The Swedish Method

Peter Blowes / 1st January 2009

Want to read the Bible with someone? Go Swedish, says Peter Blowes.

For 19 years, I worked in Argentina in a context where many university students were unaccustomed to reading. Bible studies in that country (with its strong Catholic influence and practices expressed in the current evangelical style) were often an exercise in glancing at a text and then using ‘authorities’ to prove a point. For example, a youth group would typically read a passage of Scripture, close their Bibles to discuss ...

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Blood, sweat and tears

Donald Howard / 1st January 2009

Donald Howard shows us why sermon preparation is still a matter of much-needed hard work.¹

There is a joy in pulpit preparation—a sense of expectation which spurs us on. But work is needed:

There are those [wrote WE Sangster] who argue that the preacher ought to lose the duty in joy ... that a minister should run to his pulpit murmuring within himself: ‘Fancy being paid to do this!’ There is much truth in this point of view ... But hard work is collar work—especially at the start! Even a ...

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• Library How to read the Bible
• Library The One Minute Bible Study
• Library The end of quiet times
• Library Factotum #4: Praying in small groups
• Library Factotum #3: One-to-one prayer and Bible reading
• Library Just a matter of opinion? Straight answers to curly questions #3
• Library Isn’t religion just cultural? Straight answers to curly questions #2