The Journey - Welcome
A note from Dan Deeble
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly..." —The Apostle Paul, Colossians 3:16
Have you ever played T-Ball? I don’t remember much about it, other than the fact that it was lame. Few kids could catch. Even fewer knew the rules, and, of course, you had to hit off a rubber batting tee.
"What's the point?" I thought.
Soon I graduated from the Peewees and, to my disgust, my Little League coach also made us practice with a tee! Same with my high school coach. College coach? Ditto. Little did I know that the little tee would follow me through every league, team and coach! Turns out, every Major League ballplayer practices off a tee—Still! Why? Because, unlike with a live pitch, everything on a tee is stationary, and ballplayers can—almost daily—work out all the kinks in their swing. Sometimes, it’s for just a minute or two; other times, they spend hours at it. This is all so that, come game time, they can simply just react and let their natural instincts take over.
Some of you might be asking the same thing about reading the Bible: "What's the point?"
Well, the Scriptures are a bit like a batting tee. They are a stationary—or written—tool that God has given us to grow in relationship with him. By reading it, we understand him better—not to mention ourselves. We begin to see the world differently, and our perspective on life begins to change. Burdens are lifted, hope fills the spaces, and we slowly begin to work out all the kinks in our swing. But here's the deal: Our life in Christ takes practice. This is why the Scriptures are essential to our growth. We gotta take it everywhere; read it daily... Could be for a few minutes, could be for hours. So that as the curveballs of real life come our way, we will have grown so practiced in the ways of Jesus that we can just let our natural instincts take over. Thus, The Journey.
We’ve designed this little guide to help each of us—no matter what "league" we're in-develop a healthy rhythm and discipline to our days, months and years.
Swing Away
Dan Deeble
Journey Resources
Bible Gateway
Provides advanced Bible searching capabilities, which allow readers to find passages in scripture based on
keywords, phrases, or scripture reference.
Study Light
Is an in-depth resource library online providing helpful resources such as Bible related dictionaries,
devotionals, commentaries and concordances.
Blue Letter Bible
The "BLB" provides in-depth study of God's Word through an on-line interactive reference library
of selected teachings and commentaries.
Logos Bible Study Software
Bible study software for both Mac and PC.
Accordance Software
Bible study software available for Mac OS X.
"SOAP" Example
A good technique to apply to your Journey devotional, "Scipture, Observation, Application and,
Prayer (or, SOAP). Click the link to see an example.