Our schedule this summer has been quite conducive to reading and studying. The work schedules and family situations of some of those studying the Bible with us have created unexpected and sometimes with little or no warning, cancellations. Of course, that means we have some time that we weren’t planning on having. Add that to the summer break in homeschooling both for us and for our ministry to others, we’re enjoying some much appreciated time to rest and to read.
Lately, I’ve been sampling studies in several directions…reading a little bit of early church history, Jewish customs from the time of Christ, watching/listening to an “on-site” study of the life of Peter, and also reading up on I John, Ephesians, and Romans (which I’m studying with others).
One of the most fascinating pieces I came across was concerning the life of Peter by singer, songwriter, author, and theologian Michael Card. (That’s quite a list of credits not often seen together, but yes, Card is quite a theologian with a teaching knowledge of biblical languages as part of the depth of his learning and understanding.)
I didn’t know if I’d just sample a bit of the video presentation or watch a little bit of it, as the website I was viewing it on had the entire thing broken down into 9 or 10 minute bits. I couldn’t stop watching and ended up viewing the entire series throughout the evening yesterday. Fantastic!
If you can make time to watch it through, you’ll be rewarded. When Card moves on to Jerusalem from Galilee and Capernaum, the character sketch really picks up momentum and at the Last Supper and Peter’s eventual denials, the understanding of Peter and what he was thinking and why he was doing what he did makes so much more sense to me now.
All of this, as Card points out, is not to know Peter better as much as it is to know Jesus better. We can see Jesus in ways that we had not seen him before by seeing Peter in these ways. That’s what Card says will happen at the beginning of the series, and I can testify, that it was true for me.
Highly recommend this:
(from the link above, you’ll see several parts listed below for the continuation of the video series…just click each one in turn as you go through starting with this first one)
Enjoy the teaching and the experience! Let me know if you learned anything new. I want to view it all again and take some notes the next time through.
Knowing Your ABCDs 