Posts by Kountze Church of Christ

When Christians disagree…do not behave like Paul and Barnabas! That advice might come as a surprise to some of you because you may have repeatedly heard that Paul and Barnabas provide a praiseworthy model for conflict resolution (Acts 15:36-41). It certainly is easy to find such praise heaped upon Paul and Barnabas for the way they handled their disagreement. Consider some of these brief quotes… “[Paul and Barnabas give us] insight on how Christians are to relate to one another…

Well, we’ve passed from 2023 and are now into the first days of 2024, and do you know what that means? It means we get a “fresh start,” a “new beginning,” a “second chance,” a “clean slate,” and a “blank page upon which to be written.” Well, at least that’s what I hear. But if I may, I would like to challenge you to rethink those comments and similar comments. The flipping of a calendar from December to January doesn’t…

As Israel’s “old” and final judge was nearing his last days, the elders of Israel gathered to Samuel and made their demands. The first thing they basically said was, “We don’t want you or your sons!” And then they laid out this directive, “Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations” (1 Sam. 8:5). Notice several things about this demand. Their timeframe for this change was “now.” They were done waiting. They wanted satisfaction to their…

In Romans 6:15-18 Paul refers to the Christian as a ‘slave to righteousness’ since they have been freed from the bondage of sin and now have an obligation of obedience to God who has freed them. In fact, in John 14:15 Jesus would even say, ‘if you love me keep my commandments.’ So, through the New Testament it is made clear that a Christian as a duty and obligation to God, but what does that intel? Ultimately there are many…

There are many lessons for a Christian to learn from in the Old Testament both good and bad. The Israelites were God’s chosen people, but they were a people that didn’t always choose God. The Book of Nehemiah contains a portion of their during a time they were choosing God coming from a captivity they endured after not choosing God. Nehemiah and Ezra were dealing with a people who wanted to follow God, but didn’t know how, so in Nehemiah…

At this point we have considered six of the seven steps you may take in an in-depth bible study. Those steps thus far have been – surveying the text, analyzing the text (Contextual, formal, & detailed), synthesis, and the one we looked at last week, reflection. If the bible student has followed these steps there should be a better understanding of the text, then when they first started. This understanding may not be perfect or without flaw, but hopefully it…

Continuing our consideration of methods to an in-depth study of Scripture we come to a step that is known as synthesis. Synthesis is simply a fancy way of saying “here is the main point.” So far in this process we have been looking at the finer details of a text. In the process of analysis, we are trying to find all of the little pieces. Synthesis is where we put the pieces together and see the full picture. A biblical…

In a Biblical study if surveying the scripture is where one asks questions and makes observations then biblical analysis is where they start answering those questions. There are three forms of analysis that we will consider for our purpose of studying scripture: contextual analysis, formal analysis, and detailed analysis. Contextual analysis seeks to answer two main questions; what was the historical, cultural, political landscape during the time the text was written, and how does the text relate to the passage/book…

Last week we considered what exegesis is, and some steps you may take during a study of scripture. This week we are going to consider that first step, surveying the scripture. This is maybe the most common and easy step one will take in their studies. (Acts 2:37) Surveying the scripture is another way of essentially saying, “what are your first thoughts after your first read through of the scripture?” This is where you write down your questions, highlight certain…

Exegesis is a weird word that many Christians have not heard before. It can simple be defined as a historical, literary, and theological analysis of scripture. Ultimately it is an investigation into scripture; the process of asking questions. Most who begin this process of breaking down a text have a similar goal, understanding. Most Christians seek this same thing. They seek to understand scripture. Sometimes one just doesn’t know simply where to begin. They are not biblical scholars. But they…

The Bible can be a complicated book and hard to understand at times. Reading it in a year is a challenge and you may encounter verses, chapters, and maybe even books that are confusing. As a result, this sometimes leads us to look towards outside sources for guidance. There is nothing wrong with many of these sources, but we should not let them influence us to taking their words as gospel. Every student of the Bible, and as a Christian…

How the Holy Spirit changes us from our former life into a mirror image of Jesus is misunderstood by so many. The Bible nowhere teaches that the Spirit works directly on our hearts to make me a more spiritual person. The Spirit does change us, and the Bible clearly shows how this happens. It is true that the Spirit is part of our walk with the Lord. It is true our growth as a child of God involves change and…