Registration is a chance to collect valuable information about your participants that can help you build small groups, evaluate the success of your program and plan for the future. Here are some questions you might want to include on your registration forms.

July is the time to start preparing for your fall Bible study. Are you overwhelmed by the details or don’t know where to start? Assuming your study starts in September, here’s my summer ministry preparation checklist.

Commentaries can kick-start your thinking when you hit a dead end but should not be a substitute for your own work. Here’s my two rules of thumb.

Multi-volume encyclopedias are good sources for historical and biblical themes. But background information does not impose meaning.

Lexicons & dictionaries can reveal what might be “lost in translation” but they also tempt us to fall into the trap of “I learned a fact about a word and I must use it.”

A concordance is an organized list of all the biblical texts which contain a given word. Concordances allow you to broaden your understanding of how a word is used and its range of meanings.  There are 3 types: analytical, exhaustive and complete.

You’ll be surprised at how the information on a map can open your study. Consider how knowing that the road to Jericho was 17-miles changes the parable of the good Samaritan

What do you believe about your English translation of the Bible? Here are 5 ideas you should NOT hold.

Since every translation is an interpretation of the original language, you should consult several translations of different types when studying the Bible. Bibles fall on an interpretation scale and it will improve your study if you know the difference and have one of each type.

I can spend 20 hour a week in Bible study without complaint but I’d rather shovel rocks than sit through most 20 minute sermons. Transformation without information has all the nourishment of whipped cream.