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Helping ordinary people learn to study the Bible

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Memorizing Books of the Bible

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Andy Naselli wants to persuade you and me to memorize entire books of the Bible, and I think he has some great things to say. Check out his two articles on the topic:

14 Reasons to Memorize an Entire Book of the Bible

11 Steps to Memorizing an Entire Book of the Bible

Naselli explains that memorizing entire books gives us a better idea of God’s thoughts in context, which puts us in a better position to meditate on those divine thoughts.

Naselli says he spent 45 to 75 minutes each morning to memorize 1 Corinthians in 16 months’ time. I doubt many people will have that kind of time every day, but the task is still well worth pursuing. I can still have a sweet time in Scripture when I don’t have a Bible in front of me, but I get to rehearse (and meditate) on chapters or large sections I’ve memorized.

Check it out!

Choosing Your Apprentice

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Darth VaderThough it’s an important choice, it doesn’t need to be a complicated one. It’s not like you’re looking for someone to help you overthrow the emperor and take over the galaxy. You just need someone who is willing to learn how to lead a Bible study.

This choice matters, though, because you see the need to train a new Bible study leader. You want the word of God to go forth. You want your ministry to multiply and not center on you. You want to train others to reach more people than you could reach on your own.

How do you get started? How do you find the right person to train?

Companies hire new professionals who have experience in a relevant field. Major League baseball teams call up players who develop through the system of minor leagues. And public schools recruit certified people who pass through a season of student teaching. In each case, the supervisory committee looks for evidence of commitment and success before they take further risk or assign greater responsibility to the potential apprentice.

Similarly, Paul instructs Timothy to look for evidence of both commitment and success in potential ministry apprentices.

What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. (2 Tim 2:2)

1. Find someone who is faithful

What this doesn’t mean: The person you train should be without flaws or struggles. The apprentice must never let you down. The apprentice must be the oldest or most mature Christian you can find.

What this means: Apprentices should demonstrate a pattern of resisting sin and addressing areas of weakness. They should be regular attenders and cheerful members of the groups they are learning to lead. They should be growing as Christians and committed to knowing God through the Scripture.

2. Find someone who will be able to teach others

What this doesn’t mean: The apprentice must already have experience in a teaching role. The apprentice must have a charismatic, extroverted personality. The apprentice must have a degree or comparable education in the Bible or divinity.

What this means: Apprentices should envision reaching others. They should care about how they come across and how they can improve their communication. They should be eager to learn, able to think clearly, and quicker to listen than to speak.

Perhaps you’ve got someone in your Bible study who already meets these qualifications, and your decision is easy. Or maybe you’ll want to invite someone to join your group to step into an apprentice role. Either way, if you stay focused on the right set of qualities, I bet the Lord would be delighted to entrust you with someone to train.

Then you can work with that person to spread the knowledge of God until his glory covers the earth like the waters cover the sea. I guess it’s like finding someone to help you overthrow the emperor and take over the galaxy.

 

Infographic Comparing Study Bibles

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I’ve reviewed a number of study Bibles this year, and I was planning to write a post comparing and contrasting them so you’d have the basic info all in one place. But Tim Challies beat me to it, and his infographic is much prettier than mine would have been.

Challies compares the following 7 study Bibles (links go to my reviews):

I’ve also reviewed the following volumes:

In the next few weeks, I’d like to create a chart evaluating each study Bible in light of the overall blessings and curses of study Bibles. But the Challies infographic gives you most of the basic information (translations available, number of pages and articles, etc.) at a glance.

Check it out!

Reformation Heritage KJV Study Bible: There’s an Elephant in Here

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I confess: I have never read the entire King James Version of the Bible. I grew up in the 1980s, and I vaguely remember some dispute in my church when the New International Version replaced the KJV in the pews. But Bibles in my possession have always been either “New” or “Standard,” or both.

I confess further: I have at times been numbered among those who find KJV language to be quaint, outdated, “not modern English,” and an easy target for ridicule. Thou shalt not claim the KJV as good enough for Jesus or Paul. And everybody who is anybody knows there is no art in heaven. We pray to our Father who is in heaven. Hallowed be his name.

Reformation Heritage KJV Study BibleYet the Reformation Heritage KJV Study Bible intrigued me, and the publisher graciously gave me a free copy to review. And I must say: This Bible almost persuaded me to use the KJV for my 2016 speed read.* This study Bible is something special.

What it Does

Like other study Bibles, the Reformation Heritage KJV Study Bible (RHKJV) presents the full text of Scripture with study notes at the bottom of the page. But the RHKJV notes do a few things that make it unlike other study Bibles:

  1. One-sentence summaries for each chapter.
  2. Plain-language definitions for archaic terms. (Granted, most other translations don’t use as many archaic terms, but it would still be nice if they “translated” Christianese jargon into ordinary language.)
  3. Application!

Allow me to expand on this third point. Every chapter of the Bible has study notes ending with “Thoughts for Personal/Family Worship,” which suggest potential applications of the chapter. These applications don’t always flow from the chapter’s main point, but they’re still usually very good. They’re not so specific as to become dated, and they’re not so general as to be useless to real people. I couldn’t believe the amount of space dedicated to such thoughtful application, but it fits with the editors’ vision to offer “a study Bible to feed your soul…a study Bible to instruct your mind…a study Bible to discover your roots.”

The RHKJV has short book introductions that get to the point quickly. Three cheers!

In addition, the RHKJV has three sets of articles.

  1. Theological topics (57 one-page articles). These articles are inserted at relevant points in the biblical text, such that you can read about Satan after Job 1-2 or about adoption after Romans 8.
  2. How to live as a Christian (36 one-page articles). At the end of the volume, these articles direct Christians on topics such as the fear of God, how to pray, and fleeing worldliness.
  3. Church history (20 one-page articles and 9 creeds & confessions). There is one article for each century of church history, along with ecumenical creeds (such as Apostles’ and Nicene) and Reformed confessions (such as Belgic and Westminster). When I hit the articles about church history, I could not put this volume down.

There is a little more standard fare at the end: yearly reading plan, table of weights & measures, concordance, and maps.

What it Doesn’t Do

Unfortunately, this Bible does not please the eye. It has so many words that it may discourage some before they give it much of a chance.

  • There are no maps except for those on the last 14 pages.
  • There are no charts or tables to make information more digestible.
  • The typesetting of the KJV text retains some ancient conventions that might turn off many readers. The font has an ancient feel and is not easy to read. Every verse is printed as its own paragraph, and paragraph symbols (¶) show up along the way.
  • The notes and articles use a sans serif font, which is more suitable to digital reading than print.

Also, this Bible doesn’t offer a range of perspectives on hot topics. The editors tended to choose one perspective and run with it. If you’re into 6-day creationism, a young earth, a global flood, reading the Song of Solomon as an allegory of Christ and the church, amillennialism, and a presbyterian and reformed flavor of Protestantism, you’ll be at home here. It’s not so in-your-face as to be uncharitable, though, so if you have different perspectives on any of these issues, you’ll still gain much from this Bible as it feeds your soul and instructs your mind.

Conclusion

I’m happy to recommend the Reformation Heritage KJV Study Bible to you. Of course, the KJV is something of an elephant in this Bible. But if you remember to use your study Bible as a reference and not as a Bible, the translation is no big deal. Of course, if you already love the KJV, this purchase should be a no-brainer.

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Disclaimer: My son, if thou wilt receive my words and click my Amazon links with thine own right hand, thou shalt supply an odour of a sweet smell when a commission from thy purchases provideth this blog with new tablets of stone upon which to engrave its writings. Blessed be ye of the Lord. But I say unto all which clicketh not: Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice?

*I had so much fun with my ESV Reader’s Bible last year that I must do it again. But the KJV might be just the thing for 2017.

Choosing Good Bible Study Material for Women’s Groups

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Mary Willson has a very good article with 5 Questions for choosing Bible study material for women’s groups. Her questions:

  1. Will this material equip women by encouraging them to study and teach the Bible for themselves?
  2. Will this material equip women by demonstrating the centrality of Christ and his gospel?
  3. Will this material equip women by applying God’s Word to real life, showing the Scriptures’ relevance and power to transform hearts?
  4. Will this material equip women by supporting the overall discipleship strategy I’ve prayerfully developed for this group?
  5. Will this material equip women by coming under the teaching ministry of my pastor(s) and elders? Does it align with my church’s vision and doctrinal convictions?

Willson has very helpful things to say on each point, and I recommend you check out her article.

And I can’t help but ask a few questions: Why do we assume we must choose good Bible study material? Why can’t we just have good Bible studies? “This year’s women’s study will use Luke.” Would we not inspire people with deeper confidence to study God’s word, if we showed them how to do it? If every study uses another resource, another study guide, or another workbook, don’t we perpetually reinforce the idea that they need the experts to do the Bible study for them? Thus we might unintentionally undermine the first question Willson asks.

Imagine a women’s group (or men’s group, or co-ed group) that sat down with their Bibles, read their Bibles, and discussed what they read. Of course they’d want to reference supplemental materials from time to time to help with the thorniest parts. But what if they helped each other simply to open, read, and discuss? Soon enough, they’d each be able to do it on their own. Then they’d teach others who would teach others. And something truly amazing would take place in our churches and communities.

4 Reasons to Train a New Bible Study Leader

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This is bigger than you. There’s no need to be a bottleneck, decelerating the growth of God’s work in your community.

We’ve explored at length how to study the Bible and how to lead a Bible study. My compadre Ryan has reflected on how to be a helpful small group member. It’s time for the next step. With this post, I launch a new series on how to train a new Bible study leader. Why should we do this?

Jöran Maaswinkel (2012), Creative Commons)

Jöran Maaswinkel (2012), Creative Commons

1. So your ministry will multiply

You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. (2 Timothy 2:1-2)

When grace strengthens you, you might feel about to explode. You’ve got to share it. And one of the best ways to share grace is to entrust it to another person who will be able to teach others also. Now there’s not just one teacher, but two. Not just one Bible study, but two. If you do it well, two eventually becomes four. And four becomes eight.

If you train another leader, you’ll end up reaching far more people than you could ever reach on your own.

2. So others can surpass you in effectiveness

When Paul was in Corinth, he met and trained a man named Aquila and his wife Priscilla. They moved on to Ephesus together, and Paul left them there when he set sail for his home in Antioch.

Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord…though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him and explained to him the way of God more accurately…When he arrived [at Corinth], he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus. (Acts 18:24-28)

Paul trains Aquila & Priscilla, who eventually return to Rome to lead a house church (Rom 16:3-5). Priscilla & Aquila train Apollos, who rivals Paul for influence in Corinth (1 Cor 1:12). And the point is not that Apollos sought to compete with Paul, but that Apollos acquired an exceptional effectiveness for the Lord Jesus.

We love to be loved, and we often need to be needed. But how much better it is for Christ’s kingdom when we’re willing to get out of the way so others can carry on the work! This means we must not put ourselves at the center of the ministry. We make poor high priests for those we serve. And we can actively train others to succeed in ways we ourselves have not. If it’s not finally about us, the success of others is a real delight to witness.

3. So the word of God may not be reviled

Older women…are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. (Titus 2:3-5)

Ministry training is not just for church officers, nor even for men. Women must also train and be trained. And lest you think the content of this training limited to homemaking activities and genteel feminine ethics, remember that a woman cannot love her husband without also speaking truth to him (Eph 4:13-16, Prov 31:26). Nor can she love her children without teaching them to read and study God’s word for themselves (Prov 1:8, 2 Tim 1:5, 3:14).

If women (and men, of course) don’t learn to study the Bible, or to train others in how to study the Bible, then we don’t really believe these Scriptures are useful for teaching, reproof, correction, or training in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16). And then why would we trust these Scriptures to reveal the good news about Jesus, which is the power of God for salvation (Rom 1:16)? And if we don’t functionally believe these things (as demonstrated by our failure to teach and train others), then the world should consider us hypocrites, and they’ll deem these Scriptures not to actually be the word of God.

Let’s prove the lie of such reviling by drawing this sword and unleashing its power, training others to wield it with expert care.

4. So you don’t wear out yourself and your people

Moses had two million people to shepherd. He had been appointed to this task by none other than God himself. Remember the burning bush thing? And yet…

What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone. (Exodus 18:17-18)

Sometimes fathers-in-law know how to hit that nail’s head. Training a new leader takes time and effort. It slows us down in the short term. But a long-term perspective reminds us that it’s worth it.

I heard someone say that in one year we’ll never accomplish what we hope, but in five years we can accomplish more than we expect. I’ve seen the truth of this statement in the lives of trainees.

 

Re-Ignite Boring Bible Reading

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David Murray writes about a common struggle:

We’ve all been there. Reading the Bible can become boring. Our eyes are on the page but our minds are everywhere else; because everywhere else is just so much more interesting. That black book without pictures just isn’t quite so exciting as the black device that can show us anything in the world in just a click.  We may pick up our Bibles, open the pages, and scan the lines, but our hearts just aren’t in it. We force ourselves to read our chapter(s) or fill up our allotted time, but we really can’t wait to finish and get on to much more fascinating and enjoyable things.

And he has some great ideas for coming out of the slump:

  1. Develop a routine
  2. Get enough sleep
  3. Ban the cell phone
  4. Read a different translation
  5. Read more slowly (or more quickly)
  6. Read a devotional first
  7. Use a study Bible (but be careful with it)
  8. Find accountability
  9. See your need
  10. Remember who is speaking
  11. Pray
  12. Serve your church

All Murray’s ideas are great and worth trying. I especially appreciate #12, as we often fail to realize our “boredom” comes from focusing on ourselves, and the solution doesn’t lie within ourselves. As Murray rightly suggests, getting out there and doing something for others will exercise our souls, make us hungry, and make visible our need for strengthening and guidance – thus leading us to “devour God’s Word more greedily.”

Check out Murray’s article for a fuller explanation of each suggestion.

Some Bible Outlines are More Helpful Than Others

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mkorsakov (2014), Creative Commons

mkorsakov (2014), Creative Commons

Bible outlines help us simplify and organize the author’s message. That’s why expository sermons outline passages and study Bibles outline books. I can’t remember the last time I read an introduction to a book of the Bible that didn’t propose an outline for the book.

But some outlines are less helpful than others.

Take, for example, this outline of Job 4-14 from the NIV Zondervan Study Bible:

  1. First Exchange: Eliphaz (4:1-5:27)
  2. Job’s Response to Eliphaz (6:1-7:21)
  3. Second Exchange: Bildad (8:1-22)
  4. Job’s Response to Bildad (9:1-10:22)
  5. Third Exchange: Zophar (11:1-20)
  6. Job’s Response to Zophar (12:1-14:22)

This outline succeeds at observing Job’s structure, but it does little to help us understand Job’s message. Many outlines stop short of significant usefulness when they state all the “what” but little of the “why.” In other words, they outline content but not meaning. They outline observation but not interpretation. They give us summaries but not main points.

What’s usually more helpful is to outline the logic of the passage. Figure out how the main points of each section flow into and out of one another, constructing a theme or message that the author wants to communicate to his readers. When an outline packages the building blocks of the book’s argument, readers are more likely to benefit from it quickly.

For example, consider this outline of Job 4-14 from The Reformation Heritage KJV Study Bible:

  1. Eliphaz: You Strengthened Others but Now Are Fainting (4:1-5:27)
  2. Job: You Do Not Know the Weight of My Grief (6:1-7:21)
  3. Bildad: All Agree that God is Just (8:1-22)
  4. Job: But How Can Man Be Just Before God? (9:1-10:22)
  5. Zophar: Does Your Talk Justify You? (11:1-20)
  6. Job: I Know that I Shall Be Justified (12:1-14:22)

I might argue that the last statement should be broadened to better capture the main point of Job’s entire speech in chapters 12-14—I would state it as “My Dangerously Unpredictable God is More Trustworthy Than My Clearly Logical Friends”—but that would be a minor quibble. The point is that the editors of The Reformation Heritage KJV Study Bible give us more than the order of speeches; they attempt to state concisely the message of each speech. In doing so, they help us get farther down the road in our study of the book. And for this I applaud them.

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If You Use a Study Bible, Do it Well

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After taking a few posts to explain both the blessings and curses of study Bibles, I recently wrote about how to get the best out of your study Bible. I gave the following suggestions:

  1. Treat it as a reference work, not as your main Bible.
  2. Go heavy on overviews (book introductions) and historical background.
  3. Wrestle with the biblical text without your study Bible.
  4. Refer to the study notes when you have a specific, impenetrable question—then set them aside again.
  5. Read the articles and genre introductions.

Within a week, two other posts appeared on the internet saying very similar things. I want you to know I’m not the only one holding these opinions.

Exhibit A: Andy Naselli, Assistant Editor for the NIV Zondervan Study Bible. Writing at Desiring God, he gives these tips:

  1. Don’t use poor study Bibles.
  2. Use quality study Bibles.
  3. Don’t use the notes as a crutch or shortcut instead of wrestling with the text itself.
  4. Don’t combine the authority of the God-breathed text with the notes.
  5. Use a study Bible in the same way that you would responsibly use other resources that help you better understand and apply the Bible.

Exhibit B: Justin Taylor, Managing Editor for the ESV Study Bible. Writing at the Gospel Coalition, he makes these suggestions:

  1. Use your study Bible discerningly. (“The most important feature in a study Bible is the horizontal line that divides the biblical text from the biblical interpretation. Everything above the line is inerrant and infallible. Everything below the line is filled with good intentions but may not be true.”)
  2. Use your study Bible for more than just the notes. (“I am convinced that the most underutilized and yet important parts of a good study Bible are the introductions to each biblical book.”)
  3. Use more than one study Bible.
  4. Use your study Bible as an opportunity to interpret the Bible with the communion of saints. (“The best study Bibles don’t present startling new interpretations. They put you in dialogue with the best interpreters—teachers who are gifts of God to the church—to help us rightly handle His Word.”)

There you go. The point is not whether there should be 4 rules or 5, nor how exactly to state the rules. The point is that even the study Bible editors (who want to sell you their study Bibles) don’t want you to over-rely on their study Bibles.

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Great Deal on ESV Thinline Bibles

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Westminster Books is currently offering 40-47% off all ESV thinline Bibles. If you want one, now is the time to get one. I use the “value thinline” edition as the Bible I preach from. Thin, simple, cheap.

Offer ends Oct 5, 2015.

Check it out.

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