Tips on Preparing for the New Testament Challenge

The schedule for the New Testament Challenge can be found on the website at www.cypress-umc.org. Click on Ministry, Spiritual Growth Plan, and then New Testement Challenge. The first book we will be reading (or listening to if you do MP3 files) will be the book of John. As I mentioned on my Facebook post today, I find it helpful to have a commentary. I also suggest a one volume Bible dictionary. You can buy both the Interpreter's One Volume Commentary and the Interpreter's Bible Dictionary from Cokesbury (www.cokesbury.com or call 713-621-1755 and ask them to ship you a copy). Of course, if you don't want to spend the money on your own copies, the church has a GREAT library with lots of commentaries and dictionaries.

It is important to remember these books and letters were written a long time ago in a different language. Languages do not always translate directly. Even the English language has changed over the years. Try reading Chaucer (1343-1400) or Shakespeare (1564-1616). Interesting reading, but not so easy.

There are even audio commmentaries on the internet that are interesting to listen to. I fine the audio commentary by J. Vernon McGee in the Blue Letter Bible online to be very interesting from a conservative viewpoint.

Remember you will be reading for transformation, not just information. "O taste and see that the Lord is good." (Psalm 34:8).