Some of you who follow this blog may or may not know that the reason for the Blog came about because I was in the process of publishing a book. I would like to share with you this journey and invite you to take a look at this book I wrote. I still have trouble taking credit for the book (ask my publisher how many times I wanted my name to be less conspicuous on the cover!). I feel like I was strongly led by the Holy Spirit, and followed His lead, He gets all the credit I was simply taken on quite a journey.
Several years ago I was studying the Bible and going through a study on the Covenants of the Bible. Something did not sit well with my soul as I was learning about the New Covenant and that it was the covenant we were living under in today's church. I studied and studied and about ran my teacher (Laurie) crazy with questions. Something was forming in my mind that this was not right, but I had no idea why. After talking with my parents and discussing with the group it was laid on my heart that the answer was in the Book of Acts.
In another study that I lead I made the choice that our group would study the Book of Acts next. I really didn't have any idea where we would go or what we would learn, but I made the pages in the appendix of my book for that study and off we went. Let me tell you, it was eye opening as we dug into this book and understood it in the context of the rest of the Bible. Some themes emerged: The Holy Spirit, Gentiles vs. Jews, Paul vs. Peter, and a mission mindset. Many in the group remember this as a great time of learning for all of us. Then we did a dispensational study, God's Clock of the Ages written by Charles Baker that brought the Bible into sharp focus for me.
My teacher Laurie could see that I had found something and asked if I would teach her what I had been learning. I agreed and fine tuned my study into a chapter by chapter look at the Book of Acts. We used the same appendix notes and started marking key words. We had a great time of fellowship and it was a joy to open the Scripture to her in a meaningful way. When we were done she shared that our study on Acts changed her life and the way she would look at Scripture in the future. She looked and looked for a study she could use to share what she learned with others. However, she never found a study, she found books and speakers, but no study. She challenged me to write down the things we studied so that she could take this message forward. I, of course laughed, refused and made excuses. Then an interesting thing began to happen, God used other people who had no idea what was going on in my life to encourage me to write. I am sure they don't even remember, but I do, because God was speaking to me constantly through them. I went to a concert and had such a burning in my soul to take on this project that when we were leaving I mentioned it to my husband (thinking for sure he would think me crazy). To my surprised he totally supported this cooky idea. In my quiet time the next day I could not get away from it and by the end agreed to take on this writing project. I have to admit, once I agreed to do this I was so excited.
I woke up at 5:00am every day for the next three months and the study basically wrote itself. The Holy Spirit was my constant companion and guided every step. Laurie proof read it as I wrote and it was done. I challenged Laurie to teach it to a group and I would sit in and see how it went. We got a group of ladies together who have a passion for the Word of God and they took on the job of pilot studying my book. Much was learned and the feedback was good. Now what.
I started to look for a publisher, pretty casually and before long I was signing a contract with Tate Publishing. They have done a great job and caught the vision of my project. If you have a burden to understand Scripture more clearly or teach others what you know. I encourage you to take a look at my book. If you see me regularly, I will have copies you can buy. The purpose behind this book is to help everyone to understand the Bible clearly.
For those who know the Bible speaker Les Feldick, he read my manuscript and said, “Just finished going through your study. All I can say is, fabulous!” If you read this blog and already understand these truths please consider leading a study using this book so that others can see the Bible clearly.
http://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=9781620247662
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