Monday, March 14, 2011

An Invitation to Read

Welcome if you've visited from my Secret Decoder Ring devotion published at P31 today.

In it and in It's No Secret I quote Matthew 13:11-13 which calls for me to trust with faith that I can correctly "interpret" what I read in the Bible because God will enable it. And the more I do that, the more He enables it! Not only that, it calls me to listen regularly and intently to the Word and to the Word Made Flesh, Jesus - or what little understanding I have can atrophy.

If you are wondering do I always understand what I read in the scriptures ... not fully or always. But often understanding comes as I just keep with it. And pray for it to come.

Yes, there are some perplexing passages in the Bible. Yes, some things make a lot more sense once you know the context of the times they were written in.  And yes, knowing the original Greek or Hebrew meanings of the words can deepen their force.  But this is a living document used by a limitless God to call and encourage His worshipers all over the globe, throughout history. It can fuel, encourage and guide you too.

God never hides truth from sincere seekers. That's the bottom line of that passage.  And that's the foundation from which I wrote It's No Secret: Revealing Divine Truths Every Woman Should Know.

In the book I cover a dozen "divine secrets" - straight from the Word of God - that are particularly relevant to 21st century women.  To us modern followers of an ancient way. And then, with each secret, I guide you into the Word to learn more for yourself - because you have your own decoder ring in Christ.


So I'd like to invite you to study It's No Secret with my girlfreind Melissa and me.

To Join Us:

Beginning March 27, running six weeks through May 7, a large group of women will read through my book It's No Secret: Revealing Divine Truths Every Woman Should Know together online.

All you need to join us is a copy of It's No Secret: Revealing Divine Truths Every Woman Should Know. If you want a signed copy, at 10% off, order from the P31 office (877-731-4663) and mention you are doing the online study.

Then send an email to ItsNoSecretSignUp@gmail.com This will register you and ensure you receive the group communications.

The Schedule:

This study is hosted by P31's Melissa Taylor. On Sundays and Wednesdays Melissa will run It's No Secret (INS) posts at her blog. Sunday's post will always contain your reading assignments and directions for the week. Some of her posts will be video posts and trust me, you'll love getting to know her cute self.

On Mondays and Fridays I will be posting a bit more about the week's chapters and topics here at my blog. So Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays we'll be chatting it up online together.

Also on Monday evenings, there will be optional conference calls hosted by Melissa at 8 PM EST.  You'll learn more on those calls, hear from some special guests, and have a chance to ask questions or make comments. The cost for that is just $10. If chatting it up on the phone on Monday evenings interests you, call P31 at 877-731-4663 to sign up for the conference calls. I'll be joining you and Melissa on one or two of those calls as well.

A Invitation to Enter In:

Study questions are inside the book at each chapter's end. However, you may prefer to use a small notebook to answer the questions and jot down additional thoughts, notes, prayers, and ideas. (I'm a bit of a journal junkie myself.) I'm believing and praying that God speaks to you a lot through this study and I want you to record what He says! 

Or, you can blog your thoughts instead of writing them in a book or journal. If people are interested in doing that, I can host a link-party for us here on Fridays at the end of my post. So let me know if that interests you. I'd love it!

You can join us by yourself for this, or you can bring your girlfriends, Mom or book club along. The more the merrier in the Yahweh Sisterhood. But the beauty of an online study group is you can move at your pace, as your schedule allows, even wearing your PJ's if you'd like. (smiles)

So I invite you to get as involved as you want or can with this. You can simply read along with us if life is hectic right now. Or you can enter fully into the online community with us for those six weeks - talk with us, blog with us, process the book with us, share your ah-ha moments, meet some new friends and let God do a deep work in your heart this spring.

I hope you'll join us!

PS. The winner of this weekend's giveaway - the book and a pass to the conference calls - is "ssunnyrn."

PSS. I loved the collards soup (and I don't eat collards), and the black bean cupcake with bacon sprinkles. Yes, the cafe dessert was awesome as well. I didn't like the shredded goat or the goat cheese topped pear and fava bean cupcake. Apparently, I'm just not a fan of goat. Surpriningly the sea bass was fine fired or iced. And so was the squid ink in risotto. The beef tongue was a lot like brisket - who knew?

PSSS. Pop over to Wendy Blight's blog today for another chance to win the book.

10 comments:

  1. So happy to hear you are co-hosting another online study... I loved and was blessed by the Women of the Bible study you did a while back! I don't have a copy of your book, YET, but I'll go to Wendy's page to try to win a copy :o) Wish me luck!

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  2. This will be my first online Bible study and I'm really excited!
    I would love the signed copy, but since I can't barely fit any more books in my house, I'm getting the Kindle version.
    The blog party could be a great idea!

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  3. Your Secret Decoder Ring devotional was SO enlightening for me. I struggle so much with reading my Bible because I just don't understand and I felt there was something wrong with ME. From your words I realize that I'm just going at it wrong. My faith is so strong and I love the Lord so much; I just didn't understand how to get into His word so I always ended up putting off reading. I'm excited to start reading the Bible again; prayerfully. Thanks you!
    Michelle

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  4. The study sounds great! Not sure if I can afford the book, though.

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  5. Thanks Rachel, I did enjoy the Women of the Bible Study. And I'm very excited that you're doing this book. I thoroughly enjoy these studies!!!!!

    I have my book already but I couldn't click on the gmail account to join. I will try again later.

    Because of Christ!
    ~Lakeisha

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  6. I loved your devotion today about the secrets of God. As a woman of secrets (some good and some not so good) I found great comfort one day when I stumbled across Deuteronomy 29:29 and read the words, "The Secret things belong to the Lord our God". I used those words for years as an excuse not to dig deeper, pray harder or read further. It gave me a freedom to stay ignorant about many truths God had for me. You reminded me that God was not providing me with an excuse to be a slacker. Your words that "God never hides truth from sincere seekers" made an impact on me and reminded me that I can never stop searching God's word or I will miss out on some great revelations.

    I read your book. The title hooked me and pulled me in. Loved it!

    V

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  7. I've signed up and am excited. I saw where you would be devoting time on this blog to the study. I receive Melissa's blogs in e-mail... do you offer this, too? I am bad at remembering to check pages...

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  8. I'm signed up for this study as well. Have my book and notebook/journal all ready ( Robin, I'm also a journal junkie as well) I'd also like to do the blog link how do we do that?

    Debi

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  9. I am also excited about this study!

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  10. Signing up today. I'm on Chapter 5 this week with my small group and am excited to go over it again!

    Kat

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