Jim George - A Young Mans Guide to Discovering His Bible

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE, OREGON

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Verses marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Verses marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Verses marked ( NLT ) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Cover by Dugan Design Group, Bloomington, Minnesota

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A YOUNG MANS GUIDE TO DISCOVERING HIS BIBLE

Copyright 2014 Jim George

Published by Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97402

www.harvesthousepublishers.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

George, Jim

A young mans guide to discovering his Bible / Jim George.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-0-7369-6015-1 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-0-7369-6016-8 (eBook)

1. BibleTextbooks. 2. Teenage boysReligious life. 3. Christian teenagersReligious life. I. Title.

BS605.3.G46 2014

220.071'2dc23

2014007993

All rights reserved. No part of this electronic publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any otherwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The authorized purchaser has been granted a nontransferable, nonexclusive, and noncommercial right to access and view this electronic publication, and purchaser agrees to do so only in accordance with the terms of use under which it was purchased or transmitted. Participation in or encouragement of piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of authors and publishers rights is strictly prohibited.

To the special young men in my family,

Jacob Seitz

Matthew Zaengle

Isaac Seitz

Ryan Zaengle

and all young men who want to know more about God.

Contents

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

G ENESIS 1:1

Z ack is your average 15-year-old guy. He loves sports, playing video games, and isnt all that fond of school. Oh, he makes just enough effort to get by. His teachers are satisfied with his mediocre effortsafter all, he doesnt cause any problems for them. But that was about to change. Zack would soon be given a challenge that would rock his world forever.

Justin, the youth pastor at Zacks church, had asked Zack to drop by his office for a chat. Zack had no idea what Justin wanted to talk about. He couldnt think of anything he had done wrong. He pretty much approached the youth group the same way as he approached school: Dont make waves. Dont look or act too smart. Just blend in.

Zack, Ive had my eye on you ever since I took this position as youth leader, Justin began as soon as Zack entered the office. Zacks heart sank. On nobusted! His cover as an average, non-interested teen had just been blown.

Zack, Justin continued, Id like to take you on a journey to unlock the secrets of the universe. Are you interested?

Zack had spent his teen years trying not to care about anything. Well, except himself and his special interests and hobbies. But the challenge was tempting. He had always liked reading action and adventure books about quests and the search for mysterious artifacts and secret codes. So, without much thought, Zack blurted out, Surewhat do I have to do?

Ultimately, what Justin was really asking Zack was, Would you like to discover the answers to the secrets of the universe? That is, would you like to understand your Bible?

The Challenge

Suppose a friend or even a stranger came up to you and handed you a note that read, The extent of something is in direct proportion to the sum of nothing divided by its separate parts. If youre like me, you would give the note a blank stare because, if there was a message packed within those words, the meaning of it wouldnt be very obvious.

Or how about receiving a note that read, Alabby labbakayon Justinabokin? Again, those are just random letters on a piece of paper with no understandable message.

Unfortunately, many teens regard the Bible as you would regard these two notes. The popular thinking is this: The Bible is supposedly a message from God written with words you recognize, but whose meaning is mostly unclear and way beyond your understanding.

So you, like most boys your age, might believe you need an expert to explain Gods message to you. Someone like a youth pastor or perhaps a Bible scholar. Or maybe you think you need to go to a Bible school for a couple years before you can really understand your Bible.

If you view the Bible as mostly unknowable, you might not have a very strong desire to read it. After all, it seems like a hard-to-understand collection of stories and mysterious sayings.

But is that really the case? Why would God give you a book about Himself that you and others cannot understand? The answer is that He didnt. God meant for men and women of all ages, including a teen like you, to be able to understand the Bible. It is necessaryno, make that essentialthat you not wait until you are an adult to gain some understanding of the Bible. Nor is it necessary to wait for an expert to explain the Bible to you.

God wants you to know His Wordnow. He wants you to understand what He is saying to you right now, so you can make the best kinds of choices right now! The sooner, the better. So the issue is not can you understand the Bible. The issue is do you want to understand the Bible?

Its totally up to you. If you are up for italong with Zackyou can join him as he takes on Justins challenge to go on a journey to unlock the secrets of the universe.

Your mission, my friend, is to understand your Bible.

And why would I want to do that? you might be asking. Whats so special about the Bible?

Why Is the Bible So Special?

The Bible is the most priceless possession of the human race. Because the goal of this book is to help you discover and understand Gods Word, go get your Bible now and write out the verses listed below as you answer the question, Why is the Bible so special?

1. The Bible is the most complete revelation of God to manEphesians 1:17.

Bonus: Write out the definition of the word revelation from a dictionary.

2. The Bible is trustworthyPsalm 119:138.

3. The Bible is trueJohn 17:17.

4. The Bible is eternal and therefore indestructiblePsalm 119:89.

5. The Bibles message brings salvation2 Timothy 3:15.

6. The Bibles message brings spiritual maturityActs 20:32.

7. The Bibles message is aliveHebrews 4:12.

8. The Bibles message applies to people of every race and of every age, male or femaleIsaiah 51:8.

9. The Bibles message has one great theme, ChristHebrews 13:8.

How to Approach the Bible

Are you convinced yet that the Bible is important? Hopefully you are at least leaning toward seeing the Bible as something unique and special. At first glance, the Bible might look and feel like any other book. It has black words on white paper, just like other books. However, the Bible claims that God Himself inspired it. God spoke His message through more than 40 different authors over the course of hundreds of years to produce a specific message for all of mankind.