The Word of God

This isn't my usual post but I think it is still a good one. This week is special to me because instead of dealing with some of the emotional part of Christianity we are learning about something that we can hold in our hands.
This week we are learning about the The Word of God.
Yesterday we learned about: Where the Bible came from. Which is a lot a fabulous history! The early church, popes and kings, Gnostics, Wycliffe, Luther, persecution... Along with these comes wonderful facts! The Bible was written on 3 different continents, over 1500 years, with 40 writers, who had 20 different occupations, and 3 different languages. I learned how the collection of books was chosen and why! My favorite fact was that the Bible was developed by early churches (200 AD), not the meeting of Nicaea (325 AD).
This question really got me:
How would your life be different with out a Bible?
Today: We looked at the Old Testament. The timeline and stuff...
Fun Fact: The Jews celebrate Hanukkah because the temple was violated by a king sacrificing a pig to Zeus on the alter of the Lord. So when they rededicated the temple to the Lord Hanukkah was born.
The application today was about studying the Bible (which we will be learning more about).
3 steps:
Observation: Keep in context. If the book is a letter read the whole book. Look for details.
Interpretation: What did it mean to the original readers? (backround, culture, situation) What was the Author thinking? Ask "Why?"
Application: Apply AFTER the first two steps! (Be Inductive) What are the timeless truths? Is there something I need to change in my life? Go to God with it. :)

I hope I didn't bore you... sometimes it is hard to tell when I hear so much about something to write about it and not muddle my thoughts.