John Piper continues his excellent video series showing how to study the Bible. In the video below, he shows how to observe and interpret connector words and purpose statements in Proverbs 22.
https://vimeo.com/152714380
The Only Way to Learn
Last week, Tim Challies wrote a great article called “The Hidden Beauty of a Bad Sermon.” Challies describes all the poor sermons he sat through at his church, because they were training young preachers. And Challies simply knocks it out of the park when he describes the only way a young preacher can learn to preach:
A man can read a hundred books on preaching and watch a thousand sermons on YouTube, but the only way he will really learn to preach is to preach. Sooner or later he will simply need to stand behind a pulpit, open his Bible, and launch into his introduction (assuming he remembers to actually prepare one). There are not many preachers who get away without preaching a few stinkers along the way. There are not many preachers who can become skilled without first being novices, who can grow into excellence without first being mediocre or average.
In light of my recent reflections on why it’s hard to delegate responsibility and how we need to take more risks in training ministry apprentices, I found Challies’s article timely. Though Challies singles out preachers, his comments apply equally to any teacher or Bible study leader.
Young preachers, new preachers, preach bad sermons. They preach bad sermons as they learn to preach good sermons. And in some ways, those bad sermons serve as a mark of a church’s health and strength because they prove that the church is fulfilling its mandate to raise up the next generation of preachers and the one after that. They prove that the church refuses to be so driven by a desire to display excellence that they will not risk the occasional dud. They prove that the congregation is mature enough to endure and even appreciate these first, messy attempts. There is hidden beauty, hidden value, in these bad sermons.
I wish I could quote the whole article. Check it out!
How Leaders Read the Bible
I’ve written before about how we must learn from the Bible before we’re qualified to teach it. Seminary professor Dan Doriani has similar thoughts. He writes to pastors, but his words apply equally to Bible study leaders, Sunday school teachers, and parents.
I especially appreciate the section where Doriani explains the stages of a ministry leader’s devotional life:
- Naive and devotional – new Christian, or new to the Bible, and excited about every word.
- Sophisticated and devotional – learning basic principles of Bible study, reading in context, etc.
- Technical – becoming an expert in language and interpretive techniques.
- Technical and functional – expert interpreter who considers how to communicate these truths to others.
- Technical and devotional – expert interpreter who considers applying these truths to himself or herself.
As we spend more time in ministry, we’ll be tempted to separate our study from our own application. We must not do this. We must keep pushing ourselves into that fifth stage.
Doriani’s article is worth reading for anyone who feels the tension between “ministry prep” Bible study time and “personal devotions” Bible study time.
The Scandal of Biblical Illiteracy
Last week, Al Mohler wrote about “The Scandal of Biblical Illiteracy,” where he proposes a connection between biblical illiteracy and moral decline. If we think Sodom and Gomorrah were husband and wife, how will we learn from their destruction?
We will not believe more than we know, and we will not live higher than our beliefs. The many fronts of Christian compromise in this generation can be directly traced to biblical illiteracy in the pews and the absence of biblical preaching and teaching in our homes and churches.
Mohler challenges us to recover vibrant Bible teaching at home and in church. We must know the word if we are to apply it to all of life. Though Mohler’s tone may be alarmist, he offers helpful insight. As you read, just remember that widespread biblical illiteracy provides some opportunities we wouldn’t otherwise have: If people don’t even know what the Bible says, they may be less likely to presume what it means. And that means the truth must break through fewer defenses.
One Danger of Quiet Times
Unlocking the Bible has a stimulating reflection on “The Not-So-Quiet Quiet Time,” where Colin Smith warns we should spend more time listening to God than listening to our own hearts.
It has become common among Christians to think that listening to God means being quiet and listening to our own hearts. But here’s the problem with that:
God says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways” (Isaiah 55:8).
If you believe that you listen to God by listening to your own heart, then what have you done? You have put your own heart in the place of God. If you make an idol of your heart, that will inevitably lead to a life of following the impulses of your own heart.
And who knows where that will lead you?
It’s worth considering: During your “quiet time,” whose voice do tend to listen to?
The rest of Smith’s article is worth reading. Check it out!
Too Much Bible?
The Proclamation Trust recently posted a short piece asking whether the average Christian receives too much Bible teaching these days. Author Tim Ward questions whether our distraction-prone culture has led us to move so quickly from one teaching event (or recording) to another, and whether we might benefit from more time to meditate on each passage before moving right to the next.
In this aspect of our lives we have probably been more deeply shaped and trained by the distracted and distracting culture of our day than we realise. If I’m going to help any other believers around me let any parts of God’s word sink deep into them rather than simply letting lots of God’s word just wet our skin, I’ve got to be fighting against this cultural habit in myself.
Some good questions, I think. Check out Ward’s full article. I’m curious to hear what you think of it.
Our 10 Favorite Posts to Write in 2015
Last week we shared the 10 most popular posts on Knowable Word from 2015. Today, we’re sharing the 10 posts of 2015 that were the most fun for us to write.
Ryan
5. How to Ruin a Small Group Discussion in 4 Easy Steps
I wrote this post tongue-in-cheek, which was a lot of fun. This post was part of my series on attending small group Bible studies, and I wrote most of it using examples from years of witnessing (and leading!) mediocre-to-bad discussions.
4. When Bible Study Meets Real Life
Who has the time to do all of this OIA Bible study? In this post I suggest looking at your devotional life through the lens of Bible intake, making sure not to neglect Bible study entirely.
3. How to Apply the Bible in Community
I taught a Sunday school class at my church this past year on how to study the Bible. While teaching, I was struck with how much Christians need each other to apply the Bible. This post offered the “how” portion of my answer.
2. Why We Need Community to Apply the Bible
See above. In this post, I tried to put my finger on why Christianity is not a solo venture. I love it when I can draw directly on the lessons God is teaching me for my posts.
1. Don’t Forget the Gospel During Bible Study
This was a post where I was preaching to myself. Whether I feel like a success or a failure after personal or group Bible study, I need to return again and again to the central message of the Bible—the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Peter
5. 50 Observations of John 3:16
I could hardly contain my excitement when students from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania took my challenge (from page 42 of Knowable Word) to make 50 observations of John 3:16. They sent me a photo of an autographed white board as the fruit of their labor.
4. Top 10 Curses of Study Bibles
Study Bibles are like guns. They are dangerous and require extreme caution. We should have rules about how to use them safely.
3. (Almost) How the Bible was Meant to be Read
To date, my favorite book to review has been the ESV Reader’s Bible. This thing will change the way you read the Bible. Check it out.
2. Don’t Neglect the Lesser-Known Commands of God
My April Fool’s post for this year was full of fun and good cheer. To both celebrate April Fool’s Day and teach the importance of context, I could think of nothing better than ridiculously to rip Scripture from its context.
1. Why God Speaks to Job Twice
I really enjoyed all the posts I wrote on the book of Job this year. These posts came out of a sermon series at my church, and this one was my favorite of the bunch.
In severe suffering, Job has accused God of doing wrong and of remaining silent. But God arrives, speaking out of the whirlwind, to put Job in his place. Job 38:1-39:30 records God’s first speech, recounting the wildness, inscrutability, and uncontrollable power of God’s creation. Duly humbled, Job tries to slink away like an amateur diver whose loosely tied trunks slipped off at surface impact.
But God will have nothing of the sort. “Oh no, you don’t. I’m not done with you yet.”
Avoid Sloppy Bible Reading
John Starke has a good article about sloppy Bible reading.
What I mean by “sloppy reading” is that often I come to a text of Scripture thinking I’m reading in order to be informed about how I might believe and live, but actually I’m coming to Scripture for affirmation of what I already believe and how I already live. And so, I’m a sloppy reader who’s likely blind to my sloppiness. And it’s likely you are too.
He illustrates by showing what we should take away from Jesus’ statement that he came not for the healthy but for the sick. Starke exposes the ease with which we fail to see Christ—even in the Gospels—and he models grace-filled application for us.
Top 10 Posts of 2015
San Churchill (2007), Creative Commons
It’s hip and cool for bloggers to post their top 10 posts of the year. And we want to be hip and cool. Our hearts tell us to do it, and the Bible says to “walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes” (Eccl 11:9). So here goes.
10. A Bible Reading Plan for Readers
I posted this one last year, and then just re-posted it last week. That helps to encourage people to read it more, which encourages them to read the Bible more. I think.
9. Top 11 OT Verses Quoted in NT
This post was part of my 2013 series analyzing every Old Testament quotation in the New Testament. This one focusing on verses seems to be the one people first stumble on to.
8. How to Encourage Heart-Oriented Application
This post does just what you might expect it to do from the title.
7. Don’t Be a Commentary Junkie
Just don’t do it, okay? Your Bible study will be so much better for it.
6. Teach Bible Study to a 2-Year-Old
Many people really care about their kids! Just like Jesus (Matt 19:14).
5. Summary of the OIA Method
We put this one into the top menu so people could find it easily. It pretty much explains why this blog exists, so we’re glad it gets a lot of pageviews.
4. Details of the OIA Method
See the previous post, unless you want less of a summary and more of a detailed explanation. Then see this post instead.
3. Teach Bible Study to a 4-Year-Old
Many people care even more about their kids when they’re getting close to school age.
2. Main Points for All 66 Books of the Bible
This just isn’t fair. This, my most read post of 2015, barely contains any original content! I copied it all out of the NIV Proclamation Bible. I suppose there’s something deliciously humbling about this post’s popularity.
1. Teach Your Child to Have Devotions
And what’s even more delicious is that the #1 post belongs to Ryan, not me. This post was not only the most popular of 2015; its publication spawned the most heavily trafficked day in this blog’s history. I praise God for Ryan’s partnership! Best line: “When your child is old enough to read, give him a Bible and train him to use it.”
7 Benefits of Memorizing Long Scripture Passages
Perhaps you’re not much of a reader, and this week’s contest announcement didn’t inspire you. Maybe you’re more interested in Scripture memory than Bible reading. If so, have you considered the benefits of memorizing long passages, even entire books, instead of select verses?
Chris Brauns suggests 7 benefits of systematic long-term Scripture memory, stretched over not only months but decades.
- It allows you to follow the example of the ant.
- Along with prayer, it offers the most immediate and intentional way to pursue sanctification.
- It enables you to identify insights into Scripture that take years to see.
- It teaches you what to pray.
- It preserves memories of when God’s word was impressed on you.
- It offers a tool for discipling others.
- It makes you a more efficient reader of theology.
Brauns’s article explains these points with helpful examples. Check it out!
