Assess Your Bible Reading and Your Thinking

1. How often do you read the Bible? Do you read the Bible daily? A few times a week? Not that often?
2. How much time do you spend reading (meditating on) the Bible? Reading books, blogs or magazines?
3. When you read the Bible how much of it do you usually read? A few verses at the time? A few chapters? 5-10 chapters?
4. What do you know about your Bible?

a.    How many N.T. books are there? How many books of the Bible did Paul write?

b.    Can you recite in order the first 10 books of the N.T.? The first 20 books? All the N.T. books?

c.     How many O.T. books are there? Who are the 4 major prophets? What are the 5 poetic books?

d.    Can you recite in order the first 10 books of the O.T.? The first 20 books?

5.    What does Ps 119:97, Ps 1:2, Josh 1:8 encourage us regarding Scripture? Do you love reading it? Why or why not? Does it taste sweet to you (Ps 119:103; 34:8; Eze 3:3; Rev 10:9)? What surprising result does it promise (Ps 1:3; Josh 1:8b)? What is Scripture able to do (2 Tim 3:15)? Useful for (2 Tim 3:16-17; Ps 119:105)? Who does Scripture point to (Jn 5:39; Lk 24:27, 44)?

  

6.    Ralph Waldo Emerson says, "A man is what he thinks about all day long?" What do you think about all day long?

  

7.    Read Phil 4:8, 2 Tim 2:7; Mk 8:30. What does these verses suggest about the life of the mind? Reflect on these:

• "All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become."  Buddha. 
• "Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think." Benjamin Disraeli. 
• "Reading makes a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man." Francis Bacon. 
• "2% of the people think; 3% of the people think they think; and 95% of the people would rather die than think." George Bernard Shaw.

8.    Do you know why you do what you do (1 Cor 10:31)? Why is this important? What was Paul's motivation and driving force (Ac 20:24; 1 Cor 2:2; 15:3-4; Phil 3:10)? What motivation do you have to read the Bible?

  

9.What is West Loop Church about? "About Us" on our website says, "Our foundational belief is that the Gospel is central and crucial to the life of the church. We believe that a church where the gospel is preached and proclaimed produces a gospel church and a gospel community, and enables the gospel to be lived out in every area of our lives and expression as a Christian." What are your spontaneous thoughts about this statement regarding our foundational belief? Would you like to state it differently?