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Two-Word Summaries of Every Bible Chapter

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In DiscipleMakers, we train our collegiate missionaries to both master and be mastered by the Scriptures. One exercise we use involves chapter summaries. Within their first three years, new missionaries are expected to read the entire Bible and create a list of summaries for every chapter. Though there’s a difference between a summary and a main point, we need to master the “what” of Scripture before we can be mastered by its “why.”

In 2014, Pastor Gregg Peter Farah blogged his way through every chapter of the Bible, summarizing each chapter in one or two words. You can find the results on his blog.

Along with the two-word summary, he included a one-sentence “big idea” and a brief “next step” attempting to apply the chapter. While Farah’s extreme brevity occasionally misses the mark, I think much of the time he absolutely nails it. For example:

Ephesians 2
SUMMARY
Incomparable riches

BIG IDEA
The more we grow in our faith the more we will see and understand God’s outrageous love for us.

NEXT STEP
Keep growing and going with Jesus. Have a hunger to know him more and be ready to be overwhelmed by his blessings.

Remember, he is summarizing (observing), not interpreting. So his Old Testament summaries don’t say much about Christ or the gospel. This often leads his application to be not as rich as it could be. But for brief, clear statements of what each chapter says, Farah does well.

The blog format can be difficult to follow, requiring much scrolling to find particular chapters. But if you use his search bar (upper right) to find “Bible summary [name of Bible book]”, you’ll make it easier.

Check it out!

P.S. For DiscipleMakers staff: No plagiarizing these great summaries!

HT: Jeffrey Kranz

 

Blessed be God – In Praise of Grammar Awareness

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The Apostle Paul sometimes gets a bad rap for his grammar skillz, especially when he gets excited about something. Ephesians 1 happens to be one of those places.

Many remark on the fact that Ephesians 1:3-14 is a single run-on sentence in the original Greek. And the finest English translations do little to make the passage any easier for us. Paul piles on clause after clause after clause, traipsing his way through a maze of ideas, tying history and eternity up in knots, modifying, subordinating, and prepositioning his way to glory. “My high school English teacher would never let me get away with a sentence like that,” says one preacher. And eyewitnesses of Paul’s rhetoric have long been known to suggest that his letters have “some things in them that are hard to understand” (2 Pet 3:16).

Molly Steenson (2008), Creative Commons

Molly Steenson (2008), Creative Commons

But please let’s be fair. Sure, Paul is excited. Of course he goes too long between one inhale and the next. But he couldn’t have been any more clear about his sentence’s main idea.

Blessed be (the) God.

If we take a deep breath and condense the run-on sentence down to its essential components—subject and verb—we’ll have no trouble seeing what we should get out of it. Blessed be God.

The main verb of the entire sentence is the verb “be.” The subject of the verb is “God.” And since “be” is a verb of being (not a verb of action), it functions like an equals sign. It does no good without the other side of the equation. God = blessed. God is blessed. Or with more artistry, “Blessed be God.”

Paul’s main idea here is not what God does but who God is. God is a blessed God. Not like Artemis of the Ephesians, whose “greatness” drove her fan boys to bellow insanely for hours on end (Acts 19:34). The truly blessed God is not just any god; he is “the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph 1:3). Blessed be this God.

Of course, this God is blessed because of what he does. The loping clauses that follow unravel the deep mysteries of this blessed God who lavishly blesses. Blessed be the God who has blessed us in Christ.

But please don’t lose focus. Paul’s main idea is not how blessed we are for knowing God. His driving point is not that we are so well off (though, of course, we are—if we believe). Paul’s main idea is that this God who blesses is himself blessed. He is worth knowing. He is worthy of adoration. He deserves to be spoken of highly. Blessed be God.

Paul’s syntax may be more convoluted than that found in a Supreme Court ruling, but the Apostle keeps our focus on his main idea with periodic reminders: “to the praise of his glorious grace…to the praise of his glory…to the praise of his glory.” Blessed be God.

If your Bible study starts sinking in a swamp of words, grab this rope and don’t let go: Observe the grammar. Blessed be God.

3 Tips for Bad Bible Study, Part 1

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Has your time in the Word been too powerful lately? Want to get rid of that nagging feeling of peace you get when you trust the God you encounter in the Scriptures? If so, you need to make some adjustments to your approach to the Bible. In this brief series of posts we’ll consider three surefire ways to make Bible reading boring and irrelevant again. Today we’ll cover tip #1:

1. Assume you already know what the text says.

This is a tip you can put into practice in your very next Bible study meeting or quiet time. It’s all about your attitude. If you sit down with a heart attitude that says, “I need to hear what God has to say to me today,” then your efforts toward making Bible study an empty ritual will go right down the drain.

Instead, begin by congratulating yourself for what you already know about the particular text in front of you. If you’ve actually read the text before, you’re golden. Doesn’t matter how long ago you read it. Just take whatever you happen to remember about it as proof that all you need is a quick refresher rather than the full experience of diving into the text.

If it’s your first time reading the text, don’t give up yet. There are many other sources of knowledge you might draw on: sermons you’ve heard, Sunday school stories, VeggieTales episodes, etc. Any of these provides a sufficient centerpiece for your expertise. If you’re in a group and others seem to doubt the profundity of what you’re saying, just talk louder and wave your hands more.

If it turns out that you truly know nothing about the text, then it must be an obscure chapter that nobody really cares about anyway, right?

No matter what you do, don’t read the text the way you would a book that contains vital truth addressing your greatest needs and desires. Don’t let yourself start looking for details or ideas in the text which you haven’t considered before. Remember, you don’t need to look because you already know it. Keep assuming you know it, and you’ll find that before long your Bible reading will be as bland and ineffective as you could ever want.

Samson and the Prostitute of Gaza

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Miles Van Pelt has an intriguing article about Samson and the prostitute of Gaza in Judges 16:1-3. He observes the text carefully, drawing out allusions to Sisera with Jael and the Hebrew spies with Rahab. He shows how Samson prepares the way for David, as John the Baptist does for Jesus.

In the end, he concludes that Samson was not pursuing immorality but God-ordained conquest of the Philistines by staying with the prostitute. I can’t say I fully agree yet without further consideration, but Van Pelt magnificently piqued my curiosity and drove me further into the text. That makes his article well worth reading.

Check it out!

Boost Your Bible Study by Memorizing

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Quick—what’s 8\times 12? What’s the capital of Honduras? Did you answer without pulling out your phone?

You’ve probably memorized heaps of facts, numbers, and words in your life. Have you spent time memorizing the Bible? It’s an invaluable type of Bible intake, but it can be confusing to those who are new to the Christian faith or unfamiliar with the practice. Why should we memorize when we (in the West) have such easy access to the Bible? Can’t we just look up the passage in our favorite book or app?

Why to Memorize

Russ Allison Loar (2009), Creative Commons License

Russ Allison Loar (2009), Creative Commons License

We memorize Bible passages to help us resist temptation (Ps 119:11; Matt 4:1–11). Bible memorization is one way to let the word of Christ dwell richly within us (Col 3:16). As we commit passages to memory, we equip ourselves to share the Word of God with those who are discouraged, suffering, or outside the faith. Jon Bloom at Desiring God says that memorizing large chunks of Scripture will be one of the best investments of your life.

Bible memorization can also be an aid in Bible study. You need not memorize every passage you plan to study. But when you memorize a chapter or book of the Bible, you head into the mine equipped with extra tools to bring out piles of gold.

Memorizing and Observation

When we begin to study a passage of Scripture, our greatest need is exposure to the text. We need to read it repeatedly both to get a good book overview and to jump-start observation. Nothing beats memorizing when it comes to repeated readings! Most memory systems build their structure on the foundation of regular repetition.

As you internalize the passage, you will naturally observe important features of the text. You’ll see the repeated words and the titles/names of characters. You’ll notice the author’s transitions between sections. You will have a better sense of the mood of the text and you will be able to pick up on the comparisons and contrasts the author employs.

Memorizing will also help you identify structure. Several years ago, I spent some time trying to memorize the book of 1 Peter. I had studied the book before, but it wasn’t until I tried to commit it to memory that I noticed the repeated theme of submission and suffering for the sake of love. I noticed the phrase “in the same way” in 1 Pet 3:1 and 1 Pet 3:7. This meant that the submission and love discussed in chapter 3 was introduced earlier. In chapter 2 I saw the command to submit to God-ordained authority (1 Pet 2:13–14), the call for servants to submit to their masters (1 Pet 2:18), and the example of Jesus submitting and suffering for his people (1 Pet 2:21–25). (This theme also shows up later in the book: see 1 Pet 3:14–18; 4:1–3, 12–19; 5:1, 5, 6, 10.) Perhaps I should have picked up on all of this earlier, but it wasn’t clear to me until I started my memory work.

Memorizing and Correlation

Finally, you will see the benefits of memorization when connecting passages of Scripture. (We call this process correlation.) By memorizing a portion of the Bible, you add it to the quick-access part of your brain. So when you are studying a different passage, your memorized verses stand at the ready to help and fill out meaning. If you’ve already done the hard work of understanding the (memorized) passage in its context, you are ready to connect the ideas between passages.

I commend the practice of Bible memorization to you. Through it, you just may gain insight on a book or passage that you wouldn’t get otherwise.

50 Observations of John 3:16

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I was so proud yesterday when this photo showed up on my Facebook timeline.

John 3-16 bloomSome students, who lead Bible studies for DiscipleMakers Christian Fellowship at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, have been reading Knowable Word together, and they took my challenge from page 42 to make 50 observations of John 3:16. They sent me a photo of this autographed white board to show the fruit of their labors.

My favorites are:

  • #2: “God” is the subject
  • #6: “Whoever” – excludes no-one
  • #11: “Love” is past tense
  • #16: “For” – connector (back to Moses & serpent in verse 15)
  • #22: “God gave” = a choiceBloom DCF
  • #28: “Believe” = theme of John
  • #41: Simplicity

Great job, Huskies! Does anyone else want to flex those observation muscles and give it a try?

Don’t Get Too Familiar with the Bible

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I was delighted to partner with Desiring God through a guest post entitled “Don’t Get Too Familiar with the Bible.” The article warns against the wrong kind of Bible familiarity that leads us to assume things that aren’t in the text and miss things that are. The article elaborates and illustrates what I’ve written on this blog about why familiarity is the greatest enemy of observation.

Where is Jesus in the story of David and Abigail? Name the woman who ate the forbidden fruit. How old was Jesus when he died? Remember the time when Jesus walked through a wall?

Check it out!

9 Things Everyone Should Do When Reading the Bible

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This article at Relevant Magazine lists 9 simple things anyone and everyone should do when reading the Bible.

  1. Read “king” when you see “Christ.”
  2. Read “you” differently (it’s usually plural, not singular).
  3. If you see a “therefore,” find out what it’s there for.
  4. Realize that not all “if” statements are the same.
  5. Recognize that lamenting is OK.
  6. Realize that prophecy is more often FORTH-telling than FORE-telling.
  7. Become familiar with the idioms of your king.
  8. Remember what you learned in English class.
  9. Read to study. But also, read to refresh your heart.

These are great tips. On the first point, I suggest reading “the Chosen One” instead of “King,” but the article’s general point is sound: “Christ” is a title and not just Jesus’ last name.

Check it out!

Ask Good Observation Questions

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You’ve finished preparing, and you’re ready to lead your Bible study discussion group. The next few Friday posts will focus on the skills we need to lead people well through OIA Bible study in a group context.

This first article is a guest post by Ryan Higginbottom, Associate Professor of Mathematics at Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, PA. When he’s not solving differential equations or blogging at A Small Work, he loves spending time with his wife and two daughters. He also leads a small group Bible study for his church. If you’d like to write a guest post for Knowable Word, please see the guidelines page.

When reading the Gospels, have you noticed how often Jesus asks questions? His disciples must have been incredibly frustrated. They wanted answers; he served up another round of questions. Why? Through intentional interrogation, he often showed them to be asking the wrong questions entirely.

Tim O'Brien (2006), Creative Commons

Tim O’Brien (2006), Creative Commons

Because Jesus bound up so much of his ministry with inquiries, Christian faith and discernment will lead us to develop the ability to ask good questions. Such questions (and willing answers, of course) are a key part of healthy marriages, vibrant classes, joyful homes, and thriving mentorships. But in particular, good questions are the engine that chugs effective small group Bible studies into the station.

The Function of Good Questions

Perhaps you’ve been in a Bible study with a skilled and wise leader, whose questions guide the group through the critical parts of a passage. You may not even remember these questions, however, since good questions are almost invisible. But without them the group would function like a legs-up turtle. These are not the clever, witty, eloquent questions of the orator or debater. They don’t draw attention to themselves.

Bad questions, on the other hand, are as subtle as a fire alarm. Instead of encouraging discussion, they shut it down. They interrupt the flow of dialogue and generate silence, while the leader squirms and the group members wonder what’s for dinner.

What is the difference between a good question and a bad one? What are some characteristics of good questions?

Observation Questions for Small Groups

The foundation of any Bible study lies with careful observation of the text. This is no less true for group study than it is for individual study. So how do we ask good observation questions?

Let’s take Acts 19:1–10 as a sample passage. Imagine you are preparing to lead a discussion on it, and you want to draw people out by drawing them into the text. Your questions will make all the difference.

Bad Observation Questions

  1. What baptism did the Ephesian disciples receive?
  2. What was the first thing Paul did when he arrived in Ephesus?
  3. When did Paul move to the hall of Tyrannus?

Good Observation Questions

  1. What experience of Christianity did the Ephesian disciples have before Paul arrived?
  2. How does Paul interact with the Ephesian disciples?
  3. How is the passage structured?

Though the bad questions require observations for answers, the dialogue goes no further. These queries focus on a single detail, and the group members serve only to fill in the blanks left by the leader, who diligently steers clear of the conversation highway. Let’s be honest: While this approach offers a safe and easy way to create an appearance of participation, it also safely avoids the powerful, spontaneous, and unpredictable work of the Spirit in the minds and hearts of others.

The good questions, however, encourage meaningful discussion and interaction, while still drawing out specific observations. They are more open-ended, enabling group members to pick up on the important features of a passage and leave the smaller details alone. These questions simultaneously engage the group and open the door to interpretation.

What about you? What are some examples of effective observation questions you’ve asked (or answered!) in a small-group setting?

What Board Games Taught Me about Bible Study

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Because my wife and I just returned from our 10th wedding anniversary extravaganza, I don’t have as much time to write as I’d like. I’m just getting caught up after a 3-day celebratory getaway. But a few reflections are in order.

First, the facts. We enjoy board games, and we decided to celebrate our 10th anniversary by playing at least 10 different games (we ended up having time for 12). We took a few pleasant strolls through the woods, we squeezed in some low maintenance meals, and we had a few hours for reading. But we spent most of the time head-to-head, man vs. woman, each exercising their God-given instincts to bring order and dominion to the cosmos. The age-long battle of the sexes was at stake, and neither of us dropped our guard for even a minute.

CavernaSecond, the results. Though I found some small consolation in my closing 3-game win streak, Erin won the series 7-5. Ain’t no flies on her! May the world never accuse me of taking advantage of this extraordinarily precocious woman. I, in fact, could barely keep up.

Third, my conclusions. I must improve my observation skills—paying attention to what will get me points and not just what feels like a good move. My presumption too often hinders my interpretation—I spend too many turns trying to block my wife’s presumed strategy and not enough turns developing my own. And courageous application is sweet—games lose their luster when I spend more time thinking than acting. My chronic analysis paralysis sucks out the fun if I’m not careful.

Observe, interpret, apply: This is the essence of communication. Even board games can offer opportunities to stretch these muscles.

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For those interested in such things, here’s what we played (complete with Amazon affiliate links to help support this blog at no extra cost). If you’re in the market for buckets of fun, every one of these games is fantastic.