Peter Krol | Knowable Word

What Kevin DeYoung’s Book Launch Taught Me About Bible Study

May 2, 2014 By Peter Krol

Is the Bible enough for whatever we face in our churches today, be it bulimia, self-mutilation, conscientious doubts, or cultural differences? Is it true that God is still speaking through the pages of this ancient book?

Last weekend, I joined more than 500 others at a book launch event hosted by Westminster Bookstore. Kevin DeYoung’s new book, Taking God at His Word: Why the Bible is Knowable, Necessary, and Enough, and What That Means for You and Me, addresses what we should believe about the Bible by examining what the Bible says about itself. Westminster Bookstore partnered with DeYoung to hold this one-day event to promote both the book and the critical truths within.

I could multiply praises for this event, but let me get right to it.

DeYoung inspired us to have confidence in the text of Scripture. He inspired us to inspire others to have confidence in the text of Scripture.

It sounds so simple, but we so easily drift.

Though you believe the Bible, do you long for a mystical experience with God? Perhaps to hear from someone who’s been to heaven and back? Perhaps to hear his voice calling you through private letters written just for you?
Do you trust that God has spoken now in his Son and that we need no further prophet, priest, or sacrifice (Heb 1:1-4), or do you feel safest when someone else tells you what to think?
Does this book speak life to you, or do you feel the need to supplement it with study guides, commentaries, or other expert guidance?
As you lead or teach, do you communicate that people must come to you with their questions? Are you in danger of leading primarily with your personality and not with the truth?
Are you seeing other people learn to study and teach others, or do you prefer to be seen as the guru with the best answers?

Now I’m not saying that DeYoung encouraged us to separate ourselves from the church or from the historical insights of others. Nor would I urge such a thing.

But, are you able to compare everything you hear with the Scripture? Do you have confidence that these precious words have been spoken by God the Holy Spirit for your growth in grace? Do you understand that Scripture’s authority lies in the text, and not in your experience of the text nor in the teaching you sit under? Do you see that when you pay closer attention to these Spirit-spoken words, the Lord Jesus Christ (the Morning Star) will rise in your heart (2 Peter 1:19)?

Though I appreciated DeYoung’s messages at last week’s conference, I’m sure I’ll forget most of what he said soon enough. But he explained the books of Hebrews and 2 Peter in such a way that I don’t think I’ll ever read them the same way again. He explained these books so clearly that I don’t need to hear DeYoung’s messages again. I have the text itself, and that’s enough.

That said, I highly commend his book to you. Not simply because it has the words “knowable” and “word” in the title, but because it will unravel for you the riches of how God views his own word. It will inspire you to love God’s word the way God himself does.

I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word. (Ps 119:16, ESV)

It is impossible to revere the Scriptures more deeply or affirm them more completely than Jesus did. Jesus submitted his will to the Scriptures, committed his brain to studying the Scriptures, and humbled his heart to obey the Scriptures. The Lord Jesus, God’s Son and our Savior, believed his Bible was the word of God down to the sentences, to the phrases, to the words, to the smallest letter, to the tiniest specks—and that nothing in all those specks and in all those books in his Holy Bible could ever be broken. (DeYoung, Kindle location 1330)

Though I received a free copy of DeYoung’s book at last week’s conference, I purchased the Kindle edition so I’d be able to give the hard copy away. It’s that good.

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The Amazon link above is an affiliate link, so if you click it and buy stuff you’ll help ordinary people learn to study the Bible at no extra cost to yourself.

I Can Do All Things…Except Ignore the Context

April 30, 2014 By Peter Krol

Pastor Yancey Arrington recently wrote a great post about everyone’s favorite inspirational verse: Philippians 4:13. “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (ESV). We love quoting this verse to motivate ourselves to try harder, run faster, and work smarter.

However, Arrington reminds us that context drives interpretation. And in the context of Philippians 4, doing “all things” means “facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need” (Phil 4:12). In other words, “I can do all things” has more to do with resting and learning contentment than with pushing and triumphing.

Arrington makes a good case, and I encourage you to check it out!

Another Way to Think About Bible Studies

April 25, 2014 By Peter Krol

Hector Alejandro (2010), Creative Commons

Sometimes I think of Bible studies not according to who will attend, but according to what I expect of those who attend.

Low Commitment Bible studies work best for situations where we need to make it easy as possible for people to get into the word. The leader expects people simply to show up and take part in the discussion as they have thoughts. Such studies work well as a 5-minute introduction to a business meeting, a short investigative study, or as the very first introduction for people to the OIA method of Bible study. In many situations, low commitment is a good thing.
Moderate Commitment Bible studies work best for situations where people want more out of the Scripture, but they still need a lot of guidance. In such studies, the leader expects people to commit to attending the study and at least to read the passage beforehand. At the meeting itself, the leader might not even read the text but can dive right in to the discussion.
High Commitment Bible studies work best for situations where people need to be challenged beyond what they might find comfortable. In such studies, the leader expects people to spend 1-5 hours studying the passage personally before each meeting. The leader may expect group members to come to the meeting ready to share what they think is the author’s main point. At a meeting for one such study, I once prohibited participants from using their Bibles. I expected them to have spent enough time studying the text that they could discuss it from either their notes or their memory. (Note: I did that for only one meeting, and it was a wild ride, but my purpose was to stress the commitment required, not to direct anyone’s attention away from the text itself.)

The key to increasing commitment is to give homework. It’s really pretty simple. I know I’m talking about a Bible study, and such things are usually free and easy because we want more people to attend.

But people will get out of it as much as they put into it. And they’ll place higher value on things that cost them more. So why can’t we ask them to prepare for each Bible study meeting?

One significant danger here is that we may have different group members ready for differing degrees of commitment. In a single Bible study, we’re likely to ask too much of some people and too little of others. At such times, it may be helpful to split the group into different studies with different commitment levels. Or we may need to feed a ready-for-higher-commitment person with an opportunity to co-lead the study or receive more training outside the study.

As I lead Bible studies, I ask myself if I’m calling people to a commitment level proportional to their maturity and to Christ’s expectations for them (Matt 11:28-30, Luke 9:57-62). And I make frequent changes based on what will be most helpful at the time. Bible studies that never change year after year may just be a recipe for complacency.

Question: In what contexts do you think differing degrees of commitment are warranted?

How Many Long-Time Christians Can’t Study the Bible?

April 23, 2014 By Peter Krol

Last week, the Gospel Coalition posted this terrific article by Jen Wilkin. She writes of the frequent confession she hears that maddens but no longer surprises her:

I’ve been in church for years, but no one has taught me to study my Bible until now.

She goes on to reflect:

We continue to tell people this is what you should believe about marriage and this is what you need to know about doctrine and this is what your idolatry looks like. But because we never train them in the Scriptures, they have no framework to attach these exhortations to beyond their church membership or their pastor’s personality or their group leader’s opinion. More importantly, they have no plumb line to measure these exhortations against. It never occurs to them to disagree with what they are being taught because they cannot distinguish between our interpretation of Scripture and Scripture itself, having little to no firsthand knowledge of what it says.

And they’ve been in church for years.

Yes! And then:

We must teach the Bible. Please hear me. We must teach the Bible, and we must do so in such a way that those sitting under our teaching learn to feed themselves rather than rely solely on us to feed them. We cannot assume that our people know the first thing about where to start or how to proceed. It is not sufficient to send them a link to a reading plan or a study method. It is our job to give them good tools and to model how to use them. There is a reason many love Jesus Calling more than they love the Gospel of John. If we equip them with the greater thing, they will lose their desire for the lesser thing.

Wilkin writes of women’s Bible studies, but her points are equally valid for either gender. I wish I could quote the entire article for you, but the best I can do is to send you over to TGC’s site.

Check it out!

What Kind of Bible Study Should You Lead?

April 18, 2014 By Peter Krol

Not all Bible studies are created equal. Some are more effective than others with particular groups of people. So how do you decide what sort of study to lead?

Georgia National Guard (Creative Commons), 2013

Georgia National Guard (2013), Creative Commons

One common approach is to define your Bible study group based on what sort of people you expect to attend. The strength of this approach lies in the process of putting yourself in other people’s shoes and designing your Bible study in a way that best serves the group. Expert marksmen will choose the best model to fit the people God has given them.

So you might think in categories like this:

Investigative (or Evangelistic) Bible Studies introduce unbelievers to the claims of Jesus in the Gospels. We might even call these groups “Bible discussions” to make them sound more approachable to unchurched people.
Growth Bible Studies help professing believers to deepen their walks with Christ.
Training Bible Studies teach people how to study the Bible for themselves and thus equip mature believers to use careful OIA skills in their personal Bible study.
Leadership Bible Studies encourage church or small group leaders with biblical principles for shepherding others with the word.
Devotional Bible Studies help committee members or retreat participants to ground their meetings in truth from God’s word.

Thinking in such categories help us to lay down our lives for others and tailor our approach to their needs. We think proactively about who will attend, and we work to create a positive user experience for group members.

However, there are also a few dangers to this approach.

We might tend to think of some Bible studies as “OIA studies” and other studies as “not OIA studies.” But no matter who attends our studies—believer or unbeliever, mature or immature—we should always do thoughtful OIA study. OIA is the best method we can use whenever we approach the Scriptures.
We might be led to believe that some Bible study groups need to focus on the gospel, while others need to focus on the Christian life or discipline or growth. But we should see the gospel of Jesus Christ in every passage of Scripture, regardless of who attends the study.
We might expect some Bible studies to focus on application and other studies to focus on education. But God wrote the Scripture to produce change in all who read it. No Bible studies should be mere intellectual exercises.

As you figure out what sort of Bible study to lead, another set of categories may help you avoid these dangers. Next week I’ll offer another proposal.

Question: What other kinds of Bible studies could we add to our list?

Three Kinds of Shame

April 16, 2014 By Peter Krol

Sin is muddy. When it splashes, we rightly want to clean it up. But sometimes our zeal to clean causes us to oversimplify sin’s muddiness by seeking trite answers for complex situations. Wise counselors and teachers recognize shame’s complexity, and they seek to understand the mud before laboring to clean it.

A few days ago, The Gospel Coalition posted an article I wrote about Three Kinds of Shame. I examine Jesus’ healing of the man born blind in John 9 to show the process of dealing with great shame. These three categories help us to sort through such shame:

My sin against God
Others’ sin against me
The work of God in me

These reflections came out of a talk I gave in October at the DiscipleMakers Fall Conference.

At the end of the clip is a link to the complete talk recording.

Or, if you prefer the bite-sized article version, check it out here!

The Best and Worst Part of T4G

April 11, 2014 By Peter Krol

I’m on my way home from Together for the Gospel (T4G), a biennial conference for pastors and church leaders. This was my first time attending, and I find myself refreshed and re-energized for the next season of ministry.

T4G is big. It’s held in a big arena (KFC Yum! Center, home of the University of Louisville basketball team). It draws a big crowd (over 7,000 this year). It sends every attendee home with a big stack of books (I have 44). There’s a big screen, big singing, and big lines for the restrooms.

The biggest thing about it, however, is the lineup of speakers. Perhaps you’ve heard of some of these men:

Mark Dever
Thabiti Anyabwile
Al Mohler
Kevin DeYoung
David Platt
Matt Chandler
Ligon Duncan
John MacArthur
John Piper

These men have big ministries and big personalities. I imagine most attendees are drawn to T4G for the opportunity to sit under such colossal preachers of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Therein lies what I found to be both the best and worst thing about T4G: our time in the word of God.

Some of the speakers delivered the word with such clarity and power that I’ll feel the effects for years to come.

David Platt spoke of Moses’ intercession for the people of God in Exodus 32 and 33. Moses knows the perfections, purposes, and promises of God are unchanging, but the plans of God are unfolding. Therefore, he pleads for God’s mercy on sinners. He pleads for God’s presence and power among his people. He pleads for God’s glory in the earth. Now, every time I read Exodus 32-33, these points will stick with me.
Ligon Duncan spoke of Numbers 5:1-4 and God’s purpose for expelling from the camp people with skin diseases, discharges, and contact with dead bodies. But Luke shows Jesus touching lepers, bleeders, and the dead. He does what the Old Testament code could not do: He makes them clean. How does he make the unclean clean? By going outside the camp himself to suffer their reproach (Heb 13:10-13). Thanks to Dr. Duncan, I’ll never read Leviticus and Numbers the same way again.
John MacArthur spoke of the mass defection of Jesus’ disciples in John 6, and he drew out piercing implications for our ministries in our churches. He showed me how to read and understand this long and difficult chapter.
John Piper explained why Romans 9 comes after Romans 8, and how the incredible promises of Romans 8 would mean nothing without the truths of Romans 9. So many Jews in Paul’s day didn’t believe Christ. Did this mean God was being unfaithful to his promises to them? And if so, how could we ever be certain of his promises to us (no condemnation, no separation from his love)? Piper gave me a broad context in which to read Romans 8-11, and that context will help me to study these chapters in greater detail on my own.

These were the highlights for me.

What was the common thread? These best parts of T4G all came when speakers gave me confidence that I could do what they were doing. They showed me how to see what they were seeing in the Scripture. I learned how to read and study and apply and teach these texts. I won’t need to listen to the recordings of these talks over and over to be filled with the truth. These men launched me into deeper study of God’s word, increased hope in Christ, and more fervent desire for the salvation of unbelievers.

What was the worst part of T4G?

It came at those times when I found myself sitting there thinking:

“I could never do what this guy is doing.”
“This speaker is way smarter than anyone else in the room, especially me.”
“Wow, praise God for raising him up to have such influence for Christ, but no-one else listening to him will ever be able to replicate his teaching when they leave this conference.”

Now there is much sin in my heart, and sometimes my inability to get moving simply results from my own dullness.

But I wonder, too, if there’s a downside to the “bigness” of such a lineup. While some teachers are more skilled at “showing their work”—thus inspiring their hearers to continue what they have begun—others do a better job of wowing and impressing. And what can I say? I usually love to be wowed and impressed.

T4G had its fair share of wowing and impressing. But the wowing and impressing will be forgotten as soon as I get home and have to help with the backlog of dishes and yard work and play time with my kids. I’ll also have to get right to work on a pile of projects at work.

The moments of real training, however, will bear fruit long into the future.

Announcing My First Book!

April 9, 2014 By Peter Krol

How’s your time in the Word?

Pre-order now from Cruciform Press. Coming soon to Amazon.

I’ve blogged long enough that most of my ideas now lie buried deep within this site’s bowels. I’ve done my best to make the most important posts accessible in the main menu, but there’s only so much I can do without exhausting new visitors. And some of those ideas deserve to stay buried. After all, didn’t the Sage of Israel once say something about the making of many blogs (Eccl 12:12)? It’s in the Hebrew, I assure you.

Well, I’ve done my best to assemble all the really important stuff in one place for you. And the nice people at Cruciform Press offered to blow off the dust, spiff it up, and publish this baby. I must say it’s made my life much more interesting of late.

Be honored, dear reader, for you are privy to this special, humorous announcement—bowels and all [1]—with Scripture liberally removed from its context. I need to keep you on your toes (which look great in sandals this time of year, by the way—Song 7:1), and my About page practically promises I’ll do it from time to time. Those whom I love, I discipline (Heb 12:7-8). The rest of the world must hold themselves content with the respectable—not to be confused with boring—Public Service Announcement.

You may like to know that my friend and former pastor Tedd Tripp wrote the book’s Foreword. And Wheaton College English Professor Leland Ryken has praised the book for “the accuracy of the proposed methodology for interacting with the Bible, and the practical approach to the subject.” Jerry Bridges, author of The Pursuit of Holiness [2], wrote, “I look forward to using it to improve my own Bible study.”

If you’ve benefitted from this wonderful OIA approach to the Bible (observe, interpret, apply), this book could be your opportunity to help train others. And if you get to read the book, I’d be tickled to hear what you think; so please feel free to drop me a line.

Pre-order now from Cruciform Press. Coming soon to Amazon.
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[1] Though for the record, my wife and exactly 50% of my children simply do not appreciate my sense of humor. I wonder what is the proportion among the blog’s readership…?

[2] This is one of those affiliate links that help you to support this site at no extra cost to yourself.

Is Your Bible Study Group-Centered or Christ-Centered?

April 4, 2014 By Peter Krol

The main goal of group Bible studies is to help people know God through his Son Jesus Christ. And the chief advantage of the group format is interaction.

Sometimes that chief advantage can steal the limelight, and the main goal unintentionally becomes the understudy. Or for the non-theatrical types: that chief advantage can steal the ball, and the main goal gets benched.

In other words, we can get so excited by the positive interaction between group members that we subtly slide our focus from knowing God to knowing each other. And since knowing each other is a great thing, we might not notice the shift.

Marco Belluci (2005), Creative Commons

Here are some questions to help you evaluate where your group’s gaze lies.

Do group members spend more time sharing about their problems or testifying to God’s grace in their lives?
Does your Bible study always land on the same applications, or is there a sense of forward movement and change?
Do people depend on the leader to do all the thinking, or do they actively engage in the study?
Is there general agreement and affirmation on most things, or do people feel free to challenge and disagree with one another?
If the leader had to stop leading the group, would the group have another leader trained and ready to take over?
How long has it been since new people joined the group?
Would someone new have a hard time fitting in?
If any unbelievers unexpectedly showed up, is there a chance they might meet God among you (1 Cor 14:24-25)?
Does your group see Jesus in every passage?
If your group discussed a book other than the Bible, would the discussion be any different?

What other diagnostic questions might help you to evaluate your group’s focus?

Memorize Chapters or Books Instead of Verses

April 2, 2014 By Peter Krol

There’s no magic to memorizing long passages of Scripture. It takes hard work, but anyone can do it.

So writes Jemar Tisby in his excellent post entitled “How to Memorize Entire Books of the Bible.” Tisby believes God’s Word is powerful. Tisby claims God’s Word evokes a response. Tisby claims that God spoke his Word in books and not just in verses.

I’m inclined to agree with him on all points. Memory verses, without a clear accounting for context, are just as likely to lead us away from the truth as toward it.

And there’s no magic to memorizing long portions of Scripture. But I can attest to its value.

In the summer of 1997, on break from college, I gave myself to the task of memorizing Proverbs 1-9. A teacher at a Bible camp had inspired me with the incredible value of these chapters, so I determined to commit them to memory. Ever since, I’ve recited them about once per week.

Over these 17 years, my love for wisdom has grown more than I expected. Passages like Prov 5:7-23 and Prov 7:1-5 pop out when I face temptation. Prov 1:22 comes to mind when I’m making a dumb choice. Prov 3:1-12 always reminds me that honoring the Lord is worth it. Prov 2:6-11 comes to mind when I’m discouraged and feel like reminding the Lord (well, myself, really) of how he’s promised to work.

I’m not more noble or more committed or more righteous for having accomplished this feat of memory. Actually, I think the frequent repetition of these ideas makes me feel more dependent on the Lord than I would otherwise be.

And I’d have it no other way.

Check it out!

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