Fall Bible Study Plans

Since Ecclesiastes is my current favorite book of the Bible  I was excited to learn that Pastor Tullian Tchividjian is preaching a series on the book this fall, and the videos are available online. If I've got you pondering Ecclesiastes, watch this one today or the next time you're spending some time in the book.




MY FALL 2011 BIBLE STUDY PLANS:

Tonight I begin a Bible study with a great group of women in my local area. We're using one of Priscilla Shirer's video studies - Discerning the Voice of God. I'm looking forward to it as I've not done one of hers before and I hear they are fabulous.

And tomorrow my new online quiet time/Bible study accountability group begins. I'm joining my friend Karen Ehman and a couple of other women who live in other states in this cyber accountability group through the Good Morning Girls program.

If you're looking for an online Bible study and some accountability to do it, head straight over to Good Morning Girls (then page down for enrollment info) and see if you can get set up in time to begin with everyone tomorrow. The 12 week study is on the book of 1st John.

What are your Bible study plans for this fall?

Hilda - as comment #2 you won the giveaway of A Confident Heart by Renee Swope. Congrats!

Is there sarcasm in the Bible? And other questions. Plus a giveaway!

I just finished writing a devotion for a special project P31 is doing in conjunction with Zondervan. The devo is on some verses in the book of Ecclesiastes - my most recent favorite book of the Bible.  (First it was Proverbs, then it was Colossians, then Matthew, then Galatians ... my husband is probably hoping Song of Solomon becomes my next favorite. But I digress.)

I'm guessing not many people would name Ecclesiastes as their favorite book.  Probably because the writer of the book sounds like he's in serious need of some Prozac. Lines like these make his serotonin seem in short supply:

~ "And I declared that the dead, who had already died, are happier than the living, who are still alive." Ecc 4:2

~ "I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind." Ecc 1:14

~ "What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless." Ecc 2:22-23

~ "Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals." Ecc 3:19

~ "And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another." Ecc 4:4

~ "For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days they pass through like a shadow?" Ecc 6:12

Seriously? First time I read it I thought, can somebody please prescribe this guy some Zoloft? Or maybe sit him in front of one of those light therapy boxes? Throughout the whole book he keeps saying everything is vanity; it's meaningless. He says it 38 times in 12 chapters. I hear Zoloft is suppose to help get rid of bothersome thoughts.

Is he just another manic-depressive writer in his depressive phase? Did he suffer insomnia, then run out of coffee before he met the morning's word count and nothing else was in his fridge but he had a strong craving for chocolate cake even though it would go straight to his thighs? Wait, I think I digressed again. Or is there more in this guy's book than meets the eye?

It's like the rest of the Bible is cruising along saying God is good. He can be trusted. He will help those who follow Him. His plans will not fail. Listen to Him. Become wise. Put your trust in Him. He is redeeming His people and eventually the earth.  And then the writer of Ecclesiastes comes along and says, "Everything is meaningless and we're better off dead."

Makes you wonder how this book ever made it into the Bible. I mean besides the fact that Ecc. 3:1-8 made for great lyrics for that hit song by The Byrds. The rest of the verses could pretty much be any angst-filled teen anthem of today.

I spent a year focusing on the book of Ecclesiastes, asking God to help me understand it. Was the author a pessimist with a wicked sense of sarcasm? Is there sarcasm in the Bible? Is God sarcastic? Or does this book have some sort of deep meaning that's relevant to you and me today?

Tell me in a comment what you make of Ecclesiastes - or if that's too daunting, what's your favorite book of the Bible - and you'll be entered to win Monday's giveaway of Renee Swope's terrific new book A Confident Heart. This book will help you deal with your doubts and insecurities. I recently read it and it's better than Prozac. Not that I've ever had Prozac; I haven't. Not that I'm saying there's something wrong with prescribed anti-depressants. Wait, I digressed again. Sorry. You were about to say? ...

Why I Use Twitter

Are you on Twitter?

I'm not sure how long I've been on Twitter, but I do know it didn't take long for Twitter to become my favorite form of social media.

When I first joined the ranks of those who speak in 140 characters or less, lots of people asked me the same question: Why?  In fact, they often phrased it in the same way, "Why do you care to hear what people had for lunch?"

They were making a huge assumption that all anyone ever did on Twitter was say, "I just had a chicken-salad sandwich."  Or, "Running carpool to the baseball field now."

I'd answer their question by explaining, "The people I follow don't tell me what they had for lunch."

The people I choose to follow on Twitter give me helpful information.

• They tell me which products or technologies have worked best for them.
• They tell me what they've read recently that's worth seeing, and give the link.
• They tell me what's going on in their industries. And in my industry.
• They tweet Bible verses or share their insight into the gospel.
• They answer my questions when I ask.
• They keep me abreast on breaking news.
• They tweet inspiring quotes.
• They make me laugh. 
• They alert me when there's a new post on their blog - giving the topic and link should I be interested. 

All this in a short, digestible, easy to skim format. I use TweetDeck to organize the tweets of those I follow. I sort people into lists with a separate column for each list: Publishing industry folks, P31 girlfriends, Insightful pastors, etc.

Twitter and TweekDeck have pretty much replaced blog subscriptions, Google Reader, and RSS feeds for me. And I waste less time Internet browsing now that I'm on Twitter.

Still don't believe Twitter is helpful?  Check this:

By the way, I really want to know what book that guy is reading - it must be compelling!

So that's why I use Twitter. Because it's helpful, useful, entertaining and very doable for me.

I do have to confess that a couple months ago I started following some fellow foodies on Twitter. These are serious food industry types.  And they sometimes do tweet what they had for lunch.  Believe me their lunches are interesting! So now I have to revise my answer to the "Why do you care what people had for lunch" question.

My new answer is, "That's the beauty of Twitter. It gives you instant access to the people and information that YOU would like to have access to."

Twitter is like the world's coffee shop. Day or night there's community and conversation going on. And all you need is a twitter handle - and maybe a hashtag - to find the people you'd like to chat with and jump into the conversation. Stay awhile and sip a latte, or just get your coffee to go.

So are you on Twitter?  If so, who are some of your favorite people to follow?

You can follow me at @RachelOlsen.

How I Read a Book

I am a word aficionado. Not a word-snob, but a lover of words and language.

There's power in words. Beauty in words. Grace in words.

Words create movement. They craft nations. They seal a marriage. They cast vision. They make us laugh. They expand our horizons. They script our possibilities.

Few things fascinate me like the power of words. So it's no wonder I read a lot. Recently I asked readers here to tell me if they tend to be book finishers or book abandoners. And I promised to tell how I read, so here it goes.

I'm fairly picky on the front end about what I'll buy or bring home. There's too many options and too little reading time for me not to be discriminate. If I have access to the Internet, I often check reader reviews before deciding on a title. But a book doesn't have to get 5 stars for me to read it.

With any book I pick up, I see the title, note the author, read the back cover, and then note the publisher. Before entering the publishing arena myself I didn't pay much attention to the publisher, now that info tells me something about the book, particularly in the case of Christian books. Different publishers can have different bents, or theological leanings.

Next I open the book and scan the table of contents. I want the chapter titles to intrigue me but also to give me some sense of what the chapter contains. Next I flip through and spot read on various pages throughout. This is often the biggest determinate for me. I have to be intrigued, pulled in. I have to find at least two places during spot reading that make me want to keep reading.

It might be compelling content, brillant analysis, the author's voice, or the beauty of the wording that pulls me in. But it's got to pull me.

Once I officially begin reading a non-fiction book, I read with a pencil in hand. It must be a pencil, not a pen and not a highlighter - strong color visually divides and messes up the pages for me.  It tends to prevent me from engaging with the non-highlighted stuff on a second or third read through. That's a problem because at different times in my life different things will speak to me.

I underline sentences often. I sometimes write the topic of a great passage at the top of the page. And I occasionally make short notes in the margin.  If a question gets raised in my mind, I'll put a question mark in the margin beside it. If an action is suggested that I want to do, I'll draw a to-do style check box in the margin. If something is a key point, I draw a key shape to the side.

Being a busy woman and a lover of words with many interests, I'm sometimes tempted to stop reading a book before the end, even if I've been enjoying it. I might get restless, or distracted by another title I want to read.

On a case by case basis I decide if I will push myself to finish it or let myself move on to another book. If I decide to move on, I also decide not to feel guilty about that. It was an intentional decision.

Some books make their argument for me or teach me their premise well enough in the first several chapters. And sometimes the author runs out of new things to say before they meet their mandatory word count (shhh, don't tell them I told you that). And once in a while, a book just fails to deliever or resonate with me. If that's the case, I put it down and move on.

Life is not college, (beyond the Bible) there is no manditory reading list. Still, I can't imagine life without books. My life is better for having read a great many of them. And for having finished most of those I started, and consciously abdanonded a few to move on to what will move me.

Chances are you are a book lover too. Feel free to share your reading tips and tendencies.  And if you're looking for a Christian non-fiction book to read, or even half-read, you can try mine here.