Bible Literacy
How to read the Bible (and make sense of it).
Related topics: Authentic Christianity, Book Reviews, Theology, Worldviews
how to study the Bible (the complete series)
When I stepped into my new role as Director of Family Ministries (and youth minister) at St. Edward's Episcopal Church, one of the biggest things on my heart was to ensure that the children and youth in our church understood how to study the Bible well. I mean,...
rules for bible interpretation (youth ministry lessons)
Editorial Note: This post is part of how to study the Bible (the complete series). Bible interpretation is part science and part art. There are two phases that you'll go through. The first phase is working to discover the original intent of the writer. And the...
how to do a bible word study (youth ministry lessons)
Editorial Note: This post is part of how to study the Bible (the complete series). After building some foundational context for the Bible and understanding the dynamics of the original languages and modern English translations, we can now explore how to do a Bible...
a short survey of the new testament (youth ministry lessons)
Editorial Note: This post is part of how to study the Bible (the complete series). Because it is the foundational text for the Christian faith, a survey of the New Testament helps to ground us in interpreting any part of it. One of the basic rules of Bible...
ephesians 5:1-20: walk in love
[serialposts] Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. ~Ephesians 5:1-2 (NASB) One of my favorite I Love Lucy episodes is...
ephesians 4:17-32: the new life
[serialposts] So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them...
ephesians 4:1-16: unity in the body of Christ
[serialposts]Chapter four of Ephesians begins with Paul describing how we, as Christians, are to unite in one faith: 2 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. 3 Make every effort to...
ephesians 3:14-21: prayer for spiritual strength
[serialposts]It’s the middle of chapter three in Ephesians and Paul is still penning words from prison. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love...
ephesians 3:1-13: the mystery of the Gospel revealed
[serialposts]My fingers tap allegro on the chair in front of me, keeping time to the rhythm of my heart when I look at the back of her teenage head, her waif frame knuckled between siblings. I know this feeling; it isn’t the first time it’s hovered over me in...
ephesians 2:11-22: one in Christ
[serialposts]Have you ever noticed how much "Once upon a time" sounds like "In the beginning"? It's how the great stories begin (and reveals where the great stories were born). I noticed this when I read Ephesians the way I went looking for thimbleberries. We were...
ephesians 2:1-10: by grace through faith
[serialposts]I can remember talking about this passage in Confirmation as if it were yesterday. There's not much I remember from those middle school years, but this passage stuck with me. This is what makes us Lutheran, my pastor said. It is this passage that...
ephesians 1:15-23: thanksgiving and prayer
[serialposts]For many of these ideas, I am indebted to the excellent commentary on the book of Ephesians in the NIV Application series written by Dr. Klyne Snodgrass, Professor of New Testament at North Park Theological Seminary. Like any good letter-writer in the...
ephesians 1:1-14: greeting and spiritual blessings in Christ
[serialposts] "It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything...