You have found the Bible Study at AlwaysRejoicing.com.

Originally, this was to be a lay-person led Bible Study for my church. However, things change. This is still a lay-person led study. But it’s open to anyone who wants to participate. Please understand that this is my Bible Study. It may or may not reflect the beliefs of my church and denomination. That’s why you can make comments.

My name is Uisdean. I’m a lay person, not a trained theologian or educator. So, what you will find here are my thoughts as I read the Bible. The Internet provides easy access to some theological commentaries and it’s wise to consult them. So I will. You can express your opinion in the Comments. If you have a difficult question, I have access to some wise theologians who can help. Again, the opinions expressed here may or may not reflect the teachings of my church and denomination. The purpose here is to study the Bible, not to promote an agenda.

This Bible Study is tagged as a ‘beginner’ type of study because Bible study should be easy for beginners. I won’t claim that I am providing a balance of “solid food” and “milk” (See Hebrews 5:13-14.) This is simply a layman contemplating the Bible as he reads it. –By the way, that blue colored text is a link to give credit to the source of the idea. It is ‘good scholarship’ to provide a link to every source. Please let me know (in a comment) if a link is missed or does not work properly.

We can study the Bible in many ways. If you wander over to the main site, Always Rejoicing, you will find some stories that are based on the Bible. For example, The Fifth Commandment is based on parts of 1 Samuel. As I wrote that story, I studied the scripture in order to make sure I wrote nothing that contradicted what God had written. The Forever Stone site also contains essays that look at church unity. These essays are also Bible based. However, I believe that each verse should be examined in the context in which it is written. That’s what this site is about.

As frequently as I can, I will be studying the Bible book by book. The first book is Philippians. Why? Because my pastor said that would be the best place for me to start. And, also, since this is part of my AlwaysRejoicing.com website, it makes sense to study the letter where St. Paul commands us to “rejoice always”. Finally, this may be the first time some of you have tried to study the Bible. Philippians contains some highly quotable and very familiar verses. That means you might find it easy to study, since you’ve heard others quote it. It’s also a short letter. And, because it’s online, you can go through it at your own pace.

Feel free to ask questions. You can ask a question or leave a comment through the “comments” system. You do not have to “join” or “subscribe” to leave a comment. You will, however, need to supply your User_Name and e-mail address. I’ll review your comment and, so long as it does not appear to be from an “Agent of Chaos” I will approve it to be posted. I might send you an e-mail for verification, or to clarify something in your comment. Your e-mail address will not be supplied, transferred or sold by me. There is a “Privacy Policy” at this link. If you subscribe/register as a member then I will keep you informed of major changes to the website/privacy policy/etc. And, if you would like, I’ll notify you by e-mail when I add a lesson or start a new book of the Bible.

Note on the versions of Scripture used here: Unfortunately most translations/versions are not in the public domain. However, the World English Bible (WEB) and the American Standard Version (ASV) are public domain. The “Authorized King James Version” is also public domain…but I do not speak the language of Shakespeare; just as I read a modern version of Hamlet, I use a modern version of the Holy Scripture. So, the lesson texts will be WEB or, sometimes, ASV unless otherwise noted.

To set the Scripture apart from other texts, it will be slightly colorized. The block of text will have a link to Bible Gateway’s posting of the WEB or ASV. John 3:16 would look like this:

¹⁶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life. Link to ASV.

Note also that this link will open in another tab. The ASV does have translation notes. I won’t comment on them often, but the link is provided if you want to see those notes. (Somewhere in Bible Gateway there is a setting to hide or show these notes.)

You should know that the MENU has a ‘blog’ page called “The Bible Study POSTs Page” which orders the posts like a blog, most recent on top. The “New Testament” or “Old Testament” tab will drop down with the ‘lessons’ in order. If you click on “Philippians” you should see the Chapter numbers. I do hope this makes it easy to navigate the site. Each listing has a quote from the lesson to help you find something. There are tags to help you search. (I would like to give credit to the designers of the Mantra Theme for the way this website works. And they provide the basic theme for free. So, please pray for them.)

Finally, and most important: Prayer. Please ask the Holy Spirit to teach you what He wants you to understand from the Scripture. See John 14:16.

Because I’m not tied to a schedule and I am also writing for my other websites the posts will appear when I get them written. I will occasionally go back and edit something I’ve posted.

That’s it for the introduction. Let’s get started with the Epistle to the Philippians.