HUMOR: Meet Jesus!

Not mine.  From here.

A certain man made a visit to one of his relatives in a far country who welcomed him and invited him to a church service the following day. The man had never been to a church. During the service, the pastor requested the visitors to stand up and he stood. After mentioning his name and where he came from, the pastor asked him whether he knows Jesus and he replied, “Pastor, I am still new in this place. I do not know anyone here!”

BONUS COMIC: Which version are you reading?

WEEKLY COMIC: Two Paths

GETTING READY: Why do we study the Bible?

Starting next week, we'll begin a series of introductory posts about the books of Romans and James, to help you prepare for next year.  But before we start diving into new text, let's pause a moment and think about why we study the Bible and why we Quiz. 

We take part in Bible Quizzing, because it encourages us to learn the Bible, right?  (I am hoping your answer is "Yes", but it's okay if it's "Yes, but there are other reasons, too.")  We love the Bible because we believe it is God's Word - His method of communicating with human beings.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
2 Timothy 3:16

 But there is a real danger in studying the scriptures, too.  Jesus actually had words of warning about it for the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law of his own day.

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,John 5:39

It is possible when studying the Bible to start thinking that the scriptures are the most important thing.  They are very important, but they are important because they point us to Jesus and to God!

Paul also has a warning to his readers.

...we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up.1 Corinthians 8:1

There is always a temptation when you gain knowledge to use it as a basis for pride.  But scripture is always warning people to be humble.  We're all nothing before God, and our best knowledge is only a tiny fraction of real understanding.

As we move into this new Bible Quizzing season, take a moment to examine and prepare your heart for your studying.  Make sure you are studying for the right reasons - to know God - and not for the wrong ones.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: Houghton Chapel Mural

Some of you know Coach Matt and Coach Mark are alumni of Houghton College. This is a photo from a mural at the college campus, showing the progression of Church history.

MUSICAL INTERLUDE: Mediator

NEWS FROM THE FRONT: Bible Quizzers in Manassas, VA

"News from the Front" will be a periodic feature over the summer, reporting on former Bible Quizzers now working in ministry, either full-time or short-term.  We'll always try to include how their career as a quizzer prepared them for their work.  If you have a story about your missions trip, or a former Bible Quizzer, please e-mail the coaches!

Several members of the Monroe Bible Quiz Team are going along with the Beacon Hill Church Youth Group on a missions trip to Manassas, VA from June 30 to July 5.  The team will consist of 10 people - 8 teens and 2 chaperones - going on a "Week of Hope" to the area.  While their exact duties are not yet fully known, the group will be focussed on Community Service and Outreach, along with over 100 other students from around the country.  The theme for the week will be "What Do You Stand For?"

Please be praying for this trips - and especially your fellow Bible Quizzers - as they go on this adventure for God.  There are sure to be difficulties and trials - Satan rarely fails to oppose warriors on the battlefield - but please pray that they will overcome and see spiritual growth in their own lives and the lives to whom they have been sent!

HUMOR: Feed Me

Not mine.  From here.

One Saturday the Pastor's 5 year old daughter complained of a stomach ache to her mother. Her mother replied, "That's because you have an empty stomach. You need to feed it with something."

The next day her father sat down after a long sermon and complained of a headache. His daughter replied, "That's because you have nothing in your head you need to feed it with something."

BIBLE NEWS: Wycliffe Develops a Sign Language Bible

Christians have worked hard to bring the gospel to the "Ends of the Earth" geographically, but there are still people groups who are unreached due to circumstances other than geography.  For example, it is hard to hear the gospel if you are deaf.  But Wycliffe is looking to change all of that.  The Great Commission is being fulfilled in new and exciting ways!

"There is still no full translation of the Bible in any sign language," reports Wycliffe. Yet the Japan Deaf Evangel Mission (JDEM) aims to change that, creating the world's only full-text sign language Bible using video-recorded Scriptures.
According to JDEM, the mission of its ViBi project is to "translate the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures into Japanese Sign Language (JSL) and produce them on visual media, placing these Bible tapes for sale in bookstores throughout Japan."

WEEKLY COMIC: Forbidden Toppings

GETTING READY: Bible Quizzing Rules

If you're talking with friends and family about joining the Bible Quiz Team for the 2013-2014 season, they'll want to know how quizzing works.  How many questions, what's the time limits, what kinds of questions, how are quizzes run, etc.  No single video can answer all of those questions, but the rules certainly can.  We've got them all online for your printing and reading pleasure.  Click here or the image below for the full rule-set.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: Bible Truck

For some, the Bible is art.  For others, bringing the Bible into art (and onto their vehicles) is a way to express their individuality.  (For a bonus, check out the Bible Scooter.)

MUSICAL INTERLUDE: He Is With Us

DID YOU KNOW: What are the names of God?

"DID YOU KNOW?" will be a summer series where we review issues of the Bible and the Christian faith of special interest. If you have a suggestion/question that you'd like addressed in a "DID YOU KNOW?" segment, please e-mail the coaches.

What names does God have in the Bible?

Names are very important things in scripture.  God gave new names to many of His chosen people, to signify the change in their status or identity. Abram ("high father") became Abraham ("father of many nations").  Jacob ("deceiver") becomes Israel ("wrestles with God").  A name isn't just an equivalent for "that guy", but rather defines who we are.

So what names does scripture give for God?  You may be surprised just how many names He has!

• Advocate - 1 John 2:1 

• Almighty - Revelation 1:8 

• Alpha - Revelation 1:8 

• Amen - Revelation 3:14 

• Angel of the Lord - Genesis 16:7 

• Anointed One - Psalm 2:2 

• Apostle - Hebrews 3:1 

• Author and Perfecter of our Faith - Hebrews 12:2 

• Beginning - Revelation 21:6 

• Bishop of Souls - 1 Peter 2:25 

• Branch - Zechariah 3:8 

• Bread of Life - John 6:35,48 

• Bridegroom - Matthew 9:15 

• Carpenter - Mark 6:3 

• Chief Shepherd - 1 Peter 5:4 

• The Christ - Matthew 1:16 

• Comforter - Jeremiah 8:18 

• Consolation of Israel - Luke 2:25 

• Cornerstone - Ephesians 2:20 

• Dayspring - Luke 1:78 

• Day Star - 2 Peter 1:19 

• Deliverer - Romans 11:26 

• Desire of Nations - Haggai 2:7 

• Emmanuel - Matthew 1:23 

• End - Revelation 21:6 

• Everlasting Father - Isaiah 9:6 

• Faithful and True Witness - Revelation 3:14 

• First Fruits - 1 Corinthians 15:23 

• Foundation - Isaiah 28:16 

• Fountain - Zechariah 13:1 

• Friend of Sinners - Matthew 11:19 

• Gate for the Sheep - John 10:7 

• Gift of God - 2 Corinthians 9:15 

• God - John 1:1 

• Glory of God - Isaiah 60:1 

• Good Shepherd - John 10:11 

• Governor - Matthew 2:6 

• Great Shepherd - Hebrews 13:20 

• Guide - Psalm 48:14

And many more.  Click thru the link for the full list!

HUMOR: Kindness to Animals

Not mine.  From here.

A minister was talking to a children's Sunday School class about kindness to animals. He spoke about the Biblical references to substantiate his case. 
"Now let's suppose," he said, " that you saw a bad person cutting off the tail of a cat. What Biblical quotation would you use to tell him of the terrible wrong he was doing?"

"Sir, I would point out to him," one of the students said, "What God hath joined together, let no man put asunder. (Matthew. 19:v6)

BIBLE NEWS: Is Norway seeing a Bible revival?

Europe is known for now fostering a secular (i.e. non-Christian) society, but that doesn't mean God isn't at work.  Recently, Norway has seen a surprise surge of sales of the Bible after a new translation was released which modernized the language for the Norwegian audience.

It may sound like an unlikely No. 1 best-seller for any country, but in Norway — one of the most secular nations in an increasingly godless Europe — the runaway popularity of the Bible has caught the country by surprise. The Scriptures, in a new Norwegian language version, even outpaced "Fifty Shades of Grey" to become Norway's best-selling book.
The sudden burst of interest in God's word has also spread to the stage, with a six-hour play called "Bibelen," Norwegian for "the Bible," drawing 16,000 people in a three-month run that recently ended at one of Oslo's most prominent theaters.
Officials of the Lutheran Church of Norway have stopped short of calling it a spiritual awakening, but they see the newfound interest in the Bible as proof that it still resonates in a country where only 1 percent of the 5 million residents regularly attends church.

WEEKLY COMIC: Furry Treasures

GETTING READY: Kinds of Questions

As you're looking to recruit people for the 2013-2014 season, the first questions that often come up are "What is Bible Quizzing like?  What kinds of questions do they ask?"  Luckily, we have a little video that shows the kinds of questions we face in Bible Quizzing.  Feel free to pass it around!

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: St. Peter's Basilica

The interior of Saint Peters Basilica in Vatican City.

MUSICAL INTERLUDE: Bled for Me

DID YOU KNOW: Who were the human authors of the Bible?

"DID YOU KNOW?" will be a summer series where we review issues of the Bible and the Christian faith of special interest. If you have a suggestion/question that you'd like addressed in a "DID YOU KNOW?" segment, please e-mail the coaches.

Who wrote the Bible, in a human sense?

The Bible is not one book, but a collection of books written by a number of men (as inspired by the Holy Spirit) across the centuries. Did you know just how many people were involved with producing the scriptures you hold today?

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy = Moses - 1400 B.C.
Joshua = Joshua - 1350 B.C.
Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel = Samuel/Nathan/Gad - 1000 - 900 B.C.
1 Kings, 2 Kings = Jeremiah - 600 B.C.
1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah = Ezra - 450 B.C.
Esther = Mordecai - 400 B.C.
Job = Moses - 1400 B.C.
Psalms = several different authors, mostly David - 1000 - 400 B.C.
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon = Solomon - 900 B.C.
Isaiah = Isaiah - 700 B.C.
Jeremiah, Lamentations = Jeremiah - 600 B.C.
Ezekiel = Ezekiel - 550 B.C.
Daniel = Daniel - 550 B.C.
Hosea = Hosea - 750 B.C.
Joel = Joel - 850 B.C.
Amos = Amos - 750 B.C.
Obadiah = Obadiah - 600 B.C.
Jonah = Jonah - 700 B.C.
Micah = Micah - 700 B.C.
Nahum = Nahum - 650 B.C.
Habakkuk = Habakkuk - 600 B.C.
Zephaniah = Zephaniah - 650 B.C.
Haggai = Haggai - 520 B.C.
Zechariah = Zechariah - 500 B.C.
Malachi = Malachi - 430 B.C.
Matthew = Matthew - A.D. 55
Mark = John Mark - A.D. 50
Luke = Luke - A.D. 60
John = John - A.D. 90
Acts = Luke - A.D. 65
Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon = Paul - A.D. 50-70
Hebrews = unknown, mostly likely Paul, Luke, Barnabas, or Apollos - A.D. 65
James = James - A.D. 45
1 Peter, 2 Peter = Peter - A.D. 60
1 John, 2 John, 3 John = John - A.D. 90
Jude = Jude - A.D. 60
Revelation = John - A.D. 90

From GotQuestions.Org.

HUMOR: Antique or Antiquated?

Not mine.  From here.

A collector of rare books ran into an acquaintance who told him he had just thrown away an old Bible that he found in a dusty, old box. He happened to mention that Guten-somebody-or-other had printed it. "Not Gutenberg?" gasped the collector. "Yes, that was it!""You idiot! You've thrown away one of the first books ever printed. A copy recently sold at auction for half a million dollars!" "Oh, I don't think this book would have been worth anything close to that much," replied the man. "It was scribbled all over in the margins by some clown named Martin Luther."

BIBLE NEWS: The Tsunami & The Bible Translators

We hear stories about the horrible things that missionaries had to endure in the old days.  Beheadings, hangings, cannibalism, etc.  We thank God that those kinds of things don't happen anymore, and that missionary work is "safe" these days.  For better or worse, we're simply and completely wrong about that.

John and Bonnie Nystrom are missionaries working in Papua New Guinea with Wycliffe Bible Translators.  They were working with local pastors in the village of Arop village to develop a version of the Bible in the local language when a massive tsunami (giant wave caused by an undersea earthquake) hit the island.

"One out of every three people that we know was killed there, and some of the families that we know lost a lot of people. In fact, after the tsunami, our friend Pastor Peter Marokiki was the only one we knew; we know another family now – where the father mother and all the children survived. Every other family that we knew of, they lost at least some of their family members," Mr. Nystrom told The Christian Post.

As we learned this year in Matthew, Jesus never promised that his followers would escape trouble - in fact he promised the disciples that they would be persecuted.  What he promises is that he will always be there with us, and walk with us through the trials of life.

WEEKLY COMIC: Overdoing It

GETTING READY: Recruiting for Next Year

We had a great team this year!  Everyone contributed with knowledge, skill, leadership, and good humor.  We're hoping each and every one of you are back next year.  But that doesn't mean we don't want to expand the team!

Over the summer, look around for potential new recruits for the 2013-2014 Bible Quiz Team.  The requirements include:

• A willingness to study the books, reading the chapter for the week at least twice every day.
• The ability to come to practices during the Sunday School hour.
• The interest in coming to the Quiz Meets approximately once a month.

That's it!  There is no requirement that they be church members or even that their parents attend the church.  We'll have a kickoff in the early Fall if they are interested, but they can feel free to talk to the coaches any Sunday or thru e-mail.

If you know anyone who's interested, here is our promo:

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: Pew Bible Army

From the Cadet Chapel at West Point.

MUSICAL INTERLUDE: Light of the World

DID YOU KNOW: How long did it take to write the Bible?

"DID YOU KNOW?" will be a summer series where we review issues of the Bible and the Christian faith of special interest. If you have a suggestion/question that you'd like addressed in a "DID YOU KNOW?" segment, please e-mail the coaches.

How long did it take to write the whole Bible?

It was written over a period of some 1,500 years, from around 1450 B.C. (the time of Moses) to about 100 A.D. (following the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ)

HUMOR: Breakable

Not mine.  From here.

There was a very gracious lady who was mailing an old family Bible to her brother in another part of the country. 

“Is there anything breakable in here?” asked the postal clerk. 

“Only the Ten Commandments”, answered the lady.

BIBLE NEWS: "Bible Quiz" - The Movie

We've done our share of movie-making for Bible Quizzing over the years, but we've never tried to make a full-blown documentary about the ministry.  But now, it looks like a former Bible Quizzer has taken the time to film and tell a story around our unique way of learning the Bible.  They use a slightly different system from ours, but the basics of competition are the same.


Trailer from Bible Quiz Movie on Vimeo.