Using Bible Study Tools: James 1:5-8
Studying the Bible can be difficult, especially when you encounter passages that don’t seem to square with other teachings from the Bible. Not long ago, I was preparing to teach on James 1:6-7. These verses state that “the one who doubts . . . ought not to expect anything from the Lord” (NASB). Does this […]
Creative Teaching: Being A Storyteller
If you were going to create a theological book, would you write it in narrative form? Oddly enough, the bible, the book that tells us truth about God, is largely written as a story. God uses the stories of his interaction with people to reveal himself — his character, his activity, his passions. Why? Perhaps […]
Creative Teaching: Using Photography
Finding new ways to make your Bible study come alive for learners can be difficult. We tend to use the same teaching approaches over and over again. Shera Melick, retired professor of educational leadership, used to say that the only wrong teaching technique is the one that you use all the time. Perhaps she was […]
Teaching the Poetry of the Bible
“When I observe Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You set in place, what is man that You remember him, the son of man that You look after him?” Psalm 8:3-4 The Book of Psalms contains some of the most beautiful and encouraging passages in the Bible. The […]
Teaching the Bible on Facebook
I am a big advocate for face-to-face Bible study. Sharing deeply with each other as we contemplate the truths of Scripture meets the needs of group members in a way that is difficult to duplicate on social media. Still, in these weeks in which the Coronavirus has us staying at home, how does a Bible […]
7 Daily Questions for the Disciple in Quarantine
When life gets difficult, maintaining discipline makes life doable. Effective living means putting first things first. Effective self-management requires discipline to carry out those priorities. These days of “shelter-in-place” are precious days that will require daily personal rhythms to make them meaningful. Yesterday on the neighborhood app “Next Door,” this conversation was posted. “I was […]
Teaching With the End in Mind
At about 22 years, I started teaching a Bible study class for ninth-grade boys. Our class met behind a screen at the back of the church auditorium. I loved teaching the Bible to the guys and would often get lost in all the details of a passage. The guys seemed to listen to me, but […]
Fear of the Unknown
“We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” 2 Chron. 20:12 This was the prayer of the anxious yet confident king Jehoshaphat. How is this relevant today in light of the global pandemic forcing the closure of businesses, schools, travel, and yes, churches? Perhaps we can learn something from this […]
Teaching the Gospels, Part Two: Look Through the Eyes of the Eyewitnesses
The Gospels, of course, focus on Jesus, as we discussed in the first part of this series. But the Gospels focus on Jesus on the basis of eyewitness accounts, as Luke says when he explains how he wrote his book: “Many have undertaken to compile a narrative about the events that have been fulfilled among […]
Surprising Community
In the past week, our church world has been turned upside down. Church members who have sat in the same pews for decades have had to navigate to Facebook, YouTube, or Zoom to participate in worship. Pastors who are skilled at speaking to a room of congregants have had to become instant tech experts and […]