Tag: bible

What’s In The Bible (A New Video Series by Phil Vischer)

On By pastorjonathanIn discipleship, Family, parenting2 Comments

I was in our local LifeWay store the other day and had a chance to pick up a copy of the first CD of “What’s In the Bible: With Buck Denver,” By Veggie Tales Creator Phil Vischer.  Rebekah (My 4 year old) and I have enjoyed watching it together a few times.  I had her watch it once with me and then left it laying around and she has asked to watch it on her own a few times.   I was amazed at how much content was involved in each segment. I give it high marks for both content and entertainment.

The two video’s below are an introduction by creator Phil Vischer and the Theme Song.  You can also find out more information by surfing over to http://www.whatsinthebible.com.

Easter Book Club (50 Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die)

On By pastorjonathanIn blogging, books, Devotional, discipleship, spiritual disciplinesLeave a comment

I want to invite you to read a book with me and take a deeper look at why Jesus came to die.  Over the course of 50 days I will be reading a 127 page book (not exactly an overwhelming task).  In the process I will be blogging my response to what I have read each day and posting it here.  You are invited to participate.  Read along in the book, read my comments and share some of your own.

We will be starting on Easter Sunday.  Below is the scoop on the book, why I chose Easter, where you can get a copy of the book, and the schedule so we can read along together.

A few years ago John Piper wrote a book entitled, Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die.  Each chapter is approximately 2 pages in length and covers one of the fifty reasons.  I must warn you that though the chapters are brief, they are not always easy to process.  I have found in the past that reading one brief two-page chapter a day helps me to process the content of each chapter before moving to the next.

Easter is the time where we celebrate the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus and Pentecost is the time we celebrate when the Holy Spirit came and empowered the followers of Jesus to bear witness to his death, burial and resurrection.  Coincidentally (or not so coincidentally) there are 50 days between Easter and Pentecost.  This provides a great time to read Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die and meditate on the reasons Christ’s death (and resurrection) were necessary.

I will read a chapter a day according to the schedule and posting my response here on this blog.  I want to invite you along on the journey and share your thoughts here as well.  You will need to obtain your own copy of the book.

The following is a PDF of my schedule for reading: 50 Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die – Reading Guide.

Girls Life Application Study Bible (NLT)

On By pastorjonathanIn books, student ministryLeave a comment

The Girls Life Application Study Bible is a great Bible for pre-teen and teenage girls.  The cover has a leathery feel and is a purple with the imprint of a pink butterfly and flowers.  It is quiet feminine in its appeal.  My wife and daughter (4 years old) were both very interested in flipping through the Bible once it arrived in the mail. The editors and artists who worked on this Bible have certainly done a great job of getting the reader from the cover into the pages of Scripture.

The Bible is full of great insights and articles that catch readers on a surface level and draw them into the text of scripture for an answer.  (Can I just say that it is refreshing to finally see a publisher put out a Bible that challenges teen and preteen girls to see what the Scripture says!).  Included all throughout the text are girl-specific applications.  The New Living Translation is a decent translation to read (especially for girls who are in the preteen age range).

I would highly recommend this Bible to teen and preteen girls who are wanting to grow in their relationship with God.  This is also a great Bible to hand to a girl who is a new believer or someone who is otherwise unfamiliar with the scriptures.  It is apparent that the Bible was designed not only to have a feminine appeal, but to be very user friendly as well.

The retail price is $29.97 (Imitation Leather) and is worth every penny. It is also available at places like Amazon.com for $19.78. I give it 5 Stars and would give it more.  It truly is a great Bible for teen and Pre-teen girls.

One Note: Amazon has it listed as Girls Life Application Study Bible NLT (Kid’s Life Application Bible: Nltse), it is not really a kids Bible, the publishers recommend it for girls age 11 and up (and I would heartily agree with that recommendation).

Disclaimer: As a blogger I received a complimentary review copy from Tyndale House Publishers through the Tyndale Blog Network program.  There was no requirement to give it a positive review, just for the reviewer to call it like they see it.

5 Things Every Christian Needs to Grow – Give Away

On By pastorjonathanIn books2 Comments

Last month I wrote a brief book  review of 5 Things Every Christian Needs to Grow, a book written by R.C. Sproul.  This month I have decided to give away a copy on the blog.  To enter for a chance to win all you need to do is read my Review and then come back here to briefly share about why you want the book (even if you want to give to someone else).  Then on  Monday (March 1st, 2010) I’ll draw a name by random and announce the winner in the comments section on this post.

If you win I will also contact you via e-mail so I can make arrangements to get you the book (so make sure you fill that part out when leaving a comment).

I have answered some frequently asked questions about the Wednesday book give away in earlier post and you can find it here.

Top 5 Disciple Now Themes of All Time

On By pastorjonathanIn discipleship, student ministry4 Comments

In the last decade I have been involved in well over 20 Disciple Now weekends as either the host, guest leader, or guest speaker.  Many of the Disciple Now’s we hosted in conjunction with other student ministries.  Here is a list of my favorites and a few ideas I have for the future.

Top 5 Disciple Now Themes of All time

1. Different by Design – Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

2. Pilgrim’s Progress – Introduction to the Journey

3. Authentic Faith – Show me your fruit

4. Back to the Basics – Spiritual Disciplines

5. The Body of Christ – Unity

Five Disciple Now Themes for the Future

1. Hunger for the Harvest – Longing for the World to Know

2. Resident Aliens – Following Jesus in a world that Doesn’t Follow Him

3. Kingdom Come – Until all have heard

4. Dangerous Discipleship – What following Jesus Might Cost You

5. Never Eat Undercooked Meat – How church works

Are you a Forward or Backward Thinker?

On By pastorjonathanIn Just Thinking, Ministry, student ministryLeave a comment

Have you ever stopped and wondered why you think the way you do on a particular issue?

In my line of work I come across lots of people who have strong opinions.  Many of them are passionate about their opinions.  Sometimes the opinions people are most passionate about are the one’s they have changed their mind on. For instance if you grew up in a republican or democrat household and change sides as an adult.  Maybe you went to church and learned about God, but when you were introduced to a college science class things changed.  Beliefs were challenged and you didn’t have a good answer to whoever was challenging your beliefs so slowly (or suddenly) you changed your opinion and grew passionate about proving people who held your former position as wrong.

Sometimes we are backed into believing something simply because we are confronted with an ideal that conflicts what we were taught growing up.  We don’t know how to answer the conflicting ideal and end up embracing it.  We didn’t search for a solution, we just embraced a competing truth claim that stood in opposition to ours because we could not defend our inherited claim.

Sometimes we move forward into a new position.  This takes place when we evaluate competing truth claims and examine the arguments that someone brings against our ideals and we scrutinize their competing claims with the same scrutiny they have shown ours.

For instance: Imagine growing up hearing and believing that all smurfs are blue.  You have never seen a smurf, but you know that they are blue.  Then someone shows you a purple smurf.  Your view of smurfs is forever changed.  However, you don’t examine the purple smurf (or asking questions like, How did the smurf become purple or are there smurfs of other colors as well?).  Instead, you reject the assumption that “all smurfs are blue” as a complete lie, you demonize the people who told you smurfs were blue, and you join a group that promotes the awareness of the purple smurf.  You have reacted to the assumed falsehood of “all smurfs are blue” and embraced a competing claim “all smurfs are purple.”  You have in effect backed into your position.  You didn’t go looking to see why you would have been told about blue smurfs, how this smurf became purple, or seek to know if there was a broader category.

Moving forward into your thinking requires examining competing truth claims and evaluating the validity of both claims. You may be actually viewing a blue smurf through rose-colored glasses. (The smurf is blue, but the red tint of your glasses causes the smurf to appear purple.)  Maybe when smurfs are sick they turn purple.  Maybe there are purple smurfs, but there are also blue smurfs.  This is searching for the truth.  This is moving forward into a position.

Now what about your thoughts on God?  Are you reacting to competing claims or are you intentionally looking for truth?

The Bible in Magazine Form for Teen Girls?

On By pastorjonathanIn books, student ministry, WomanhoodLeave a comment


Revolve 2010 (Biblezines) Published by Thomas Nelson is a Bible ( the NCV New Testament) geared to look like a teen girls magazine.  To be honest, I had a difficult time even embracing the idea that a publisher would take what many consider to be sacred writings and reduce them to the lowest level of print publication to display them in magazine form.  The literary genres seem to contradict one another.  How do you take the timeless Word of God that has stood the test of centuries of debate and cover it with the trappings of a magazine that emulates popular teen girls magazine?  Thomas Nelson in conjunction with Revolve did it.

I did my best to put my presuppositions out of the way and really examine this book.  There were a few aspects of this “biblezine” that I really liked.  One was that each book of the bible seems to have at least one section designed challenge the reader to go deeper with God’s Word.  Some challenges call for reflection, bible memorization, etc.  Each section also had a little background info to introduce that part of the New Testament.  However, these appear as just token helps amidst a flood of other insights that thought they are harmless are out of place.  There are adds for books, music downloads, quizes, etc. that one would expect in a teen magazine and maybe that is where I struggle most with this.  Even though it’s “the Bible,” I have a hard time seeing where Jesus fits between the “Guy 411: Chad Eastham dishes the dirt on dudes” and “Celeb drama-trauma: Stellar Kart’s most cringe-worthy moments.”  The gospel just seems trivialized as the filler between gossip and advice columns.

I work with students, many of whom are teenage girls who this biblezine is marketed toward.  My real concern is that through the packaging this book is more teen magazine than actual bible.  I want as many people to follow Jesus as possible and for that to happen we must be culturally relevant.  However, there are parts of our culture that need to be confronted not imitated.  I pray for and challenge my students to be culture changers not imitators.

The real scoop is this, teens don’t come into a right relationship with Jesus Christ through bible magazines… they come through the blood of Jesus Christ.  Most often that happens when other teens step out of their comfort zones to share the “411 on Jesus” with their friends.  My impression of Revolve 2010 (Biblezines) is that it is more of a hinderance to the gospel than a help.  I hope I’m wrong.

Revolve 2010 (Biblezines) is a teen magazine with the Bible in it, I really don’t recommend it. You may disagree.  The retail price is $16.99 (paperback), and is available at places like Amazon.com for $11.55.  I gave it two stars.

Disclaimer: As a blogger I received a complimentary review copy from the Thomas Nelson’s Book Review Blogger program  (http://brb.thomasnelson.com/ ).  There was no requirement to give it a positive review, just for the reviewer to call it like they see it.

Nelson’s Compelte Book of Bible Maps and Charts – A Review

On By pastorjonathanIn books, discipleship, Ministry, spiritual disciplines1 Comment

Nelson’s Complete Book of BIble Maps and Charts, 3rd Edition is a very simple, helpful, and affordable reference book for the Bible.  I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in gaining visual insights into the Bible.   Bible maps are quite helpful in determining the movement of people (especially in the Old Testament as well as tracking Jesus’ ministry and Paul’s Missionary Journeys).  The charts are also especially helpful.  They helped me quickly get a grasp on the god’s worshiped in Egypt and the relevance of the ten plagues that God sent upon that land.

The book is choreographed with the Bible so that what ever book you are studying, all you need to do is look up that book Nelson’s Bible Maps and Charts and you will have the information you are looking for at your finger tips.  The pictures of geography or of biblical artifacts are sparse, but in a reference like this they are really beside the point.  The real value to this book is its ability to compliment your scripture reading or provide you with plenty of teaching aids.

There more detailed books available such as a Bible atlas, but I have yet to come across any that do such a wonderful job of providing all the relevant data at your finger tips for such an affordable price.  Easy to use, simple, and well put together.

Nelson’s Complete Book of BIble Maps and Charts, 3rd Editionis a great book and I highly recommend it. The retail price is $19.99 (paperback), and is available at places like Amazon.com for $13.59 (which is an amazing deal).  I gave it five stars.

Disclaimer: As a blogger I received a free review copy from the Thomas Nelson’s Book Review Blogger program  (http://brb.thomasnelson.com/ ).  There was no requirement to give it a positive review, just for the reviewer to call it like they see it.

Free Resources to Study the Bible Study

On By pastorjonathanIn Devotional, spiritual disciplinesLeave a comment

Over the years I have found several free resources for studying the Bible that work as well or sometimes better than paid programs.  I know of several more than I have listed here, but these are the 3 Bible study programs I use the most.  I hope they bless you as much as they have been a blessing to me.

1. E-sword

E-Sword is a great Bible study program.  You can download the main program to your computer and latter add on Bibles, commentaries, dictionaries, books, and devotional material.  The great strength to this program is that you pick and choose which bible study materials you want to use and those you don’t.

2. Blue Letter Bible

Blueletterbible.org is the place that I go when I am on a different computer and I need to look up some information.  You can search several versions of the Bible on line as well as a few commentaries.

3. Pocket Sword

I recently downloaded this program to my iphone.  It is a great Bible app that works much like e-sword.  You begin with a KJV bible and a commentary.  Once the program is downloaded you can go back and add several other versions of the bible and commentaries.

Review:”5 Things Every Christian Needs to Grow”

On By pastorjonathanIn booksLeave a comment

5 Things Every Christian Needs to Grow by R.C. Sproul is a great book.  Sproul does a great job of introducing 5 comon “means of grace” or tools that God uses to help us grow.  Each chapter is written in an engaging style.  Sproul uses an insightful story to draw the reader in, puts forth a solid case based on Scriputre, while pointedly drawing out application for Western believers.

The book is quite brief at 135 pages, but the content serves as a great introduction for new believers and a compassionate reminder for those of us who may have lost track.  This book seems like a great discipleship tool and aid to those who are longing to grow deeper.  The Sproul’s writing style is simple yet engaging.  This is a great book to give someone who wants to grow in their faith.  The books brevity and engaging style ensure that you don’t have to be an accomplished reader to get through it in a timely manner.

I suggest using this book as a discipleship tool. Maybe reading it for yourself and then passing it on to someone else.  I highly recommend it to anyone interested in growing deeper in their faith.  5 Things Every Christian Needs to Grow is an excellent resource. The retail price is $15.00 (Hardcover), and is available at places like Amazon.com for $11.70. I gave it four stars.

Disclaimer: A PDF of this book was provided for review by Reformation Trust Publishing. They will send me a complimentary copy after they see my revies.  There was no requirement to give it a positive review, just for me to call it like I see it.

5 Things Every Christian Needs to Grow – Book Give Away