Christian Military Fellowship

Bible Studies

A great many other resources are available in the "Members Only" section of our website.

A basic tenet of the Christian Military Fellowship is that God has chosen the Bible as His primary means of communicating with us - it is His Word! In the words of the Apostle Paul, therefore:

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)

Why? Because as he also said:

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Key to a vibrant, robust, fruitful relationship with God is our attitude toward His Word (see Joshua 1:8; Psalms 1, 19 and 119; John 14:21, 23; Romans 10:17; 1 Peter 2:1-3 and many others!).

These" Discipleship Training Objectives" (DTO’s) are intended to get us into the Bible, studying for ourselves. Most often them are adapted with permission from" 30 Discipleship Exercises" by Charlie Riggs. They are divided into three levels: BASIC, INTERMEDIATE and ADVANCED. This is not due to any degree of difficulty or intensity, but simply because the:

Basic contains some fundamentals of Christianity, primarily what God has done and is doing for us;
Intermediate contains some "how-to' s," primarily appreciation responses to what God has done and is doing for us;
Advanced contains some realities of life as a Christian that are applied best when we grasp the basic and intermediate objectives.

By design, these DTO' s require more work than the average" fill-in-the-blanks" studies, but they are less exhaustive than a scholar would prefer (a bibliography of resources to help with both approaches is available in the CMF Home Office).

Hopefully they strike a balance by systematically guiding a person to develop basic Bible study skills while learning some foundations for Christian living (the "objectives").

If you will save your studies in a notebook, you will eventually have your own discipleship library. You can be tucking information into that “library" as you record your research, jot down questions, take notes of what others have discovered, find cross-references, and do supplemental reading. Then, rather than a "canned" method, you will have a customized resource; a "living," personalized document that represents how God is working in and through you. Something you "own" will be very much worth sharing!

The remainder of this ”Guide" contains instructions on how to study with the DTO' s and tips on using them for personal devotions, in one-to-one discipleship or as the basis for small group discussions. However or whether you decide to use them, we pray that God will:

..." fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding...in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins“ (Colossians 1:9b-14 NIV)

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Discovery

The Discovery Bible Study Serices contains four lessons suitable for people who want to know how to have a relationship with God. These folks are often found in the context of following up an evangelistic event, a Sunday School class, or from among friends, neighbors, and relatives.

The lessons are taken from the Gospel of John and based on principles from a tract titled, "Welcome to the Family" (available from the Home Office), stated as follows:

God loves you and created you to know Him personally.
Man is sinful and separated from God, so we cannot know Him personally or experience His love.
Jesus Christ is God=s only provision for man=s sin. Through Him alone we can know God personally and experience His love.
We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know God personally and experience His love.

The intent of this study is to give people a chance to respond to the Gospel. If you plan to use it to that end, you should be prepared to share that message whenever you can (i.e. 1 Peter 3:15). To help you prepare, we suggest one or both of the following:

Learn to use a gospel tract like, AWould You Like To Know God Personally?@ or whatever you prefer that contains the facts people need in order to enter a relationship with Jesus Christ and/or;
Memorize a gospel presentation like the ABridge to Life@ illustration from the Navigators, the ARomans Road@ (Romans 3:10-11; 3:23; 5:8; 6:23; 10:9-10), or some scriptural Anutshells@ of the Gospel (like John 3:16; Luke 24:46-48; Acts 16:30, 31; 20:21; Romans 6:23; 1 Corinthians 2:1, 2; 15:3,4)

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Quickstep

Knowing the reality of military operations that can make it difficult or impossible to access anything more than your Bible. It is not unheard of to have devotions on an empty mess deck, by the light of a red fire exit sign or under a blanket with a flashlight. In fact, with the exception of those with access to a computer, nobody ever deploys with a theological library in their locker, rucksack or flight bag. It is possible, however, to do very meaningful Bible studies with no more tools than paper and pen or pencil.

This method being shared can be a personally edifying, devotional approach that is time honored. It begins with opening the Bible and reading it! As you read a passage, seek to understand the context (the main topics of the paragraph, chapter and book in which the passage is located) so that any interpretations you make are consistent with the author’s intent. Trust the Holy Spirit to be your Teacher. Ask the Lord to speak to you and to lead you not only in hearing but also living out whatever you learn (see James 1:22-25).

The mechanics of this method come from the questions that the Apostle Paul asked when he was confronted by Christ on the road to Damascus, as he recounted in Acts 22:6-11. It is always appropriate to ask, “Who are you, Lord?” (vs. 8) and “What shall I do, Lord?” (vs. 10). he first question is seeking to know God, the theologians call it “proper theology.” The second question is seeking to know what to do about it, the theologians call it “practical theology.” he whole process is what they call “theological reflection.” But these are just fancy ways of saying that we need to figure out who God is and how we should live in response to Him.

So this quick-step method is simply a way of asking those questions and deciding what to do in response to the answers. You could, in fact, just make asking those literal questions and seeking the answers from the passage the sum total of your routine. But as part of the process try to answer the two questions and pursue the two action steps that follow (you could call it the ASK & ACT devotional Bible study method):

ASK: What does the passage say about God the Father, the Son, and/ or the Holy Spirit?

ASK: What does the passage say about any specific person(s), people in general or me in particular?

ACT: Determine anything from the passage for which I can worship, praise, thank or ask the Lord — and d o so!

ACT: Determine any sins I need to confess and forsake, promises to claim, commands to obey, examples to follow, errors to avoid, actions to take, etc. — and d o so!

Jot down the answers to the questions as well as the actions you intend to take in response. Acting on what you have discovered begin with writing out and reciting a prayer. Praying through this process will really help your to understand and apply whatever truth you have gleaned from the passage.

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Basic Bible Study Series

The Basic Bible Study Series will help you to understand the basics of the Christian faith helping you to draw nearer to the Lord in your walk of faith!

Lesson One — Growing in Christ

Lesson Two — Continuing to Grow in Christ

Lesson Three — Knowing the Word

Lesson Four — Called to be a Disciple

Lesson Five — Sharing Your Faith

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Discipleship Training Guide

Welcome to the CMF Discipleship Training Guide. CMF is committed to helping fulfill the Great Commission by helping those who serve in the military society minister to those with whom they serve. The Great American military man or woman is the ideal person to reach other Great Americans in the Armed Forces for Jesus Christ!

This training guide will help you Be Christ’s Disciple in the Military and Evangelize and Disciple others.

Major topics presented:

Overview
Impacting Your Environment
Personal Testimony Development
Mastering the Gospel Presentation
Assurance of Salvation
Relational Evangelism
Deliberate Disciplemaking
Prayer
Devotions
Bible Study
Memorizing Scripture
Memorizing Large Sections
Scripture Review
Stewardship

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Growing in the Faith

Special Points of Interest:

• God saved us while we were His enemies.
• We must be born again from above.
• Our nourishment comes from the Word.
• We must walk by the Spirit.
• Put no confidence in the flesh.

Growing in the Faith PDF

Growing is Knowing

Know that I am saved, what is happening to me? Discovering how to walk with Christ and enjoy the fullness of your faith.

Growing is Knowing PDF

A Case for the Trinity

The Bible is God’s Word to us. In it, God tells us about Himself in terms that we, as human beings can understand.

As with the Bodily Resurrection of Christ, Salvation by Grace through Faith, the Authority of Scripture, and the Deity of Jesus Christ, the Trinity is an essential Christian doctrine. There is no middle ground since it is clearly laid out in Scripture that this is the true nature of God.

We need to understand the Biblical Trinity because it is who God is. When we understand the Trinity, we understand that God has revealed Himself to us in a way that we may worship Him “in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24)

Jesus Christ says in John 17:3, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (emphasis added)

Since we know that all Scripture comes from God (2 Timothy 3:16-17), that God doesn’t lie (Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29; John 17:17), that we are to worship Him “in spirit and truth” (John 4:24), and since Jesus prayed that we would “know the only true God” (John 17:3), we would expect to find the concept of the Trinity within the pages of the Bible.

Saint Thomas Aquinas (AD 1225 - 1274), said about the Trinity:

◦ “When we speak of the Trinity, we must do so with caution and modesty, for, as St. Augustine saith, ‘Nowhere else are more dangerous errors made, or is research more difficult, or discovery more fruitful.’”1

Before we get into the Biblical definition of the Trinity and show, using Scripture, that it is indeed the true nature of God, let’s take a look at what some of the cults and some major world religions teach about the Trinity....

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Biblical Difficulties

We’ve all run across Bible passages where we’ve walked away scratching our heads and saying to ourselves, “what does that mean?”

We might have even been discussing the Bible with friends and had them say something to the effect of, “I don’t read the Bible because there are a lot of contradictions in it.”

Most of the time we tuck these comments or passages away until a later time when we can ask someone or come back to it and look at it from a different angle.

Sometimes, if these passages in question really bug us, we’ll seek someone out who can explain the passage or do what I do, pray for wisdom, seek guidance from the Holy Spirit who leads us into all truth (John 16:13) and head to the nearest Christian bookstore and start reading commentaries…lots of commentaries by faithful Christian men and brothers in the Lord.

We shouldn’t let Bible difficulties get us down because the truth is, Peter acknowledged that some of the Apostle Paul’s teachings were “hard to understand” (2 Peter 3:16), that’s why God gives teachers to His church (Ephesians 4:11) and the reason why He gave the illuminating ministry of the Holy Spirit (John 16:12-15; 1 Corinthians 2:9-12).

We need to point out to critics and those who have honest questions about the Bible, that the difficult verses that might trip us up can be easily addressed.

St. Augustine (AD 354-430), Bishop of Hippo, stated that “If we are perplexed by any apparent contradiction in Scripture, it is not allowable to say, the author of this book is mistaken; but either the manuscript is faulty, or the translation is wrong, or you have not understood.”....

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Evidence for the Existence of God

Noted agnostic Carl Sagan (1934-1996), an American astronomer and author stated in his 1980 book Cosmos, “The Cosmos is all there is, all there was, and all there will ever be.”

People have wrestled with the existence of God for thousands of years. Can it be proven? What evidence do we have that a God exists? How we answer this question is important since it determines whether our lives have ultimate meaning, value and purpose with eternal benefits or in the end nothing really matters and we might as well “eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die” with no consequences for our actions.

American writer and theologian Frederick Buechner once stated that “It is as impossible for man to demonstrate the existence of God as it would be for even Sherlock Holmes to demonstrate the existence of Arthur Conan Doyle.”

Author and atheist Christopher Hitchens wrote “What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.”

British Author and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins stated, “Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence.”

Science fiction author Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) wrote, “Emotionally, I am an atheist. I don't have the evidence to prove that God doesn't exist, but I so strongly suspect he doesn't that I don't want to waste my time.”

Mr. Asimov claimed to be an atheist but what exactly is an atheist? Atheism comes from two Greek words. The word a meaning “not or no” and theos meaning “god” and thus atheism means “no God.”....More

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Evidence for the Resurrection

If the resurrection of Jesus Christ was a fabricated hoax, it was the greatest deception, and a vicious and cruel lie created by despicable, heartless men.

If so, Christians are to be pitied above all people, for our hope would then be based on that lie.

But, if the resurrection of Jesus Christ is real, it was the greatest miracle, the greatest feat in all of human history, and its implications impact every individual from past to present.

As Dr. William Lane Craig, Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology says:

“Without the belief in the resurrection the Christian faith could not have come into being. The disciples would have remained crushed and defeated men. Even had they continued to remember Jesus as their beloved teacher, his crucifixion would have forever silenced any hopes of his being the Messiah. The cross would have remained the sad and shameful end of his career. The origin of Christianity therefore hinges on the belief of the early disciples that God had raised Jesus from the dead.”

Of all the important doctrines of the Bible, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is an essential Christian doctrine that must be believed as a condition of salvation.

The apostle Paul said as much in Romans 10:8, 9:

“But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (emphasis added)

In other words, in order to have eternal life, we must acknowledge and be devoted to Jesus Christ as Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead....

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Forgiveness and Reconciliation

The Sovereignty of God

The word Sovereign means - Possessing supreme power, unlimited wisdom, and absolute authority.

“All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him What have You done?’” -Daniel 4:35

“…You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, You know it all.” -Psalm 139:1-4

Psalm 139:1-18 teaches that God knows each of us intimately, that all of our acts and thoughts are known to Him even before they are known to us. Before you opened your heart to God, by accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior, He knew whether you would come to Him or not and gave you that option through the gift of free will. God is not willing that any should perish and chooses that all would follow Him. But through the exercise of free will, He gives every individual the freedom to reject Him.

When God created Adam and Eve, He gave one restriction, which was not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When they disobeyed by listening to Satan, mankind came under the curse of sin. In Adam, God gave mankind the freedom to choose good, but through disobedience he chose evil; therefore, it is now reality that all who choose to become God’s children in Christ still live in a fallen world and are touched by the evil around them. If this were not true and God shielded His children from all trouble and evil, people would only be motivated to turn to Him for the guarantee of an easy life. In fact, this is the very argument that began the historic showdown in heaven between God and Satan concerning the life of Job.

Satan said to God:

“Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face.” -Job 1:9-11

God allowed Satan to bring evil upon Job through the loss of his possessions, his children, and finally his health. God is a loving Father and does not bring evil into our lives; however, for His purpose and for our ultimate good, He allows us to be touched by evil. The outcome of Job’s suffering was greater trust and intimacy with God.

Job did not understand the reason that God was allowing him to suffer (God declared he was a righteous man in Job 2:3), so he asked, “Why?” For several chapters Job agonizes over this question, seeking a satisfactory answer. God never answers directly but turns Job’s attention to His power and glory, which is displayed in creation. Job was satisfied through deeper understanding of the greatness of God. When we suffer, like Job, we look for an explanation. “Why, why, why?” One of the many lessons we learn from Job is that “Why?” is the wrong question. We should instead ask God, “What?”....

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How We Got The Bible

The Bible is one of the most revered and yet the most hated book ever written.

For centuries, men have treated this book with reverence, awe and respect while at the same time other men have gone to great lengths to discredit it and if possible, even destroy it.

In AD 303, the Roman Emperor, Diocletian (AD 245-312), sought to wipeout any trace of Christianity from the face of the earth. He ordered churches to be burned, Christians to be executed, and the Scriptures to be confiscated and burned.

Voltaire (1694-1778), a French writer, essayist and philosopher, boasted in the 1700s that within 100 years, Christianity and the Bible would disappear – implying that his works would remain much longer.

Ironically, twenty years after Voltaire’s death, the Geneva Bible Society bought his house and used it for printing Bibles.

R.A. Torrey (1856-1928), Dean of the Bible Institute of Los Angles said:

“For eighteen centuries every engine of destruction that human science, philosophy, wit, reasoning or brutality could bring to bear against a book has been brought to bear against that book to stamp it out of the world, but it has a mightier hold on the world today than ever before. If that were man’s book it would have been annihilated and forgotten hundreds of years ago…”

And yet despite the persecution and criticism that the Bible has endured, it is today the world’s number one bestselling book. It is the most quoted, the most translated, and the most influential book ever written and as we will see, it can be demonstrated that the Bible is divine rather than human in origin....

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The Bible Unpacked: Concise Edition