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Help Your Teens Study the Bible

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Do you have teenagers in your home? Or will you soon have teens in your home? I’m less than 2 months away from the milestone, so I was delighted to see this great advice from Katherine Forster (herself a teenager) in her article “5 Tips for Helping Your Teens Study the Bible.”

  1. Lead by example
  2. Include them in your study
  3. Make it part of the family routine
  4. Provide materials
  5. Remember the Lord does the work

Her first tip is particularly convicting, but all five are timely reminders. See the article for further explanation.

Check it out!

The Best Book of the Bible for Teaching OIA

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When people get excited about the OIA method of Bible study and want to teach it to others, they often ask me what the best books of the Bible are to use for this purpose. In other words, which book (or books) will make it easiest for newbies to acquire the basic skills of observation, interpretation, and application? Which book should I use as my example to make it easiest for people to learn to study the Bible for themselves?

And herein lies the beauty of the OIA method: it works equally well on any book of the Bible.

Built into the method is the need to observe the genre and ask corresponding interpretive questions. The OIA method requires you to adjust your expectations for narrative, poetry, prophecy, law, and epistle. It requires you to discover the author’s main point for his audience in their historical circumstances. It expects you to remain aware of the context so you can follow the author’s train of thought. It pushes you to connect the main point to the person and work of Jesus Christ before you attempt either inward or outward application.

And you can and should do all of these things on any and every book of the Bible.

Therefore, my stock answer to the question of which book you should use to teach the OIA method is whichever book you want. People are more likely to catch a vision for OIA Bible study from your enthusiasm for it than from any particular book of the Bible. If you try to teach the method using the “right” book or a recommended book, but you are not thrilled to your core by what God is teaching you in that book, people will tend to think the OIA method is dry and dusty.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

In 20 years of teaching the OIA method, I can remember using each of the following books at various times:

  • Genesis
  • Exodus
  • 1 Samuel
  • 1 Kings
  • Proverbs
  • Ecclesiastes
  • Joel
  • Amos
  • Nahum
  • Haggai
  • Matthew
  • Mark
  • John
  • Romans
  • Galatians
  • Ephesians
  • Philippians
  • 1 Thessalonians
  • 2 Timothy
  • Hebrews
  • James
  • 1 Peter
  • 3 John

None of these books were any better or worse than others for teaching the method. What made each one work was that I was intrigued by it at the time.

Therefore, the best book of the Bible for teaching OIA Bible study is whichever book you are currently most interested in and excited about. It’s more important for you to be enthusiastic than for you to select the “right” book. Your enthusiasm will be infectious, and the people you teach are then most likely to experience firsthand the riches of the method.

Update on Family Bible Reading

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I wrote last year about my commitment to my daughter to read her the entire Bible before her 18th birthday. This promise morphed into a weekly family Bible-reading extravaganza, where we spend 45 to 60 minutes simply reading the Scripture and letting the children ask any questions they have. I’m now writing with an update.

Jan Rowley, Creative Commons

  • We’ve been working on this for a little over 3 years, so it’s become part of our ingrained family routine.
  • 45 to 60 minutes may sound like a long time, but it goes quickly when the children get to play during the reading (my original post describes how we do it).
  • We don’t actually do it every week. If anyone is traveling, we skip it. But I would estimate that we miss only 1 or 2 weeks each quarter.
  • Going through the Bible in canonical order, we’re now in the middle of Jeremiah.
  • All the names in 1 Chronicles 1-9 were rough, and the kids were the least engaged for that section. But I spread those chapters over 2 sittings so it wasn’t too painful for them all at once. And they’re able to bear the occasional “boring” section when they get to play with whatever they want. They’re not required to just sit and listen.
  • Proverbs 10-29 was also rough. When the topic changes every verse, it’s hard to listen to a lengthy reading!
  • Surprises:
    • They loved the Psalms. Even though there are many of them, most of them are short. And the children really followed along with the mood of each poem.
    • They also loved Job. The drama engaged them, as the characters took turns making their speeches.
    • My sons loved Isaiah, though they’re not sure why. One of them could explain his love only by saying, “It was really interesting.” Jeremiah has not been as interesting for them.
    • While I’m sure none of the children would choose Bible reading time over, say, going to the local pool, I get almost no complaints from them about doing it. The only exception is when we’re in a dry spot (usually a list of names): After 30 minutes, I might start getting questions about how much longer we’ll be reading.
    • Almost every week, though, most of the children are sad when I stop. They keep asking for “another chapter!”
    • It doesn’t take nearly as long to read the Bible out loud as I thought it would. I’m surprised that we’re in Jeremiah already. At this pace, we’ll finish long before my daughter’s 18th birthday. We might even get through the Bible twice.
  • I’m now using the CSB Reader’s Bible. I love the CSB translation, and the children follow it well. And a reader’s Bible gives me “permission” to keep reading and reading and reading, without any distracting verse numbers, chapter numbers, or section headings telling me that I should stop.

I hope this encourages you. You don’t need a perfect plan, a perfect curriculum, or a perfect set of family devotions. And you don’t need to do it the same way I have done it. But be encouraged: You can simply read the Bible to your kids!

How to Help Your Children Read the Bible

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Professor David Murray has great passion and exceptional skill at helping people build lifelong Bible-reading discipline into their children. In an article at Desiring God, he gives 8 tips to help your children read the Bible.

  1. Give them a Bible they enjoy.
  2. Give them an example to follow.
  3. Give them a compelling motive.
  4. Give them a clear, manageable plan.
  5. Give them questions to ask.
  6. Give them answers when they have questions.
  7. Give them encouragement to keep reading.
  8. Give them grace in their failures.

All of this comes from a simple vision:

One of the best gifts you’ll ever give to your children is familiarity with the Bible and its message.

Amen! I commend Murray’s full article to you. Check it out!

The Most Important Component of Children’s Ministry

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In a blog post last week, Russell Moore makes an critical point about “The Cosmic Importance of Children’s Sunday School“:

Sunday school transformed my life.

What I needed was the slow repetition, over years and years, of the Word of God. What I sometimes find among Christians is knowledge of systematic theology in one tribe or of biblical moral principles in another—without knowing the narrative of the text itself. Some Christians know how to argue their view of whether Romans 7 describes pre- or post-conversion experience but don’t know the difference between Rehoboam and Jeroboam, between Abigail and Michal. We would all—as gospel Christians—affirm the entirety of the Bible as necessary and profitable but still might, if we’re honest, think that knowledge of the text’s details—rather than the theology or life principles arising from it—is more about Bible trivia than the Christian life. If so, we are wrong.

Now the exact structure of the education—that is, what we think of as “Sunday school”—is much less important than the form of the education—the slow repetition, over years and years, of the Word of God. And Moore nails his point here. The next generation needs to be fed God’s Word. Principles of theology are important, but not sufficient. Lessons in morality are important, but not sufficient.

The Church’s little ones are depending on us to get this right. Please consider what Dr. Moore has to say on this topic. Check it out!

5 Ways Loving Your Neighbor Will Change Your Bible Teaching

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To help you teach the Bible more effectively, Mark Ward writes of the basic but crucial matter of loving the people you teach. Loving them will strengthen your teaching in at least 5 ways:

  1. Love will keep you from assuming knowledge they don’t have.
  2. Love will keep you from using words not in their vocabulary.
  3. Love will help you work at finding the best ways to help them take the next step.
  4. Love will give you the energy you need to push them forward.
  5. Love will alleviate improper pressure on you to please others.

Check it out!

Teaching the Bible to Teenagers

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This is a guest post by Mark Fodale. Mark loves to influence the next generation, and he has served over 30 years in full-time campus ministry. He also loves teaching and studying God’s word, and he serves as a Teaching Elder in the Presbyterian Church in America. He and his wife Shannon have 4 children. If you’d like to write a guest post for Knowable Word, please see our guidelines.

Though never appearing in the Bible, the word “teenager” can elicit waves of anxious worry in even the most faithful parent or teacher. And too often, this formative time of life gets described as “rebellious,” “uncontrolled,” “distant,” and “exhausting.”

But amazingly, King Solomon viewed the teenage season as one of great opportunity and promise. As his father David had taught him, so he taught his son (Prov 4:3-9) and imparted wisdom to a generation of youths about to assume their roles in society. To borrow a phrase from Paul David Tripp, the teen years are an Age of Opportunity.

What can we glean from Solomon’s wisdom to help us shepherd our teens and spur them to know and love God’s Word?

Yo tampoco (2011), Creative Commons

Yo tampoco (2011), Creative Commons

1. Lead With Your Life

Avoid the temptation to coerce your child into spiritual disciplines. Threats, power plays, guilt manipulation, comparison with other people’s children, and even shouting may seem to work at getting your teen into God’s word. But they don’t really work.

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. (Prov 15:1)

Lead with your life. In other words, use the power of imitation rather than the threat of intimidation.

What does this look like?

  • You study the Word, regularly, passionately, personally.
  • You listen diligently to sermons as they are preached, or to Bible studies as they are taught. You take notes. You make clear applications to your life.
  • You share what God has been teaching you in His word, not to manipulate your teen into engaging with the Bible, but to honor Christ in your life.

Your teens are watching and (believe it or not) listening to you. And what they hear and watch at this stage is not primarily your words but your life. Are you giving them an example to emulate? Are you leading with your life?

2. Persuade With Vision

In the early chapters of Proverbs, Solomon tells of wisdom’s beauty and promise:

If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you. (Prov 1:23)

Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than the gain from silver and her profit better than gold. (Prov 3:13-14)

The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight. Prize her highly, and she will exalt you; she will honor you if you embrace her. (Prov 4:7-8)

Solomon persuades with a picture of the future—the overwhelming beauty of wisdom, the unsurpassed joy and benefit in gaining wisdom, and the devastating cost of rejecting wisdom. As you interact with your teenagers, talk about life. Life, both in the here-and-now and in the future. Show them the benefits to be gained then from studying God’s word now.

As I interacted with my teens, I often asked, “What kind of man (or woman) do you want to be someday? What kind of a parent or spouse do you long to become?” As they voiced their dreams with wide eyes, I would then say, “What you do now with God’s word will either help you or cripple you in that pursuit.”

Paul David Tripp says it well:

Keep conversations interesting and to the point … Make the moments of wisdom and correction interactions rather than lectures. Some of us carry invisible portable lecterns with us, which we are ready to set up in a moment. Leave them in the closet. Instead, ask stimulating questions that will cause the teen to examine his actions, his assumptions, his desires, and his choices. Help him shine the light of the word on them. Surprise him with truth. Let wisdom sparkle before his eyes … Engage your teenager in a stimulating conversation that doesn’t flash your authority or the right you have to tell him what to do. Rather, talk to him in a way that lifts up truth and points out its beauty.

3. Seize the Opportunity

The teenage years are a time of transition: from childhood to adulthood, from immaturity to maturity, from irresponsibility to great responsibility, and from more parental oversight to less overt control.

Do you see these transitions as overwhelming threats, or tremendous opportunities?

My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments. (Prov 3:1)

The season before you, as you consider your teenager, is one of unparalleled opportunity—the opportunity to walk with your teen as he or she transitions into adulthood. The opportunity build depth into a relationship that will reap benefits in the years to come.

With each of my teens, I scheduled a season of weekly breakfasts to discuss a key issue in their lives. For one, it was a pattern of unbridled anger. For another, the fear of man vs. the fear of the Lord. At these breakfasts we studied the word intentionally and with specific application. And we reaped a harvest of trust, accountability, and tangible growth in Christ.

So, seize the opportunity. Again, Paul David Tripp:

Pursue your teenager. Daily express your love. Don’t ask questions that can be answered with a yes or no. Ask questions that require description, explanation, and self-disclosure. Don’t just relate to them during times of correction. Don’t only catch them doing something wrong; catch them doing something right and encourage them … Enter the world of your teenager and stay there. Don’t ever let them view you as being outside their functional world. Teenagers will reject grenades of wisdom and correction lobbed from afar by someone who has not been on site for quite a while.

“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver” (Prov 25:11). Spend time. Craft special outings. Let them into your life. Listen eagerly and humbly. And pray. Pray for apples of gold from God’s word. And pray for settings of silver in which to place them.

We are called to labor with a vision for launching our teens into God’s world. By God’s grace, they can become men and women who know and cherish God through his word, and who seek to obey him in all things.

7 Ways to Grow in Studying and Teaching Scripture Without Seminary

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Nancy Guthrie has some really good advice for anyone and everyone who wants to grow at studying and teaching Scripture. She frames her article as 7 ideas for women, but anyone who cares to improve should consider these things:

  1. Keep your passionate heart and inquiring mind engaged with your Bible.
  2. Read some books about interpreting and communicating the Scriptures.
  3. Spend some time studying the geography of the Bible.
  4. Study sound teachers.
  5. Seek out mentors as well as companions for the journey.
  6. Seek feedback on your teaching or leading.
  7. Consider taking online courses from a trusted source.

We neglect such practices to our peril. Even if you’ve been to seminary, your need for growth has not yet come to an end. For more explanation, check it out!

Dos and Don’ts for Teaching Children the Bible

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John Wells has a helpful article on teaching children the Bible. He gives 4 things to avoid and 5 things to embrace.

Don’t:

  1. Teach narratives as moralistic fables
  2. Use excessive extrapolation and subtext
  3. Imply prosperity theology
  4. Exclude non-narrative genres (letters, prophets, poets)

Do:

  1. Read and talk with your children about the Bible
  2. Give them the full Scripture, not just children’s Bibles
  3. Teach them to think through paragraphs in the letters
  4. In narrative, read the whole story and then ask questions
  5. Be okay with not knowing the answers to all their questions

I think Wells overstates his case at a few points. For example, his first “don’t” almost sounds like the Bible doesn’t teach ethics (but it does). And his second “don’t” misses an important part of interpretation: Putting yourself there, and using your imagination to picture the scene. In arguing against an extreme situation (ignoring the text in favor of one’s own interpretation), Wells might react too far the other way.

But that said, I heartily agree with most of what he says. Give your children the Bible, not just children’s Bibles. Give them the whole Bible. Teach them to read, think, study, and apply. Show them Jesus. You can read the full article for more explanation of each point.

Check it out!

How Leaders Read the Bible

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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:

  1. Naive and devotional – new Christian, or new to the Bible, and excited about every word.
  2. Sophisticated and devotional – learning basic principles of Bible study, reading in context, etc.
  3. Technical – becoming an expert in language and interpretive techniques.
  4. Technical and functional – expert interpreter who considers how to communicate these truths to others.
  5. 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.

Check it out!