Skip to content

Most Recent Blog Posts

Guest Post
September 30, 2019

NIV Outdoorsman Bible: The Call Beyond the Cabin

Jason CruiseBy Jason Cruise

At five years old my world was filled with the smell of oak trees, the sight of my daddy’s 30-30, the sounds of my granddaddy’s old green truck, and the thrill of going to a cabin where we would journey out to pursue the elusive whitetail.

[Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, Adventurer Bear Grylls Depends on God for His Strength]

I loved the journey as much as the hunt. Bouncing around the seat of the truck while daddy battled the rut-studded roads that beat me to death on the way to the cabin was as much fun as living off of campfires and beef jerky. Yes, the trek to “the cabin” every fall was, except for Christmas morning, the highlight of my year. It was an adventure that I treasured then, and to this day I still treasure the memories.

Continue reading →

Jonathan Petersen
September 29, 2019

Bible News Roundup – Week of September 29, 2019

Read this week’s Bible Gateway Weekly Brief newsletter
⇨ Bible Gateway Weekly Brief
⇨ Newsletter signupSee the Bible News Roundup archive on Bible Gateway
▼

Support Bible Gateway—Browse the Bible Gateway Store
⇨ BibleGatewayStore.com
▼

Archaeology Discovery: Evidence of Biblical Kingdom of Edom Found
⇨ The Christian Post
⇨ Read about Edom in the Encyclopedia of the Bible on Bible Gateway
⇨ See the Latest Biblical Archaeology Research
▼

Judge Gives Personal Bible to Ex-Police Officer Convicted of Murder, Tells Her to Read Gospel of John
⇨ Charisma News
⇨ Read the Gospel of John on Bible Gateway
▼

Continue reading →

Jonathan Petersen
September 26, 2019

How Happiness Happens: An Interview with Max Lucado

Max LucadoWhat does it mean to have lasting happiness in an uncertain world filled with discord and turmoil, and that, for all its promises, delivers a fragile joy: here one day, tomorrow scattered by the winds of comparison, disappointment, or unmet expectations? What instruction does the Bible give for a person to be satisfyingly happy?

[Sign up to receive the once-a-week free email devotional, An Encouraging Word from Max Lucado]

In this Q&A, Max Lucado (@MaxLucado) talks about his book, How Happiness Happens: Finding Lasting Joy in a World of Comparison, Disappointment, and Unmet Expectations (Thomas Nelson, 2019).

Buy your copy of How Happiness Happens in the Bible Gateway Store where you'll enjoy low prices every day

[Browse books by Max Lucado in the Bible Gateway Store]

What’s the state of happiness these days?

Max Lucado: Everyone craves happiness. And everyone benefits from it.

But fewer people are finding it. Only one-third of Americans surveyed said they were happy. In the nine-year history of the Harris Poll Survey of American Happiness, the highest index was 35%. This means a cloud of perpetual grayness overshadows two out of three people. Smiles are in short supply. By some estimates clinical depression is ten times more rampant now than it was a century ago. The World Health Organization forecasts that by the year 2020 “depression will become the second leading cause of disease worldwide.”

So how does happiness happen? The words of Jesus are spot-on: “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 22:35). Because when you do, it has a boomerang effect. Happiness happens when we give it away.

Continue reading →

Mel Lawrenz
September 25, 2019

How to Live the Bible — Open Eyes, Open Hearts

howtostudythebible

This is the seventy-fourth lesson in author and pastor Mel Lawrenz’ How to Live the Bible series. If you know someone or a group who would like to follow along on this journey through Scripture, they can get more info and sign up to receive these essays via email here.

See Mel Lawrenz’s book, How to Study the Bible: A Practical Guide.

Sometimes we see something, but we don’t really see it. We don’t look deeply, or we’re distracted or misled.

Reading, understanding, and living the Bible must involve the deeper look. We must be enlightened by Scripture, and that is a work of the Holy Spirit. So the Apostle Paul prays for people to be able to see and become enlightened:

Person with lantern illustrating doubt

Continue reading →

Guest Post
September 25, 2019

How Quiet Makes the World a Better Place

Rebekah LyonsBy Rebekah Lyons

Growing up, I always considered myself an extrovert. I never declined an invitation or opportunity to hang with friends. If homework or studying for a test threatened to get in the way, I’d pull an all-nighter. College life suited me. There were late night hangs in the dorm, morning workouts with friends, and I made sure my friends and I had plans after each Saturday football game. I was enthusiastic about life, and the more the merrier was my modus operandi.

After graduation, things began to change. When I became a mom of toddlers, I craved alone time. Closing the door to the bathroom felt sacred. When those toddlers grew up and became teens, I’d linger in the car in the garage for a few moments after they went inside. This shift in me showed up in other ways as well. Instead of exercising in a noisy, crowded gym, I began to prefer morning workouts involving yoga and nature hikes. To make room for a longer pause of quiet at home, I set aside two days a week for running errands and meeting friends for lunch or coffee. On the mornings I wasn’t running around, I spent large swaths of time at home, sitting in the quiet.

Continue reading →

Jonathan Petersen
September 24, 2019

How to Lead in a World of Distraction: An Interview with Clay Scroggins

Clay ScrogginsAs a leader, how do you learn to tune-out distractions—busyness, the numbing nature of entertainment and social media, the urgency of ministry itself—without growing deaf to the inner vision and issues you need to listen to? What are the common white noises in leadership and ministry that you use to mask your unpleasant emotions and ignore the desires deep inside of you?

Bible Gateway interviewed Clay Scroggins (@clayscroggins) about his book, How to Lead in a World of Distraction: Maximizing Your Influence by Turning Down the Noise (Zondervan, 2019).

Buy your copy of How to Lead in a World of Distraction in the Bible Gateway Store where you'll enjoy low prices every day

[Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, How to Lead When You’re Not in Charge: An Interview with Clay Scroggins]

Describe what you observe as the problem of distraction and what it costs.

Clay Scroggins: Distractions are keeping us from doing the difficult things that make us successful leaders and healthy people.

Plato once said, “An unexamined life is not worth living.” I’m not sure I’d go that far. I think life is still pretty good, even if we aren’t always 100 percent self-aware. But I’d agree with the overall idea and say that, while an unexamined life might still be worth living, if we don’t examine our lives we’ll never experience anything better than what we have now. There’s no hope for things to get better, and most likely they’ll get worse over time. And that’s flat out discouraging.

Continue reading →

Jonathan Petersen
September 23, 2019

Learn More About the NET Bible with This Panel Discussion

NET Bible panel discussion at Dallas Theological Seminary. Buy your copy of the NET Bible in the Bible Gateway Store where you'll enjoy low prices every dayIn anticipation of the New English Translation (NET Bible) Full-Notes print editions being available October 1, 2019, a panel discussion about the NET Bible was convened at Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) in early September.

[Read the New English Translation (NET) Bible version on Bible Gateway]

The NET Bible translation distinguishes itself by including more than 60,000 translators’ notes in its pages, offering unprecedented transparency as to how it was translated from the Bible’s original languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.

Continue reading →

Guest Post
September 23, 2019

High Holy Days: A Season of Repentance

Hear the pronunciation of this Hebrew phrase

By International Fellowship of Christians and Jews

At sundown Sunday, Sept. 29 through October 9, Jews around the world will observe the High Holy Days, beginning with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and ending ten days later with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It is the most most holy time of the year on the Jewish calendar. During this ten-day period, known as the Days of Awe (Yamim Noraim) or Days of Repentance, Jews engage in intense introspection, examining their lives and seeking forgiveness from God and each other for the coming year.

[Sign up to receive the free 2-week daily email devotional Holy Land Moments that offers a short reflection on Scripture with additional insight from Jewish teachers and thinkers]

Continue reading →

Jonathan Petersen
September 23, 2019

NIV Quest Study Bible: What Is My Purpose in Life? And How Can I Be Certain of It?

Buy your copy of the NIV Quest Study Bible in the Bible Gateway Store where you'll enjoy low prices every day

This is the fifth post in the NIV Quest Study Bible (Zondervan, 2019) series in which a popular question about the Bible is asked and answered.

[Get immediate access to the insightful NIV Quest Study Bible and more than 40 other valuable Bible study resources when you become a member of Bible Gateway Plus. Try it right now!]

The NIV Quest Study Bible (website) is the result of two publishing companies, Zondervan and Christianity Today International, working together to enhance the Bible text with answers to challenging questions people have as they read Scripture.

[Sign up to receive the 2-week free email devotional Biblical Answers to Tough Questions, based on the NIV Quest Study Bible]

More than 1,000 average Bible readers helped determine questions the notes explain, creating a resource featuring more than 7,000 notes written in question-and-answer format that provide insight into the common, uncommon, and sometimes perplexing passages from the Bible, such as “What prevents God from hearing our prayers?” and “Why does God test us?”

Question Five: What is my purpose in life? And how can I be certain of it? (1 Corinthians 10:31)

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). This is the essence of our purpose. We are to honor God and advance his kingdom through who we are and in everything we do.

Continue reading →

Jonathan Petersen
September 22, 2019

Bible News Roundup – Week of September 22, 2019

Read this week’s Bible Gateway Weekly Brief newsletter
⇨ Bible Gateway Weekly Brief
⇨ Newsletter signupSee the Bible News Roundup archive on Bible Gateway
▼

Support Bible Gateway—Browse the Bible Gateway Store
⇨ BibleGatewayStore.com
▼

Ancient Mosaic Found in ‘Burnt Church’ May Depict Miracle Described in the New Testament
⇨ LiveScience
⇨ Read about Jesus feeding 5,000 with loaves and fishes in John 6:1-14 on Bible Gateway
⇨ Read about the Sea of Galilee in the Encyclopedia of the Bible on Bible Gateway
⇨ Read about miracles in the Encyclopedia of the Bible on Bible Gateway
⇨ Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, Latest Biblical Archaeology Research
▼

Digging for the Bible: 10 Key Discoveries from the Holy Land
⇨ BBC HistoryExtra
▼

Continue reading →

Older posts
Newer posts

  • Search the Blog

  • Search the Bible


  • Follow @biblegateway
    Subscribe to posts via RSS

  • Facebook

    [custom-facebook-feed width=250]

  • Polls

    Select all the topics you most frequently turn to the Bible to get help with:

    View Results

    Loading ... Loading ...

  • Topics

  • About Us

    The Bible Gateway Blog features the latest news, announcements, and reflections from Bible Gateway. We hope what you find here will add to your understanding of and appreciation for the Bible.