Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Three Simple Rules for Christian Living: A Six-Week Study for Adults
    Three Simple Rules for Christian Living: A Six-Week Study for Adults
    Three Simple Rules for Christian Living: A Six-Week Study for Adults
    Ebook80 pages59 minutes

    Three Simple Rules for Christian Living: A Six-Week Study for Adults

    By Jeanne Torrence Finley and Bishop Rueben P. Job

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Three Simple Rules for Christian Living
    by Jeanne Torrence Finley and Rueben P. Job

    This small-group study by Jeanne Torrence Finley is based on Rueben P. Job's book Three Simple Rules: A Wesleyan Way of Living. Six sessions provide extended reflection for adults on three principles of Christian life: do no harm, do good, and stay in love with God. Each rule has a session to help you understand the rule and a session to help you explore ways to practice the rule. Three Simple Rules for Christian Living includes a DVD that contains excerpts from an interview with Bishop Rueben Job and a CD ROM that contains a Leader Guide for the study sessions and other useful information for organizing, leading, and publicizing study groups.



    Your church can do a church-wide study of the three simple rules by using the youth resource, Three Simple Rules 24/7, and the children’s resource, Three Simple Rules for Following Jesus, along with this book. A leader guide and DVD for adult study groups are available.



    Parents who would like to discuss the three simple rules with their children can download a free list of suggested questions at Cokesbury.com (click below).
    Jeanne Torrence Finley is a clergy member of the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church, co-chair of the Virginia Conference Board of Church and Society, and director of Collegial Communications. She has worked as a campus minister, pastor, college English teacher, workshop leader, and communications consultant. Finley writes regularly for FaithLink. Her work has appeared in the Journal of Presbyterian History, Worship, The Mennonite, Christian Science Monitor, the Virginia Advocate, and Christian Social Action.

    For a free online copy of Three Simple Rules A Conversation Guide for Parents click here!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAbingdon Press
    Release dateOct 1, 2010
    ISBN9781426730764
    Three Simple Rules for Christian Living: A Six-Week Study for Adults
    Author

    Jeanne Torrence Finley

    Jeanne Torrence Finley is a clergy member of the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church, co-chair of the Virginia Conference Board of Church and Society, and director of Collegial Communications. She has worked as a campus minister, pastor, college English teacher, workshop leader, and communications consultant. Finley writes regularly for FaithLink. She wrote What's in the Bible About God? and Three Simple Rules for Christian Living, a study for adults based on Rueben Job's book and DVD, Three Simple Rules. Her work has appeared in the Journal of Presbyterian History, Worship, The Mennonite, Christian Science Monitor, the Virginia Advocate, and Christian Social Action.

    Related to Three Simple Rules for Christian Living

    Related ebooks

    Christianity For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Christmas Is About Receiving

      Dec 19, 2017

      A Christian Science perspective: The ever-present Christ, God’s message of infinite love for all, comes to each one of us.

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Importance of Evangelism

      Jul 22, 2022

      “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded yo

      2 min read

    • Article

      Joy! News

      Sep 29, 2023

      Joy! News
      6 min read

    • Article

      Ask Val

      Sep 23, 2022

      Ask Val
      2 min read

    • Article

      Too Busy For Church? There’s An App For That.

      Jul 29, 2019

      As online services and Bible apps expand, some people are finding an expanded definition beyond a building. But others worry community is being lost.

      5 min read

    • Article

      Joy! News

      Feb 11, 2022

      Joy! News
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Kingdom In The Marketplace

      Mar 16, 2020

      Today, there is little understanding of the message of the Kingdom in the marketplace, yet we are all called as ministers to grow His Kingdom (2 Cor 3:6). Many set worldly goals for the selfish advancement and selfish rewards, where work has just bec

      1 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The EDITOR

      Mar 10, 2023

      D ear readers, we love to hear your thoughts on the stories that we publish, what is going on around the world, and what the Lord has placed on your heart! Email your letter through to editor@joymag.co.za for a chance to be featured – please try to k

      8 min read

    • Article

      Reflect on Your Spiritual Life

      May 18, 2020

      Reflect on Your Spiritual Life
      1 min read

    • Article

      How To Find A New Church

      Jan 26, 2023

      How To Find A New Church
      4 min read

    • Article

      Uncharted Cultural Waters

      Mar 18, 2022

      Uncharted Cultural Waters
      2 min read

    • Article

      On A Mission From God, But To Do What?

      Nov 30, 2018

      When is the murder of a missionary a martyrdom, and when is it a justifiable act of self-defense by an insular culture that doesn't take the threat of incursion by outsiders lightly? That conundrum lies at the heart of the unfortunate demise of John

      3 min read

    • Article

      Women Of Grace

      Nov 18, 2019

      God has an abundant life, and a great future planned for you. His plan is to take care of you, not to abandon you. God says in Revelation 22:13, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” Nothing in your life s

      2 min read

    • Article

      Why, God, Why?

      Sep 7, 2021

      Why, God, Why?
      3 min read

    • Article

      A Note From The Editor

      Jun 16, 2022

      IN A LOT OF WAYS, the summer is a powerful reminder of the freedom and rest we can find in Jesus. Our children and grandchildren, who are on break from school, enliven our homes with laughter and joy. Packing for that long-awaited family vacation mak

      1 min read

    • Article

      Don’t Lose Your First Love

      Jun 15, 2020

      Lockdown has forced us all to become accepting of change. During lockdown, most Christians have been logging onto online church services on Sundays, and possibly also their home groups during the week. ‘Doing church’ remotely has become the new norm.

      2 min read

    • Article

      THE PARABLES OF JESUS The Good Samaritan

      Mar 10, 2023

      Perhaps you’ve been in a situation where you have required help from a stranger. It may be that your car broke down on the roadside, or you were in need of quick medical help and someone came to your aid. We often call such people “good Samaritans” a

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Parables Of Jesus

      Dec 30, 2022

      The Parables Of Jesus
      3 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The EDITOR

      Mar 18, 2022

      Dear readers, we love to hear your thoughts on the stories that we publish, what is going on around the world, and what the Lord has placed on your heart! Email your letter through to editor@joymag.co.za for a chance to be featured – please try to ke

      7 min read

    • Article

      The Miracles of Holy Week

      Mar 26, 2022

      The Miracles of Holy Week
      4 min read

    • Article

      Be Anxious for Nothing…

      Oct 22, 2021

      Be Anxious for Nothing…
      1 min read

    • Article

      The Biblical Tithe

      Jun 25, 2022

      The Biblical Tithe
      3 min read

    • Article

      More Than A Pastor

      Jul 28, 2020

      More Than A Pastor
      6 min read

    • Article

      HOW IS YOUR VISION? 5 Tips To Establish God’s Plan For Your Life

      Jun 24, 2019

      A church in a community bought a piece of property and built a building. They were excited about serving the Lord. They wanted to win the lost for Christ and encourage the believers to live for Jesus. They really had a vision for God. It was their de

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Perfect Prayer

      May 18, 2020

      The Perfect Prayer
      1 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Three Simple Rules for Christian Living

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Three Simple Rules for Christian Living - Jeanne Torrence Finley

      Three

      Simple Rules

      for Christian Living

      Jeanne Torrence Finley

      ABINGDON PRESS

      NASHVILLE

      THREE SIMPLE RULES FOR CHRISTIAN LIVING

      Copyright © 2008 by Abingdon Press

      All rights reserved.

      No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed in writing to Permissions Office, P. O. Box 801, 201 Eighth Avenue South, Nashville, Tennessee 37202-0801, or emailed to permissions@abingdonpress.com.

      This book is printed on acid-free paper.

      ISBN 978-1-426-70025-5

      All Scripture quotations unless noted otherwise are taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

      08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17—10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

      MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

      Introduction

      Since it was published in 2007, Bishop Rueben Job's Three Simple Rules has been widely read and studied. Extended reflection on the three rules can lead us to a more faithful way of living as disciples of Christ. This study, Three Simple Rules for Christian Living, is an effort to provide such extended reflection.

      John Wesley believed that following Christ in a way that renews both individuals and communities required disciplined practices. These were outlined in the General Rules that Wesley wrote for the class meetings that were the core communities of the early Methodist movement. These disciplined practices gave power and strength to people of the early Methodist movement to live as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ.

      Bishop Job, in lifting up these three simple rules, helps us return to those early Wesleyan roots and find resources that can transform us and the world in which we live. Job calls us to consider these three rules as an alternative to the often frenzied, divisive, and destructive lifestyle our culture offers us. This alternative way of life is accessible to everyone regardless of age, financial standing, education, health, relative power, or theological understandings.

      Our culture has forgotten the importance of community and stressed ndividualism too much. Often we in the church have not taken the gospel seriously but have focused on trivialities and divisions that distract us from loving God and neighbor. We drain our witness to God's redemptive power as we find ever new ways to harm each other. Bishop Job calls us to remember who we are: people who know about practices of forgiveness, reconciliation, transformation, and new life.

      Job calls these three rules a way of holy living that is constantly reforming and renewing the individual and the community (Three Simple Rules; p. 17). They are Christian practices that also heal the wounds of the world and work for justice. Loving God results in loving the world. Job writes, Spiritual disciplines not only include practices that bind us to God every day; but they also include actions that heal the pain, injustice, and inequality of our world. It is impossible to stay in love with God and not desire to see God's goodness and grace shared with the entire world (Three Simple Rules; p. 58).

      As you read and reflect on these rules, you'll notice that they are interrelated. The first two rules, do no harm and do good, are ways of keeping the commandments to love God and neighbor. When we explore rule three, stay in love with God, we'll see that the particular disciplines that keep us in close relationship to God are practices through which God empowers us to love God and neighbor.

      In these pages we will be reflecting on what these rules meant to Wesley and the early Methodist movement and what they can mean to us today. Then we will explore ways we can practice them in our own lives. I invite you to take this journey of exploration and reflection so as to discover ever deepening ways you can be formed and renewed in the Christian life.

      —Jeanne Torrence Finley

      Jeanne Torrence Finley is a clergy member of the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church, co-chair of the Virginia Conference Board of Church and Society, and director of Collegial Communications. She has worked as a campus minister, pastor, college English teacher, workshop leader, and communications consultant. Finley writes regularly for FaithLink. Her work has appeared in the Journal of Presbyterian History, Worship, The Mennonite, Christian Science Monitor, the Virginia Advocate, and Christian Social Action.

      Chapter 1

      Do No Harm –

      Understanding the Rule

      Focus Question:

      Most Christians do not intend to harm anyone; however, we sometimes are not aware of the harm we do. What does it mean to do no harm?

      A Prayer

      God of love, we know you want us to love your creation: neighbors, friends or enemies, strangers, the natural world, and ourselves. Yet we do harm, often unintentionally. Help us to be more aware of the harm we do. In Christ we pray. Amen.

      WHAT DOES THE RULE SAY?

      Unintended Harm

      When we moved into our current house, we realized our basement stairs weren't build to present-day code. Most of the treads were shorter than the average adult foot; and in the turn

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1