This video gives you an overview of three ways to study the Bible: devotionally, as an overview, and using commentaries for study. In addition to briefly discussing the value of each of these methods, the video introduces websites that will help you in each area. On our class YouTube channel (http://www.youtube/livelifebythebook) are additional videos that illustrate the use of the these websites.
Read your Bible for study using commentaries
Bible Commentaries are great resources for you as you study your Bible, but they are NOT the Bible. They are a good way to check out the ideas of the great Christian minds that have come before us, but they are not infallible. This short video gives you some reasons to read them and introduces you to a website where it’s easy to skim and compare content as well as do an in-depth study.
An overview and tour of Classic Bible Commentaries site
When you aren’t sure what a passage of scripture is about, checking classic Bible commentaries can help. This site has some of the best and a very easy way to switch between them.
How to read your Bible devotionally
For God’s Word to fill our minds and hearts, we need to read it every day. This brief video gives you reasons why and a link to a great little site that will send you a daily Bible reading on your mobile phone or computer. Below the first video is a little video tour of the recommended site.
This is a brief overview of the www.ewordtoday.com Bible Study site and what is on it. It provides a short Bible devotional today and links to many Bible versions, devotions and resources.
A good study Bible–the Thompson Chain Reference
A good study Bible is an invaluable help to understand what you are reading. This one is my favorite because it links together all the verses on specific topics in the Bible. The best commentary on the Bible is the Bible and this Bible does that for you easily.
Lesson on the “Great Apostasy” history of and response to the Mormon claim that all other churches are corrupt
Lesson from Life Life by the Book Class 1-29-2012
Though we’ve done some preliminary teaching about the Mormon church, with the new year we are starting the series, What is the Mormon Church……really? There is a tremendous amount of media about the church, most of it incomplete and misleading.
Our goal is to present, in a respectful way, the history of the church and what its true beliefs are. There is NO political agenda with this teaching, but a recognition that the topic gives us many opportunities to engage with our OIKOS (the people we interact with and influence, a very important concept at our church) in conversations. Particularly for those who do not go to church or know Jesus, this can give us an opportunity to present the real Jesus.
To understand anything you need to know its history.
To begin our study, we need to look at how the Mormon Church started and the assumptions upon which it is based. One of the most important of these is the concept of the Great Apostasy. In brief, this is the foundational idea in the Mormon Church that true Christianity ceased to be practiced on earth from the days of the last apostle until it was restored by Joseph Smith. The Christian Church (in all its denominations and branches, Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant) categorically disagrees with that statement. This lesson shows you why, both historically and from a Biblical basis. Below the video are PDFs (just click on the image and it will download to your computer) of both the notes and a full-size version of the PowerPoint slides used in the class (this makes the quotes easier to see).
Following is a pre-recorded video presentation of the PowerPoint lesson(not during the class, too many side comments, etc.).
Not everyone gets to heaven, a gentle explanation of why
We are told and often falsely believe that it isn’t kind or loving to think that God will send some people to hell. In the brief video below Rick McKinley, lead pastor of Imago Dei Community in Portland, Oregon, offers a biblical perspective on the flaws of universalism.
Universalism from :redux on Vimeo.
“The disciples saw a Jesus that was radically untamed, very offensive and they gave their lives for him. And today we’re afraid of that Jesus. We’re trying to polish off the sharp edges and make him cuddly and cute and the big teddy bear for the world. I think at that point you’ve lost the gospel.” Rick McKinley