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L.E.D.™ Resources & Recommendations

Wisdom's 7 Pillars: Bible

The Pillar of Bible is the Foundation and Cornerstone that all other Pillars of Wisdom (areas of study) are based upon. We rely heavily upon the Bible for our “curriculum”. But obviously it isn’t the only book we study. This page lists various aspects of God's Word and its study, and many resources to help you in your endeavor.

See more general Christian books on our Clear Vision Christian books resources page.

Thank you for your order through our links. It helps support the many aspects of "free" ministry from Me and My House.

Bibles

The Bible, of course, is our source that all other resources are held up to and compared with. We prefer to stick with King James Version or New King James Version for their accuracy. We buy our little ones a NKJV Giant Print Bible as soon as they begin to read. The large print is easier on their eyes, and the NKJV is very understandable, yet accurate - without being a paraphrase, or "dumbed down" version. When our children reach their "formal study" years (teens), we buy them a Study Bible. This keeps us all reading the same version aloud, for easy follow along, and all memorizing in the same translation.

If you prefer the quality and beauty of the original KJV, it is also available in a Giant Print. We also like the Hebrew Greek Key Study Bible (includes the original Hebrew/Greek words and their meanings - like having Strong's concordance in your Bible - but their study notes are not our preference. Even so, this is my favorite Bible,) - or the Rainbow Study Bible (color coded by theme.) The Read to Me Bible 4 Kids in KJV has large print and added features for children. The Thompson Chain Reference Bible is also a good study Bible available in KJV and NKJV.

The Amplified Bible gives an expansion of the various nuances of the words. For our little ones, babies, toddlers, and prereaders we buy a Baby's/Toddler's Bible that they carry around with them as soon as they are able, developing a love for God's Word at a very early age. We do not recommend any of the modern "dynamic equivalent" versions.

The ESV and the NASB are also very literal translations, but we don't prefer the texts they are based on.

Audio Bibles have come a long way since the huge case of cassettes I originally had. I prefer the mp3 CD's, because the whole Bible fits on 3 CD's and they include extra features you can access on your computer. My favorite, of those I've heard, is KJV narrated by Alexender Scourby.

The Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible combines essential tools for Hebrew and Greek with translations that accurately and clear. An easy-to-use style plus the benefits of the Strong's Dictionary numbering system makes this study Bible one for every student of God's Word, no matter what age.

The Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible is a complete English Bible text for cross-reference study to the original languages from which the Bible was translated.

Features

• Size: 6.5" x 9"
• NEW! Wider margins than previous editions
• Introduction to each book of the Bible
• Words of Christ in Red
• Table of Weights and Measures
• AMG's Concordance of the Bible
• NEW! AMG's Annotated Strong's Dictionaries
• Combining Strong's dictionaries with additional material taken from AMG's Complete Word Study Dictionaries
• Footnotes on the original languages, Bible history, Bible doctrines, and difficult passages
• Strong's numbers on key words in the text of the Bible
• Grammatical codes on key words in the text of the New Testament
• Used with the Grammatical Notations, these codes identify the forms of Greek grammar behind the English translation

System of Study

• Key Words in the English Text Identified by Strong's Numbering System
• Codes in the New Testament Text Identify Grammatical Structure of Key Greek Words
• Notations Explain the Significance of the Grammatical Codes
• Hebrew and Greek Word Studies
• Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries
• Center-column Reference System
• Concordance

Also available in hardcover and other bindings.

Key Word Study Bible KJV (2008 new edition), Hardcover By Amg Publishers

Rainbow Study Bible - KJV
Thompson Chain Reference Bible - KJV
Giant Print Bible - KJV
Read to Me Bible 4 Kids - KJV
NKJV New Spirit Filled Life Bible, Bonded leather, Black - Also available in HARDCOVER or other options.
MacArthur Study Bible- NKJV All MacArthur Study Bibles at this link.
Giant Print Bible - NKJV, Center Column Reference, Leatherflex, Burgundy Search for others.
Thompson Chain Reference - NKJV
Amplified Bible
The KJV Bible for Toddlers
The Toddler's Bible
The Beginners Bible

King James Version of the Holy Bible is now available in the convenient, easy-to-use MP3 format, the world's best-loved translation of the Bible is brought to life in this powerful, word-for-word narration by renowed dramatist Alexander Scourby. Complete and Unabridged on 3 CDs.

Bible References

Although we have many shelves of Bible Reference, Study, and Memory resources, those listed here are the primary ones we use continuously and that we feel are important to train our children in using. For Bible Reference, probably at the top of every list is a comprehensive Concordance. We recommend Strong's Exhaustive Concordance. Nave's Topical Bible is handy for quickly looking up all the verses on a certain TOPIC (not just containing certain words).

Bible Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, Handbooks, and Atlases are also considered basic necessities for all Christians to learn to use to help in the study of their Bibles. Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words gives more insight into meaning for NT (Greek) words. Hebrew Honey is great for OT (Hebrew) words. Vine's also has a Complete Bible version. Smith's orginal Bible Dictionary will help you understand the meanings of the terms you're unfamiliar with.

Our Encyclopedia is the Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia, but I haven't researched these for several years so there may be something we'd like better. Bible Mapbook is an extremely easy to use, colorful, small Bible Atlas (but must be out of print, as I haven't seen them new for several years). For a more comprehensive Bible Atlas we recommend Baker's Bible Atlas.

We instruct our children how to use each of the resources in their own personal study of the Bible on a daily basis. They are the tools for personal Bible Study. We also use various Commentaries, such as Matthew Henry's, but prefer to avoid them until after we've done our own personal study and prayer.

Many excellent Bible Reference tools are available as software, and online. Check our suggestions below.

See more editions of Strong's

Features:

• More than 100,000 Scripture references
• Definitions of all persons, places, objects, and events in the Bible
• Information about archaelogical discoveries
• Exhaustive cross-references
• Verses from the King James are arranged topically
• Biblical thematic outlines

Bible Study

For Bible Study we have rarely used a prewritten study, we prefer to learn to study for ourselves. Freedom & Simplicity™ in Bible Study is in the process of being written, to help you learn our method. Our Redeeming the Time Journal™ planner also has a Bible Study section with ideas and forms.

We have also found an excellent study resource to help you learn to study the entire Bible by principles, using the Bible itself (not a text or work book). It's called Judah Bible Curriculum. JBC teaches you how to study the Bible through the Principle Approach®, producing Notebooks of your study, as you learn to reason Biblically and think governmentally as you study the Bible and see God's purpose in His Story and His governing, and learn to apply those principles to your own life. (See our complete write up and review of it here.)

2 other Bible Study resources that we've found helpful for instructing you how to study the Bible for yourself are: How to Study Your Bible by Kay Arthur, that teaches how to do your own Inductive Studies; and How to Study the Bible (audio) by Chuck Missler, that teaches how to do Expositional Studies.

We also do Biblical Topical Studies corresponding with our academic Topical Studies, using Strong's and Nave's and other resources.

For beginners, just learning how to do Inductive Studies, you may want to use a prewritten study to get them used to how to do the studies. Janice Southerland has written a series of Children's Inductive Bible Studies, called "Know and Grow" that our older children did when they were younger. (I don't know if they are still available.) Kay Arthur also has children's studies based on the inductive method.

How to Study Your Bible, Revised by Kay Arthur

How to Study the Bible - Audiobook by Chuck Missler

How to Study Your Bible for Kids Discover 4 Yourself Series by Kay Arthur

Meditation & Memory

For meditation and memory of the Word we "Just Do It". I have a list of several passages that are "musts" in our home, in addition we have passages for each Topical Study we work on. We utilize many various "memory tricks" (games) at times to help drill, but mostly we just repeat, repeat, repeat. We find that Scripture Recitation is GREAT FUN! (as opposed to memorization - work). People LOVE to quote what they know, so we rehearse often. Drawing pictures of verses really helps to meditate on them (get the meaning) and memorize (remember them). We learned this technique through the Institute for Basic Life Principles, and they have pads of sheets to help you with this. We also Copy the scriptures we are learning, as writing is another memory aid. We read it, repeat it, and write. After copying onto 3x5 cards, we have made our own Scripture Boxes to help us schedule review so we don't forget the passages we have learned.

Bible Study Software

Software and online resources are also plentiful. We don't utilize them much, especially for teaching, as I don't feel our education should DEPEND on technology working. I like good old fashioned books -- a home library. But electronic Bible tools can be helpful, especially for searches and comparisons -- you don't have to have several heavy books spread out in front of you. You can download the Online Bible or e-Sword for PC or MacSword for Mac for FREE. All these sites also have other Reference and Christian books available - including Webster's 1828 Dictionary on e-Sword. (We also have a cheap Bible software in our chosen version, as well as a couple Franklin electronic Bibles, and My Bible for my Palm - so we aren't anti-technology). We utilize Blue Letter Bible - which we have found to be the most helpful online study link. Crosswalk has a link to Bible Study Tools that we occasionally use.

My "carry in my purse" Bible has become my iPod Touch. There are several Bible apps available. The one I like best, so far, is "Holy Bible" by Paul Avery.

Bible Survey

For learning about the Bible, we use several resources. One area we study is Bible Survey, for familiarity with the whole of God's Word. A great resource for Bible Survey is What the Bible is All About by Henrietta Mears. It is a classic that gives an overview of each book and a reading plan for reading the highlights of each book. It is divided into 52 lessons, and has daily readings for each chapter. There is also What the Bible is All About for Young Explorers for younger children. These can be used for Family Study of this topic by presenting from the "...Young Explorers" version then having the older youth also read the regular version and reading plan. (The editions listed below are "updated" from the editions I have. I can't vouch for the changes. And I don't prefer the NIV version for children, but it is all that is currently available.)

I also have really enjoyed Chuck Missler's Learn the Bible in 24 Hours - a CD-ROM that takes you through a quick (24 Hour) overview of the Bible, for adults and teens. It is divided into 1 hour sections, and includes a visual (PowerPoint) presentation along with the audio teaching.

If you have only pre-readers, or desire to use a Bible Storybook, whether for family devotions or your Bible Survey with young children, two of our favorite story Bibles are The Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos (a classic) or The Illustrated Children's Bible (has beautiful paintings by Bill Farnsworth, published by Harcourt Brace & Co. Now out of print.). A very simple overview of Bible Stories is Bible Studies to Read and Bible Stories to Color by Rod and Staff. Your children can draw or color pages as you read, or narrate or act out the story - either in person or with felt cut outs.

Another resource that is fairly new to us, but I really like so far is Picture This! It gives an overview of each book of the Bible along with a visual representation of the book for you to trace and color. check out their website for more info.

To see how we utilize these and other books listed below in a Foundational Bible Survey Course - click here.

Bible Doctrine

Not all of our Bible Doctrine recommendations line up with our preferred methods of teaching. I find it sad that the church has felt the need to duplicate the inferior learning methods that the world's education uses. We prefer resources that require THINKING through the answers rather than the "look it up and fill in the blank" type of study.

All of these recommendations may not all line up with what YOUR church teaches. That's OK. No one says you have to use them all. We include a variety here.

Leading Little Ones to God is a classic, and probably a good first book on Christian doctrine for your "little ones." It is set up in storybook form, and covers only basic universal Christian doctrine. (There shouldn't be any denominational differences here.)

Training Hearts, Teaching Minds is a family devotional based on the shorter catechism (Protestant, reformed doctrine). Rather than just teaching the questions and answers of the shorter catechism by dry rote, there are 6 daily short family devotional readings that explain each question and answer. There is much to learn from the shorter catechism. If you don't agree with all the answers, you can adapt the few question/answers you disagree with, rather than reject the whole catechism. Study them out for yourself from the Word. I love this book.

For youth (up through adults), a good beginning is a short little study book by David Quine (Cornerstone Curriculum) called Answers for Difficult Days. It covers 7 basic questions of life, having you look up Bible verses to find the answers to the questions.

For "deep" doctrinal study I recommend Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology, for adults and "advanced" youth. His Bible Doctrine is a little easier reading. We are using it with our mid-upper youth. We use his Christian Beliefs with our early youth, as a good introduction to the study of Christian beliefs.

This readable guide to twenty basic Christian beliefs is a condensation of Grudem's Systematic Theology. He and his son, Elliot, have boiled down the essentials of Christian theology for the average layperson and made them both clear and applicable to life. You will learn about the Bible, the characteristics of God, what it means that we are created in the image of God, what God has done for us in Christ, the purpose of the church, and much more. Each chapter includes questions for personal review or group discussion.

Abridged from Grudem's Systematic Theology and made accessible to the average reader, Bible Doctrine covers the same essentials of the faith, giving you a firm grasp on seven key topics:

• The Doctrine of the Word of God
• The Doctrine of God
• The Doctrine of Man
• The Doctrine of Christ
• The Doctrine of the Application of Redemption
• The Doctrine of the Church
• The Doctrine of the Future

• A strong emphasis on the scriptural basis for each doctrine and teaching
• Clear writing, with technical terms kept to a minimum
• A contemporary approach, treating subjects of special interest to the church today
• A friendly tone, appealing to the emotions and the spirit as well as the intellect
• Frequent application to life
• Resources for worship with each chapter
• Bibliographies with each chapter that cross-reference subjects to a wide range of other systematic theologies

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