Study aids

[ResidentAlien]

Julie Roys does and interview with the author of Faith-Based Fraud here: https://julieroys.com/podcast/faith-based-fraud/.

They talk about David Jeremiah but before that they talk about Mark Driscoll and his book-selling scheme (it starts at 26:45). This is the same scheme Jeremiah used and it fills in the details of what went on.

Jeremiah was a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA). The ECFA began an investigation into Jeremiah but rather than have his financials revealed he pulled out of the ECFA. What was he afraid of?

 

[Bluesproverb]

This is true.

But there are also credible concerns about Jeremiah's shady dealings to get on the New York Times best seller list. These shouldn't be dismissed without looking into it for yourself. See Faith-Based Fraud by Warren Smith, Ch. 11, pg. 237. There are also some online articles. For example this one at the Roys Report. Gaming the best seller list is common and not illegal. But for someone who claims to follow Christ, it seems a little unethical if not hypocritical. Jesus warned about the Pharisees who teach one thing but do another. We're to steer clear of them.

Jeremiah's a leading figure in the evangelical industrial complex; that is, those who have turned Christianity into big business. I don't know how many books he's written but it's a lot. Most of his teaching is geared to the biggest mainstream audience he can get. That's because that's where the profits are.

Smith and Roys are muckrakers.

The Roys link is attempting to sully Dr.Jeremiah through innuendo and allusion. Sounds more like both Smith Roys are committed to letting readers infer the worst from such sloppy journalism as that.

The ECFA keeps confidential why any organization left ECFA. At one time NRB, National Religious Broadcasters and ECFA were united in that being a member in good standing in one meant being the same in the other.

Why Turning Point Ministry left ECFA will not be confirmed by that organization due to their confidentiality clause with members\former members.

The NYT Best Seller List book buying scheme is a reach considering what is suggested of Dr.Jeremiah and retail books purchased. One has to sell at least 5000 books a week, as just one qualifier to get consideration for the list.
The retail purchase monetary expenditure compared to gain\profit from such a venture in calculating both wholesale and retail tabels, again that scheme being complete conjecture by Smith and Roys demonstrates very little thought being put into the math part of the conjecture itself.

With regard to the 'source' in ECFA, themselves a former member, are speculating at best. Speculation is not fact.

Dr.Jeremiah could have left ECFA because of his objections to their manner of operation. That too is speculation and yet is also fair to say because membership can leave an organization for their reasons. Not solely due to some measure related to their expulsion.

Also, I think this to be really important to consider in light of the innuendo against Dr.Jeremiah in that article by Smith.

At the time Dr.Jeremiah left NRB and ECFA were joined.
Which means they would share intelligence about a member entity,as also implied in the article.

Not anymore.

Dr.Jeremiah and Turning Point Ministries returned to NRB in 2005. In 2020 Dr.Jeremiah was inducted I to their Hall of Fame.

The Smith, Smith being a former New Age proponent, article besides being full of innuendo,allusion,soeculation, and very few facts also sounds like envy on Smith's part.

Zillow? He sourced Zillow? Really?!

 

[HealthAndHappiness]

One thing I caution everyone about is that which was already mentioned. Study Bibles will have a man's biases.
I prefer a simple Bible without the commercial interruptions, so to speak.
The footnotes are normally a distraction that slows me down and interrupts the Holy Spirits guidance of my reading.
I'm not totally against study Bibles since I am presently using one that the Lord gave me as a gift. It is just what I asked for too; LARGE FONT, legible type, large margins for my own notes as the Spirit helps. Size that's easy to carry anywhere. If I remember right Amazon listed it for $400. However the notes are at the end of the Bible after revelation, so I ignore them.

One last caution.
Most study Bibles have footnotes that undermine faith. I use the KJV and believe that God has blessed it's use and more have been led to Christ by it than any other English translation. Regardless, there are arrogant "common tators" that like to demonstrate how veeery smart they are by going back to the Greek and 'correcting', or statements like, " " the last half of Mark's last chapter is not in the ORIGINAL AUTOGRAPHS,". blah, blah, blah.
Anyhow, I believe that "faith cometh by hearing and hearing the Word of God." If we don't have it now, then our faith is in vain and we are yet in our sins. I Corinthians 15.

 

[TheLearner]

NET Bible is good. You can download complete bible commentary sets from pdf drive.

 

[Blik]

For years I mostly studied the new testament. It tells of how things are today, after Christ changed so many things. Then I was told that I couldn't truly understand the new testament unless I knew the old testament. They explained that it is the foundation for the new testament. But the people who God used to explain his ways lived a different life than we do today, so history that explained them was important.

I couldn't understand the old testament. How could a loving God tell Joshua to kill humans God had created? I needed help, and that help must come from a Christian who accepted Christ, and learned from scripture, not such as Luther or Calvin. I looked for help based only on scripture and facts. After an intense search, I found this guide to understanding the old testament, and also elated it to how Christ fulfilled it.

I found this free on the net at torahclass.com site, Tom Bradford. He spent eight years studying in Jerusalem.

Many people who have looked into this study help have said it is too deep, too involved, and beyond them. But those who persevere find tremendous growth through this study.

 

[Bluesproverb]

TOPICAL Bible study sites are a great aid. They afford a search engine that relates to scripture. You can search any topic of interest and they'll find related scripture.

Here's one such site: https://www.openbible.info/topics/?q=

Here's an example:
What Does the Bible Say About…https://www.openbible.info/topics/eternal_life


Biblegateway.com has a cross reference option too. So you can look up a scripture and then have 2 versions side by side to compare the language in the passage.

I like that they have the Mounce Koine[common] Greek version too. That version shows at the same time the Greek text and its English equivalent.

As many know the new testament was originally written in Koine Greek.
Biblegateway.com is the only scripture search site I've found that affords a Koine Greek version.

 

[Bluesproverb]

For years I mostly studied the new testament. It tells of how things are today, after Christ changed so many things. Then I was told that I couldn't truly understand the new testament unless I knew the old testament. They explained that it is the foundation for the new testament. But the people who God used to explain his ways lived a different life than we do today, so history that explained them was important.

I couldn't understand the old testament. How could a loving God tell Joshua to kill humans God had created? I needed help, and that help must come from a Christian who accepted Christ, and learned from scripture, not such as Luther or Calvin. I looked for help based only on scripture and facts. After an intense search, I found this guide to understanding the old testament, and also elated it to how Christ fulfilled it.

I found this free on the net at torahclass.com site, Tom Bradford. He spent eight years studying in Jerusalem.

Many people who have looked into this study help have said it is too deep, too involved, and beyond them. But those who persevere find tremendous growth through this study.

Great post.
I'm going to look at torahclass.com.

Yours was,is, a question many have. How to explain all the killing in the OT. By God himself or by the Hebrews under his orders. Especially given how different in comparison is Jesus-God in the new testament.

What did you learn in your study that made that make sense to you? I look forward to your answer. 😊

I've asked that of others and their answer is, he's God. He can do anything he wants.

 

[HealthAndHappiness]

TOPICAL Bible study sites are a great aid. They afford a search engine that relates to scripture. You can search any topic of interest and they'll find related scripture.

Here's one such site: https://www.openbible.info/topics/?q=

Here's an example:
What Does the Bible Say About…https://www.openbible.info/topics/eternal_life


Biblegateway.com has a cross reference option too. So you can look up a scripture and then have 2 versions side by side to compare the language in the passage.

I like that they have the Mounce Koine[common] Greek version too. That version shows at the same time the Greek text and its English equivalent.

As many know the new testament was originally written in Koine Greek.
Biblegateway.com is the only scripture search site I've found that affords a Koine Greek version.

This morning I watched part of this documentary that was encouraging. A few believers gathered in Cypress, and shared scripture from it with those who speak Greek as their native language. These are people that speak and read Greek. The interesting thing is that the Common koine is very similar to the modern Greek. It's like the KJV in English.

 

[HealthAndHappiness]

For years I mostly studied the new testament. It tells of how things are today, after Christ changed so many things. Then I was told that I couldn't truly understand the new testament unless I knew the old testament. They explained that it is the foundation for the new testament. But the people who God used to explain his ways lived a different life than we do today, so history that explained them was important.

I couldn't understand the old testament. How could a loving God tell Joshua to kill humans God had created? I needed help, and that help must come from a Christian who accepted Christ, and learned from scripture, not such as Luther or Calvin. I looked for help based only on scripture and facts. After an intense search, I found this guide to understanding the old testament, and also elated it to how Christ fulfilled it.

I found this free on the net at torahclass.com site, Tom Bradford. He spent eight years studying in Jerusalem.

Many people who have looked into this study help have said it is too deep, too involved, and beyond them. But those who persevere find tremendous growth through this study.

Which Hebrew Roots leader came up with the curriculum?

 

[Bluesproverb]

This morning I watched part of this documentary that was encouraging. A few believers gathered in Cypress, and shared scripture from it with those who speak Greek as their native language. These are people that speak and read Greek. The interesting thing is that the Common koine is very similar to the modern Greek. It's like the KJV in English.

Makes sense. Common Greek and all.
Thank you for sharing that. Because I've met critics that take issue with the Greek language factor of the original NT. Saying what's trickled down to us as the KG translation today wouldn't necessarily be like into what was recorded in the original Greek language autographs.

 

[Blik]

Great post.
I'm going to look at torahclass.com.

Yours was,is, a question many have. How to explain all the killing in the OT. By God himself or by the Hebrews under his orders. Especially given how different in comparison is Jesus-God in the new testament.

What did you learn in your study that made that make sense to you? I look forward to your answer. 😊

I've asked that of others and their answer is, he's God. He can do anything he wants.

I learned that all the symbols God used in the old testament explained how Christ changed all when all was told to us directly in our hearts. I studied the sacrificial system, and all of how God arranged the camp site in the wilderness, and all the duties of the priests as an explanation of Christ and how Christ fulfilled it all.

 

[Bluesproverb]

I learned that all the symbols God used in the old testament explained how Christ changed all when all was told to us directly in our hearts. I studied the sacrificial system, and all of how God arranged the camp site in the wilderness, and all the duties of the priests as an explanation of Christ and how Christ fulfilled it all.

Please indulge my question here asking for clarity.

How does your post answer my question about all the killing of people in the OT by Reuther God directly or the Hebrews whom he directed to kill people?

 

[Blik]

Please indulge my question here asking for clarity.

How does your post answer my question about all the killing of people in the OT by Reuther God directly or the Hebrews whom he directed to kill people?

We are getting off what we are to discuss ---but. God is love, God can do nothing that doesn't express that. God wants all people to be saved. The Canaanites were hopelessly dead in their sin, and they led God's people astray. Through love of his people God wanted his people protected from the Canaanites.

 

[Nehemiah6]

Hi, yes it's the Dr David Jeremiah study bible, it's the first Bible in a long time that has made me want to sit and read every day. Iv seen nothing wrong or misleading in the notes so far. thank you for your reply

I do not want to discourage you in the least. But the sad fact is that David Jeremiah has totally ignored the problems with modern Bible versions. I am posting a link to his "store" (which means that he is commercializing his study bibles) and what you will find is the NIV, the ESV, and the NKJV. https://www.davidjeremiah.org/jeremiahstudybible/store

So several disturbing questions arise:
1. Did Jeremiah thoroughly research the bible version issue to begin with? If not he failed to do his due diligence even though there is no excuse.
2. Are his study blbles tainted for the simple reason that they are based upon corrupt translations?
3. Why is a pastor/preacher commercializing the Word of God and maintaining a bookstore to sell bibles?
4. Should he not simply be giving away his study bibles since "freely ye have received, freely give" is Christ's fundamental principle for the Gospel and the Word of God?

It is extremely sad that preachers who should know better are failing to inform their listeners about the issues with modern bible versions. The NIV is the most corrupt, and it is being constantly "updated" which itself should raise many questions.

 

[ResidentAlien]

From the Acknowledgement section of Jeremiah's God Loves You:

"The circulation of the book has become a very high priority for us at Turning Point. As a ministry, we believe it is our responsibility not only to produce the book but to promote it and see that it gets before as many readers as possible. My son David Michael oversees this process. Paul Joiner produces the incredibly creativity that drives the process and Kevin Small is the genius behind the plan." (emphasis mine) https://archive.org/details/godlovesyouhealw0000jere/page/n9/mode/1up, pg. viii.​

​

Kevin Small, it should be noted, is the founder of ResultSource, the book marketing company used by Mark Driscoll and David Jeremiah to game the system and get on the NYT best seller list. Jeremiah is saying plainly—without saying it—he used ResultSource to "market" his book.

​

 

[Evmur]

Hi, I'm currently using the jeramiah study bible which is amazing, I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for some good study books?

It's always good to check out what C. H. Spurgeon had to say about knotty theological problems, he tended to avoid prophecy.

 

[Chester]

If you want a simple all in one commentary that is very sound, and gives good background and general help in interpreting, I recommend the Wycliffe Bible Commentary. I have had one on my shelf since I was 16 and 35 years later it is still my first go-to for simple help with understanding texts.

 

[Caroline79]

If you want a simple all in one commentary that is very sound, and gives good background and general help in interpreting, I recommend the Wycliffe Bible Commentary. I have had one on my shelf since I was 16 and 35 years later it is still my first go-to for simple help with understanding texts.

I'll have a look, thanks 😊

 

[Caroline79]

It's always good to check out what C. H. Spurgeon had to say about knotty theological problems, he tended to avoid prophecy.

Thanks 😊

 

[JohnDB]

Thanks 😊

So now you have been fed commentators by every theological system known to mankind (welcome to the internet) and even including the osmosis system of theological study. (Where when you go cross-eyed from reading you simply press your face into your open Bible and magically by osmosis your understanding is increased by the Holy Spirit or insanity and it really doesn't matter which because it's now time to declare superior knowledge, God's divine favor and do battle with all those idiots on the internet)

Yeah....I know....I couldn't help myself. It was just hanging there so close to the ground I couldn't just let it get kicked.