Bible Study

I'm still reading "Your Girl - Raising a Godly Daughter in an Ungodly World" and while reading one of the chapters on Bible validity and how important it is to help your children understand why they should believe in God. The author explains that many college age students stray from the Christian faith - most commonly because they are caught off guard when their beliefs are challenged. So I have come to the conclusion that if I want to properly equip my kids for life - I can't just teach them to believe in God only by my example - which is still VERY important - but they also need to understand WHY we believe what we do. I think for much of my life I was a "Christian" because of my family. We went to church, I went to a private school, and I believed in God. Period. Up until the last few years - I never had the desire to learn more about the history of the Bible and to dig deep into scriptures.

A few of my girlfriends and I have been doing a Bible Study for the past 1 1/2 years and have really enjoyed digging in deep into the Bible. We began our studies by reading Jen Hatmaker's "The Modern Girls Guide to Bible Study" which basically breaks down how to study the Bible. I was dumbfounded and extremely irritated that after 12 years in private school - that I still didn't know how to study the Bible - or was even aware of any of the evidence that supports the Christian faith.

When we first started the Bible study I purchased like 4 different Bibles in different translations so I could compare the text and maybe take something different out of each of the lessons because of the wording. Anyways....I just bought another Bible yesterday & I was so excited when it came in. It has all of the history, archeological finds and articles that I really enjoy learning about. I often struggle with the fact that I need to be telling more people about God, or that I at least need to be "ready" to explain the common questions that non-believers may ask. The Apologetics Study Bible has over 100 articles included that are written by professors, scholars, scientists, etc. I've only just begun to dig into the articles - but many are based on common questions that you may be asked - such as "Why does a loving & caring God allow suffering" as well as articles comparing the Christian faith with different religions. Obviously this isn't going to answer all questions that you may be confronted with - but I think the more educated we are - and the more we dig into God's Word and seek Him- the better prepared we will be. Anyways - I would highly reccommend this Bible to anyone who is looking for a little more in depth reading.

Link to it on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/158640024X/ref=ox_ya_oh_product#

Here is a little more info on the Bible from Amazon:

Some of the authors of the articles:
- Ted Cabal
- Lee Strobel- Chuck Colson
- Paul Copan
- Norm Geisler
- Hank Hanegraaff
- Josh McDowell
- Albert Mohler
- J.P. Moreland
- Ravi Zacharias
- and many more

Features MORE THAN 100 FEATURED ARTICLES IN CATEGORIES SUCH AS
• Ethics
• Interpreting the Bible in Light of Science
• The Impact of Archaeology and History on Our Understanding the Bible
• The Bible in Light of Theology
• Christian Faith and Non-Christian Belief Systems
• Christian Faith and Philosophy
• Featured study notes that explain alleged “problem” passages in the Bible
• 50 sidebars (Twisted Scripture) focusing on Bible passages misused by cults
• Index of special articles for quick and easy access
• Book introductions with special emphasis on anything of an apologetics nature
• Profiles of key Christian apologists
- Anselm
- Athanasius
- Augustine
- Joseph Butler
- C.S. Lewis
- Irenaeus
- Justin Martyr
- Origen
- William Paley
- Blaise Pascal

Anyways as you can tell I'm really excited about this book! I'll probably be posting later on once I get through some of the articles.

Have a great week!