As usual my Monday has been my busiest day, since I help out around the house a lot and this is laundry day, which is especially busy,  

Although my blogs will be mainly Bible Study, do expect a bit of humour thrown in and also be aware that I will be mentioning things that are happening in my life. Just so you know where I'm at. 

Introduction: 

I have to start my Bible study by explaining a bit about how I'm going about this, practically.  I am a very methodical person about things like this. I am also practical. I like to be a doer not just a hearer. And I tend to like to keep things simple.

I like studying book by book, rather than topically.  I like this because I'm a big picture person and I like to see how things tie together with each other. My favourite part of Biblestudy is putting together the pieces of the puzzle. I've always enjoyed puzzles. 

A few weeks ago, I actually already started a Biblestudy. Therefore, what I'll do here for the first entries, is to go over my notes and share what I have so far. Because I don't really want to start from scratch. I read a portion of Scripture each day, eventually going through the whole Bible.  This Biblestudy is apart from that.

I use You Version quite extensively. I started my study with a lot prayer. I also begin each "session" with prayer and sometimes with a song or two. My approach at this point is as follows: I do a preliminary overview of the book, noting important points to look out for and trying my best to gain insight into the context. I use the Bible Project to help me with this. They always talk about how everything is "one unified story" and I like that approach. Makes sense to me. They always give nice outlines and so I have decided that I'd use that as a guideline for getting the big picture and then zooming in.

(In You Version I use a basic reader  I like to hear the text as well as read it, so I always put on the audio. Then I listen to a pastor called Kris Langham. I don't always agree with him, but his approach is nice and simple, and yet insightful.

Apart from YouVersion, I use a few study Bibles that have good commentaries. However,  I must add that that I try as much as possible not to use too many external sources. I rather trust that the Holy Spirit will reveal what I should notice. A famous name doesn't impress me. Like i said elsewhere, I always filter what people say.  I find this helps to make it easier to apply personally and prevents this becoming an intellectual pursuit, rather than a search for truth applied. That being said, if you have any suggestions about things I should read, I am willing to take a look. I accept no one blindly, but neither do I write anyone off blindly.)  

So once I have my overview, I take things in "chunks" not necessarily whole chapters, nor just paragraphs.  Rather I pace myself so that I get enough time to "chew" on the Word, while still moving forward steadily. Actually I often stop and audibly discuss with God what stands out for me and then I use the other sources to reveal what I might have missed.  Of course  I also physically write colour coded notes 

I know there is some controversies regarding what Bible version to use. I once read a book called How to Read the Bible for All it's Worth. It made a lot of sense to me and it influenced how I see this issue. I know I could be wrong, but I have always liked to use a variety of versions. My normal reading Bible is the ESV. That's what I usually start with. Recently a new Afrikaans translation came out, which my dad was personally involved in. This often has some interesting notes in it. So I use that. Then, I have a NIV Application Bible and a Thompson's New Chain Reference Bible (which is a KJV with a lot of very interesting and useful "extras"). If you have other versions you think I should look at , again, I'm willing to look at it. 

So now I come to revealing what book I'm starting with. Although I love both testaments,  I have decided to start with the NT and then the OT. Mostly because I've read through the OT a lot lately and I get the sense I need to focus on the other side, so to speak. So I'm starting with the Book of Mark. Why Mark? Because my sources tell me it's the oldest Gospel and I've never really focused on it in depth that much. It just seemed like the right time for it. 

So in my next entry, I will be discussing my preliminary overview of Mark. As always,  suggestions, comments and questions are welcome.