Bible study
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When Not to Call It a “Bible School Program”
I suppose one of the most common ways to refer to what some call “Sunday School” is to refer to it as the “Bible school program.” Children, teens, and adults attend classes and, over the years, hear hundreds of lessons. But today I want to give three times when calling it the “Bible school program” is not accurate, and each one provides something to honestly evaluate. First, don’t call it the “Bible school program” if it is not actually a program; in other words, if there is little-to-no organization. A great deal of time and attention needs to be paid to evaluating curriculum, for example. And, by the way, that…
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PTP
PTP. What in the world do those three initials stand for? At times you may hear people (including Donna and me) using these initials, but you may have no idea what we are talking about. While PTP is under the oversight of an eldership of a church of Christ in Alabama and is intended to strengthen and encourage churches of Christ, sadly (in my opinion), even some of “us” may not know that PTP stands for… Polishing the Pulpit. Contrary to what may first come to mind, we are not discussing what I guess could be called a piece of furniture used in some places during worship services. Rather, what…
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How to Study the Bible
If you came to this article expecting some “7-step process” on Bible study, you might as well click away now. Instead, this is based on something I am getting ready to teach and I am really excited about it. But, in some ways, I’m more excited about the process that led to this teaching opportunity. Starting next Wednesday, I will have a class of probably about 10 people and we will be taking the fall Bible school quarter (September through November) to walk through a class entitled “How to Study the Bible.” Here’s the thing: those 10 are our teenage boys…and the teen girls are studying the same thing in…
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Why We Must “Talk Politics” … in a Certain Way
It started rather subtly a number of years ago, and it seems to have started in the political class. It was barely noticeable to many people, but words mean things, and what was conveyed was intentional and has now spread throughout our culture, and even into the church. It was when people started saying that we have a “freedom of worship” and not a “freedom of religion.” Do you see the difference? To state that we have a freedom of worship confines things, does it not? It says that, if you want to go to a church building and worship, that is fine. By avoiding saying “freedom of religion”–which is what…
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Saving Shelf Space
Imagine getting in your automobile in Jacksonville, Florida and traveling west on Interstate 10. According to mapquest.com, after about twelve hours of driving, you would find yourself in Houston, Texas. You would also have driven approximately 870 miles. Now, imagine one more thing (if you can). Try to imagine a bookshelf or any number of bookshelves that would cover that same distance. If you would have stopped about thirty miles before you arrived in Houston, you would have driven about the same distance as the shelf space used by the Library of Congress to hold all of the material it has. The actual number I read was 838 miles. On top…
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Episode 174: Ruth 1:1-5 (Adam’s Bible Corner)
https://media.blubrry.com/faughnfamily/content.blubrry.com/faughnfamily/Ruth_1_1-5_Adam_s_Bible_Corner.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS (Player not displaying or working? Click here.) In this episode, Adam leads the listener on a study of the opening paragraph of the book of Ruth. This study will continue through the entire book. Find our podcast on… Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Spotify Stitcher TuneIn Radio RSS
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Episode 172: Ruth Introduction (Adam’s Bible Corner)
https://media.blubrry.com/faughnfamily/content.blubrry.com/faughnfamily/Introduction_to_Ruth_Adam_s_Bible_Corner.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS (Player not displaying or working? Click here.) In this episode, Adam introduces the Old Testament book of Ruth. This will be a bi-weekly series that will take the listener through the entire book. Find our podcast on… Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Spotify Stitcher TuneIn Radio RSS
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The One That is Different
During a typical year there are four months which have five Sundays. On those four (and sometimes five) Sundays the church where I worship and serve does something we call “church – eat – church.” Instead of dismissing after the morning worship service and returning a few hours later for our evening worship, we are together for about four-and-a-half straight hours. We begin our time together with a period of Bible study. We may be divided by age or other factors, but we are all studying the same Divine Book. There are two periods of time during which we all assemble to offer worship to the One in whose name…
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True Freedom
On this day America celebrates the signing of the Declaration of Independence. This document declared that we were free from British rule. There are all kinds of historical facts about the writing of this document and the actual dates as to when it was signed and by whom, but nevertheless America became a free country – and that’s what we celebrate on this national holiday. Or is it? Maybe we just have a holiday on that day? On that day we’re off of work, we picnic, we shoot off fireworks or enjoy a fireworks show but never really give much thought to the freedom of our country. If we give…
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V. B. & S.
Let me begin by stating clearly: I think VBS is a good thing. This is not a “bash VBS” article. However, it is meant to be a “let’s rethink some things about VBS” article. One thing I am grateful for at Central is that we have changed how we view VBS. Often, congregations have a big event like this, draw in a bunch of people, and then nothing changes. We have made serious efforts at Central this year to follow up with guests (in the immediate days afterward and it is still ongoing), and we continue to believe we will have prospects for Bible studies from VBS. It is far…