Introducing Fishlips & Friends

Dear Friends --
   For a couple of years Fishlips & Friends has been floating around, actually more like swimming, around in my head. The question has always been how to get him out of my head and onto paper (or in this case, swimming around on the web).
   First of all, why Fishlips & Friends? Because Fishlips is a really cool name. I've always wanted to be associated with it; & Friends because no one really thrives in solitude.
   So... I guess, I'm Fishlips and you're & Friends. And (yes, I know you're not supposed to start a sentence with a conjunction... my mother was an English teacher. However, I'm going to do it any way!) AND, we are going on a journey. The journey will be looking at Scripture, the Bible, God's Holy Word, using the inductive method of study.
   Inductive means to see what is there and not what one thinks is there. It is to understand a passage in the context that it was written by its author first, and then asking the 5 Ws and an H (who, what, where, when, why & how). Finally, the passage will then be applied to life today. For application, it is important to understand that I live in the United States. That fact alone, does affect my view of application.
   What gives me the right or authority to teach this method of study? Good question... the flippant answer is that this is my blog and I can write about anything I want. The more serious answer and, furthermore, the more correct answer is that I feel the Lord has put a call on my life to teach people, no matter their age, HOW to study their Bibles. I've been teaching this method for about 15 years.
   Many of us grew up doing someone else's Bible study, but not really learning HOW to study it. Many adults don't feel that they could study their Bibles without a pastor or some other leader taking them through it. However, there's no greater leader than the Holy Spirit. He is able to reveal truths to you whether you have an instructor around or not. Fishlips & Friends is here to teach you HOW to study, but the Holy Spirit will be making the revelations.
   There are many places where we could start our Bible study. However, since this is the season of Advent, we will start with the coming of Christ. But we will not start today. Today is just an introduction. Come back tomorrow, and we'll get started.

Sincerely,
Fishlips