The Gospel According to Mark This is a somewhat condensed version of the same Bible study guide found online at http:/ac21doj.org/contents/bibleStudy/theGospelAccordingToMark/ - in which the NLT text is used by permission of the publisher. In addition to graphics, the online version also includes: the key verse for each chapter of Mark, extensive articles on key terms, and cross references to the other gospels (Matthew, Luke, and John). The extra material has been omitted here due to space and copyright concerns. Most of the material in both versions of this guide is presented in a format of: see/head/explanation hear/heart/illustration do/hands/application.by Greg Williamson revised 2011Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation (NLT)IntroductionPreliminary Concern: Why bother with Bible study?One of the most important, yet neglected, disciplines of the Christian life is serious, committed, personal Bible study. While many Christians will say that the Bible is important to them, in truth the vast majority of professing believers spend at best no more than a few minutes a week reading it. The end result is ignorance regarding Gods truth which, in turn, has any number of profoundly negative consequences. The Bible is Gods lamp to our feet and Gods light to our path (see Psalms 119:105) - which means that without it we can expect to spend a lot of time stumbling and bumbling through this life. Beyond the obvious fact that it is an act of obedience and a sign of our love for God, personal Bible study has the potential to impact us in some highly significant ways, including: Knowledge. Knowledge is the truth or facts of life that a person acquires either through experience or thought. Nelsons New Illustrated Bible Dictionary While creation reveals (some of) what God is like, the Bible remains the only objective source for the fullest knowledge possible regarding God and his will for us. Wisdom. Wisdom is the ability to judge correctly and to follow the best course of action, based on knowledge and understanding. Nelsons New Illustrated Bible Dictionary In simplest terms, it is skill for living. Dictionary of Biblical Imagery A Christian acquires this skill through personal study and application of the Scriptures. Understanding. To understand is to grasp the meaning of; to grasp the reasonableness of; to have thorough or technical acquaintance with or expertness in the practice of. Merriam-Websters 11th Collegiate Dictionary Knowing and applying Gods counsel as found in the Bible is the only sure way to truly understand life - our purpose, our meaning, our direction. With so much to gain, why is Bible study such a lost art? Well, for one thing, personal, committed, ongoing Bible study demands time and effort. Which means getting out of the bed a little earlier each morning and/or turning off the television - or logging off of the internet - a little sooner in the evening. It also means investing in resources, beginning with a good study Bible, Bible dictionary, and Bible commentary. For some suggested titles, please see: http:/ac21doj.org/resources/resources.html As one source aptly puts it: The big problem with Bible study today is that we think it should be easier than other things we do. We study recipes for quality meals, how-to books for all kinds of things - carpentry, plumbing, automobile maintenance and so on - and read vociferously for our hobbies. Why do we think the Bible is the only subject we should not have to study?! Let me challenge you - make the Bible your hobby. At one level I do not like the analogy; the Bible must be so much more than a hobby! But at another level, what if we spent as much time and money on Bible study as we do our hobbies? What if we took the same amount we spend on golf clubs and courses or on skiing equipment and skiing trips, and put it into Bible study? Yes, encyclopedias, commentaries and other reference materials are expensive. But so is everything we do. The question is about priorities: what is important enough for our time and money? I want to encourage you to get and use the tools that enable us to bridge the gap back to Bible times and authorial intention. The Hermeneutical Spiral (quoted verbatim; italics added) Who wrote this book?John Mark (John is a Hebrew name meaning God is gracious; Mark/Marcus is a Roman name meaning larger hammer). The Complete Whos Who in the Bible Besides the early Churchs testimony that Mark served as the apostle Peters interpreter (a term meaning something like private secretary and aide-de-camp International Standard Bible Encyclopedia), Mark had firsthand knowledge of the leaders of the early Church and the Gospel Except for some verbatim quotations, within this study gospel small g indicates a type of writing or genre, while Gospel large G refers to the message proclaimed by J