Let’s Get Ready

How to Have a Quiet Time - article from ‘The Four Sevens’

Music of the Gospel - article from ‘The White Papers’ 
This article will change how you read the bible, I’m convinced because it did for me. It really changed how I would think about the content of a passage and helped me to draw big ideas that apply to my life. – Rob Menko

How to Study the Bible Effectively - a Cru transferable concept

How To Read the Bible - article by Jess Fong 
By looking at 1 Samuel 17, the author of this article taught me a method of studying Scripture by looking for four things in a passage: the fallen condition, redemptive solution, theological big idea, and response. – Lauren Bodine

How to Read the Bible for Yourself - article by John Piper
This 2-minute read provides Bible study strategies that’ll help you correctly understand Scripture and apply it to your life. – Lauren Bodine

Principlizing Bridge 
I learned about this tool on my Summer Mission  Junior year. I like this tool a lot because it helps me to think critically about a passage, looking at how it relates to the biblical audience and then how it relates to Christians today. – Rob Menko

How to Study the Bible by Robert M. West
Its a very small book with only 95 pages. It goes through the steps of Observation, Interpretation, Application and a few other approaches. -This small book is one of my favorites as it brings to light our need for God’s word and gives several strategies for personal Bible study. – Dave Maust

The Core Tools

  • Bible Translations – ESV, NAS, NIV, NLT

  • Bible Dictionary

  • New Bible Dictionary by Marshall, Millard, Packer, and Wiseman

  • Anchor Bible Study by Freedman

  • Old Testament Survey

  • An Introduction to the Old Testament by Dillard and Longman

  • Old Testament Survey by Lasor, Hubbard, and Bush

  • New Testament Survey

  • An Introduction to the New Testament by Carson and Moo

  • An Introduction of the New Testament by deSilva

  • Concordance

  • NLT Comprehensive Concordance by Sanson and LaCosse

  • Christian Theology

  • Concise Theology by Packer

  • Christian Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know by Grudem

  • Youversion.com, online resource, Access to different Bible translations.

  • Blue Letter Bible, online resource – 

    Look up words in Greek, which can be really helpful when studying the Bible. – Ozzy

  • Study Bibles
    The ESV study bible has great notes!  But I think you need to buy it to use the notes. – Ozzy
    …Actually there’s an app for that!     ESV Study Bible App, all the awesome in one place, half the price as the physical Bible – Nathan Reynolds

How It All Connects

God’s Big Picture, book by Vaughan Roberts – Trying to understand the Bible by reading chapters here and there is like understanding an entire tv series by watching a few scenes across all of the seasons. Roberts helps you understand the whole of the Bible and the major themes running through it. A must read! – Nathan Reynolds

How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, book by Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart

How to Read the Bible Book by Book: A Guided Tour, book by Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart – Awesome book! Provided me with concise background and historical context, which helped me see how each book of the Bible fits into the larger story of Scripture. -Lauren Bodine

Read Scripture – The Bible Project, YouTube series – 5-10 minute visual summaries of virtually every book of the Bible.  It is very clear and very helpful! – Brian Langford

One Story: How All of Scripture Points us to Christ, Bible study – This helped me see how every book of the Bible points me to Jesus as the solution to my brokenness. I learned skills on how to study various genres of Scripture, too! – Lauren Bodine

New Bible Commentary by Wenham, Motyer, Carson, and France

 Let’s Get Going

31 Day Experiment – Give Scripture 31 days and see what happens.

 NT90X – New Testament in 90 days. Go!

Character Study

  • Goal: Trace lives of different people in the Bible (Abraham, Moses, David, Paul, Peter)

  • Tools: Concordance and Dictionary

  • Example Format with Abraham

Thematic Study

  • Goal: Explore various themes in the Bible (love vs lust, faith vs fear, weakness vs power)

  • Tools: Concordance and Dictionary

 

 Make the Most of Quiet Times

  • Spiritual Temperament Assessment – This short personality test helps you think through strengthening your time in the Word by adding aspects that match your spiritual temperament. – Nathan Reynolds

  • Sacred Pathways, book by Gary Thomas – God uniquely formed each of us, and if we each experience life differently, won’t our personalities influence how we worship God? Thomas describes 9 ways we can interact with God. 


Doctrinal Study

  • Goal: Explore various doctrines of our faith (attributes of God; Holy Spirit; grace; sin)

  • Tools: Systematic Theology book and Concordance

Book of the Month

  • Goal: Study a book of the Bible every month

  • Suggestion: Try a ‘book of the week’ first (Ruth, 2 Tim, Philemon)

I love these resources, give me more!

  • Recommended Reading – article, A full list of books and important resources suggested by Cru

Online Resources