Resources for Studying & Teaching the Bible by Richard Cravy
Resource
A RESOURCE might be websites, sources for printed materials, art, videos, charts, outlines, or any other materials that might be used in teaching, preaching, creating presentations, or doing personal study and research. It is distinct from LIBRARY in that you probably are not purchasing something in print and putting on a bookshelf.
After taking a break partly caused by our present Covid19 pandemic, we are returning with our Pick of the Week segment again. And this pick is free as well as both fascinating and educational.
Expository teaching is a style of instruction in which an in-depth look at the Biblical text is the core of the lesson. Dr. John Piper is a master at this expository teaching. His website at www.desiringgod.org gives access to many of his expository teaching resources. Recently one of our recommendations during this pandemic was his newly released book, Coronavirus and Christ, which he gives away free in digital format. As I write this, over 1,000,000 copies of it have already been downloaded! I greatly appreciate his Scripture-based approach in this book.Continue Reading
I’m spending much more time than usual at home as mandated by our state and city governments… and by the president of our school! This means I have more time to look at the many emails and other digital media that come my way daily from the larger Christian community.
I have been on the mailing lists for some time of various ministries, publishers and respected leaders. Though I might have significant differences with some doctrinal views and practices, I respect these men and women for their deep faith and commitment to the fundamentals of the Gospel. That is never more evident than now as the whole Christian community is being powerfully impacted by the current pandemic. Combine this with their thoughts at the approach this Sunday of Easter in much of Western Christianity… and the fact that all public celebrations of it have been cancelled.Continue Reading
Lifeway, the publishers of the English Standard Bible translation, is currently offering a free PDF download of Psalms in 30 Days: A Prayer Guide Through the Psalter, written by Trevin Wax. I could not find the book on their website, but received the download link in an email from the ChurchResources division of Lifeway.
This is not a commentary nor a devotional study guide to the Psalms. Rather, the author has arranged the various psalms to be read and incorporated into the reader’s daily prayers. The full text of each psalm is reproduced – from the ESB version of course. The book is arranged into three daily prayer times for 30 days. Each prayer time includes not only the psalms chosen for that time, but also one or more brief Scripture quotations from other parts of the Bible in line with that time’s theme, and also a prayer or prayers to be verbalized in addition to the psalms. The total length of the book in print form is 299 pages.Continue Reading
News keeps coming in daily of the spread and effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools, churches and businesses across our nation are closed for at least the near future. But not all the news is bad. In our city of Lubbock many people, organizations and businesses are stepping forward and giving and serving our community with no strings attached. I like to think this is at least partly the result of the strong influence that Christianity still exerts in our city and region. Hopefully those reading this in other parts of our nation are seeing similar generosity; perhaps some are even part of Christian churches involved in such service.Continue Reading
A project at Sunset International Bible Institute that I have been involved with since its planning stages is the Sunset Digital Library app. At Sunset we have a large archive of older video and audio recordings of our instructors and ministers dating as far back as 1970. Some of the well-known names (now deceased) include Cline Paden, Gerald Paden, Ted Stewart, Truman Scott, Doyle Paden, Abe Lincoln, Richard Rogers, Norman Gipson and Richard Baggett. Others still with us include Ed Wharton, Truitt Adair, Ken Jones, Dan Rouse and many others.Continue Reading
I greatly enjoy reading about archaeological discoveries that have some connection to Bible history. Archaeologists who are also Bible believers often state that their science is not intended to “prove the Bible true” but does often coincide with or even illustrate some aspect of the writings of Scripture.
Earlier on this website we highlighted materials from Ray Vander Laan which are an example of this illustration of the Bible by archaeology. This week I want to highlight the website www.archwithtal.com (Archaeology withTalmadge). According to his profile, Talmadge Gerald is an archaeologist presently pursuing his doctorate at Andrews University while also serving as Assistant to the Curator of the Museum of Archaeology at Andrews and participating in digs during the summers in the Middle East.Continue Reading
That I am a serious student of the history of Christianity is clear. A significant part of my print and digital libraries consist of many varied texts and works on the subject. I presently teach a “Christian History and Doctrine” course at Sunset International Bible Institute. I often tell stories from Christian history as illustrations in my sermons and Bible classes. One of my study guides available in this website’s store is entitled, “Pictures from Christian History.” And reading earlier posts on this website shows a real bias in this same direction.Continue Reading
One of the “Picks of the Week” choices back in October, 2019 (see here) was the “5 Minutes in Church History” podcast with Dr. Stephen J. Nichols. Over 300 episodes of this podcast have been produced, and the podcast has just completed its sixth year of production.
As part of celebrating six years of podcasting, a special episode was produced where Dr. Nichols and a key member of his broadcasting team are interviewed in the Renewing Your Mind broadcast studios. Listen to this special episode by using or downloading a podcast app on your tablet or phone and searching for “5 Minutes in Church History,” then download the episode “6 Years of 5 Minutes.” If you are using a computer, you should be able to access the podcast through Spotify, iTunes or Google Play Music as well.Continue Reading
For years I kept in my file cabinet two lists given to me by two older ministers during the first few years of my ministry. Each was a list of the 10-20 books they considered essential for me to have in my religious library. About half the books were identical, the rest different on each list.
I believe that I eventually added every one of those books to my library. Most are still in my library after 40+ years, numerous moves, and regular “weeding out” of books that have proven unused or not useful. Here I don’t intend to provide such a list for any readers of this article (maybe in a later article I will). Instead, I want to begin with this article to more or less regularly list books I have recently added to my library, and in some cases give the reasons why. Do not consider these lists as an automatic recommendation or seal of approval for these titles or their contents. Rather, this is to let you know that my studies and personal spiritual interests have led me to add these books to my library.Continue Reading
The favorite video series in my personal library is the series produced by Ray Vander Laan entitled, That the World May Know. The series now consists of 16 volumes plus two special videos.
Mr. Vander Laan is a Christian educator as well as minister in the Christian Reformed Church. Since about 1992 he has taken over 10,000 people on tours of Israel, Turkey and Egypt. These videos are shot on location during some of these tours. Not simply a tourist video of the locations, Vander Laan takes the time to explain what is being viewed and what are some of the Biblical lessons to be gained.Continue Reading
Maybe because of my age (born in 1948) and the habits of a ministry covering some 50 years, I still cherish printed books. Don’t get me wrong, I have most of the latest digital Bible software with some 2,000+ volumes of resources. I also regularly buy digital versions of books for my Kindle app or Apple Books app, and have about 450-500 titles between them. But printed books are still my passion.
So when I am looking for a new reference book, commentary, or book on a special topic, I go for print most of the time. But this doesn’t mean I want to pay full retail for a new copy if a good used volume is available!Continue Reading
Lifeway
A project at Sunset International Bible Institute that I have been involved with since its planning stages is the Sunset Digital Library app. At Sunset we have a large archive of older video and audio recordings of our instructors and ministers dating as far back as 1970. Some of the well-known names (now deceased) include Cline Paden, Gerald Paden, Ted Stewart, Truman Scott, Doyle Paden, Abe Lincoln, Richard Rogers, Norman Gipson and Richard Baggett. Others still with us include Ed Wharton, Truitt Adair, Ken Jones, Dan Rouse and many others.
I greatly enjoy reading about archaeological discoveries that have some connection to Bible history. Archaeologists who are also Bible believers often state that their science is not intended to “prove the Bible true” but does often coincide with or even illustrate some aspect of the writings of Scripture.
One of the “Picks of the Week” choices back in October, 2019 (
Maybe because of my age (born in 1948) and the habits of a ministry covering some 50 years, I still cherish printed books. Don’t get me wrong, I have most of the latest digital Bible software with some 2,000+ volumes of resources. I also regularly buy digital versions of books for my Kindle app or Apple Books app, and have about 450-500 titles between them. But printed books are still my passion.