CATEGORY: Bible Teaching & Small Group Ministry
Is My “Public” Christian Life Eclipsing My Private World?
What happens on the inside is far more important than external attractiveness. In the late spring of 1999, I was the teacher of record for a European tour that offered college academic credit for recent high school grads. The students had just received their...
5 Ways To Listen To A Sermon
Do I listen to my pastor's sermons, or do I just hear them? To listen implies engaging the mind and processing the preacher's words. To hear means the sound waves are entering my ear canal but I'm not concentrating on them. What a privilege I’ve enjoyed to take...
6 TRUTHS TO ENCOURAGE PREACHERS AND TEACHERS
For 45 years, I’ve been teaching Bible in both formal and informal venues. Here are truths that have cultivated resiliency within me despite the inadequacy, warfare, and weariness that accompany a teaching ministry. You’ll profit more from this post if you read...
3 ways to avoid relativism in group bible discussions
In a Bible study group where the leader employs discussion, “relativism” occurs when participants look inward for answers, rather than observing and interpreting the Bible text for that day. It’s a focus on “what you think the verse means,” rather than on what the...
2 essential skills for Bible discussion leaders
During 45 years of teaching and leading group Bible studies, I’ve discovered the value of these skills to facilitate effective interaction: 1. Qualifying My Questions A good discussion leader keeps the focus on God’s Word rather than human opinion. When you...
Rescuing “rabbits” – 2 ways to deal with tangents in a Bible study group
“Chasing rabbits” is an analogy describing the activity of participants who steer a discussion off course. They chase down a thread of discussion like it is a nose-twitching, rascally varmint that doesn’t run in a straight line. They zig and zag, bolt right, then...
5 Ways to handle difficult or controversial subject matter
Essential Strategies for Bible Study Leaders When it comes to certain doctrines or controversial verses, Christians don’t always see eye to eye. Employ these strategies for keeping disputes from demolishing your Bible discussions. 1. Anticipate participants’...
5 TIPS FOR MANAGING MONOPOLIZERS
Essential Strategies for Bible Study Leaders Every now and then you encounter a group member who’s harder to turn off than Niagara Falls. Though most monopolizers are motivated learners...
WHat is the key to CONFIDENce WHEN I TEACH OR PREACH?
Sometimes I compare myself unfavorably with other speakers. Their oratorical polish dwarfs mine. Their magnetic personality appeals to people more than my melancholy temperament. Or their formal theological training exceeds mine. On other occasions, before I...
7 GUIDELINES FOR TRANSPARENCY IN TEACHING AND PREACHING
Something is transparent when you can see through it. A person is transparent when he isn’t pretentious, when he discloses setbacks as well as victories. He’s called real because he doesn’t mask everything that is going on inside. His prayer requests are...
6 THINGS I’VE LEARNED ABOUT BIBLE LESSON AND SERMON PREPARATION
1. Prepare my heart, not just my head. I ask God’s Spirit to encourage, convict, or move me to action as needed. I use the text to inform a time of prayer before I start thinking about how to teach it. When something in the text moves me to tears, prompts...
