Knowable Word

Helping ordinary people learn to study the Bible

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Study Bible Buying Guide

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I’ve recently reviewed many study Bibles, and I’ve now also evaluated and compared each one according to how it helps or hinders OIA Bible study (observe, interpret, apply).  I’ve given each Bible a score based on the blessings and curses of study Bibles I’ve written about before. Because some study Bibles get much more hype than others, I find it helpful to know which study Bibles will actually help people to study the Bible.

If you’re ready to see my evaluation:

Check it Out

I still recommend Tim Challies’s infographic if you’re interested in just the facts and stats for some of these study Bibles. My buying guide provides more detailed evaluation of OIA principles (and of ways the study Bibles help or hinder OIA study).

I’ve also added this buying guide to the resources page so you don’t have to navigate back to this blog post to find the buying guide in the future.

50% Off ESV Journaling Bibles

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From now until Dec 31, 2015, Westminster Bookstore has all ESV journaling Bibles at 50% off. Perhaps this would be a good time to consider getting a new markup Bible.

Check it out at Westminster Books!

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Dear Journal: If people click the Westminster link, this blog will receive a small commission. How should we notify them of this fact?

Let Them See You Do It

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Floating FingerMy grandfather used to do a magic trick for children where he would remove half of his finger and make it float in mid-air. I thought he was a wizard, until he showed me how to do it. His revelation inspired me to perform the same trick whenever I’m around young children, and I now think I’m destined to become like my Pop-pop: a crazy old feller who gets his kicks off making children laugh at him.

Did you catch the turning point in my tale? He showed me how to do it. Training a new Bible study leader works the same way.

Following Jesus’ Example

Jesus got his first disciples on John the Baptist’s recommendation. John’s men trusted him when he told them to behold the Lamb of God (John 1:35-36). They went to check Jesus out, and Jesus didn’t commit too quickly. He merely invited them to “Come and see” (John 1:38-39). (Presumably, it was sometime after this that Jesus called them to make a clean break with their life direction and follow him – Mark 1:16-20.)

Jesus took these disciples along when he performed his first miracle (John 1:2) and cleared out the temple (John 1:22). He had them watch for a little while (Mark 3:13-6:6) before he gave them much to do themselves (Mark 6:7-8:30).

Jesus knew they wouldn’t know what to do unless they first saw him do it.

What to Show Them

As you begin training new Bible study leaders, first let them in and then let them see you do it. But what should we show them?

  • Show them how you study the Bible. Practice Bible study together. Work through the observation, interpretation, and application as a team. Label things as you go so they can see why you’re doing what you’re doing.
  • Show them how you prepare to lead a Bible study. Doing it and leading it are different skills. The former begins with a blank notebook and a clean text, the latter begins with a main point and suggested applications. Some people will intuit the difference; others need to be shown.
  • Show them how you think about caring for the Bible study’s members. Meet with your apprentice and discuss how people are doing. Share your insights about how to encourage and challenge these folks.
  • Show them how you set up the meeting. Talk about the schedule, room set up, greetings, and dismissal. Don’t just make these decisions yourself or feel your way through it. Let your apprentice know why you’ve made the choices you’ve made.
  • Show them how you pray. If you need the Lord’s mercy for the Bible study to succeed (and you do), your apprentice should see you begging for this mercy. Don’t be too respectable to beg.

If you had a mentor who showed you these things, you understand how helpful it was. If you didn’t have such a mentor, you can help others avoid the mistakes you made. This will get them farther faster.

The first phase of training apprentices is “I do, you watch.” This involves letting them in and letting them see you do it. Don’t just tell them how to do it; show them.

Basic Facts About the Bible

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At the Gospel Coalition, Joe Carter writes of some basic Bible facts we all should know. This background information helps us to understand better as we read and study. Carter briefly covers issues such as:

  • it’s a library of books
  • the Bible is self-referencing
  • why it’s called a “Bible”
  • the meaning of Testament
  • where chapters and verses came from
  • how we discovered the canon

Check it out!

The Basic Message of the Bible is Plain to All

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Here is something from Aaron Armstrong to be thankful for:

We shouldn’t act as though the Bible has hidden knowledge that only an elite few can access. That is the way of the mystical guru, who offers esoteric nonsense—absurdities in place of true wisdom. But the message of the Bible—at least in its basic message—is plain to all. Most anyone could come to the text of the Bible and understand the means by which God offers salvation (whether they agree with it or not is another question entirely). They can know the commands of God (whether they obey, again, is another question entirely). They can know there will be judgement, there will be a day when suffering and sadness end, when death is no more and all will be made new. Some elements are confusing, and some, frankly, make little sense to those living in the West today. Even so, there is no need for discouragement: what we can know, we can know.

Check out his full article.

Let Them In

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I’m elbow-deep in my family’s second annual Legofest, where we dedicate our spare moments to rebuilding every Lego set in the house.

Legofest 2014

I’ve learned a lot since last year, but what I’ve learned has really slowed me down. In particular, I’ve learned how to include my kids.

Last year, I introduced Legofest as a way to serve the children. I would rebuild all their Lego sets for them, thus providing them with a load of “new” toys to enjoy through the winter. But the problem was that my kids wanted to join me in the work; and their help was not always very helpful.

They’d pick something to start building. They would search for the first few pieces. They would complete the first few steps. But they’d quickly hit a problem, where they couldn’t find a specific piece amid the piles of carnage. But they’d find an identical shape in a different color; they’d settle for this lucky find and go on their way. By the end, we were missing all sorts of pieces, and we had to unbuild a few automobiles to swap out the necessary parts.

This year, I decided to get in front of the problem, and I banned the children from all Legofest activities. That is, until I realized I was a terrible parent for doing so. What sort of father would do that to his kids?

I’ve now done all I can think of to include the children in the building process, with some clear ground rules for when we can and cannot substitute imperfect pieces. And I’ve gotten better at teaching them how to build and how to find the right pieces. The problem with this is, of course, that the building takes longer than it did last year. Inclusion comes with a great cost to efficiency.

Building Legos and Training Bible Study Leaders

Training a new Bible study leader is like Legofest in this way: Inclusion tends to work against efficiency. If your goals are to keep your calendar clean and to minimize the time you spend in preparation, it’s not worth it to train an apprentice. But of course, the larger cost is that your ministry will always center around you. Training is inefficient. It takes time, effort, repetition, initiative, coaching, careful attention, and repetition.

So the first step for training apprentices is to invite them to watch you. Bring them into the planning process, and talk it through together. Slow yourself down, pull back the curtain, and show them the way. Adjust your expectations so you’re not surprised when it takes more time and effort.

Is it worth it to you?

OIA Under Another Name

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I regularly try to clarify that what makes our Bible study useful is using not OIA terminology but OIA principles. So when I claim that OIA is the best Bible study method, I’m not saying that “OIA” is the secret pass code that unlocks all the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I’m merely saying that we have to pay attention to what’s said, understand what it means, and connect it to our lives.

Case in point: Marshall Segal writes a great post about “Six Questions to Ask When Studying the Bible in a Group.” And his six questions are really helpful not only for small groups but also for personal study. And someone might work through the steps Segal presents and wonder, “Why are there so many methods out there, and how do I make sure I’m following the right one?”

But please consider. Notice that Segal’s “Swedish Method” is the same as the OIA process, just with different labels.

Of course, we might explain each step with slight differences, but the substance remains the same. By all means, if you find “the Swedish Method” helpful, then please use it. It’s far more important to use the method than to label everything the same way I would.

I recommend Segal’s helpful article to you. Check it out!

How to Train Someone in a Task

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Training is the process by which someone matures from learning to leading, from participating to performing. It is a process we regularly underestimate but can’t go without.

Some self-disciplined, intuitive types can train themselves in a skill by merely observing and imitating successful people. But there are masses of people who, to make progress, need rigorous coaching and instruction. This is why athletes, entrepreneurs, and executive teams hire personal trainers or outside consultants. Classes and books may help with communicating information, but effective skills-training rarely takes place without close contact, personal investment, and frequent feedback.

Living Fitness (2013), Creative Commons

Living Fitness (2013), Creative Commons

The world gives many names to such training: mentoring, coaching, supervising, parenting, tutoring, consulting, counseling. The Bible calls it “making disciples.” And when we use this fitting label, we’ll quickly realize the Bible has much to say about how to go about doing it.

While I write this post as part of a series about how to train someone to lead a Bible study, the process I outline1 can be applied to almost any skill. Since it describes how God works in the world, we should expect it to work as we follow his example.

  1. I do, you watch; aka “Come and see” (John 1:39). Invite this person to become your official assistant leader. Meet with your assistant before the group meeting to go over the passage. Teach that person how to do OIA Bible study. Practice it with that person over the course of a few months.
  2. I do, you help; aka “Come and follow me” (Mark 1:17). Ask your assistant to evaluate your leadership and make suggestions for improvement. Give assignments for your assistant to carry out during the meeting. “Please help me to draw out the silent person.” “Please feel free to ask a key question if you think the discussion is lagging.” “Please come early and be ready to help welcome people.” “Please let me know what you hear that will enable me to make the next study more relevant to them.”
  3. You do, I help; aka “Go out and come back” (Luke 10:1-24). Let your assistant lead one of the meetings, and then meet to give that person feedback on how it went. You now play the support role during the meeting, helping with difficult situations or participants. Encourage your assistant with what went well and offer suggestions for improvement. Avoid correcting every minor mistake; focus on broad patterns that might hold back this person’s leadership ability.
  4. You do, I watch; aka “Go and make disciples” (Matthew 28:18-20). Right when your assistant starts being truly effective, you’ll need to send that person out to start a new group without you. This is painful, because it will feel like your own group is moving backwards. You’ll lose the momentum and excitement of visible progress. But where there had been one group, now there are two. This is worth it.

The beauty of this process is that it’s neither time-sensitive nor dependent on factors like capacity, competence, education, or learning style. Because it’s merely a framework to guide the discipleship of an individual, we can tailor the process to all the different kinds of people we train.

If, after delegating the task fully (step 4), you suspect the person is struggling to succeed, that’s okay. Most trainees need to make their own mistakes and find their own style before they find competency. But perpetual floundering may also reveal that you moved too quickly through the steps and should return to one of them.

For the rest of this series, I’ll walk through these four steps in detail, explaining how we can use them to train people to lead their own Bible studies.

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1I’m grateful to Dave Kieffer for introducing this model to our Team Leaders in DiscipleMakers.