March 28, 2013 (Amended, April 7, 2013.)
I am putting together a writing blog. I, "promised," on there that I would post onto this present site, lists of books I want to read. Here is the first list.
I'm writing this up on an iPad. I will look at it later on my MacBook. Hopefully there won't be anything wrong with this page. If there are any glitches I should catch them via the MacBook. If you find anything to be, "wonky," I apologise.
I want to do up a teaching for my Home Church. This is a reading list for the teaching I want to do.
I'm listening to Radio Australia (via short-wave radio) as I write this up.
Some of these are very thick books. I doubt I will read 100% of each title. I just want to learn some, "main points," from them.
Before I start, here are some quotes from the 1965, "Halley's Bible Handbook":
"The Bible is the most priceless possession of the human race." "The Most Important Page in This Book Is 814". On page 814 can be found the following, "The most important thing in this book is this simple suggestion: That each church have a congregational plan of Bible reading and that the pastor's sermon be from the part of the Bible read the past week thus connecting the pastor's preaching with the people's Bible reading". This section seems like very interesting instruction on the importance of Bible reading.
The focus of my teaching will be about Biblical study, with an emphasis on taking notes. I also want to focus on developing a habit and enjoyment of reading and studying God's Word. This is something I have needed to develop in my own life for a long time. And since I was going to study it for my own self, I thought it would be a good thing to share with others.
It is a, "given," that The Bible itself will be the main textbook for this teaching. I will probably be using various reference works, and concordances. (Concordances-- Young's, Strong's and Cruden's.) Other reference books I will have on hand include, "The Bible Word Book," Ronald Bridges 1960; "A Companion to the Bible," J.-J. Von Allmen 1958; "The Westminster Dictionary of the Bible," John D. Davis 1944; "Peloubet's Bible Dictionary," F.N. Peloubet D.D. 1925.
READING LIST:
I am not sure which book I will read first. I will list these in the order I come to them.
Halley's Bible Handbook, 1965
Sections--
Page 805, "The Habit of Bible Reading". Page 814, "The Most Important Thing In This Book".
How to Enjoy The Bible by Anthony C. Deane 1942 (I have no idea how Biblically accurate this book is. I bought it because of the title, and because the author shares a name with one of my Brother's in Christ from my Home Church.)
How to enjoy the Bible by E. W. Bullinger (This is a 1980 edition printed in Great Britain.) A lot of people we know have this book. It is highly recommended by several people we know. According to this blog post, this book was originally written in 1907.
Listen Up! A practical guide to listening to sermons, by Christopher Ash. This is also a British publication. It is a booklet on ways to get the most from sermons. I have an eBay, "saved search," for, "Christian writing". I am looking for, and collecting, Christian, "how to write," books. Of course all sorts of, "Christian," books come up in the listing. Some are more, "Christian," than others. This book kept coming up. I finally realized it would work for my teaching and I got one. It seems like a really neat booklet. We are to expect God to speak to us. The final topic is, "How to get better sermons". "...when they listen stony-faced and give no word of encouragement, it is very hard for even the most faithful preacher to persevere...".
How to Read the Bible by Julian Price Love. 1948 With sections like, "Principles of Good Reading," this is a very interesting book. I have had it a long time, and wanted to read it before. I even took it when we went on a Caribbean cruise. This book goes into various ways of reading The Bible. If I remember correctly, the reading method you choose depends upon what you want to get out of the Bible. (Reading it like a secular literature book; reading it as history; reading it for doctrine, reproof and correction; etc. I have a book, that I won't be reading for my teaching, "The Bible and the Common Reader," by Mary Ellen Chase. It is from 1944. It is a secular book as far as I can tell. If I am correct, it is a book on how to read the Bible in order to increase your cultural literacy. The reason you would want do this is because the Bible is highly influential and quoted quite often. "The Bible and the Common Reader," is an example of a Bible reading plan for secular purposes.)
Hints on Notemaking in English Subjects by D.C. Somervell. 1930 This was published in Great Britain also. This is not a Biblical book, obviously. I wanted to see if I could apply their note taking technique to the Bible. On a side note, there is a rubber stamp in it from, "Campbell's Soup Store, Sep 1933".
There are various modern note taking mothods. Most are meant for business or university settings. Some of these methods have their own notebooks. You need a special notebook, which is probably expensive, in order to take notes according to the system. I have even seen certain ballpoint or rollerball pens recommended, which are supposed to make writing more efficient. I know Levenger makes a notebook system. I believe they have a note taking system to go with the notebooks. Yet, these notebooks are customizable. They aren't something that you must follow the directions with in order to get them to work. You can find their notebook parts cheaper on eBay sometimes. And if you invest in one of their hole punches, which makes the odd shaped holes for their notebooks, you can use your own paper. And another thing, you can take notes in these notebooks any which way you want to. You do not have to follow their, "system". (I have a Levenger hole punch if you ever need to borrow it.)
Radio Australia's signal has faded now. They are about to go off the air on this frequency anyway. (Or is it that they change their target area?) Whatever it is, I get static on my radio now. So, I will finish this for now. (Amendments-- see below.)
Amendments...
"Free to a good home".........
I do have some notebooks that I have collected to hand out to our Home Church as well. They tie in to this teaching. I have a couple I got at Walmart with a, "neat oh," Biblical theme to them. I have some Levenger, "Circa," notebooks I need to put together. I want to use my Levenger hole punch and put holes in some note cards, as pages (dividers) to the notebooks. The Levenger notebooks are customizable. I ended up with these larger than 3X5 cards. I kept thinking I had a wooden file box to stick them in. I have a box for 3X5 cards and the next size up, but these are larger yet. I was like, "Now what do I do with them?". I discovered that the notecards are a good size for some of the Levenger books. It's not following the directions, but since we won't be using the Levenger note taking system and the books are so customizable what does it matter. The ones I got have clear plastic covers. You can add a greeting card or some such, (magazine photo perhaps,) to the front by using the hole punch and gluing your image to card. Then you can have a customized cover decorated the way you want it. The note cards are colored and they make good dividers. That way you can divide the notebook into subjects. Also, you can add different sized rings to the book. That way you can add more paper if you want a larger book. If you want a smaller book, use smaller rings. I read that Staples has their own brand of rings and so on. I thought they said they work with the Levenger system. The Staples version is supposed to be cheaper. And I do know Levenger has an outlet on eBay. They aren't always cheapest that way, but they are cheaper. Another thing about Levenger products on eBay... sometimes people get tired of using Levenger products, or they get a gift they don't want, or they buy it and decide not to use it, OR... whatever the reason may be--- they list their Levenger products on eBay. If you wait till the last minute and try to bid on an item--- or God is working with you in the situation and you find a Levenger item that isn't popular or happens to be off the Levenger scavenger's radar, then you can get Levenger stuff much cheaper. Sometimes you find it listed in sets. That is the best way to find it, in sets listed by someone who doesn't want it anymore. You have to be careful though. If you find a set in the size you want, look for it elsewhere in order to get an idea of what, "cheap," is. That way if 10 people want it too, you don't end up paying $40.00 for a $15.00 item that can be found for $10.00 or less if you look hard. Also be aware of the shipping. I saw an item listed for $5.99 the other day and the shipping was over $200.00 I think. It was for a postcard or notebook I forget what it was. It wasn't a heavy item. I guess, people put outrageous shipping in order to make money. (More-- see below.)
I hope these last amendments about notebooks are organized enough and make sense. I am writing this section up without notes. (off the top of my head) And I am doing it in a hurry somewhat. It reads a little disorganized to me, yet I am not going back through and editing it heavily. It should make sense. If it doesn't make sense, and you need it to make sense, contact me.
This should do it. If there's any more added to this it will be below this text. Also there will probably be a new date added to the top of this page.