Category Archives: Bible Study

Bible Study, Experience, Mac, Resources, Study

At The Accordance Seminar

Today I’m at the Accordance Training Seminar at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. I have used the Accordance software on my Mac for the past 4 years and love it. The software has been an indispensable resource to me for personal study and for professional lesson preparation. I am very much looking forward to finding better and more useful ways to maximize my Accordance experience. Oh yeah… and this seminar is FREE! Woo-Hoo!

Check out the Accordance Software website for more information. If you have a Mac and are looking for the absolute best Bible program look no further.

Live Blog of the Seminar

9:12am: And… here… we… Go!
9:15am: Intro. from Mark Allison. Working with Accordance for 10 years.
9:17am: Latest version is 8.2.1. (I’m up-to-date!)
9:22am: In Accordance the Bible is central. Searching is also central.
9:32am: 4 seconds to search for every word in Bible (for given translation). Hit details and see a concordance for each translation.
9:37am: To amplify. Select/highlight a word in a given translation and choose a new translation or tool (Anchor/Eastons/Dictionary) to find the word in that selection. Super cool.
9:38am: This truly is Instant Access. Everything is linked to everything.
9:40am: Highlight “heavens.” Amplify it to the Hebrew dictionary to find the Hebrew word and definition
9:45am: Geek Out! Amplify “heaven” in a tagged text. Hold option key. Click search and perform an all out search for “shamayim”. Click details and see how “shamayim” is used throughout the text:heaven, sky, highest, etc.
9:50am: Just amplified search “phileo” with the NT range in my NASB. Includes love, kiss, loved. Interesting.
10:03am: Now… on to the Resource Pallette
10:10am: In Parallels you can add a Greek/Hebrew text to compare
10:20am: Each English tool has information under Browser and can be searched alphabetically… or you can just search.
10:21am: oooh… I can do this in my Greek/Hebrew dictionaries too.
10:30am: At break I updated my library to Premier 8 and added the ESV Study Bible. Sweet!
11:30am: Who would have thought I could use the search commands? I can search by Chapter, verse, sentence. I can search a word in one text and display it in another translation.
11:33am: COMPARE TEXTS!!! Wow!
11:37am: CMND Shift _____. Keyboard shortcuts for search commands.
11:45am: Fuzzy Search- you can kinda remember it but not really. Search FUZZY COMMAND and find phrase you were looking for. This will be great when I can’t remember anything but the MJFV- The Micheal J Felker Version.
11:50am: Inference Command. Look at things like similar or exact phrases found in different books. We searched for similar phrases in Micah and Isaiah. Example: compare Micah 4:2 to Isaiah 2:3.
12:15pm: That’s Lunch
1:45pm: Creating charts and graphs on the fly. Searching in 1Samuel of where Saul, David, and Jonathan overlap.
1:50pm: Creating a list of every word in a given translation. Search the entire text. Click details and then click analysis. Can display in alphabetical order or by frequency of use. Example: Inheritance is used 244 in the NASB.
1:59pm: Find all the Greek words you don’t want to memorize by searching in the Greek text by search range Count 1 to find all the words used only once in the Greek. Increase the Count # to see words that are used more frequently- those are the ones you want to memorize!
2:05pm: Ok, I don’t need to get this technical in the original languages. I set up my default windows. My TNIV and ESV are displayed with their respective notes. I have quick access to the Anchor Bible Dictionary. I also have some personal notes and commentaries opened and ready to go every time I launch.
3:20pm: Dozens of ways to search through my various resources. So much information.
3:40pm: I think I’m nearing my information saturation point for the day.
4:10pm: Alright. Great day. I got a ton of new resources and I learned how to use the ones I already had even more! Whew! I am going to be a teaching/learning machine!!! Thanks to the Accordance team for their help and insights today. I’m headed home to help my wife prepare for her dinner party tonight. Peace!

Bible Study, Discipleship, Ethos, Experience, Wrestling With Scripture

Apples and Oranges

I recently attended a seminar for medical professionals and chaplains (of which I am neither) which featured Len Sweet, one of my favorite authors.

Sweet is a futurist and a theologian. His ideas have had a profound effect on the way I see, approach, and carry out ministry. Sweet speaks in images and during his keynote he gave me two pictures for approaching and integrating God’s Word that I’ve been wrestling with since that afternoon. While Sweet took these images in a different direction I believe that he planted a seed of thought in me and here is what has grown.

We must approach God’s Word- the reading, studying, and following of the Bible- like apples and oranges.

When I worked at a school I saw the dark side of Bible study. Most want to study God’s Word like they approach dissecting in biology class. They want a clean environment where the subject is surgically and carefully cut open. They poke and prod around inside until something of note is found. Then thy pull is out, observe it, note it, weigh it and then either discard it or preserve it in glass jars put on display for all to see. The problem with an autopsy is that the subject your are studying must be dead.

But God’s Word is “living and active.”

What if we approach the reading and integration of God’s Word more like the way we eat an orange or an apple?

I love oranges. When I get a hold of one the anticipation is palpable. I gently open it up. The aroma and the essence of the orange is all around me. I take in piece by piece not to observe and discard but to savor. I receive nourishment and refreshment from each segment. My senses are awakened and I feel revived because I have found life and health inside this fruit. Eating an orange is also a messy experience. The juice gets all over your hands and you are left with citrus scented fingers for much of the afternoon.

So it is with Scripture. We have been promised that within the Bible we will find the words of life. Study should never be to pull out and discard. It should be taken in, savored, and used to nourish our lives and point us to Almighty God. This approach leads to life change. You are forever changed by the Word when you allow it to permeate your mind, heart, and hands. Sometimes this is messy. Dissection gives quick answers, observations, and results. Digestion takes a little longer and the process is largely out of our hands. Relying on God is always harder than relying on your own white-coat lab notes.

While I tend to enjoy the effects and experience if eating oranges I know that I also need to eat more apples.

You eat apples whole. You take it in your hand and you just give it a good bite. You dive in all the way and all the way to the end. An apple has a start and a finish.

God’s Word also must be experienced as a whole. God’s story- His-story- is the good news with a beginning and an end. It starts with creation and moves through the whole of God’s revelation giving us a glimpse of His ultimate victory and glory. It tells us who God is, who we are, who/where God wants us to be, and how He is getting us there. When was the last time you experienced God’s Word as a whole? My guess is most of us eat more oranges than apples. However a good, balanced diet will include both.

Same goes for your spiritual health. When you study don’t dissect- savor and enjoy. Be changed, nourished, and revived by what you find and experience. Also, don’t just take in the Word piece by piece. Go all in and experience the Word as a whole- from beginning to end.

What are you waiting for? Take a snack break and experience what I’m talking about. May you be forever changed by God’s goodness and favor. May you take in His fruit and may it lead to health and growth and life in ways that impact you and those around you.

Sweet & Felker

Bible Study, Discipleship, Ministry, Remarkable, Technology, Theology, Wrestling With Scripture, Youth Ministry

Teaching and Reaching

3 Comments

Last night was an epic moment for me in youth ministry.

Everyone who came to Bible study came with their own Bible! Seriously… It was a beautiful thing!!!

As a minister in the 21st century I often wonder if we have created an impossible scenario where the teens/adults in our ministries/churches don’t feel the need to bring their Bibles because we provide the text for them via PowerPoint or some other presentation software. Maybe they don’t feel the need to have their own Bible because we too often only use one or two verses in our lessons or jump around from book to book. This too often leads to proof texting (boo!) and a blasé attitude to actually bringing, reading, and engaging with the Word on a personal level. I’m not saying we should stop projecting scripture- we shouldn’t- I just wonder if we make it too easy for people to just look to the screen.

This semester we have been slowly working through 2Timothy using Barry Shafer’s inductive Bible study Rock Solid Faith.

This has been a great introduction to the inductive method of study. The way I describe it to my teens is by saying that we are using the Bible to study the Bible. Simple as that. By prompting the teens to read and dig and explore they naturally come across what God is saying to them. Living inside the text allows the heart to tune into the Holy Spirit’s prompting and guidance.

What I sensed happening last night is that these teens are interested in what their Bibles have to say- that is, they want to hear from God! They really engaged with the passages last night and shared some great things- even some laughs as well! That’s what youth ministry is all about.

On a side note, one teen was reading his Bible from his iPhone last night using the YouVersion app. I have talked with a few of our adults who are using the YouVersion Blackberry app on Sunday mornings. Another thing to consider in this 21st century ministry climate: as the technology evolves will we see it as a distraction or as a tool? One leads to avoidance and stagnation- the other leads to adaptability and growth. Which will you choose?