Clint Bieri

So I have just started P90X the workout program again and man I am sore!  But at the end of the first round of P90X I started thinking about reading through the Bible in 90 days.  Then I went to The Xenos Summer Institute at Xenos Christian Fellowship in Columbus, Ohio and during one of the breakout sessions it was mentioned that there is a least one men’s group at Xenos that reads through the Bible every 90 days!  This insane bit of Bible reading is a prerequisite to being in the group!  I thought that is X-treme like the late 90′s and now I really want to see if I can do that!

I began to look for a reading plan (surely there had to be one online) and sure enough I found a customizable plan created by BibleGateway.com but put into a really cool format by YouVersion.com, which I can access through my iPhone or on my computer!  So 29 days ago I began a journey reading through the scriptures.  I have read through the Bible in college and at a pretty rapid pace but this has been outstanding.  At first I thought that the pace would really be crazy but because of the quickness of my reading I am remembering things that fit together like God’s various promises to individuals and who goes with what family, which has been so nice!  The other thing that I have done is I keep a small notebook with me as I read and I at the end of each chapter I write a one line summary of the action taking place in that chapter.  This has made my reading much more active and I believe has really helped with my reading retention!  If you are up to it B90X is a great way to get a bird’s eye view of the Bible and just listen to God’s Word in a fresh way.  It’s definitely a commitment of energy and time but so far after almost 30 days I know that the reward is going to be worth it!

If you are on YouVersion.com let me know by following clintbieri.   Also, if you would like to check out the reading plans you can visit YouVersion.com and get hooked up for free!

So I have been noticing that people that I dearly love and respect as leaders in the local body of believers have no idea how to study the Bible and think that they have studied when they sit down and read something random for 10 minutes.  Now,  I know people are busy but I think we can give Jesus more than 10 minutes in a given day!  In this post I will give you some Bible study tactical guidelines for your time in the word with Jesus! Continue Reading…

I started yesterday morning working on an interactive way for us to do Bible study here on the blog and then my wife, Christina, reminded me about youversion.com and the fact that they just released youversion LIVE which is a interactive site that will allow people to create groups so that people can study the Word together.  I took about an hour and made a group that will allow you the opportunity to study the Bible in an interative way as well as give you the ability to take notes, participate in polls and even submit prayer requests.  So I hope you all don’t mind following the link to www.youversion.com and joining the II Thessalonians group byclicking here to participate in Bible Study.  I do hope you find the study meaningful to you and please leave feedback if you decide to try it out so that I might be able to make it better.

Over the next few days I am going to post a small Bible study on II Thessalonians. I have been working my way through many of the epistles and it has been so very good for me that I would like to share it with you. Please follow along. I will be using a very basic yet beneficial Bible study method using exegesis (reading out the meaning of the biblical text) and the 3 simple categories of observe, interpret and apply to make sure that we understand what the Holy Spirit is saying to us through the text and how we are to live in order to honor Jesus.  I will be linking a lot to youversion.com (you should check out this free Bible study site.  YouVersio also has an iPhone / iPod Touch app which I have been using and I really enjoy!)  I am looking forward to our time together in God’s word.  If you have any questions please feel to interact with me as we study II Thessalonians together. You will see posts all this week and you can look under the category “Bible Study” to see all these posts together.

II Corinthians 10:5

“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.”

• Combat those who fight against knowing God
• Put every thought in jail
• We take thoughts prisoner to obey Christ
• Thoughts that we have are guilty before proven innocent!

Galatians 5:16

“But I say, walk in the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”

• When the believer submits to the Holy Spirit, they will not give in to the desires of the flesh
• Staying in step with the Holy Spirit leads to gratifying the desires of the spirit and not the flesh.

Titus 2:11-12

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in the present age.”

• Grace – Gods Riches At Christ’s Expense
• God’s grace means salvation to ALL people
• God’s graces teaches us how to say NO to sin to unrighteousness and Yes to righteousness
• We are to live by God’s grace  today

Psalm 73:25-26

“Whom do I have in heaven but you? And there is no one on earth that I desire besides you.  My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

• I only have God in heaven
• The spirit of Christ in me longs for closeness with God
• My humanness will fail
• BUT God – He is the strength of my heart
• BUT God – He is my portion (the sum total of all I need) for all time

Ephesians 5:25-26

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,”

• What a big love! Loving as Christ loved the Church (he died in her place)
• I must give myself up for my wife (lay down my life for her)
• When I give up myself and love my wife God sanctifies her
• The Word of God will wash her like water washes her

I Corinthians 10:13

“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of the escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

• All the temptation that I face is common to all mankind.  We are on the same page.
• God is the most faithful when when I face temptation
• God will not allow temptation to overwhelm me
• God will provide a way out of the temptation
• God will not tempt beyond what we can bear so that we can endure it.

“Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.”

GO! I have learned recently that in order to GO you must at some point STOP!  In order for a change of direction or focus to truly occur something has to GO and something has to STOP.  When I read about Abram though I am struck by the force at which God speaks to him – GO!  To me this means that he has to stop some things and the verse gets to that basically by saying, “Abram, stop living in this country, with your people, in your father’s house. Stop being in control and let ME be in control.”  I am trying to figure this out myself because in a way I have sensed this same thing. I have to GO.  But I have to STOP other things in order to turn or change direction. Continue Reading…

I am reading Psalm 69 this morning and I think that I am very sensitive to the feelings that David the psalmist is having. let me share a few verses:

1 Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. 2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. 3 I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God. Continue Reading…