Blog
What to Pray Before You Read the Bible
Recently a Christian woman in my daily Bible reading group asked me about what to pray for before we study or read the Bible. Although several things came to mind right away, I felt challenged to search Scripture for what God says about how we should handle and...
How to Do a Bible Book Survey
Knowing how to do a Bible book survey is a powerful skill for any student of God’s Word. A survey falls under the first step of inductive Bible study because the focus of a survey is observation of the content and not interpretation. A “survey” is a preliminary, big...
Does Your “Diet” Promote Spiritual Health?
Last month we welcomed our seventh grandchild into the world. John Travis is a very healthy baby and flourishing on breast mile alone. But soon he will need more than milk. At the appropriate time, his parents will introduce a variety of healthy fruits and vegetables....
How Biblical Literary Context Aids Our Understanding
Have you ever watched an hour and a half of a movie by yourself then someone else joined you part-way through? They may have begun asking lots of questions like “Who is that?” or “Why are they so upset?” Your response may have been something like “You really need to...
How to Understand the Metaphors and Similes in the Bible
Word pictures and figures of speech fill Scripture, but this post specifically focuses on metaphors and similes in the Bible. We will consider their benefit and how we can best understand them. But first, what are they? Metaphors and similes are both word pictures...
4 Tips for Understanding the Proverbs 31 Woman
Have a love/hate relationship with the Proverbs 31 woman? Yes, we admire her energy and success. But frankly, the woman set the bar far too high for the rest of us. We read the 31st chapter of the book of Proverbs and think, “That’s just impossible.” We feel defeated...
4 Tips for Understanding the Gospels
The 66 books of the Bible include various kinds of literature, but the Gospel may be the most unique literary genre included in God’s Word. So how should we handle these four books? Keep reading to discover a few tips for understanding the Gospels. (You may also...
The First Thing to Look For When You Read the Bible
One of the most common mistakes we make when we study or read the Bible is that we try to make it about us. We turn the pages looking for ourselves. We want to know what to do or how to grow. We need peace or assurance or strength. Don’t get me wrong. God’s Word does...
Mind the Historical and Cultural Gap in Scripture
Why does the historical and cultural context of a Bible passage matter? Sometimes we read Scripture like the events happened in this sort of biblical vacuum, kind of sterile or generic. Or even worse, although we likely don't even realize it, when we read the Bible we...
Six Tips for Understanding Apocalyptic Literature
Apocalyptic literature, which is a specific type of biblical prophecy, is one of the various genre types found in the Bible. General prophecy, which is far more common in the Bible than apocalyptic, communicates the “word of God” directly to the audience with a...
Titus Bible Study
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