Inductive Bible Study

One of my readers has asked me to tell you about the new way of Bible Study I found on my week in Gloucestershire.

It is called Inductive Bible Study. It means using the Bible as your primary source. Three main ways are included:

OBSERVATION
This means you ask questions of the text with help from the 5Ws and 1H - What, Where, Who, Which, Why and How? In other words you interrogate the text.

INTERPRETATION
Here you have to ask yourself What does the text mean? Most important to remember is the context. Who was it written for and why?

APPLICATION
This means applying the text to my life. That's the hardest part - putting it into practise.

Now a piece of PERSONAL TESTIMONY
In the past I have run off after one of these new things with great enthusiasm and it has lasted a fortnight, or maybe a month at the most, and then I'm onto something else more new and exciting. I'm a real Mr. Toad I am.
So I have been determined not to do that with this Inductive Bible Study. But I have started to use it in my own Bible reading and it certainly has opened up the text of Proverbs to me.
I have also been using the Lightning Study cards which Precept UK produces with my House Group. They have expressed appreciation.
Now a friend has asked me to recommend a six-week study on Prayer for his group and I have ordered a 40-minute Study Book on that subject from Precept.
And I am also working through a booklet written by the co-founder of Precept Ministries, Kay Arthur, called What can I do about anger? and that too is proving very helpful.
So my personal testimony about the literature and studies published by Precept Ministries is this: They work.
You can find out more about Precept Ministries on their website: http://www.precept.org.uk/

Precept

I have been away at Lindors Country Hotel in Gloucestershire for a week.

The week was organised by my friends from Brimscombe in that county, under the auspices of Precept Ministries. It was a week well spent.

We were looking at the Book of Hosea. It was an intense study, both in work and in content. The work was partly our own study with a handbook, and then interactive study with a leader, whose name was Ann Absolom. I found it hard going but worthwhile.

I came away with a new way of studying the Bible, and with new ideas of how to make the Bible better known in the Church.

Am I still angry? Yes. Because yesterday I went to sign on at the Department of Work and Pensions in Kendal and was greeted with the words that I should not be drawing Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) as I was applying for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). I blew my top at this.

Not only am I not applying for ESA, I am not being paid my full amount of JSA either. What little I was getting was about to be taken away. They saw Mr. Angry. And they kindly backed down, although I have yet to be paid my JSA.

Today I went round in a van, helping to pick up Shoe Boxes for the Samaritan's Purse Christmas Project. We collected 650 boxes from the area around Lythm St Annes. Mr. Angry did not appear. Thank God.

Anger

Maybe I'm Mr Angry. I certainly feel like it.

I'm angry at myself for getting such a stupid job at Lakeland. I had no idea it would be such a disaster.

I'm angry at other people for not understanding me.

I'm just plain angry.

I went to see the Counsellor yesterday and she could see I was angry. We decided that the move into a job at Lakeland was a step too far. She suggested Voluntary work as a first stage into work.

So I'm going to have a go at that instead.

Pray for me.

Catching up

Yesterday I went onto Classmates.com for this first time in ages and came across a guy I had not heard from for many years. His name is Rick Rogers and I stayed with his family in Waverly Nebraska when I was a foreign exchange student at the High School there in 1971.

It was great to hear from him again. Now a pop-up has appeared inviting me to look at Friends Reunited. So I might just do that, as long as I don't have to part with any money.

This year has seen me revisit old haunts: Epping in Essex where we lived from 1979 to 1982, and Broad Oak-Brede Sussex where we lived from 1978/79.

It was great to hear from Rick again, although he now lives in one of the Carolinas. It brought back many happy memories of Waverly.

How am I doing this week? Well, up and down. I have discovered a new benefit which came on-stream on Monday. It is called Employment and Support Allowance. It doesn't pay any more than Job Seekers Allowance but it fast tracks you to someone who can help point you in the right direction for suitable work. It is aimed at people who find it difficult to work because of a long-term illness, injury or disability.

They are sending me the papers to apply. I'll see how it goes.

Money

After resigning from Lakeland I have been dependent on God for my income, as I had no other way of getting any. So I prayed about it and I think I've got as much in the account now as I did two weeks ago.

God is able to supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Now I am looking for something I really feel at home in. Well, that's the title and the theme of this blog - Finding my way Home. Keep following. I'll get there eventually.

And the doctor said...

There is no alternative to resignation from the Lakeland job. So I sent in my notice yesterday. I won't be going back. It was making me ill again.

So what now? Well, I am going to make it my aim to apply for one job per week day, either online or by post. There must be something out there I can do.

I am also keeping in touch with the CAB, the Disability Specialist at Kendal Jobcentre Plus and with my counsellor. Most of all, I am keeping in touch with the Lord.

Strangely, in spite of all this trauma, Jesus is more real to me than ever. Even though mental illness hits you right in the centre of your being, Jesus is still there too. That's what the Christian faith is all about.

Some people can't see how you can feel like I do and still be a Christian. But you can.

What a difference a day makes

Yesterday started for me at 2.45 a.m. when I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep. That's a classic sign that the Black Dog of Depression is snapping at your heels. When I did get to sleep the alarm went off and I did not get up. In fact for the next two and a half hours I did not want to get out of bed. That's another sign of depression.

What I decided to do was to get through an hour at a time and this is how each one went:

9.00 - 10.00 Got up, had breakfast, read the Bible, made sandwiches

10.00 - 11.00 Drove to Kendal, found a free parking space and went to Jobcentre Plus

11.00 - 12.00 Signed on for Job Seekers Allowance, made an appointment to see the Disability Officer (who deals with those suffering long term ill health, injury and disability) for 15.20. Went to the Bank to discover that the DWP had given me some money.

12.00 - 13.00 Went to Communion Service at St. Thomas Church Kendal. Short sermon from the Vicar: Know God's love, God's voice and God's plan. He prayed with me afterwards.

13.00 - 14.00 As we were eating soup and rolls in the church cafe my mobile phone rang and the Disability Officer asked me to go in there and then.
We had a long and detailed interview during which she advised me to call in sick at Lakeland and see the doctor as soon as possible. She also helped me to find more suitable jobs to apply for. So I thanked God for His amazing timing and did what she said.

14.00 - 15.00 Went back to the Church and told the caretaker what had happened. He showed me round their newly improved church and then I went home rejoicing.