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November 13, 2018

Here’s One Great Way to Focus on Christ This Christmas

Thanksgiving (in the USA) is almost upon us, and Advent is just around the corner. That means it’s time for our free Advent and Christmas devotions. This year, we’re bringing back several favorite classic devotionals, and introducing a new one that we think will help you to renew your focus on God’s Word this holiday season.

You can sign up for them on our newsletter page, which is always a good place to find out what’s new and discover old gems you may not have known about. Each of these free Christmas-related devotionals begins on or shortly after Advent, which is December 2nd this year. Sign up today so you won’t miss them. Here’s what we have to offer this year:

Bible Gateway Advent Devotions: Our classic Christmas devotional, bringing you Scripture readings and Christmas inspiration from Christian thinkers ancient and modern. (Runs throughout Advent.)
Classic Christmas Hymns: This Christmas season, find new appreciation for these classic hymns about Jesus’ birth by learning about their history, and by thinking about their lyrics in greater depth. (Runs for 9 days.)
How to Live the Bible with Mel Lawrenz: Christmas Joy: Have you ever wondered where all the Christmas joy went? How did things get so complicated? So squeezed and cluttered? A nonstop buzz of Christmas lights and weary shoppers, boisterous television specials and pleading children. It doesn’t have to be this way. We can choose to step aside, step into a quieter moment. This is a great place to start if you want to discover the true joy of Christmas. (Starts December 1st and ends on Christmas Day.)

Taken together, these three free Christmas devotionals approach the holiday season differently—and all of them will help you to focus on the person of Jesus Christ as Christmas grows nearer.

Learn more about the wonders of Jesus coming to dwell among us when you become a member of Bible Gateway Plus. Try it right now!

November 13, 2018

Women Called to Ministry: An Interview with Kristen Padilla

Jonathan Petersen

What does it mean to be called to ministry? What does the Bible say about men and women in ministry? Who are the examples in the Bible of being called to ministry? What are the practical tools to help you pursue God’s call for your life?

Bible Gateway interviewed Kristen Padilla (@kristenpadilla) about her book, Now That I’m Called: A Guide for Women Discerning a Call to Ministry (Zondervan, 2018).

What does the Bible say about ministerial calling?

Kristen Padilla: Scripture is not a ministerial calling textbook. However, we can extrapolate from Scripture a loose definition of a ministerial calling.

Humans were created to be in relationship with God and to govern over creation. After the Fall, God employs humans to be involved in his plan of redemption. He reveals himself to individuals like Abraham, Jacob, Moses, etc., to do something on his behalf. Abraham’s task is to travel throughout the land, to believe and to obey. God makes a covenant with Abraham and promises to create a people through Abraham’s line for himself, who will also be part of this covenant.

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November 12, 2018

Finding Those Nuggets of Beauty in the Midst of Dark Days

Guest Post

By Kim Taylor Henry

Those who seek me find me. . . . My fruit is better than fine gold.
—Proverbs 8:17, 19 (NIV)

“No matter how awful my day has been, there are always some gifts of beauty in it, however small. Every night I review my day and ask God to help me find them, and he always does.”

When I heard those words from a friend who’s battling a serious illness, a memory rose and settled gently on my mind. . . . I’m about eight years old. My grandpa stands next to me at a large backyard metal tub filled with water. He reaches into a bucket of deep brown creek-bottom mud and places some in his gold-mining pan and in mine. He drizzles water in and expertly circles his pan, swirling the liquid into and through the mud, patiently showing me how. I try it. Sure enough, within a few minutes, the sludge gives way to fine black sand amid which tiny golden nuggets sparkle.

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November 12, 2018

New Public School Curriculum Teaches Wisdom Literature from the Bible

Jonathan Petersen

New curriculum to teach specific books of the Bible academically in public high schools is now available from Essentials in Education (EIE). Wisdom Literature from the Bible is a standards-based (National Council of Teachers of English/International Reading Association) curriculum using material from the writings of

in the Hebrew Scriptures to teach English/Language Arts objectives and incorporate lessons of character that can be imparted from the Bible.

[Read Bible Gateway Blog posts that introduce you to the Bible]

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November 11, 2018

Bible News Roundup – Week of November 11, 2018

Jonathan Petersen

Read this week’s Bible Gateway Weekly Brief newsletter
⇨ Bible Gateway Weekly Brief
⇨ Newsletter signup
▼

Support Bible Gateway—Browse the Bible Gateway Store
⇨ BibleGatewayStore.com
▼

Woodrow Wilson, the Bible, and the End of the Great War
⇨ The Hill
▼

City Takes Extraordinary Action on Reading Bible in Public
⇨ WND
⇨ Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, Scripture Says Reading the Bible in Public is Important
▼

Archaeologists Discover 1,500-Year-Old Painting of Jesus Being Baptized
⇨ WND
⇨ Read about Jesus’ baptism from Matthew 3 on Bible Gateway
▼

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November 8, 2018

The Apostle Paul’s Final 12 Hours: An Interview with Brent Crowe

Jonathan Petersen

In the biblical letter of 2 Timothy, the apostle Paul reflected on his passing life, saying, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” What would it be like to creatively peel back the curtain of Paul’s final 12 hours of his time on earth? What could we learn about living life with purpose, redeeming the time, and embracing the mysterious reality that we, too, are on a sacred journey?

Bible Gateway interviewed Brent Crowe (@BrentACrowe) about his book, Moments ’til Midnight: The Final Thoughts of a Wandering Pilgrim (B&H Books, 2018).

What inspired you to write Moments ’til Midnight?

Brent Crowe: I once had the privilege of visiting the prison and dungeon in Rome where the apostle Paul was held in the days leading up to his execution. In that very prison Paul wrote a letter that we refer to as 2 Timothy. It was the location where Paul spent his final days.

I still see that prison when I teach about Paul’s life and impact on the world. This one man led the movement of Christianity and contributed 13 books to the Bible. Yet, at the end of the day, Paul was merely a Christ-follower: an earthly pilgrim wandering toward heaven. Yes, we study and hope to emulate his theology and methodology, his leadership, and his impact. But like all of us, Paul was just trying to go home.

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November 7, 2018

How to Live the Bible — Jesus, Our Teacher

Mel Lawrenz

This is the forty-fifth lesson in author and pastor Mel Lawrenz’ How to Live the Bible series. If you know someone or a group who would like to follow along on this journey through Scripture, they can get more info and sign up to receive these essays via email here.

Life and Light Books

If someone asked you who your favorite teacher was when you were growing up, chances are someone specific would come to mind. And chances are you still respect that person today not because he or she was a fantastic lecturer, or had a superior knowledge of the subject matter, or had a memorable voice. Our favorite teachers—the ones who influenced not just our thinking, but our lives—are usually those people who taught us about life. And it wasn’t just with their words. Their own lives were distinctive.

Jesus is widely considered the greatest teacher of all time. But we will only understand him in this capacity if we consider setting and context. Jesus was not a college lecturer or a mystical philosopher. Those who were under the teaching of Jesus were following him on foot, from one village to the next. They heard a parable when he walked into a field of grain, a discourse on being the bread sent from heaven after he fed a multitude, and debriefings with his disciples after many argumentative flareups with the Pharisees and teachers of the law. At a Jewish festival where water was used, he stood and said in a loud voice: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink” (John 7:37). Jesus’ teaching was dynamic and interactive. It spoke into both the practicalities of everyday life, and into cosmic, eternal issues.

Jesus teaching illustration

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November 6, 2018

Listening to God’s Voice and Finding Your Own: An Interview with Sandi Patty

Jonathan Petersen

With a poignant history of sexual abuse, infidelity, divorce, and crises of self-image, music icon and 5-time Grammy winner and 40-time Dove Award winner Sandi Patty reveals in her new book how she found her voice within the context of God’s design for her life and helps others do the same.

Bible Gateway interviewed Sandi Patty (@SandiPattyP) about her book, The Voice: Listening for God’s Voice and Finding Your Own (Zondervan, 2018).

[Browse the many books and music CDs by Sandi Patty in the Bible Gateway Store]

What do you mean when you write, “For much of my life, I felt voiceless”?

Sandi Patty: I was a shy kid and words were hard for me. My family was very musical and I found great comfort in music. In fact, I would hear a song and I’d think, “Oh, that’s how I feel. Maybe if I learn these words to this song, I can finally speak up using music.” Music has been, in essence, my voice all of these years. I also struggled so much with second guessing myself with opinions or decisions and I’m the type of personality that will always want to make others and/or the situation around me conflict free. However, the cost of always doing that is silencing my voice. I spent much of my first 35 years feelings voiceless…but I’ve learned and I continue to learn that my voice has value, but that my real value comes from who I am in Christ.

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November 5, 2018

Discover the CSB Baker Illustrated Study Bible

Jonathan Petersen

The CSB Baker Illustrated Study Bible (Baker Books, 2018) is designed to both satisfy your hunger and increase your appetite for God’s Word. By pairing the highly reliable, highly readable Christian Standard Bible (CSB) (@CSBible) translation text with extensive notes, illustrations, maps, and articles from leading evangelical scholars, this full-color study Bible will help you understand the Scriptures and the world in which they were written as never before.

[Read the Christian Standard Bible (CSB) translation on Bible Gateway]

The CSB Baker Illustrated Study Bible is a fully illustrated, information-packed study Bible featuring the clear and accurate CSB translation. Its robust study features include contributions from more than 200 evangelical Christian scholars who are experts in their fields. In all, this Bible includes more than one million words of study notes to help you understand and apply the life-changing message of God’s Word.

[Sign up to get the free Verse of the Day in the CSB Bible translation delivered to your email inbox from Bible Gateway]

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