Children's thoughts on exploring the Bible

One of the joys of being the Children’s Editor at The Good Book Company is the letters, cards, pictures and emails sent in by our youngest readers. These are mostly under 11s who are reading the Bible with XTB (eXplore The Bible). I thought you’d enjoy a few of their comments (unedited by me except for removing names):

• (A 7-year-old) I am reading the bible wih xtb notes and last night the notes said that if I sent you my favourite bible verse, you would kindly send me a pencil. I love the promise in genesis 12 verse 2 when God says to Abraham I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing". I like it because it shows that we can trust God and what he says is true. I really enjoy the xtb notes. Thank you!
• (6-year-old) My favourite verse in the bible is John 3v16. I like it because it say's why God sent Jesus and it is the most famous verse in the bible. Please could you send me a pencil - I love doing XTB.
• I am 8 years old and I live in Scotland. I liked day 1 best because it had Lots of pages to do When I had nothing to do.I am looking forward to the next book.I dident understand my Bible because It was an old fashon vetion.I liked your xtb so much I think that nothing could make It better.I would love it if you replied but you dont Have to.
• (6-year-old) Mathew 28;20. I like it because if I get scared he will always be with me.
• (7-year-old) alison, could you please tell me how to tell my friend's about Jesus?
• (9-year-old) Thank you for the XTB for I am going onto "Explore" now as I have been right through XTB. XTB has been really helpful to me.
• (Three children after reading my note in XTB asking them to check that what I write is correct – just as the Bereans checked what Paul told them, Acts 17v11) We are the ______ family. There are three girls in our family – ______, who is nine; ______, who is seven; and ______, who is four. There is also our Mom and Dad. We live in California. We love Table Talk and XTB. Today we read about the Bereans, and we saw your note. We thought we would write to you ourselves to say thank you for writing these Table Talks and XTBs so we can learn about the Bible with our Mom and Dad. ______’s favorite part is that it helps people become Christians – she is trying to become one. _____ says your books make the Bible exciting. _____ doesn’t do XTB yet, but she loves to answer questions from Table Talk when she’s done a good job eating her dinner. ______ would like to ask “Are you a Christian? If so, how did you become one? I’m very interested because I’m trying to become one but I’m having a hard time at it.” The ______ parents would like to say “Thank you so much for your work. We have 2.5 Bible degrees and several generations of pastors in our combined family heritage, but regular family worship time with our kids is still so hard! Your materials make it easy, and it’s the most gospel-centered, Christ-focussed we’ve come across. Thank you!”
• (From a mum) On busy evenings - despite her love of stories - when given the choice of Roald Dahl or XTB, XTB wins each time.

I have files of letters from XTB readers going back nearly 12 years. Some of them will be parents themselves now. It’s great hearing from children who love reading their Bible and getting to know God better through it – and who want to tell their friends about Jesus too. What a privilege.

Music for musically-challenged youth leaders

There's no getting away from it. Young people do love their music. And when they meet together at youth group they want to sing ... or at least listen to the songs they enjoy. But not all youth leaders share that passion for music. Some don't have a musical bone in their bodies. How can such people lead music with their keen teens?

In this seminar, first given at the Bible-centred youthworker conference in January, Philip Percival from EMU Music gives some top tips for leading music with young people at church.

Using technology in youth work

We need to be biblical. We have to be clear. And every youth worker wants to be relevant. But does that mean including technology as part and parcel of our teaching? And if so, to what extent? When does a useful tool because a distracting burden? Or a trendy gimmick that helps no-one...

In this seminar first given at the Bible-centred Youthworker conference earlier this year, Jon Bradley looks at the role of technology in youth work.

Growing Up in Christ

Spirituality. What is it? Do children have it? Does it change over time? Questions that many a children's worker has asked themselves over the years.

In this seminar, first given at the Bible Centred Youthworker conference earlier this year, Mel Lacy from Oak Hill Theological College looks at how a child's spirituality grows as they do.

Storytelling with under 11s

The Bible is an awesome true story. And Jesus the ultimate story-teller. So it's no surprise that telling Bible stories is a fantastic way for God's people to teach others about his greatness. But it's not always easy to engage a room full of small people in a complex biblical narrative in ways that are both faithful and relevant.

In this seminar, first given at the Bible-centred Youthworker conference earlier this year, Sarah Bradley shares her top tips for storytelling with under 11s.

Discipleship Explored: A pre-emptive strike

Barry Cooper explains who Discipleship Explored is for: “It’s intended for Christians, whether they’ve just started the Christian life, or have been on the road for a number of years.” And how has the series been received? “We’ve been thrilled to see the way God’s been using it. It was nominated for media product of the year at the CBC awards, which made our friends in the marketing department very happy! But for me, the real joy comes from the personal emails with stories of how lives have been changed. I remember hearing from Tim Chester in Sheffield and he said: ‘We should watch that ten-minute episode [“Righteous in Christ”] at least once a year because it encapsulates the truth of justification so well and applies it so powerfully.’ Our aim with Discipleship Explored is to get out of the way and just let God’s Word speak for itself, so it was lovely to hear that.”

The irony for Barry was that the opportunity to present an eight-part DVD series on the so-called “New Testament letter of joy” came at a time when he was struggling with profound grief. “There were some personal issues at that point in my life which left me feeling isolated and extremely lonely, and so to be in front of camera every day was a huge challenge for me. At the same time, I was immensely grateful for the things that God was teaching me as I wrote the series. I needed those lessons about contentment. Still do! And I think the fact that I was suffering probably helped me to get under the skin of Philippians a bit better than I would have done otherwise.”

And for Barry, there couldn’t be a better time to rediscover the truths taught in Discipleship Explored: “D. A. Carson says at the start of How Long, O Lord that it’s not much use trying to sort out our theology of suffering when we’re right in the middle of it. You can’t put up storm defences as the waves are crashing against you. So for me, Philippians is a pre-emptive strike. It’s a defence against the storm that is coming.”

The Discipleship Explored DVD

Discipleship Explored is supported by a DVD written and presented by Barry Cooper. Each episode is beautifully shot on location around the UK, with settings as diverse as Highgate’s gothic cemetery, an East End boxing ring, a huge athletics stadium, a decommissioned observatory, an eerily empty underground station, and a scrapyard, filled with towering stacks of long abandoned cars.

It’s a visual treat, with a gorgeous soundtrack and a rumbling voiceover from James Cosmo, the Scottish actor perhaps best known for his work on Braveheart. The director is Steve Hughes, Cooper’s long-time friend and collaborator, who has just recently finished work on the BBC’s Dr Who. But the star of the series is the script, based firmly in God’s Word.

Barry explains his thinking behind the scripts: “I think one biblical idea clearly understood is better than three dimly grasped. With something as theologically rich as Philippians, it’s tempting to try and say everything—and end up saying nothing. So I wanted to make each episode as lean as possible, to hit one point and keep hitting that point as clearly as I could. Each episode has a single pulse that runs all the way through it, and hopefully there’s real power and clarity that comes from that.”

See the Discipleship Explored trailer here to get a feel for this DVD.

And please note: The DVD has been redesigned as part of developing the 2nd Edition of Discipleship Explored. However, the contents are unchanged from the previous version of the DVD, so you do not need to buy a new DVD if you already have an existing one.

Philippians - a letter of joy?

“Philippians is a letter whose time is coming. And it’s coming soon. We’ve enjoyed an unprecedented period of ease and goodwill in recent times. But when you look at human history—and other parts of the world—you soon realise that all this comfort is just a blip. Don’t expect it to last, because it won’t. Suffering is coming.”

For Barry Cooper, hearing Dick Lucas say those words proved to be the decisive moment as he wrote and presented Discipleship Explored, an eight-part DVD series based on Paul’s letter to the Philippians. It’s the follow-up to the hugely popular Christianity Explored, a course that is now running in thousands of places and dozens of countries at any one time.

“I was sitting in this classroom in London, and Dick was saying that Philippians prepares the church to suffer well. It struck me as odd at the time, because everyone says: ‘Oh Philippians, that’s the New Testament letter of joy.’ So my job as a writer was to try and see how those two things—joy and suffering—fitted together.”

The answer, Barry says, comes in Philippians 1 v 29. “Paul makes a staggering statement which I think I’d lost sight of. He says, ‘…it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him…’ So Paul is saying: ‘Just as your belief in Christ is a joy-filled gift, so is your suffering for him.’ And I remember thinking, ‘Well, is that really how I see my Christian life?’ I think we spend most of our lives trying to avoid any kind of suffering or discomfort. We certainly don’t see it as a joy-giving gift. It never occurred to me that when we try to dodge the discomfort of discipleship, we are actually denying ourselves good gifts from God’s hand.”

For these reasons Discipleship Explored prepares people for the reality of living wholeheartedly for Christ—both the joy and the suffering. New Christians need to know this, but so do those who’ve been following Christ for some time. Our hope and prayer is that Discipleship Explored will help Christians walk confidently in the footsteps of Christ.