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Each week someone stands at the front at Covenant and seeks to teach as best we can in order to help us understand God, his ways, and how to follow his leading into the way of Jesus. For some of you this may be the only Bible teaching you get each week. For others, it is only a small part of the teaching you receive.

Technological advances have made access to information and the amount of information available to us almost overwhelming! But what technology doesn't do is filter what is helpful from what is not. Often the most accessible teaching comes to us, not because it is the best, but because someone paid to get it to us (this is true of every Bible teacher on TV or the radio) or because the teacher had the most charisma. While it is true that someone with charisma could be a good teacher and an organization with cash could offer helpful resources, it is just as true that cash + charisma ≠ quality. We should be excited to learn, but we need to test what we hear against scripture. (This means we need to learn how to engage the Bible properly!) The Berean Jews were described as having "noble character" because they adopted this posture.

So if you're seeking out Bible teaching throughout the week - whether through books, radio, TV, or online - keep it up! But also be thoughtful and discerning about what you are taking in. If Sunday mornings is the only teaching you receive, I encourage you to seek out some other thoughtful teaching to help encourage you.

Below I've linked to some thoughtful resources that might challenge your thinking, move you deeper into the Bible, and encourage you on your journey with Jesus. There is more good stuff out there than I can share here, but these are just a few places to start.

  • The Bible Project - Don't let the fact that they are animated videos fool you. These are made for adults (although my kids love them, too). They have videos introducing every book of the Bible. They have theme videos tracing an idea through the whole Bible. They even have Greek and Hebrew word study videos. And all their work shows how the Bible points us to Jesus. The content in these videos is accessible, but seminary course level material.
  • The Meeting House - Our largest Be In Christ Church of Canada congregation has resources to a) have a full time teaching pastor who can invest more time on this than anyone else in our church family, b) create content for all ages, and c) do it all with excellent production quality. Bruxy Cavey's weekly teaching is available. There is also weekly teaching for youth and children. For extra kids fun, check out their 8-Bit Bible videos!
  • Greg Boyd - Overcoming Evil With Good - This collection of videos from BIC Canada's most recent Theological Study Day (for pastors and staff) includes Greg's teaching and the Q&A sessions about The role of Prayer, The Holy Spirit, and Spiritual Power in a Secular Age. Greg is a pastor (Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, Minnesota), theologian, author, and seminary professor. You can explore more of Greg's teaching at reknew.org.
  • The Phil Vischer Podcast - Phil Vischer is best known for creating the children's series Veggie Tales. But since that went bust for him (check out his book Me, Myself, and Bob for that story), he's been on a journey of study, learning, and creation of new content. His What's in the Bible series is great for kids (and helpful for adults, too), but The Phil Vischer Podcast is up to 255 episodes of amazing content, questions, critique, and conversation. Phil and his regular co-hosts (Skye Jethani - pastor, author, and former editor of Leadership Journal; Christian Taylor - voice actress and designated "what's does this mean for me?" asker; and Plinky Pete - Phil's ukelele) take on pop-culture, Christian-culture, church and theology - often with the help of some great guests that you can learn from in other places, too! This podcast is thought provoking, educational, and even funny sometimes!
  • Unbelievable? with Justin Bierley - This is a radio show on Premier Christian Radio in the UK and it features weekly conversations between people from very different view points. In the archives you'll find conversations between muslims and Christians and Christians and atheists (including Richard Dawkins on Nov. 8, 2008). Sometimes the debates are between Christians with differing perspectives - such as the recent conversation about the reformation between Protestant and Roman Catholic scholars, and a debate about homosexuality between Christians who affirm it and those who don't. One guarantee is that everyone who listens to this show will hear something they disagree with. But the model of civility (most of the time) between people who radically disagree is something worth listening to and learning from!
  • The Bible for Normal People with Pete Enns - This is a fairly new podcast - only twelve episodes in. And this isn't for those looking for devotional content or "practical" preaching/teaching. This podcast is for those who are really interested in digging into the historical and cultural roots and realities of the Bible. WARNING . . . going there isn't always comfortable or easy if we want to read the Bible as though it was simply written to us in the 21st Century. [A different scholar, John Walton, is fond of saying that the Bible was written for us, but it wasn't written to us.] Pete Enns is a biblical scholar and a student . . . that is to say while teaching he is also constantly seeking to learn. He describes himself as an explorer who's constant question, "yeah, but . . . " has gotten him into trouble. The main thing I like about Pete Enns is that he loves Jesus and his life is firmly rooted in him. That security in Jesus gives him a freedom to love the Bible and take it very seriously . . . seriously enough that he doesn't skip over any the hard stuff or shy away from difficult questions. You may find yourself radically disagreeing with Pete and his guests on things, but your thinking will be stretched as it relates to understanding the Bible.