Study Central
Guidelines and Encouragement
Contributor Guidelines
Study Central isn’t a teaching platform, but rather a place for personal study, assimilation and reflection, refinement of our understanding, sharing, and discussion. The group serves to aid each contributor in abiding in Christ Jesus, allowing God’s Word to transform us from the inside out together (John 15.1-8, Romans 12.2) š¤
As contributors and colleagues of Study Central, each of us agrees to abide by and heed the following guidelines and encouragement that is tailored to the cultivation of a spiritually enlightening, constructive, and academically legitimate environment within the communityā¦
Pray first, listen to God, and exercise His wisdom and discretion when selecting topics and sources for personal research.
Be rooted and grounded in the central authority of Biblical scripture before and above all external sources of information (sola scriptura).
Thoroughly cite all of our external sources when producing written content. Any citation format will do (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc…).
Proverbs 4:26 NKJV
Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established. Proverbs 5:21 NKJV
For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and He ponders all his paths.
This āš» is comforting! Ultimately, it means that HE (GOD) is watching us, and on our paths with us in life! He is mindful of our way forward, just as we ourselves are mindful of our own way. We are NEVER alone! Therefore, as it pertains to participating in this community, we must move forward together with Him in our conscience and decisions, not apart from Him. Let’s trust Him first and choose to allow Him to direct our steps.
Avoid Wasting Time
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It’s encouraged to use already published work from vetted sources as a starting point for scriptural research. The purpose of this encouragement is to save time. Diligent work may have already been done on our topics and may be readily accessible; and it’s highly encouraged in this community to use a diversity of resources in order to refine our understanding of topics and avoid a narrow perspective.
Avoid spending time trying to āreinvent the wheelā.
Be deeply inquisitive, and willing to see the Truth of the Gospel in new, enlightening ways that may go beyond existing research and scholarship š The Truth of the Gospel is like a diamond: The Truth itself is solid and does not change, yet there are many angles from which to observe its perfection and beauty!
Ephesians 1:18,19 NKJV
ā¦the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty powerā¦Keep research papers and essays brief (1 – 7 pages), and submit them into the topic folders in PDF, MS Word, or Google Doc format so that they can be downloaded and reviewed by the contributors. Consider written work to be the beginning of a deeper understanding, which can be refined later in other projects as we continue to learn, and that others can quickly draw from for reference in their own work.
In the discussion forums, please be courteous yet deeply inquisitive. Be bold yet inviting, not dogmatic. Seek to stimulate discussion of the topics, but only to the desired ends of each contributor gaining a deeper understanding of the Truth as revealed in scripture.
Healthy debate and discussion is welcome for the prayerful ends of cleaner refinement of our understanding of God’s Word. However, this is not a place for heated argument, inflexible dogmatism, negative criticism, or intellectualism for the sake of intellectualism.
Letās consider and heed the following scriptures as we write in the discussion forumsā¦
1 Timothy 1:3-7 NKJV
As I urged you when I went into Macedonia – remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith.
Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirmā¦
2 Timothy 3:1-9 NKJV
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.
Encouragement
As contributors and collaborators, letsā¦
Let the unconditional Love of God (agape) be the motivating factor in our study, writing, and discussion.
For the added value of fun and camaraderie, contributors are encouraged to select a unique pen name and a stylish personal logo for themselves as researchers and writers in this community! 
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…for example, the group administratorās pen name is, ādeltaā, and here is my personal logoā¦
Our names and custom logos are included in the Contributor List!
Again, let’s keep our minds and writing rooted in scripture, avoiding baseless speculation.
II Peter 1:20 NKJV
knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretationā¦Have FUN being students, researchers, and writers. We shouldnāt think of our study and writing as āhomeworkā, but as an adventure in spiritual enlightenment according to scripture!
Psalm 119:18 NKJV
Open my eyes, that I may see Wondrous things from Your Law. Psalm 119:162 NKJV
I rejoice at Your word, as one who finds great treasure.Select topics that are of personal interest and concern to us as individual believers first. As we ask and receive from God, getting our own needs met, weāre healthy and free of mind to contribute to collaborative research projects.
For example, if thereās a verse of scripture that we personally have never understood, we can prioritize our study and writing towards getting our question about that verse answered first, above any collaborative research projects that weāre working on with our colleagues in the group.
It may help for each of us to compile a prioritized list of questions to draw from to select our personal research topics.
As we study, research, and write, letās be motivated by LOVE, and not fear, willing to see the Truth of Godās Word in new ways that we may not have considered before. Godly spiritual enlightenment may involve paradigm shifts in our minds.
Psalm 119:5-7 NKJV
Oh, that my ways were directed to keep Your Statutes! Then I would not be ashamed, when I look into all Your Commandments. I will praise You with uprightness of heart, when I learn Your righteous Judgments.As we receive answers from God, letās keep moving on to our next questions and topics, not spending time in āanalysis paralysisā. We can trust the Father to show us the right next steps in our research and take them.
Ephesians 3:16-19 NKJV
ā¦that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to beĀ strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height – to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
As weāre pursuing our research and writing, we can expect to encounter more questions and topical interests as weāre moving along. It may be practical, then, to be ready with a dedicated personal file to gather them to draw from for later research projects. Doing this can prevent us from wasting our time going off into tangents or down unprofitable ārabbit holesā.
Letās be eager to share our research and receive constructive input and feedback from each other. Objective, constructive criticism, questions, and discussion can be healthy for the common sharpening of our understanding of topics and for fellowship around the Word in general. Any debate or inquisitive discussion should be motivated by the Love of God for ourselves and each other š¤ š„ š«±š½āš«²š»
