The masthead of this monthly publication says, “The Christian Chronicle®– An international newspaper for Churches of Christ.” On its editorial page the paper describes itself as “A subsidiary of Oklahoma Christian University,” with “Our mission: inform, inspire, unite.”
Further down on that page we read, “The Christian Chronicle is not a teaching or doctrinal publication, but a newspaper with news and opinion content in sections clearly labeled. Signed columns and reviews reflect the opinions of the authors.” The current issue in my hand (February, 2020) is Vol. 77, No. 2. From that I would gather this is its 77th year of publication. In one place on their website they claim over 330,000 monthly readers.Continue Reading
UPDATE ON PRICING: Illumination Publishers is offering holiday pricing until about December 13, 2019 – the 3-volume print set is only $15 (regular $45); digital ebook volumes are $7 each (regular $13.99).
I was taught early on in my ministry to consult the commentaries about a passage only after doing all my own research and study, and have followed this pattern almost without fail. This includes studying the historical and cultural background of a Bible book or passage, doing word studies of the key words, outlining to discern the biblical author’s flow of thought, and seeking to fully understand the meaning and application to the original audience. Only then do I feel the need to access those who have studied the text before me, particularly widely respected, (usually) conservative commentators. Those writers which I consult or read after most often include the older College Press series (i.e., “green commentaries”), Warren Wiersbe’s “Be Series,” Albert Barnes, Baker’s New Testament Commentary Series (Hendrikson & Kistemaker), and William Barclay’s original Daily Study Bible.
Ever since the movie industry began, stories from the Bible have provided the scripts for movies, even before sound and color were a part of film-making. But of all the movies about Jesus I have watched and/or own, by far my favorite is 
For much of my early ministry I carried a small notebook around in my pocket to write down and keep random bits of information I might need later. This would include (before cellphones!) phone numbers, addresses, to do lists, shopping lists, and various thoughts about upcoming lessons I might be working on. While I still have a few of these pocket notebooks around, I no longer use them.
A great way for me to learn more about a topic dear to my heart is through “
I know that every teacher, preacher and serious student of Scripture has their own “comfort zone” method of studying and preparing their lessons.
The foundation for effective Bible study (in addition to the Scriptures) is a good library of resources, mostly in the form of books. As a result, most of us who preach or teach have invested heavily over the years in printed books – Bible translations, dictionaries, commentaries, atlases, word studies, original language reference works, etc. My own personal library is comprised of several thousand such books. And my library would be even larger except occasional moves and space constraints have forced me over the years to weed out and give away less-used books to keep the overall quantity down.
The Internet is a vast place filled with all manner of content. Unfortunately, we don’t always have time to read every article that we come across online that looks interesting or useful to our spiritual journeys. This is where an app and service like Pocket (
Pocket is a service that will save those blog posts and articles that you want to set aside for later viewing. It is incredibly simple to use and is available on just about every phone, tablet and computer that can access the Internet. Rarely does a day go by that I don’t save something to my “Pocket” to read later. Whether it is an article that someone sends to me via email, something that I encounter on social media or while doing research on any number of subjects, Pocket can save it for me.
In doing a series of lessons a few years ago on the city of Jerusalem as it appears through the Bible, I cast a wide net to find resources of a historical, geographical, and archaeological nature concerning this great city of the Old and New Testament period. One very valuable resource was a free (for download in PDF format) 250 page book written by Galyn Wiemers at 