BSOL

BSOL REVIVED

 

Back on Jan 1 2005, I suggested to our 6 grandchildren that we could start a "Bible Study on Line" (BSOL) if they were interested, since we all had access to email. They agreed, and for several years we continued; starting with a certain book of the Bible, I would start with a simple outline of each chapter and send it to each of them on Mon AM and suggest that they reply with questions or comments. Then we could discuss that chapter throughout the week by using the "reply to all" button, and we had the equivalent of a living room Bible study, but from different locations, as they were in different stages of their education at the time. This seemed to work quite well at the time, but as their lives got busier with their studies etc. we finally dropped it after a few years. Recently I have had the desire to start this up again, and make it available to anyone who is interested in knowing more about God's Word. I certainly don't consider myself any expert teacher of the Word, but I have been a committed member of various churches of different denominational backgrounds for over 50 years, and since suffering my first of several strokes on Dec 8, 1999, the same year I turned 65 in July, my life style changed quite drastically and I could no longer do the things I had previously enjoyed doing. So I made a choice to spend more time studying the Bible, and reading books about early church history, and how we worship God today, compared to the way they did in the book of Acts. Needless to say I have learned a lot about how church traditions and various doctrines have entered the "churches" since Jesus said in (Matt 16:18) "I will build My Church".

 

What we call "churches" today have little or no resemblance to the original gatherings to worship Jesus in the first couple centuries after Jesus was crucified, buried, and rose back to life 3 days later. Early church history explains how things changed drastically in the fourth century when Emperor Constantine joined the "Church" of the day to the mighty Roman Empire. The "Church of Rome" became the dominant leader in religious matters through the period known as the "dark ages", from 500 to 1500 AD. Any accurate historical account of these years tell the tragic story of this period of church history, and is available for anyone to see, but few people have ever bothered to read early church history. I had the time to do that after the forced change in my lifestyle after the first stroke, and it was quite amazing the things I learned, that I never heard in any of the churches I had attended.

 

What Jesus meant to be a "living organism", suddenly became a lifeless "organization" patterned after the Roman Empire, and similar to large corporations like GM or IBM, with their CEO's and regional managers etc. Jesus never came to earth to start another "Religion", but to open the door to a "Relationship" with our Creator God through His sacrificial death as the cross as the "Lamb of God". (John 14:6)!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                                                                                          11/01/14