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Mel Lawrenz
April 27, 2022

How to Live the Bible — The Least of These

howtostudythebible

This is the two-hundred-sixth 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.

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me… Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:35-36, 40

Photograph of food being delivered in a box.

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Guest Post
April 27, 2022

Are You Experiencing Empty-Nest Syndrome?

Jim BurnsBy Jim Burns

On the drive home from dropping our youngest daughter off at college, my wife and I both went silent for about two hours. Periodically, I looked over at Cathy, and more than a few times, I watched a tear take a stroll down her cheek. If someone had been watching us, they would have thought that instead of experiencing a beautiful transitional moment in our family’s life, we were mourning the death of a loved one. When we arrived home, the house that had been headquarters to constant action, no little amount of tension through the teen years, noise, movement, chaos, laughter, memories, traditions, and more noise was tomblike quiet. We had just entered the empty nest, and not only were we unprepared, but we had been so busy with life that we hadn’t even seen it coming.

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Jonathan Petersen
April 26, 2022

Bible Mapper Maps on Bible Gateway: An Interview with David Barrett

• List of Bible Mapper Maps on BibleGateway.com •

David Barrett—Visit Bible Mapper websiteThe Bible is ancient literature written in a variety of genres over a span of 1,500 years by multiple authors living in diverse cultures covering vast geography that, through military conquest and political control, included numerous historical empires encompassing up to 2 million square miles of territory. It becomes evident, then, that maps depicting Near East locations mentioned in the Bible can provide a wealth of contextual understanding and interpretation for us as we read Scripture.

Bible Gateway interviewed David Barrett, cartographer for the ESV Study Bible, the Crossway ESV Bible Atlas, and the ESV Concise Bible Atlas, and the proprietor of the map development and research tool BibleMapper.com, the maps of which are available for free studying on Bible Gateway.

See the Bible Mapper Map of the Conquest of Canaan: The Northern Campaign on Bible Gateway

Why are Bible maps an important way to study the Bible?

David Barrett: The Bible is divinely inspired and inerrant, but that does not mean it was written in a vacuum. Its stories are set in specific geographic locations in the Near East during specific times in history, and these factors greatly affect how the stories should be understood and interpreted.

Typically, however, the writers of Scripture did not bother to describe the context of their writings in much detail, because it was the same context their readers lived in, so they already understood it very well.

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Jonathan Petersen
April 25, 2022

Enjoy Reading The Gospel Awakening Sermons by D.L. Moody on Bible Gateway Plus

D.L. Moody digital archives at Moody Bible InstituteBible Gateway Plus offers more than 50 great resources such as study Bibles, commentaries, and dictionaries. But you may not have known your Bible Gateway Plus membership also includes in the STUDY tab the sermon series, The Gospel Awakening, by the renowned evangelist D.L. Moody. Moody (1837–1899) preached the gospel to more than 100 million people in his lifetime. His sermons are linked to specific Scripture verses in the same way are all Bible Gateway Plus reference notes in the STUDY tab.

For your benefit, here’s the list of each Bible verse on which a Gospel Awakening sermon is based, along with its sermon title:

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Jonathan Petersen
April 22, 2022

Weekly Brief – Week of April 17, 2022

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Guest Post
April 21, 2022

God Is Our Shepherd: Meditate on the 23rd Psalm

God is our shepherd meditate on Psalm 23By Christopher Reese

No Psalm is more beloved by believers than the 23rd, and none has exercised greater influence in popular culture. Christians frequently look to Psalm 23 for encouragement in the face of trials, and for comfort when encountering death. The Psalm is also frequently quoted or alluded to in modern movies and music. In the movie Titanic, for example, a priest reads it aloud as the ship sinks. Musical groups and artists including U2 (“Love Rescue Me”), Pink Floyd (“Sheep”), and Kanye West (“Jesus Walks”) have all referenced Psalm 23 in their music. These are some of the reasons Psalm 23 is so popular. In this article we’ll take a brief tour through this notable Psalm so that we can engage with it in a deeper way.

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Mel Lawrenz
April 20, 2022

How to Live the Bible — Let Justice Roll

howtostudythebible

This is the two-hundred-fifth 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.

“But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” Amos 5:24

Photograph of the apex of a courthouse.

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Guest Post
April 20, 2022

The Gift of Rest

Touré RobertsBy Touré Roberts

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. — Matthew 11:28

Everything great that has ever happened to me in life occurred when I somehow found myself in the place of rest. I mean everything, from book deals to viral teaching messages, entertainment and business opportunities, even meeting and marrying the love of my life. It all happened when I entered the space of rest.

Now I think it’s important for me to define what I mean by rest, because it may not be what you’re thinking. The rest that I am referring to isn’t how we feel after we take a nap or get a good night’s sleep. It’s not even how we feel after we return from a much-needed vacation or getaway. This rest is something entirely different; it’s a consciousness. This rest is about a marvelous, unique state of being created by an awareness that too few people get to experience. This rest may be one of the greatest gifts that Balance affords us.

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Jonathan Petersen
April 19, 2022

Art to Inspire Your Love for the Bible: An Interview with Artist Leslie Kehl Vann

Leslie Kehl VannExquisite from the inside out, the NIV Artisan Collection Bibles invite you to journal or draw alongside Scripture while delighting in the beauty of the cover, featuring a unique expressionist art piece by painter Leslie Vann. The carefully composed interior features the exclusive Zondervan NIV Comfort Print® typeface in a double-column typesetting, allowing you to carry this Bible wherever you go.

Bible Gateway interviewed Leslie Kehl Vann (@leslie_kehl_vann), abstract expressionist artist for the cover of the NIV Artisan Collection Bible (Zondervan, 2022).

Please describe your artistic method.

Buy your copy of the NIV Artisan Collection Bible in the FaithGateway Store where you'll enjoy low prices every day

Leslie Kehl Vann: My painting technique can most closely be described by the style of Abstract Expressionism—although I intend to go beyond it and call my personal technique, “Painting by the Spirit.” Where Abstract Expressionism and I are similar is that we value the inherent significance of the creative process as a means of revealing or expressing what’s inside the artist. Where we differ is that where the abstract expressionists were influenced by Jungian psychology, I’m motivated to express specifically how the Spirit sanctifies and changes me through encountering his Word and thus leads me increasingly toward my real “true self” as I seek to become more like Christ.

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Jonathan Petersen
April 18, 2022

Why Are Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox Bibles Different?

Photo of man holding an open BibleThe Bible has three major compositions. The word canon is used to identify the collection of sacred books that comprise the Bible. The canon of the Protestant Bible totals 66 books—39 Old Testament (OT) and 27 New Testament (NT); the Catholic Bible numbers 73 books (46 OT, 27 NT), and Greek and Russian Orthodox, 79 (52 OT, 27 NT) (Ethiopian Orthodox, 81—54 OT, 27 NT).

As you can see, the Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox New Testament canons are identical. So how and why are the Old Testament canons different? Not much of the original writing process of each book of the OT is known since the writings took place in the distant past for which historical provenance is scanty. Nonetheless, let’s begin at the beginning.

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    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.