I think this is pretty much a thing for most churches in the world, but you have to forgive my ignorance on the topic. Simply because I've been a member of only one church in my lifetime...
But every Wednesday night, members of my church gather for prayer meeting. There is some prayers said obviously, but generally I consider it Wednesday night bible study.
And each week, if I'm not on the road, I like to attend. Some of the members attend in person, but the church also live streams the discussion for members that cannot be there live.
Right now, my church is going verse by verse through the Book of Revelation. Which is always fun for me. I love prophecy, so any chance I get to open Daniel and / or Revelation, I'm very much ready to go :)
We're discussing chapter 6 right now, with the opening of the first 6 seals and the discussion got quite intense last night....
The pastor began with the members reading through the chapter and then the flood gates opened...
This post isn't so much about what what discussed, because that can be a few hours worth of content just getting into it, it was more of what I experienced.....
There are a few church members that KNOW their bible. And when I said know, I mean they literally understand the verse, the context, the historical settings, etc...They are quite deep students of not only the bible but also of prophecy.
What was interesting to me was that a few of them had different opinions on what certain verses meant, and what the general understanding of the chapter.
And while they didn't bump heads per se, they did completely disagree with each other that made for some great time spent in scripture.
You see, I don't shy away from debates when it comes to this stuff....
God taught us to go line upon line and to reason with each other. Which means, we should discuss doctrine as long as it's respectful and we listen to each other.
Just ask @grandpapulse about the discussions him and I have about doctrine lol
The point is, I could sense some of the more liberal members of the church tried to shut down the discussion because it was getting heated....But the pastor and pretty much 95% of the members attending the meeting, thought it was a great talk!
Myself included!
I loved the back and forth and I learned quite a bit. I agreed with what one person stated, and then I disagreed with them as well. But what was so important to me was that it made me open my bible and find out for myself what the Word of God said.
The discussions pointed us to the Holy Spirit and letting Him be our teacher! The words of God are there and sure, sometimes it can get a little tricky if we don't have proper context for the verses, but God shows us His truth!
Not always what we want to believe or that we thought the verses said, but what God actually meant in His scriptures.
What a fantastic experience :)
I'd love to do that kind of discussion here on the blockchain, maybe even in the Kingdom Discord community every week. But I do know, some people shy away from the discussions. Sometimes they do because it challenges their traditions but also because they may feel it's conflict. Maybe even pointless to challenge each other?
I never think it is, because here's what matters the most....God.
And as long as we put Him first, and we remember we are all children of God, things can always be a blessing when it comes to these kind of discussions...
(Today's post beneficiary is @grandpapulse because he's a guy that stands firm on his convictions and isn't afraid to talk about the things we may disagree on!)