Thank you for your help in setting up the tables and chairs; the beautiful decorations, the great amount of food that you brought, the photos that Harvey posted throughout the building and the wonderful look-back in history that Terry brought to us.  Thank you everyone for making this day great!

Harvest Craft Fair: We will be holding a Craft Fair at West Main on November 19 & 20 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Please invite  your friends and neighbors to come do their holiday shopping with us and to support our members.

Christmas Program

We will start practice THIS SUNDAY at 4:00 p.m.

If you would like your child ages 3 years and older to be in this wonderful program, please come this Sunday.  Our program will be Sunday evening, December 19, at 6:00 p.m. Any questions, please contact Wyndee Thomas or Christi Olson.

****Helpers Needed: Anyone who would like to help sew costumes for our play  –  please let us know ASAP. ****

Placing Membership

We want to welcome Gerry McCord to our West Main family.  If you haven’t had the opportunity to meet Gerry, please do so this week.    

Due to the Thanksgiving Holiday, NO BULLETIN will be published next week.

Children’s Worship Bulletin is now located on the table at the back of the auditorium on the East Side of the auditorium.  Children, remember to pick up your bulletin each week and then put your completed worksheet in the container for the reward party in December.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

November 19-20 Harvest Craft Fair; Bldg.; 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

November 25 Thanksgiving Dinner at the Bldg.; 2:00 p.m.

December Coffee Servers:

Don and Barbara Logsdon

December Nursery Helpers:

Dec 5: Maggie Cushman

Dec 12:

Dec 19 & 26: Laurie, Cady, Andrew Morris