Knowing God | A New App
I love introducing people to the powerful tool of inductive Bible study.
I love it even more if they've been told that Bible study is hard or demanding. I've always been one to take up a challenge! It usually goes something like, "Oh, so you don't think you have time?" or maybe, "Ah, I see - you think that you're not smart enough?" Then, I show them inductive study and the Spirit of God does His "Aha! Wow! Who knew!" thing!
I love it even more if they're searching for truth. They're not really sure what is happening in their lives, but you can tell without a doubt that the Spirit of God is causing them to question some things in their lives.
In addition, there is something about showing a new believer, someone whom Jesus has just saved, how to study the Bible for themselves. It is such a breath of fresh air. They have a voracious appetite, wanting to know God through His revealed Word.
Finally, I absolutely love to share inductive Bible study with the bros. In fact, I feel like it is a part of my calling to help men to be able to wield the sword of truth for themselves, to learn to wage war with the Word. Guys are given such a bad wrap in our Western Churches. They've been programmed to think that Bible study is for their wives or their moms, that they don't have enough time, and that they've got to have a sports figure or wild game night to rope them in to a 10 minute talk that typcially resembles more of a self-help seminar than a Bible study. They're being told that they're not wired to know God through His Word. Yet, they're in the midst of the war of their lives, for their heart, the heart of their wives and kids, and they don't know how to wield the word.
Ha! Challenge accepted.
Let's break down the logic:
1. If the Church is Jesus' bride.... we would do well not to talk smack about His bride.
2. If the church is Jesus' bride... we would do well to equip future elders, boys to men, men to deacons and elders through the means of grace in Jesus with God's Word.
(I know, that deserves unpacking in another post - sorry, I've been studying Genesis 1-3 with 14-25-year-olds all summer!)
Seriously, I know the word love is overused, but this kind of stuff gives me so much joy. Pastoring and shepherding someone's heart to know more about God through His word by His Spirit for the fame of Jesus... man, that gets me pumped.
With that in mind, I am excited to introduce to you a small project that some friends and I have been working on for a bit called the Knowing God App. I know, another app. Hear me out, however, before you disregard. This app introduces people to the powerful tool of inductive Bible study. We all know the stats of phone usage. As with all forms of media and technology, we can either choose to embrace it, reject it, or redeem it. My hope with this new app is that the Spirit of God will use it in a couple of ways:
1. I pray that the Spirit uses it to introduce people to the powerful tool of inductive Bible study.
In so doing, I pray that He gives them a desire and drive to know God more through the study of His Word! I pray that it won't be enough, but that they'd dive in and get involved in a Bible study group near them! You see, about half of Bible study is person, on your own study. The other huge part is reasoning through it in a small group of folks, a community where you're known. I pray that this app would be a gateway for many folks to know God in this way.
2. I pray that the Spirit uses this as a tool for current Precept Bible study leaders and students.
People always ask us what the difference is between Precept's Inductive Bible Study and all of the other studies. Many times, we are so excited about what the Lord has done in our hearts through it that we tend to overwhelm new folks. Or, another scenario, we're there drinking a cup of coffee or having a great conversation while we're watching our kiddos play a sport and we know that the Lord is leading us to show someone the tool of inductive Bible study, but we don't have something simple to put in their hands.
Over the next couple of posts, I'll be hitting you up with some tips and tricks on how to use the app for yourself and then how to share it with others. For now, go to your Android or Apple App store and download the Knowing God App.
