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Helping ordinary people learn to study the Bible

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Have You Forgotten How to Read the Bible?

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Last week, The Gospel Coalition posted an article by professor Dan Doriani entitled “The Danger of Forgetting How to Read the Bible.” In the article, Doriani traces the common path for leaders who become leaders out of excitement for the Scripture, but who then lose this excitement as they focus on technical and academic study of the word.

He writes:

Leaders stumble for many reasons, and while I could argue that a zealous seminarian has little in common with a vain or depressed middle-aged leader, there is at least one common thread: My peers and my students can both stop reading the Bible as we should.

Ultimately, “Students and pastors need, therefore, to become technical, devotional readers. Here every exegetical skill remains, yet we also read like children, letting the word speak to our hearts again.”

These things are not just for pastors. As we learn to study the Bible and teach it to others, let us not stop letting it speak to our own hearts again and again.

Check it out!

What Makes a Good Commentary

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Image-CommentaryMatt Smethurst at The Gospel Coalition recently interviewed New Testament scholar D.A. Carson about what makes a good commentary. Carson pointed out a few things to look for and a few pitfalls to avoid.

As far as what to look for, Carson begins, “Good all-round commentaries help readers think their way through the text.” He gives some helpful details on what that looks like, but notice what he considers most important: The best commentaries serve our study of the text. They never replace it.

Carson mentions the following pitfalls:

  1. Turning to commentaries too soon in your study.
  2. Turning to commentaries too late (or not at all).
  3. Relying on commentaries instead of developing a robust understanding of biblical, historical, systematic, and pastoral theology.
  4. Allowing commentaries to supplant close study and desperate prayer (trusting the commentators more than the Lord).

I wrote a post a while back about four mistakes to avoid when using commentaries, where I had some similar ideas. But Carson puts it better than I did.

These concepts are not just for full-time preachers, but also for Sunday School teachers, Bible study leaders, and leaders of all stripes.

Check it out!

Are You a Good Bible Teacher?

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Mark Driscoll recently posted an article called “5 Things to Look for in a Good Bible Teacher.” The 5 things are:

  • Character
  • Clarity
  • Consistency
  • Courage
  • Christ

I suppose a good question to ask is: Do you sit under a good Bible teacher? But an even better question is: Are you a good Bible teacher?

You don’t have to be an ordained minister to be a Bible teacher. In fact, like it or not, every Christian already is a Bible teacher. The question is whether they are good ones.

Check it out!

Jesus, Hero of Every Text

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Over a year ago (which is about 3 full generations in hipster-blogger-Internet years), I wrote about how to see Jesus in any Bible passage.

My main point was that we shouldn’t look for Jesus in every Old Testament detail. Jesus isn’t in every detail, but his message is there. The unified message of the Bible boils down to 4 points summarized in Luke 24:46-47.

And we must first understand the main point of an Old Testament passage before we can connect it to Jesus.

Now along comes Mike Leake to my defense. Well, Mike isn’t exactly defending me; I’m sure he doesn’t even know me. But he and I must have been twins separated at birth and predestined for eventual reunification. Mom: I know you’re reading this. Why didn’t you tell me?

Anyway, the esteemed Mr. Leake wrote this fabulous post at SBC Voices. “Is Jesus Really the Hero of Every Text?” he asks. The answer is yes. Well, no. Sort of. As long as you first get to the point and don’t force the details. This approach helps when you read of Shemiramoth and other harpist-priestly types, and you wonder whether you should stuff Jesus somewhere between the cymbals and the trumpets.

You should read Leake’s post. I’ve linked to it twice now, and you still haven’t clicked it. Now I’ll make it a trinity of links with this third one.

Check it out!

Help Your Kids Love Bible Study

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Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven. (Matt 19:14)

If we want to help people to know Jesus, we should help them learn the Bible. To help them learn the Bible, we can help them learn to study the Bible.

These things are not just for adults. That’s why I write fairly often about how to help children learn to study the Bible.

Andrew Weiseth, writing at The Resurgence blog, shares my passion. He recently wrote an article called “1 Simple Way to Get Kids to Love Bible Study.”

His method is simple: Take advantage of their love of play. Act it out; make it fun. Bring the text to life.

I suggested a similar thing in my post about teaching 4-year-olds.

What do you think? Have you found such a technique helpful for children?

Check it out!

The Best Way to Develop Biblical Thinking

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For a few weeks, I’ve linked to articles that seek to persuade you to read the Bible voluminously, like you would read a book. This week I offer more of the same.

Joe Carter writes this brilliant article proposing voluminous and repetitive reading as not only a great idea but the best way to change your thinking and develop a biblical worldview. I find it funny that we’d think there could be any other way.

How many times do we claim to be “biblical” and yet read the Bible more like a collection of inspiring sound bytes than a great work of literature? So we read a few verses and go happily on our way. Carter:

I want to recommend a simple four step process that could transform your life by, quite literally, changing your mind.

After reading the entire post the vast majority of readers will snicker at such a hyperbolic claim and never implement the method I outline. A smaller number will consider the advice intriguing, my assertion only a slight exaggeration, but will also never implement the method. A tiny minority, however, will recognize the genius behind the process and apply it to their own life. This group will later say that my claim was an understatement.

This post is written for those people.

Mr. Carter’s claim is an understatement. Following his process will change far more than your mind.

What’s the process? Choose a book of the Bible and read it 20 times. Move on to another book and repeat. Continue until you’ve read the entire Bible in this way.

Years ago, I took a seminary class where the professor required us to read 1 John five times in a week. He expected us to read in five sittings, one complete read in each siting.

At first I found the assignment onerous. I had read 1 John before, and I knew all the important stuff about confession, love, and not sinning. I wasn’t sure what I’d accomplish by such repetitive reading.

But I’ve always been a good Pharisee (I love rules), so I completed the assignment. The second read-through was the hardest one, as I feared boredom. The third read energized me with a few insights I had never considered before. The fourth read got me really excited, and the fifth read began to alter my thinking about faith and assurance.

The discussion of 1 John in the next class was some of the best I’ve seen. Now, in most Bible studies I lead, I give a similar assignment. Unless we’re studying a long book, I ask people to read the whole thing five times before the first meeting.

There is no better way to understand a book of the Bible.

I have never met someone who tried it and wasn’t convinced. I’ve met plenty who thought it was a dumb idea and refused to try it. What do you think?

Check it out!

HT: Ryan

Read the Bible

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A few weeks ago, I linked to my post at the Gospel Coalition with some advice to readers: Read the Bible. Along the same lines, this terrific article from Jim Elliff recommends heavy saturation in the Scripture:

No plan for Bible reading is a complete waste of time, obviously, but I’ve now come to believe there is a better way of thinking about Bible reading. I’m recommending immersion or saturation in one or two books of the Bible over several months as my preferred method. Frankly, I have never known Bible reading to be so transformative and interesting as with this method, both for me and for many friends who have tried it at my suggestion.

Elliff doesn’t necessarily suggest reading the entire Bible quickly (though he mentions the possibility), but he proposes immersion in a large chunk of text. Such immersion allows us to pickle in the very words of God and avoid three things that distract us from the text:

  1. Devotionalism
  2. Good books
  3. Commentaries and study Bibles

I heartily concur! Devotion to God is important. Good books sharpen our thinking. Commentaries and study Bibles hone our understanding and help provide necessary background.

But too often, we allow such things to replace the Bible altogether. It’s like replacing the vinegar with orange juice and expecting the cucumbers to still taste good on a sandwich.

Elliff’s article is a little long, but it’s quite good. Check it out!

 

Regaining Hope

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Regaining HopeIn his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul gives a recipe for influential leadership that includes humility and hope. And the Thessalonians had hope, along with faith and love, in droves (1 Thess 1:2-3).

But, in a matter of months, they lost hope. Affliction and persecution and besetting sin wore them down, and they had grown weary in doing good.

Can you relate?

Hope is slippery, and this fallen world constantly threatens our grip on it.

The definition of marriage is in question. Religious liberty could be threatened. School shootings become routine. Horrific infanticide takes place in unaccountable clinics. Chemical weapons endanger world peace. Government shutdowns inflame disgruntlement.

Through it all, we try to do good. We love our neighbors, we support the community, and we preach Christ and him crucified.

But it gets wearying.

You’re not alone.

The Relentless Fight blog recently published an article I wrote about 2 Thessalonians called “Regaining Hope.” In the article, I reflect on what Paul might say today to any of us in danger of losing hope.

Check it out!

The 10 Most Biblical New Year’s Resolutions

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After Friday’s year-end roundup, I’m on a top 10 kick. So here are 10 New Year’s resolutions you might want to try this year. They’re biblical, after all, but I take no responsibility for the outcomes.

Lori Ann of MamaWit (mamawit.com), Creative Commons

Lori Ann of MamaWit (mamawit.com), Creative Commons

10. Drink water and eat vegetables. If and only if, by January 11, you are fatter, prettier, and smarter than the rest of your generation, keep it up (Dan 1:11-16). Otherwise, feel free to ditch the vegetables.

9. Do whatever Jesus would do (Matt 14:28-29, 1 Pet 3:18-20).

8. Husbands, always tell your wives what to do (Esther 1:10-12).

7. Act shrewdly enough that your potential enemies and your real enemies won’t be able to team up against you (Ex 1:10).

6. Wives, do whatever your husbands tell you to do (Acts 5:1-2, 7-10).

5. Dedicate to God whatever he brings your way (Judg 11:30-31).

4. Keep your hands to yourself (1 Cor 7:1).

3. Get more money, so you can answer everything (Eccl 10:19) and eliminate all pain and insecurity from your life (Luke 12:18-19, James 5:1).

2. Obey all the lesser-known, but not less important, commands of God, such as: “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Drink, be drunk, and vomit'” (Jer 25:27).

1. Build something great for yourself (Gen 11:1-4).

Ridiculousness aside—as for me, I’m going to begin my annual blitz through the Bible. The dark winter months can be so discouraging for me, and the most effective treatment is to drown myself in Scripture to draw closer to its Author. Would you like to join me in a speed-read through the Bible this year? If so, check out my recent post at The Gospel Coalition: “A Bible Reading Plan for Readers.”

Reading the Bible in big chunks might help us not to take individual verses out of context.

What other “biblical” resolutions could we add to the list?

Top Posts of 2013

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Knowable Word LogoBy God’s grace, the readership of Knowable Word tripled from the beginning of the year to the end. I praise God for the opportunity to help ordinary people learn to study the Bible.

The “Popular Posts” list in the sidebar shows which posts have been most popular in the last 30 days. For your New Year’s delight, here were the most popular posts in all of 2013.

 

10. Top 10 Old Testament Verses Quoted in the New Testament

I wrote this post as part of my “NT Quotes the OT” series. It arose from my own Bible reading early in the year, when I kept track of every explicit OT quotation in the NT. The raw data made it onto the Resources page.

9. 10 Old Testament Books Never Quoted in the New Testament

Another post from the “NT Quotes the OT” series.

8. The Best Wedding Sermon Ever

As an aside from my series on Proverbs, I posted this recording of Paul Browne’s sermon from my own wedding in 2004. The recording is almost 10 years old, but the sermon remains the best I’ve heard (and—really—not just because it was my own wedding).

7. Don’t Abuse the Sexiest Parts of the Bible

From Proverbs 5, I challenge modern Christians to avoid two of the commonplace mistakes about sexually graphic Bible texts.

6. How to Honor God with Your Money

This post from last year on Proverbs 1:10-19 contains specific financial advice and continues to be heavily read.

5. How to Study the Bible

I sort of cheated on this one. This post serves as a Table of Contents for the entire series on the Observation-Interpretation-Application Method. At first, readers had to click back and forth to this post in order to read through the series. It’s fixed now, though! At the end of each post, there is a direct link to the next post in the series.

4. Teach Bible Study to a 4-Year-Old

The short series of posts on teaching Bible study to children offers tips for teaching different age levels. My unique twist is that I don’t just want to help you teach them the Bible; I want to help you teach them how to study the Bible (though, see the “4-year-old” part 2 post for a more focused list of suggestions). They don’t have to be old or brilliant to get it.

3. Teach Bible Study to a 2-Year-Old

This was my first post in the “Teach Children” series. It’s been viewed almost 30% more than the 4-year-old post. May it help you to bring the beauty of Bible study to your littlest ones.

2. Our Bible Study Method: OIA

This post serves as the cornerstone for the blog. It’s linked to in the top menu to make it easy for new visitors to find. It’s called “Our Bible Study Method” because I wasn’t the only blogger here when I wrote it! In the last year, my partners have all had to move on, but I can’t bring myself to call this terrific method “my” method.

1. The Only Intoxication the Bible Advises

This post on Proverbs 5 is all about sex. And most of the post is an extended quotation from that “Best Wedding Sermon” (see #8 above), which shows that I’m not biased in my belief that it truly is the best wedding sermon.

Thank you for reading the blog this year! I’m delighted to partner with you in bringing the gospel of grace to our generation through God’s knowable word.

Please let me know if you have any suggestions for the next year, or if you’d like to contribute a guest post.