Articles for tag: Biblical Literacy

“˜Let Us Tell You Our Story’

By Shelley Leith Christian church leaders share what happened when they committed to this plan for showing readers how the Bible fits together. What is the most biblically illiterate city in America? For one of the largest churches in the country, Christ”s Church of the Valley in Peoria, Arizona, the answer was a wake-up call. Executive pastor Ashley Wooldridge explains: “Here at CCV, we have a very keen and sobering understanding that we live in a completely biblically illiterate age. This especially came home to us when a recent Barna study ranked Phoenix as almost the most biblically illiterate city

February 13, 2014

Southeast Christian Church Tells ‘The Story’

By Brent Adams When one of the largest megachurches in America wanted to celebrate its 50th anniversary, leaders decided there was no better way than to point people to the message of the Bible.Â In summer 2011, the elders and staff at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, started planning for the church”s 50th anniversary celebration, to be held the following year. They wanted to come up with something that would deflect attention away from the rapidly growing congregation and focus, instead, on the God who has blessed the church since its humble beginnings in the basement of a tiny

February 9, 2014

Free Digital Resources for Bible Study

Compiled by Gregory Linton BibleGateway.com Find and compare passages of the Bible based on keywords, phrases, or Scripture reference. Bible Gateway also provides an app that includes more than 90 different translations in more than 70 languages and offers reading plans, audio versions, note taking, and highlighting. It is available on iPad, iPhone, Android phones, and Kindle Fire. BibleStudyTools.com “The largest free online Bible website for verse search and in-depth studies.” Search capabilities in 39 different versions of the Bible as well as access to commentaries, dictionaries, encyclopedias, concordances, historical books, and Greek and Hebrew interlinears and lexicons.

February 8, 2014

From Meager to Eager

By T.R. Robertson When people say they wish they could watch more football, or they wish they could spend more time on the Internet, most of them will actually find a way to do just that. But when the people in your church say they wish they knew the Bible better, will they actually set out to do it? For many, the answer is probably not. But why not? One reason some don”t work at learning the Bible might be they don”t really understand the benefits of being more biblically literate. Sure, they”ll agree it”s important. But in fact, they”re

February 7, 2014

How to Teach the Bible

By Terry O’Casey Biblical illiteracy is as great a problem inside the church as out. But preachers””and preaching””can make aÂ difference. An unchurched neighbor heard me preach about David and Goliath. Afterwards, she said, “Great talk. No stem, no seeds, no sticks, just good stuff!” Baffled, I thanked her and turned to an elder who was doing a miserable job of suppressing laughter. My elder translated, “She was complimenting you by saying your sermon was like the best marijuana.” Ah, the joy of being culturally illiterate! What is our world coming to? A recent British newspaper lamented our lack of biblical

February 6, 2014

Improving Your Literacy

By James Riley Estep Jr. Improving Your Cultural Literacy Thomas de Zengotita”s Mediated: How the Media Shapes Our World and the Way We Live in It (2006) assesses the impact of living in a media-immersed society by exploring the influence technology has on the relationships in American culture. Sherry Turkle”s Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other (2011) explores how technology challenges the desire for community. Likewise, Jake Halpern”s Fame-Junkies: America”s Favorite Addiction (2008) assesses the American obsession with achieving fame, cultural recognition, and its influence on society in general. These books apprise

February 6, 2014

Deep Impact: The Cultural Challenge of Biblical Illiteracy

By James Riley Estep Jr. You”ll find it in almost every hotel room, usually in the top drawer next to the bed. While most studies indicate a majority of Americans hold the Bible in high regard, those same studies indicate Americans are increasingly ignorant of what”s in the Bible. A lack of biblical literacy is a challenge for the American culture and also the American church. It poses a crucial test for the Christian community”s identity, distinctives, and ministry in the 21st century. Increasing Unfamiliarity with the Bible George Gallup and Jim Castelli have concluded, “Americans revere the Bible

January 7, 2014

Mark A. Taylor

Reading Again for the First Time

By Mark A. Taylor “Do professors have to be boring?” Dan Ariely”s answer to the college student who asked that question offers insight for Christians as well as academics. I can imagine a secular neighbor or friend asking, “Do Christians have to be “˜churchy”?” The student”s problem, posed to the Wall Street Journal advice columnist, was this: He had recently attended a lecture by a well-known professor and “was amazed and baffled” by the teacher”s inability to communicate even basic concepts in a compelling and understandable way. The student”s question, which got me to thinking about lifetime Christians like me:

January 18, 2013

Deeper Hunger for God”s Story

By Brian Mavis Eighty-five percent of American households have at least two Bibles. Eighty-five percent of Americans say they want to read their Bibles more.1 There”s an old saying, “Figures don”t lie, but liars figure.” Even so, the stats look promising, and it seems to me that Americans have the necessary ingredients””Bibles and motivation””to know God”s story better. Maybe having a deeper hunger for God”s Word isn”t “what”s next”; maybe it”s just what I wish was next. But if we listen to what people are saying, I do think it can be what”s next. In its REVEAL study, Willow Creek”s

January 15, 2013

Church & Ministry Youth & Children's Ministry

Developing the Youngest Disciples

By Teresa Welch Discipleship””following after Christ””is an expectation for every believer. But sometimes we forget that discipleship can””and often should””begin during childhood. I recently enjoyed spending time with “my kids,” who were part of the children”s ministry I led prior to joining the faculty at Emmanuel Christian Seminary. As with all of my former kids, I was curious to find out about their lives, as I felt responsibility for their continued spiritual formation. During my visit with them, it became apparent what I see in their lives now is directly connected to the time I was with them and their

December 30, 2012

Mission & Evangelism

Great Open Doors

By Brian Mavis Where do you think God is asking us to join him? What great doors of effective work has God opened in the United States? It”s a question based on a biblical concept. In John 5, Jesus said the Father is always at work, and he, Jesus, looks to see where God is working and joins him in that work. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul said he would stay longer at Ephesus because a great door of effective work had opened up (16:9). In Jesus” instructions to the church in Philadelphia, he said he had

October 19, 2011

Christian Standard Updates News & Updates

Bringing the Word to Life for Nearly 60 Years

By Jonathan Underwood Standard Publishing”s logo includes a worthy phrase, “Bringing the Word to Life.” It describes in a nutshell the mission of Standard Publishing from the beginning, when Isaac Errett was selected in 1865 to be editor of a new periodical intended to raise the standard for “the restoration of New Testament Christianity, its doctrine, its ordinances, and its fruits.” Errett and his partners were convinced the Bible spoke to the needs of the day. Like their predecessors in the Restoration Movement, they believed understanding the Bible”s message would eliminate sectarianism in the church. Standard Publishing has produced many

January 25, 2011

Discipleship & Spiritual Formation

Proclaiming More than Meditating

By Mark A. Taylor After we had settled on the theme for our yearlong emphasis on the Bible, someone suggested a variation that almost made us reconsider. Instead of “The Bible: Lift it up. Live it out,” he proposed “The Bible: Let it in. Live it out.” “Scripture says far more about meditating on God”s Word than defending it,” he said. By the time he wrote, we had already made our decision, commissioned a logo, and finished our plans. Would we have chosen “Let it in” over “Lift it up” if we had thought of it sooner? Maybe. But, really,

January 11, 2011

Church & Ministry Church Planting

Generation of the Ethiopian Eunuch

By Jeff Arthur It happened about six months after our church launched in 2007. I had preached about Abraham and Isaac that Sunday morning. After the service, one of our ladies told me she was familiar with Abraham and Isaac, because she had drawn the image of Abraham offering Isaac to God while pursuing her degree in art. But she had never heard of other Bible characters I had been talking about in my sermons. That resonated with me all week long. I knew I was preaching to a group divided into three parts””non-Christians, nominal churchgoers, and former Catholics””and that

November 16, 2008