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Do you know that Bible Gateway has a dedicated page for different Scripture engagement methods? Provided by Taylor University Center for Scripture Engagement (@TaylorU_CSE) , the Bible Engagement section offers ways that Scripture can be interacted with that might allow us to more openly receive God’s words and, therefore, come to know him better. If you’re unfamiliar with this section of the website, here’s a guide to how it works.
Following is a list of the different engagement methods and how they work. Take the time to discover more about these creative ways to dive into the Word!
This is the third lesson in the Spiritual Maturity Bible Gateway Blog video series by Kevin Myers (@KevinMyersPK), based on his book with Charlie Wetzel, Grown-Up Faith: The Big Picture for a Bigger Life (Thomas Nelson, 2019).
The book asks, “Why isn’t life everything we expected it to be? And why doesn’t our faith resolve our frustrations and problems?” Pastor Myers believes the reason we don’t experience a transformed life is that we fail to grow up spiritually. We focus on developing physically, intellectually, emotionally, and financially, yet our faith remains immature and anemic. In this brief video series, he introduces you to a simple road map to achieving a grown-up faith as you understand the Bible and the big picture of God’s story.
The following is a Bible Gateway exclusive Sneak Peek and First Listen of A Brave Face: Two Cultures, Two Families, and the Iraqi Girl Who Bound Them Together (W Publishing, 2019) by Barbara Marlowe (@marlowe_barbara) and Teeba Furat Marlowe. Preorder the book and unabridged audiobook on CD in the Bible Gateway Store.
By Barbara Marlowe
Maybe I thought it would all work out, but others weren’t so sure. My friends thought I was completely crazy. Tim was supportive, as always. After 20 years of marriage, he was accustomed to seeing me barreling forward at full steam, rarely coming up for air. He knew I was trying to help the little girl from Iraq I’d read about in the newspaper, but I didn’t always share the details of exactly what I was up to. I kept him in the loop on the most significant developments, but there was so much happening day-to-day that it seemed too cumbersome to be updating him constantly.
I just charged ahead on my own, moving from one step to the next to help Teeba. In a career like mine, I’m used to hearing the word no. It’s never been a sign for me to stop. My response to hearing no is, “I’ll call again in a couple of weeks.”
But even I wore down into discouragement as the elation of my initial progress faded. The process ground to a near halt because of red tape and logistical problems. Letters, emails, and calls flew back and forth between us, the hospital, the airlines, James Palmer, immigration officials here and in Jordan, and Mahmood—a relative of Teeba’s who spoke English and worked for an international aid organization. I sent a smiling photograph of myself holding our dog, Phantom, and a sign with Teeba’s name and a heart around it, hoping my intentions would be clear to her and her family.
Then one day, as my frustration became too much to bear, I stalked out to my driveway to get some air. Staring at the ground, I paced in a circle, angry and frustrated.
Why am I doing this? Why isn’t this working out?
As my emotions built, I raised my face to the sky.
This is the fifty-third 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.
Mel Lawrenz is the author of Life After Grief
It is understandable why we might avoid talking about or facing death. The subject raises questions, fears, and anxiety. Yet we all know that death is part of life. It is one of the great inevitabilities of all of our lives, unless Christ returns before we die. So it is not surprising that God’s Word speaks into this reality. Living the Bible, in other words, includes facing the end of life in this world.
By Terry Looper, author of Sacred Pace: Four Steps to Hearing God and Aligning Yourself with His Will (W Publishing, 2019).
A few years ago, Sports Illustrated ran a holiday supplement that advertised various gifts for athletic types. The description for a golf watch highlighted its color touch screen, a GPS, and nearly 40,000 preloaded courses, adding, “It provides distances to and from any possible target or known hazard. So you know what to aim for and what to avoid.”
If only determining the Lord’s will were that easy whenever we have a decision to make! I’m convinced that those of us who follow Christ want his direction. It’s just that he rarely writes on walls or speaks from burning bushes anymore. Plus, we live in the perpetual reality that God’s thoughts and ways are infinitely beyond our own (Isa. 55:9).
So how do we as humans begin to fathom his answers and have the confidence that we’re actually hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit rather than our own? A massive mental and emotional burnout in my mid-30s, just after I’d earned my first multimillion-dollar check in a business merger, scared me so much that I was willing to learn.
To discover that the money didn’t give me any sort of peace brought me to my knees. Literally. My marriage, my children, my health, and my soul had all suffered in my frantic pursuit of this false god. Yet I hadn’t paid attention because I was too busy speeding hard toward my ambitions. And though I wasn’t willing to hit the brakes for myself, my body and soul did it for me, stopping me cold.
By Horst Schulze
Editor’s Note: Horst Schulze, chairman and CEO of Capella Hotel Group, is a legend and leader in the service world. His vision has helped reshape concepts of customer service throughout the hospitality and service industries. In this excerpt from his new book Excellence Wins, Horst shares how he discovered what matters most in life.
I am grateful for the opportunities I have had to pursue excellence in my field, training ladies and gentlemen to serve ladies and gentlemen. From my lowly start in a small German village, I have been privileged to travel the world and work with outstanding people.
But it all nearly came to a screeching halt back in 1992.
Ritz-Carlton was flying high. We had 25 hotels up and running, from Atlanta to Bali, with another 15 on the drawing board for such exotic places as Hawaii and Shanghai. We had just won our first Malcolm Baldrige Award. The previous November, Hotels magazine had called me “corporate hotelier of the world.”
They were not professionals. They were not celebrities. We don’t even know their names. We know very little about them, except that they were ordinary people who were drawn to Jesus. When Jesus asked them to join him in his mission, they stepped up, answered the call, and went out in his name. And amazing things happened as a result. They were the 72.
Bible Gateway interviewed John Teter (@johnteter72) about his book, The Power of the 72: Ordinary Disciples in Extraordinary Evangelism (InterVarsity Press, 2017).
What is the biblical context of the 72 your book is about?
Rev. Dr. John Teter: The calling, training, and sending of the 72 does not happen in a vacuum. The Gospel of Luke was written by the only Gentile author of the New Testament. Many believe that Luke converted in Acts 11 at Antioch. I wonder how many late night mission conversations Paul and Luke shared as they traveled on their church planting journeys. The sovereign foundations of his conversion, cultural experience, and global mission training clarifies the main point of the third Gospel: Jesus came to preach good news to the poor. The other Gospels teach us how to be disciples. But Luke exhorts us to consider where we’ll live out our discipleship and how we’ll benefit from our obedience to God.
Not sure where to start studying the Bible? Begin with the NIV Starting Place Study Bible: An Introductory Exploration of Studying God’s Word (Zondervan, 2019), which uses the New International Version (NIV) Bible translation (@NIVBible).
[Read the New International Version (NIV) Bible translation on Bible Gateway]
The Bible’s depth can seem overwhelming, but within the pages of Scripture are words of peace, hope, and love waiting for you. Sometimes the hardest part of beginning is knowing where to start. The NIV Starting Place Study Bible guides you through Scripture so you can understand God’s love for you and build a relationship with the Savior who longs to know you personally.
Bible Gateway has a new, free, 15-day devotional bringing you the never-before-published wisdom and teachings of Christian philosopher Dallas Willard! In this devotional, Willard discusses relevant topics such as how to have a deep hunger for God, how prayer can lead to action, and how believers can pursue spiritual disciplines in their own lives.
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