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Latest Blog Posts from Wednesday in the Word, the podcast about what the Bible means and how we know.

Judges Bible Study Resources

Judges Bible Study Resources

Study questions, maps, charts, key words, history, background, outlines, and links to help you study the Old Testament book of Judges.

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Joshua Bible Study Resources

Joshua Bible Study Resources

Study questions, maps, charts, key words, history, background, outlines, and links to help you study the Old Testament book of Joshua.

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Should I learn Biblical Greek & Hebrew?

Should I learn Biblical Greek & Hebrew?

After a few years of Bible study, students often begin asking, “Should I learn biblical Greek and Hebrew?” While the tools for English readers continue to improve and less people are learning the original languages, knowing the original languages can be helpful. You can learn enough to widen the tools available to you and/or learn to read Scripture in the original language.

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17 Couldn’t you stay awake? Mark 14:27-42

17 Couldn’t you stay awake? Mark 14:27-42

Probably one of the most difficult questions Christians are asked is: If God is sovereign, why bother to pray? Why pray, since it won’t change anything? This question gives a really good start on understanding it.

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16 Why do you bother her? Mark 14:1-11

16 Why do you bother her? Mark 14:1-11

What’s the most expensive thing you own? Maybe it’s not the most expensive in terms of dollars, but maybe it’s something that’s impossible to replace? What would it take to make you part with it? That kind of costly, self-sacrificing love is at the theme of this question.

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15 Whose likeness is on this coin? Mark 11:27-12:17

15 Whose likeness is on this coin? Mark 11:27-12:17

As we’ve seen, Jesus asks questions designed to help people understand themselves and God in a new way. The question “whose likeness is on this coin” often prompts a lecture on paying taxes and financial stewardship. But this passage is more about image and authority than money.

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13 Why do you call me good? Mark 10:17-31

13 Why do you call me good? Mark 10:17-31

This question comes from the well-known passage about the rich young ruler. The rich man wants to know what he can do to inherit eternal life. He learns that what he must do is impossible to do.

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Who were the church fathers?

Who were the church fathers?

The “church fathers” are the earliest writers outside of the New Testament. Their writings are not classified as apocryphal nor are they considered authoritative. They wrote to edify their fellow Christians.

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12 What did Moses command? Mark 10:2-12

12 What did Moses command? Mark 10:2-12

The questions we’ll look at in the rest of our series will differ from the previous questions. These questions cover a wider range of topics and the questions focus more on what Jesus came to do and by extension what does it mean to follow him, rather than on who he is. The passage concerns divorce and marriage, and the question that Jesus asks is, “What did Moses command?”

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Ezra Bible Study Resources

Ezra Bible Study Resources

Study questions, maps, charts, key words, history, background, outlines, and links to help you study the Old Testament book of Ezra.

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Daniel Study Resources

Daniel Study Resources

Study questions, maps, charts, key words, history, background, outlines, and links to help you study the Old Testament book of Daniel. The Book of Daniel addresses the question of how to live godly lives in a world dominated by hostile forces.

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11 Who do you say that I am? Mark 8:27-38

11 Who do you say that I am? Mark 8:27-38

This question is the turning point of the story. So far in Mark’s gospel, the primary focus of Jesus’ teaching revealing his authority as the Son of Man and the Servant of God. Having established his identity, Jesus now prepares his disciples for what he came to do.

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July 2020 Reflections

July 2020 Reflections

While working on my upcoming series “Who is the Holy Spirit,” I’ve been revising, creating and updating my Bible study resources pages. I hope you’re finding them useful! I’m adding several new sections to the resources, including basic introductory information, free journal articles online and answers to basic questions.

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Paul’s Use of the Old Testament

Paul’s Use of the Old Testament

The New Testament is our divinely inspired commentary on the Old Testament. When studying a passage, it’s often helpful to see how other biblical authors understood it. Here is are the Apostle Paul’s quotes of the Old Testament in his letters.

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08 How many loaves do you have? Mark 6:30-46

08 How many loaves do you have? Mark 6:30-46

The feeding of the 5000 is the only story — other than Jesus’ last week on earth — which is found in all 4 gospels. It is mentioned in several other passages as well. Even though it’s part of a familiar story, this question is one of the more obscure questions that we’ll cover.

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07 Why do you weep? Mark 5:35-43

07 Why do you weep? Mark 5:35-43

As we journey through Mark, the evidence is mounting that Jesus is the Messiah. First, he claimed to have the authority to forgive sins. Then we saw him deal with an overwhelming external storm and an overwhelming internal storm, followed by a debilitating physical illness. With this question, he confronts the final enemy: death.

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06 Who touched me? Mark 5:21-34

06 Who touched me? Mark 5:21-34

This question is addressed to the woman whose period didn’t end for 12 years. She was ritually unclean, isolated, sick and living a life that was going from bad to worse with no hope on the horizon. She touched Jesus in hopes of being healed physically, but Jesus stopped and offered her spiritual healing and a place in the community of believers.

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05 What is your name? Mark 5:1-20

05 What is your name? Mark 5:1-20

This question is addressed to the legion of demons who are tormenting the man in the graveyard, and it is asked in the presence of the disciples. Why would Jesus care about the name?

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04 Why are you so afraid? Mark 4:35-41

04 Why are you so afraid? Mark 4:35-41

Perhaps the most difficult question that skeptics ask is the question of suffering. How can God be all-powerful and all-loving and allow His people to live in tragedy and anguish? The disciples ask “Don’t you care if we drown?” Jesus responds reveals the problem of suffering is ultimately a problem of faith.

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03 Good or evil, life or death? Mark 2:23-3:6

03 Good or evil, life or death? Mark 2:23-3:6

Mark 2:23-3:6 contains two stories back-to-back about the sanctity of the Sabbath. In the first story, the Pharisees accuse the disciples of Jesus of breaking the Sabbath. In the second story, Jesus turns the tables on the Pharisees and accuses them of being the real Sabbath breakers.

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02 What’s easiest to say? Mark 2:1-12

02 What’s easiest to say? Mark 2:1-12

This passage contains two questions addressed to the Pharisees when the paralyzed man was lowered through his roof. Jesus challenges them, asking whether they serve a Lord who forgives and delights in forgiveness or one who withholds forgiveness? Passage 2:1And when...

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