Hey all,
Reason For Absence
I've realized I haven't been active on this blog since last May. Life has been the main reason for my absence as well as some other projects that are taking up my time (not to mention being a new dad).
However, I still plan on posting more posts in the future. My original intent was to complete the series on how the read the scriptures. However, it appears that the Lord has different plans in mind.
Besides school, work, and life (in general), I've actively been writing a book on how to read the scriptures. This is where a lot of my time and attention has gone. I'm not sure when I'll have the book completed, but it'll likely be before summer (at the latest). I'm about finished with the rough draft. Once finished, I'll do a few edits to ensure there are little to no typos. Although I can't make any promises, as no matter how hard I edit and review my work, I always discover typos. The only problem is that I'm a one-man operation. Since I'm not writing this through a publisher, but am going doing it independently, I am the writer, editor, and publisher all in one. Since there is to division of labor, this process is anything but efficient. But in the end, regardless of how polished the final product is, It will be worthwhile to read for those who are wanting to improve their scripture study or who feel that the scriptures lack richness and want to do something about it.
My intent for the book, much like my posts, is to be an introductory guide on how to read the scriptures. However, the book will be more in-depth and expansive than my blog posts. In the book, my goal is to provide tools and insights that are valuable in reading and understanding the scriptures. Many of us assume that reading the scriptures is akin to reading the newspaper or pop fiction.
However, this is not the case and instead to get the most of the scriptures requires practice and skill. The scriptures are communicating nature of God, which is complex and intricate. Accessing that information requires us to understand how language works and how grammatical rules serve to give language its meaning. It also requires us to approach with the scriptures with an open-mind, where we seek to be taught and corrected, instead of having our beliefs reinforced.
Because many of us haven't been taught how to read the scriptures or have not taken advanced literature classes, which teach how to read and interpret language, the task of teaching this to a general audience has been difficult. But my hope is to teach the skills which has taken many years to learn. The book is not comprehensive, but I hope it'll be enough to set those who are interested on the right course.
Thanks to outside help from friends and family, I'm planning on providing a free PDF copy and also selling the book on Amazon at the cost of print.
Future Plans
With that in mind, here are my plans for the future:Because I've decided to devote my efforts to a book, I've figured that finishing my series on how to read the scriptures would be redundant, since my book will cover everything and more. Therefore, I'm going to discontinue that series and focus my efforts elsewhere.
Although I've been busy, I've learned a lot over the past 7 months and I hope to share my insights with you all. The gospel is truly delicious and the scriptures are rich with insight and truth that'll invariably make on wiser in the knowledge of God.
I'm looking forward to sharing those insights with you all.