Does Spiritual Formation work? Answers from Haggai
“Spiritual formation” is a hot topic today. But does it work? The Old Testament prophet Haggai would answer no.
Women’s Retreat Survival Kit
A conference I attended gave each participant this simple and heartwarming “Conference Survival kit” which contained the following items and Scripture.
Example: Discipleship Survey Sample
Most women’s ministries offer a discipleship program at some point. While there is no “one size fits all” model for how to implement discipleship, here are some ideas to help you get started.
How to Interpret the Bible
After you’ve done your observation, word studies, outlining and answered the questions you generated, it’s time to start putting it all together. In this step, you want to collect, refine and organize all those details you observed into a coherent meaning. Observation primarily focuses on the questions: “what does it say and how do I know?” Interpretation focuses on the questions: “what does it mean and how do I know?”
How NOT to interpret the Bible
https://wednesdayintheword.com/how-not-to-interpret-the-bible-dont-think-twice/
How is the Old Testament organized?
In the Christian Bible, the Old Testament is divided into 4 main parts based on genre. Within each genre, books are organized by author, chronology and size.
Early Church Heresies
While not a complete list of early church heresies, these groups are the ones that the New Testament authors seem to write against and respond to most often
Who are you listening to?
Today we often seek preachers who tell us stories, make us laugh, and tickle our ears with poetry and platitudes. We would rather listen to Jon Stewart than Jonathan Edwards. We ought to think critically about how far we have slipped down the slope of valuing style over substance.
Learn to teach the Bible
So you’d like to teach the Bible? How do you get started? How do you decide if Bible teaching is your calling? Here’s my advice for aspiring teachers. First and foremost you need to learn to study the Bible well. Start with Bible Study 101. Then progress to the topics below.
Understanding Hebrew Poetry
The key to understanding Hebrew poetry and Wisdom Literature is knowing that the “rhyme” of ideas is more important than the sounds. This “rhyming” of ideas is called parallelism.
Marks of false Teachers
A vital part of your Bible study arsenal is learning to recognize false teachers. Here are three interesting lists — both modern and classic — on how to discern a true teacher from a false teacher. Notice the similarities.
5 Questions to Identify a Cult
How do you recognize a group which claims to represent genuine, apostolic Christianity but in reality does not? Here are 5 questions that separate “the sheep” from “the wolves.”
About the Author
Krisan Marotta is a Bible teacher and host of Wednesday in the Word, the podcast about what the Bible means and how we know.