Bible Study Magazine—May–June 2009 Issue

• Feature Stories
  Discover new ways to connect the Bible with your ministry and life through reading great interviews with and articles from the biggest names in the church and biblical scholarship.
• Bible Study Tips
  Thoughtful and engaging authors tackle the tough passages in Scripture, explain difficult concepts, and confront complex interpretations in a way that helps God’s Word make sense to your life.
• On the Cutting Edge
  Keep up-to-date on the latest news in biblical research, including archaeological and historical findings.
• A New Kind of Bible Study
  Encounter God by yourself or with other believers with an ongoing Bible study in each issue.
• On Teaching
  Get advice on how to preach or teach the Bible in any setting from well-known pastors and teachers who use the Bible every day.
• Tool Box
  Learn how to effectively use the latest Bible study tools with our how-to guides.
• In the News
  Keep informed about the latest news in biblically-related topics, discoveries, and events.
• Thoughts from the Ancients
  Read the Bible along with those who have come before you, and learn from the wisdom of the early church—in their own words.
• Word Studies
  Get a close-up view of the Bible! Each issue contains insights about specific words found in the Bible, and tutorials on how to do word studies.
• If Only Someone Would Explain It to Me
  Enrich your understanding of the Bible with explanations of biblical and theological concepts by top scholars.
• Did You Know?
  Discover interesting facts about the Bible in the contemporary and ancient world.
• What They Don’t Tell You in Church
  See things you never noticed in biblical passages you have read dozens of times.
• Biblical Humor
  The funniest stories and the best comics related to the Bible, useful for any setting.
• Book Reviews
  Stay on top of the latest books about Bible study. Each issue contains reviews of the books and commentaries to equip you in your study of God’s Word.

Excerpts from the May-June 2009 Issue!

Real-Life Make-Believe: Randy Alcorn on Having a Biblical Voice

The best-selling author of more than thirty fiction and non-fiction books, including Heaven, The Treasure Principle, and Safely Home says, “The Bible is the lifeline of my work.”

Alcorn first picked up the Bible when his mother brought him to church. “It was the Sunday they gave out Bibles to third graders,” Alcorn laughs, “and I was a third grader, so I got a Bible!” He put it on a shelf, where it remained for several years, until his curiosity was piqued after visiting a high school youth group. “I went home and finally started reading the Bible.”

Bible Study at Bat: How Major Leaguers Handle the Change-Ups

Major League Baseball players leave their homes in mid-to-late February every year for spring training, and the earliest they return home on a regular basis, barring injury, is late September. Players on teams that make the playoffs might not make it home until the end of October. Some players don’t stop there. They go on to play in fall or winter leagues.

Since this make regular church attendance nearly impossible for the majority of the year, how do Christian players stay strong spiritually when they can’t get to church? And who challenges them to dig into the Bible? People like Jeff Totten, the Baseball Chapel leader of the Detroit Tigers.

Clash of the Manuscripts: Goliath and the Hebrew Text of the Old Testament

Goliath may have been killed three thousand years ago, but he’s still an imposing obstacle—this time to Bible scholars. But how can a story so easily followed by children be a conundrum for scholars? It happens all the time when you study Hebrew manuscripts.

The story of David and Goliath (1 Sam 17) presents a number of thorny problems to textual critics, scholars who specialize in studying manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible to determine the precise reading of the original text.