How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth by Douglas Jacoby

In this lecture apologist Douglas Jacoby offers insights in studying the scriptures. He explores the right and wrong ways of reading the Bible, delves into the importance of reading, and challenges listeners to dig deeper into Bible study. More resources by Douglas Jacoby here. (Also check out the classic book How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth by Stuart & Fee.)

Full MP3 Audio here (1hr)
Enjoy.

10 Great Apps for Reading, Listening, & Study

There are plenty of apps available on the App Store for those who use the iPhone/iPad/iPod. But which are the best tools for reading, listening, and study purposes? In this blog post, I'll suggest 10 iPhone apps which have been of excellent service for my own study purposes. The first six are for reading, listening, and study, and the last four are Bible app suggestions.

1. Kindle. If you want access to your ebooks across various devices, you can't beat the Kindle app. If you own a Kindle or not, you can still read the books on the Mac, the PC, the iPad, iPhone, iPod, on the web, or on an Android device. Your books are  synced everywhere and you never are without a book. Great for uploading your own PDFs and documents for study as well.

2. Reeder. That's no misspelling. That's the name of my favorite mobile RSS reader. All of your subscribed blogs or google reader subscriptions are synced. From this app you can read, share, and browse all your RSS feeds for keeping abreast of the best apologetics blogs, for example. You can also send articles to other services for later reading if desired. There's also a desktop app for Mac and a great version for the iPad, both top notch RSS readers. I'd say the best.

3. Pocket. This app was formerly called "read it later," which is exactly what it allows you to do if you don't have time to read a particular blog post. If you find something interested online or in your RSS feeds, just send it to Pocket. Then you can read it later in a more attractive and easy-on-the eyes format. Again, this keeps in sync with your online Pocket account and you can keep all your reading material in sync.

Timothy McGrew on the Internet and Scholarship

"One of the most disastrous illusions of the internet age is that an amateur plus Google is equivalent to a scholar. A search engine offers information, more or less relevant according to the skill of the searcher. But it does not sift that information; it does not sort fact from fancy, wheat from chaff. It does not explain which facts are relevant and which are beside the point. It does not weigh the merits of competing arguments and tell the user where the balance of evidence lies. A bright amateur armed with the internet may at best be better informed than he would otherwise have been, and he may occasionally catch a real scholar in a factual error. But it will not turn him into a scholar himself. There is no such thing as effortless erudition."

- Dr. Timothy McGrew

5 Book Recommendations for Better Speaking, Listening, and Communication

Last year's post on Resources for Better Public Speaking deserves to be highlighted once again, but this time with some book recommendations for better communication. The titles listed below are obviously just a few of the many out there (go ahead and recommend your favorites in the comments) - but these represent a number of elements that, together, may help to round out your overall communication skills.

How to Argue Like Jesus: Learning Persuasion from History's Greatest Communicator (Joe Carter & John Coleman) is a great introduction to the rhetorical elements of logos, pathos, and ethos. This book examines how Jesus communicated and what made him persuasive.

101 Secrets of Highly Effective Speakers, 3rd Edition: Controlling Fear, Commanding Attention (Caryl R Krannich) is just a great book on public speaking. Very practical, easy to read, and immediately applicable. This is one you can keep coming back to in order to sharpen your speaking skills.

In the Line of Fire: How to Handle Tough Questions...When It Counts (Jerry Weissman). Now this book is interesting, as it is a fascinating manual for dealing with tough questions as a public speaker. With a lot of illustrations from political debates, PR debacles, and hot-seat sort of situations, this is useful for navigating tough encounters.

How to Get Your Point Across in 30 Seconds or Less (Milo O. Frank) is an annoying little book that you can't ignore. It's goal: to equip you to make your point simply and concisely in a short period of time. Why is it annoying? Listen to the audiobook version to find out. But the content is extremely useful for being a concise and clear communicator. It is also helpful for script-writers or anyone involved in media.

How to Speak How to Listen (Mortimer J. Adler ) is an oldy but goody. While a bit slow in parts, the content is a gold mine in certain places and worth reading. For those familiar with Adler's How to Read a Book, this is in the same sort of vein. With this book you will get a good strong foundation on communication principles that will be put to good use with the other tools mentioned above.

What books or resources have you found most helpful for sharpening your speaking, listening, and communication skills?

Be sure to check out last year's post for more resources for better public speaking.

Bible Reading Plans for 2009

After looking around for a good Bible reading plan for 2009, here is one that seems to offer the best options. It is the ESV reading plan. They offer multiple reading plans and methods of subscribing.
Check it out here.

Happy New Year!