The Walk Through The Bible
by R.M.

Like many people, I have always had a difficult time keeping the events of the Bible in order—like how many years passed between the flood and Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt. It has been hard even to visualize the geographical locations where the people of the Bible lived. But now I have a better understanding of the chronological order of the events of the Old Testament and a new view of the history of the Old Testament.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, family members and friends from all over gathered in Boone for a "Walk Through the Old Testament Seminar." We invited an instructor from Walk Through the Bible Ministries to spend the day giving us an exciting overview of the Old Testament.

On Saturday, our instructor, John Balmer, involved everyone in his presentation by teaching hand signals and abbreviations for people and places in Old Testament so that the concepts became easier to remember. He taught us the books of the Bible with overhead transparencies, while giving one or two words describing each book. Then together we acted out highlights of the Old Testament by first breaking into smaller groups in which we could help and encourage one another. Different people were chosen to act out the people and places involved in major events, like Joseph being reunited with his brothers, or the geographical places where the prophets lives.

Once we had "walked through" our parts, we came together to act out the chronological sequence of the major Old Testament evens using motions and signals to help us remember them. This new way of knowing the bible will allow us to share highlights with others and we hope to walk through the New Testament this summer.

Sunday was spend fellowshipping together and in Bible study with Brett Burrowes leading the study. Brett gave an overview of the basis of our understanding of the Total Truth. He spent time answering questions and discussing some of the misconceptions about the "old man" and the "new man," explaining that we are all born indwelt by the spirit of Satan (John 8:44), and once we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, Satan’s spirit leaves forever and Christ’s Spirit enters forever (1 Cor. 6:17)—the "old man" (old union with Satan’s spirit) is forever replaced by the "new man" (the union of our human spirit with God’s Spirit).

Spending a lot of time on Romans 6, Brett also covered how the soul and spirit can only be separated through death. Christ’s bodily death on the Cross was the only way man could be set free from Satan’s spirit and joined to God’s Spirit. This is how God made it possible for us to be forever joined to God when we choose to become a Christian. Our Thanksgiving weekend was fun and very enlightening. We are looking forward to coming together again when we walk through the New Testament. Be on the lookout for the dates for this event and if you weren’t able to join us this time, hopefully you will be able to come then!