BJU Press Blog

bible study

Daniel: Courage for Teen Leaders

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JourneyForth’s The Daniel Dilemma: Real Courage for Real Life by Rand Hummel is the perfect Christmas gift to jump-start your teen’s study of Scripture in the new year. After hearing adults sing Daniel’s praises for years, your teen may view the prophet’s youthful diligence and lifelong loyalty in the face of immense pressure as a little unreal. In this book, Hummel succeeds in lifting Daniel off the flannelgraph, fleshing him out, and polishing him to a brilliant sheen. Even better—he showcases Daniel’s great God. 502369

The Daniel Dilemma is divided into two sections. The first tells Daniel’s story with due attention to what he was really up against. Talk about a stressful life! Hummel points out that Babylon’s strategies of isolation, indoctrination, identification, and intimidation are the same ones used to cripple Christians today. From Nebuchadnezzar to Belshazzar, the enemy’s darts─pulled from Satan’s age-old arsenal of “brainwashing” techniques─were custom-made for Daniel. And today’s teens are the new target—as they make their way in a largely nonbelieving world. But the author goes on to show that it was the consuming desire of Daniel and his companions to glorify God that steadied and kept them faithful in middle of the political storms the Lord put them through.

The second half of the book is an in-depth look at what constitutes courageous leadership. Scripture texts from Daniel introduce each chapter, and Hummel follows up with practical application, personal testimony, and anecdotes—all communicated in the fatherly tone forged by the author’s many years as a youth pastor and camp evangelist. Enumerating fourteen “laws of courageous leadership,” Hummel tutors his readers in how to be what he terms “show and tell Christians.”

The Daniel Dilemma: Real Courage for Real Life will help teens to better know Daniel’s God as their God—the strength of every generation in the face of any temptation.

Read a sample chapter of The Daniel Dilemma: Real Courage for Real Life.

Do You Have a Girl in the Mirror?

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231423 The Girl In The MirrorBack when I was growing up, face time could have referred to the hours my peers and I spent critically evaluating our faces in our bedroom mirrors, playing with different hair and clothing styles, and yes—removing any annoying zits that dared to tarnish the “landscape.” No one had to tell us to be sensitive about appearances, and no one had to coax us to (unwisely) compare ourselves to others. That’s what teens are famous for as they go through that time of searching not only for acceptance but also for answers.

Those of us whose outlook on life used to be entirely peer-driven want more for our own daughters (and granddaughters). We find as parents that our young people are quite unaware of how deeply we yearn to be positive role models—examples of strong and consistent faith that will mold their values during these crucial years. And we welcome tools that offer them the biblical perspective, which is so at odds with the pop culture that surrounds them.

The Girl in the Mirror, JourneyForth’s signature Bible study for teen girls, is a trustworthy and appealing venue of instruction for the young women who are important to you. Drawing primarily on the book of Proverbs and especially the Proverbs 31 woman, author Michelle Grover addresses such teen-relevant topics as Christian fidelity, dependability, appearance, relating to authority, sound speech, personal discipline, and many other aspects of a teen’s public and private life. The author’s approach is sympathetic, personal, and grounded on the premise that the fear of the Lord offers the only solid foundation for godly womanhood.

Presented in easy-to-follow lessons with questions and fill-in-the-blank follow-up answers, The Girl in the Mirror is well-suited for group interaction as well as personal Bible study. Notably feminine in its approach, you’ll find Grover’s priorities completely in step with your own as a Christian parent.

A Simple Method for Teaching Bible

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Isaiah

How do Bible study skills relate to biblical worldview shaping? First, you must understand that a biblical worldview consists of three ingredients:

(1) the larger story of the world,

(2) the beliefs and values that grow out of that larger story, and

(3) the cultural action or personal behavior that should result from those beliefs and values.

Second, once the purposeful aim for a series of Bible courses has been established, there needs to be a practical method in place for accomplishing that aim of worldview shaping. It’s important to teach children and teens a good process for studying the Bible to ensure that their beliefs and values (ingredient 2) truly grow out of the larger biblical story of the world (ingredient 1) and thus lead to appropriate cultural participation and personal behavior (ingredient 3).

Here’s a simple inductive Bible study method that you can teach your children:

  • Observe (what the Bible passage says)
  • Interpret (what the Bible passage means)
  • Apply (how the Bible passage should become meaningful)

The method can be tailored to multiple age-appropriate learning levels. Each step in the process can be more or less detailed as appropriate.

Example of an Inductive Study

You can use what God said to His people through Isaiah to teach your children a particular value—repentance. But that value will only make sense to your children when they accept the big story of Scripture (Creation, Fall, Redemption) regarding the reality of their condition before God. Only then will that value be personally adopted.

Isaiah passage

Example of how the inductive method can make this passage understandable and practical in terms of a biblical worldview:

  1. Observe (identify the belief/value): This step involves asking your children (at different age-appropriate levels) to mark or point out the word pictures and phrases that describe or show repentance.
  2. Interpret (understand and give significance to the belief/value based on the reality of the big story): This step involves asking your children to explain the word pictures that describe genuine repentance. Why is genuine repentance important to God?
  3. Apply (put the belief/value into practice): This step involves asking your children how the teachings on repentance relate to their own lives. Are there any parallels in their own lives that compare to the examples described in the passage?

Why the Order of the Inductive Method Is Important

Observing what God’s Word says and interpreting what it means must precede the application of its morals to life. If the process is reversed (beginning with application, skipping careful observation and interpretation), then Scripture gets twisted to fit into a preconceived human system of morals. Or the real significance—of relating properly to God in accordance with the larger reality of the world—gets lost.

Should Bible Be a Subject?

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Have you ever spent too much time studying the Bible? You know—you had two services on Sunday, and then because it was a special conference week, you attended daily workshops and sessions where amazing speakers taught you even more about God and His Word. Then to make things worse, you even found yourself reading the Bible for fun in your afternoon free time. That was just awful, wasn’t it?

I’m pretty sure I’ve never met a real Christian who felt that way. Of course, you can get tired. You can get frustrated trying to manage a schedule and Bible study. But if you know the Lord, there’s always great joy in learning about Him through His Word (Psalm 119:97). There’s nothing else as valuable as cultivating true knowledge and fear of the Lord (Psalm 19:10).

Sometimes when we divide up our time for the school week, we don’t always reflect this priority. We spend hours and hours every week working on science projects and math problems with our children. Why? Because that knowledge and those skills are important. But even more important than that is what they use that knowledge and skill for. The education they go through is not an end; it’s a means to an end. They learn in order to live a certain way. Their worldview shapes the way they use all their knowledge and skill.

BJU Press illustration of a boy reading Bible stories

As our children learn music, history, science, and mathematics, it’s essential that they learn the Bible as well. The Bible is going to give them the Christian worldview. This is why Bible study has always been a part of Christian education. It is foundational. Without a thorough knowledge of God and His Word, we cannot direct our learning of science or art in the right way. And we must not assume that participating in public or family worship can take the place of rigorous personal study of the Bible. Our worship flows out of our knowledge, but it cannot replace it. We need our children to be studying and memorizing Scripture with the same academic effort that they study the American Revolution and memorize their multiplication tables.

Many tools are available for that purpose, but the best will be a curricululm that has the big picture in view. You need a tool that not only takes into account

  • where children are academically,
  • what Bible content they should be covering each level, and
  • what they’re learning about in other subjects

but also has an overall strategy for combining all of these factors.

It is through rigorous Bible study that students acquire Bible knowledge, which is the foundation of a biblical worldview.

View courses for the BJU Press Distance Learning Bible curriculum.

Meeting Him: One Conversion at a Time

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Meeting Him by Beneth Peters Jones published by BJU PressFew spectacles bring more joy to the Christian woman’s heart than beholding the first expressions of faith in a fellow human being. There is hardly an experience on earth to parallel, let alone exceed seeing God’s work of grace in a soul to convict, woo, soften, and finally convert.

Just as she experiences physical birth in a way a man never could, perhaps a woman’s ability to respond emotionally to someone’s new birth is heightened as well. Just when I was hungry for such a soul-refreshing view, the Lord sent Meeting Him my way.

Showing us how women looked at Jesus and how Jesus looked at them is this author’s gift. Without criticism, comparisons, scolding, or sentimentality, Meeting Him by Beneth Peters Jones shows how the radiance of even the most saintly disappears in the brightness of Christ’s perfection and how the smudges of the most tarnished can by His forgiveness take on His brilliant luster.

Perhaps, like the Canaanite woman whose daughter was demon-possessed, you cried out to the Savior in desperate need. Or maybe like the woman with the prolonged issue of blood, you  approached Him timidly and reached out with a trembling hand. Are you like old Anna, who waited a long time for Him in God’s house? Or, as with the woman at the well, did He meet you in your daily routine and silence all your arguments?

What sets the sixteen vignettes in Meeting Him apart are depth and detail. Each woman in this diverse cast of gospel characters comes to life with equal vitality. Every transformation is complete, every work of grace, irreversible. And every single encounter with the Savior has a blessed ending.

With a study guide to enhance the reading experience, Meeting Him is abundantly satisfying reading for both teens and adults.

View the table of contents and the opening pages of Meeting Him.