Some Resources

I really do want this website to be of help to people. My thought for tonight is one that I hope is really practical, and that is to share with you some resources I have used in regards to my Bible study and preparation for different teaching opportunities in the past.

When I desire to do a deeper study I tend to use study Bibles, commentary, and other resources and so I will share some of those with you below.

I tend to start with just the Scriptures themselves, and for that I will typically use my NASB John MacArthur study Bible. The footnotes come later though as I want to do my best to understand the passage on my own before consulting commentary.

I'll also use Biblehub and Blue Letter Bible for the Hebrew or Greek. I'm no language expert but I still like to look at it to get a fuller understanding of the meanings of words and if I can, the grammar as well.

For a very broad understanding of the context of a book, I'll check out book introductions in my study Bibles as well as a Bible dictionary.

Once I feel I have an idea of the meaning of the passage, I like to consult commentary, starting with study Bible foot notes. Then I'll move to larger commentaries. But I try not to over do it. A small handful of them is sufficient I believe to come to a consensus on what a passage means.

Some suggestions for commentary are John MacArthur's commentary on the New Testament, Matthew Henry, and I've also personally used PreceptAustin quite a bit. They do a great job of pulling from a variety of sources. But it's a lot of information. Also two other resources that are by the same group, got questions and Bibleref

At that point it's good to start thinking application and actually writing out any notes.

Anyway that's just a glimpse into how I've studied in the past and prepared.

Of course the most important thing is prayer and reliance on the Holy Spirit. You can be completely prepared intellectually and write out an awesome manuscript, but if He is not at work, it will be fruitless. It is the Word and the Spirit, not mans eloquence, that changes the hearts of people.

I hope you find that all helpful. Until next week, God bless.