Why is reading the Bible so valuable?

During his presentation on Habit 1 of his series "Six Habits of Spiritually Happy People", Patrick Morley offers three points that surround the topic of Habit 1 - "Spiritually happy men read the Bible regularly", as I wrote in a previous post, they are:

1. Why reading the Bible is so valuable.
2. What is our goal?
3. What are some Bible reading strategies?

In this post we will look a bit closer at the first topic, namely, Why reading the Bible is so valuable. Patrick Morley offers three reasons as to why Bible reading is particularly valuable:

1. It works.
2. It is true.
3. It is how God speaks to us.

Let's take a closer look at the first reason: "It Works." What does Morley mean by this? Well, he turns to a few key passages in the Bible to explain his point. Isaiah 55:11 says in the KJV:

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper [in the thing] whereto I sent it.

Here Morley points out that God is speaking of his Word, that it is efficacious, it works, it is powerful, it shall accomplish what God wants it to and it will prosper in doing so. He goes on further to read from Hebrews 4:12 (again the the KJV):

For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Here he notes that the Word of God is full of living power and it exposes us for what we really are. Ponder these points for a bit. In what way has the Bible been "Working" in your life? What has it accomplished in your life? What has it discerned about the thoughts and intents of your heart?

Video Article for Habit #1

If you have about 35 minutes or so to watch a video presentation of "Habit #1: Spiritually Happy Men Read the Bible Regularly", head on over to the Man in the Mirror website. There is an archive there of video presentations for each of the Habits. You can download the whole video free of charge and watch it offline (beware, the file size is about 123MB) or you can stream it directly into a video player depending on which link you select. I believe the file type is Windows Media Player.

Habit #1: Spiritually happy men read the Bible regularly.

During the presentation that covers Habit #1 in the series "Six Habits of Spiritually Happy Men", three topics are discussed.

1. Why reading the Bible is so valuable.
2. What is our goal in reading the Bible?
3. What are some Bible reading strategies?

Over the next couple posts, I will add information that covers each of these questions. Please feel free to add comments that help explain these topics as you study them out individually.

Six Habits

This past Sunday morning, April 1, 2007 Allan Trigg introduced the new series of lessons that the Men's first hour class will be working our way through for the next few weeks. The series is called "The Six Habits of Spiritually Happy Men." The series is presented at the Man in the Mirror website under the "A Look in the Mirror" section, Item 122-Six Habits of Spiritually Happy Men. Each week--or so--we will be looking at another of the "Habits" and discussing the impact that they have on our relationship with God, our spouses, our children, the people at church and our acquaintances outside of church.

I suspect that each week a lot of additional material will be made available through this blog prior to the discussion on Sunday mornings.

The Voice of God

One of the topics in this week's lesson is the question "Why is Bible reading so valuable?" The third answer to that question is that "God uses the reading of His word to speak to us". While studying this point I was reminded of a recent post by John Piper, the Pastor for Teaching at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In it Piper describes his experience this past March 19th at 6:00 in the morning. He titled his article "The Morning I Heard The Voice Of God."

Baptist Concern Center

I received the email below from Joe Gearo a couple days ago regarding the Baptist Concern Center in Salt Lake City. Please consider what part you and your family may be able to take in meeting this need.

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

1. Jonathan Jones at the SLC Baptist Concern Center (BCC) is very appreciative of the way Stansbury Park Baptist Church (SPBC) members/attenders have supported his ministry over many months. The BCC continue to request food/supply donations to help meet needs of others, which serves as an outreach for the Gospel of Christ. That said, the SPBC leadership team encourages you all to pray and support these needs as the Lord moves your heart and provides opportunity for you to give to the BCC's ministry.

2. During the months of April and May 2007, SPBC will be collecting items to take to the BCC. If you desire to give to this need, please bring your donations to SPBC (Rose Springs Elementary School) on Sundays and place them in the maroon Rubbermaid container for the BCC. For the next two months, the BCC has requested:

• Shampoo
• Canned Meats
• Canned Tomatoes
• Canned Tomato Sauce

3. Any items donated that do not exactly fit in one these four categories will be donated by SPBC to the Tooele Food Bank to help meet local community needs.

4. Please prayerfully consider if and how you can participate in this demonstration of love as SPBC partners with the BCC and the Tooele Food Bank. If you have any questions or need additional information, please call me on 843-4343,

Rejoicing in Jesus,

Brother Joe Gearo

Palm Sunday

Sermon Outline from April 1,2007 - Pastor Scott Stout

Palm Sunday

Hebrews 11:13

Hebrews 11:13 (again)

I. Promise Fulfilled

Luke 19:28-35

James 4:15

Acts 18:21

Zechariah 9:9 NIV

Luke 18:31-33

II. People's Foolishness

Luke 19:36-40 and Luke 23:18-24

Luke 20:1

Proverbs 1:7

Ephesians 5:17 NIV

III. Peace Forfeited

Luke 19:41-44