If you search your Bible for the phrase “Bible study,” you won’t find it.  A big part of the problem is that the word “Bible” never occurs in most English Bibles. Even if you search for just the word “study,” you won’t find quite what you’re looking for.  Some of the returnees from exile “study” the Law of Moses (Ezra 7:10; Neh 8:13). That’s a promising start. But people are also “studying” God’s works (Ps 111:2), “studying” various proverbs (Eccl 12:9), and “studying” Jewish traditions (John 7:15). And one of the most direct statements about study in Scripture is not encouraging ..read more

A few years ago during the COVID shutdowns, my ministry, which I call “Disciple Dojo,” had to pivot from a weekly lunchtime Bible study at a local restaurant to teaching via YouTube. As anyone with a YouTube channel can attest, the algorithm can be a cruel master, and one must regularly put out content if they expect their channel to ever be seen by more than one’s mother. As I was considering how to move from in-person Bible teacher to online Bible nerd, it occurred to me that in my former role as discipleship pastor at a large church, a regular part of my job had been helping connect church ..read more

The only thing taller than the Burj Khalifa is the stack of books I’m currently intending to read. I like to read. I like to read fiction, non-fiction, cookbooks, news stories, human interest pieces, jokes, and Twitter threads. I like to read the Bible, and I like to read books about the Bible. But I don’t read all these books the same way, for the same reasons, or with the same attention to detail. In reading a biography, I want a deep dive into someone’s life, find out what formed them, what made them tick, what drove them, what stopped them. I want to see how their life panned out. In read ..read more

Learning to read and study Scripture is an important part of the Christian life. And while pastors and teachers are essential gifts of Christ to his church, individual Christians should also be able to pick up any passage and read it with basic understanding and application. How do you do that? The inductive Bible study method is one reliable way. What is inductive Bible study, exactly? The inductive method is an investigative way of studying Scripture that can be used by new and seasoned students alike. It’s a powerful tool for those who want to learn how to study Scripture well. When applie ..read more

There are many good reasons to start a Bible study for men. They include growth in understanding and applying the Bible, mutually encouraging relationships, and ultimately lives pleasing to God that have an impact for his glory. In short, getting men into fellowship around Scripture has implications for what God is doing in the world—building his church and fulfilling the Great Commission. In this piece, I want to encourage you to facilitate a Bible study for men in your church or area, and then I want to show you how. Table of contents Effective Bible study for men is life-changing Men’s Bi ..read more

Formal education is ripe for innovation. Non-traditional students—parents, professionals, retirees—have new options that are achievable, affordable, and accredited for advancing their Bible study abilities. Tradition and attempted innovation For centuries the traditional university classroom model remained unchanged. The ivory tower was built upon a monastic paradigm in which students would leave their hometown and cloister themselves away at a center of learning—along with its rare and expensive collection of knowledge, its library. In the modern era, we layered on an industrial mindset: we ..read more

What does it mean to repent? If you’re not sure, how will you know if you have done it? The cost of not repenting is one you do not want to pay. If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow; he has prepared for him his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts. (Ps 7:12–13) They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory. (Rev 16:9) Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. (Luke 13:5) This article will cover: What is not repentance? What do ..read more

Is Christmas a Christian holiday? Yes. Yes, it is. I’m being definitive up front because so many today are committed to the public and often gleeful discrediting of Christmas. Some such naysayers are devoutly Christian and seeking earnestly to resist pagan–Christian syncretism. Others are decidedly not Christian and relish the prospect of exposing secret paganism at the heart of a Christian celebration. Though exceptionally odd bedfellows, these eager debunkers share the same conviction: Christmas is a pagan holiday that’s been “baptized” into Christianity. I think they’re (sincerely) wrong ..read more

I drove past the Christmas light display in the center of town and my preschooler gazed at the glistening colors and yelled, “Jesus is the light of the world!” She no doubt learned this in Sunday school, but is Jesus a string of red and green lights? Uh, no. So, how is Jesus the light of the world? The Gospel of John provides special insight. John’s imagery of light John writes the first few verses of his Gospel like a creative paraphrase of Genesis 1. He describes Jesus as the Word, and he says that all things (including light) were made through him. John opens his Gospel this way: In the b ..read more

Christians who adhere to the doctrines of the Reformation commonly belong to congregations and denominations worldwide that are representative of the Reformed tradition. Among the most recognized Reformed denominations that hold to historic Reformed and confessional theology are the Presbyterian Church in America, the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, the United Reformed Church, the Free Church of Scotland, together with numerous other American, British, and Dutch Reformed, Presbyterian, and Anglican denominations. Historically, Reformed congregations a ..read more