I just returned from a wonderful week of Bible Camp last week in Chelsea, Alabama and will be heading back out on the road this Saturday for Montezuma Creek, Utah to take teens for a week to work and teach on a Navajo Reservation.  Please be praying for us! Our adult Talmidim will continue to meet next week.  Our week 6 journey took us into Luke 5 as Jesus shows His divinity as a miracle worker who will break the barriers of cleanliness and also heal the truest diseases of humanity.  With Psalm 103:3 as the likely backdrop, Jesus makes a bold and dramatic claim.  He is more than a rabbi.  He is GOD.

This week we also looked briefly at some teaching techniques used by Rabbis.  We looked briefly at the most well known technique, the parable, and then at 4 lesser known methods that can be described by the the acronym PaRDeS, which is the Hebrew word for “vineyard.”  Those 4 methods are:

P – p’shat – “plain meaning”

R – remez – “hint”

D – drash – “application”

S – sod – “mystical meaning”

Jesus certainly uses these techniques and as you begin to think through which technique He is using, new worlds of understanding are illuminated in the Text. For more on these methods and examples of how they are used by Jesus, be sure to download and listen to this week’s audio.  Hagah!

For the WEEK 6 CLASS AUDIO, CLICK HERE to DOWNLOAD.

The Talmidim Process

A few weeks ago we launched a discipleship process at Tusculum for adults who want to seek more fully to be like Jesus!  We will be following Jesus through the Gospel of Luke and journaling the ways in which we echo the Story and “hagah” (hunger) over each Word.  This is done through weekly readings in the Text, weekly small groups that journey together in the Text and share the journey with one another, and a weekly class that seeks to create a hunger for the Word more fully.  The weekly readings will almost always be a few chapters ahead of the class but you are encouraged to go back and reread the section discussed in class.  This week our daily readings will take us into Luke 11 -13 as follows.  Because I will be out of town, I have also posted the reading schedule for next week as well.

Reading Schedule

Thursday (July 15): Luke 11:33-53

Friday (July 16): Luke 12:1-12

Saturday (July 17): Luke 12:13-34

Sunday: Discussions with Life Group

Monday (July 19): Luke 12:35-59

Tuesday (July 20): Luke 13:1-21

Wednesday (July 21): Talmidim Class at Tusculum at 7pm

Thursday (July 22): Luke 13:22-25

Friday (July 23): Luke 14:1-24

Saturday (July 24): Luke 14:25-35

Sunday: Discussions with Life Group

Monday (July 26): Luke 15:1-31

Tuesday (July 27): Luke 16:1-18