How can I study my Bible better? It’s a question I hear all the time, and there’s a million ways to answer it. In this post I cover the first Bible study resources that I’d purchase if I was starting from scratch.
Here are a couple books I’d tell you to buy if you’re just starting to study the Bible seriously.
I …
I recently spent some time counselling a father in our church whose child has some doubts and fears. He’s a great dad and wanted to know how to help his child through doubt.
How can you trust God when you don’t understand why things are happening the way they are?
That’s the question he was asking. That’s a tough question for anyone to answer. How can you learn to trust God even when it seems …
Yesterday we engaged a tough topic in our Sunday morning worship at Christ Community. Specifically, I addressed the conquest of Canaan commanded in Deuteronomy 20 and recorded in the book of Joshua. With bestselling books written by popular atheists decrying the God of the Old Testament, it’s an issue the church can’t avoid.
Here’s all 11 points I made:
Is the God of Joshua a Monster?
Understanding the Canaanite Conquest
Yesterday our church began an 8 week study through the Old Testament book of Joshua. If you’re interested in studying Joshua for yourself here are a few resources I’d recommend:
The Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary is my go-to Bible dictionary (I have 4-5). When studying an ancient book like Joshua having a handy reference for terms, cultural practices, and geography is essential.
Brand, Chad, Charles Draper, and Archie England. Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary…
Some books of the Bible are easy to read, understand, and apply. Philippians comes to mind here. Others, like Revelation, present a challenge. To me, Joshua can be tricky, and since our church is heading into an 8 week series through the book I wanted to help you read Joshua better for yourself.Here’s a link to the PDF. Print it out. Put it in your Bible. Use it when you read Joshua. After the PDF …
A chasm stretches between the words “is” and “does”. Unfortunately, we live in a culture far more interested in “does” than “is”, and this interest negatively affects the way we think about the church. If I were to ask the average church member to tell me about the church I would get hundreds of “does” answers.
The Bible is a text.
Well, that’s obvious.
And how does one understand a text?
One reads it.
If you feel like those sentences are basic then you understand how I felt in my Old Testament courses at The College at Southeastern. Why did I leave home, rent a house and commit four years to hear a professor tell me something I already knew? That’s what I asked myself. I know the Bible is …
This morning I responded to an email from a church member who is in a unique position to do gospel ministry. In our area this past month a young boy took his own life. Now people close to the situation are approaching this church member asking searching questions about life and death. She emailed me asking how she should respond. Below is a slightly altered version of my email response. It isn’t perfect. It isn’t …
In Genesis 12 God promises to make a nation of Abram’s descendants. It’s one of the most ironic passages of scripture in the Bible. Why? Because Abram was an old man who had no children. Along with the promise to increase Abram’s offspring God also promises that through Abram all the nations of the earth will find blessing. This promise is repeated continually to Abram and his descendants throughout the rest of Genesis.
This morning …
I scan through the news everyday. My web browser is set to automatically open Drudge, NY Times, and Washington Post pages so I can keep up with world events. I listen to a daily news briefing and analysis from a Christian worldview. I confess that there is too much news to be properly outraged at. I know that so much information is coming down the pike that I rarely stop to simply ponder the news. …
