Category Archives: Bible study aids

The One Minute Bible Study

Everyday Ministry

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Especially for men who need to rediscover their love of God’s word

For many men, the 2.4 kids, job promotion and house in the suburbs are accompanied by a dramatic decline in meeting with others to read the Bible.

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Factotum #11: Models for men’s groups

Everyday Ministry

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Speaker at men’s function: You really must be aiming to lead your family spiritually. Get the Bible out after dinner, and work through a passage with your wife and kids. Make every effort to teach them the things of God.

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Bunyan’s computer

Pastoral Ministry

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John Bunyan’s name is familiar to most Christians. Some months ago, I came across one of his short books: The Acceptable Sacrifice. It was originally a sermon based on Psalm 51:17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise”. It was his last book.

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Read it aloud

Everyday Ministry

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My most vivid recollection of 5th class is of my teacher, Peter Harwin, perched on his desk, reading aloud from the collected stories of Sherlock Holmes. I remember looking around and seeing boys sprawled face down on their desks while this fresh-faced teacher brought to life another spine-chilling instalment of ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’. When the hour was over, he would close the book and the class would suddenly rouse from its apparent slumber and beg him to continue. It was all in vain, for he was a master at keeping boys in suspense. It was sweet agony.

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How to read the Bible

Life

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A few words need to be said about the nature of Scripture. This is not an article on exegesis. Nevertheless, because the issue of women in ministry is one that we need to solve by looking at the Bible, we need to be clear about how we are going to read Scripture. Two points may be made.

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Commentary: Hebrews, Psalms

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Hebrews

Hebrews appears to be so formidable that many do not begin to study it in detail and benefit from its riches. An easy introduction would be Donald Guthrie’s contribution to the Tyndale series (1983) or Raymond Brown’s commentary in the Bible Speaks Today series (1982). (more…)

Commentary: The Pastorals, The Book of Job

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The Pastorals

The two letters of Paul to Timothy and the letter to Titus (generally called the Pastoral Epistles) are often treated by scholars as a later creation of some unknown author. This often has the effect of devaluing their teaching and making some regard the Pastorals as only of secondary importance in the canon of Scripture. Therefore, it is important to fins a commentary that will take the claim to Pauline authorship seriously and argue it persuasively. (more…)

Commentary: Colossians, Philemon, Esther

Review

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Colossians/Philemon

The letter to the Colossians gives us precious insights into aspects of Paul’s teaching that are only alluded to in his other writings. As the apostle deals with false teaching, he develops a magnificent picture of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ and its implications for us. Most commentaries on Colossians also deal with the letter to Philemon which reveals Paul in another light, dealing with a particular problem of personal relationships. (more…)