HUMOR: Airline humor in the Bible

Terri asked her Sunday school class to draw pictures of their favorite Bible stories. She was puzzled by Kyle's picture, which showed four people on an airplane, so she asked him which story it was meant to represent.
"The flight to Egypt," said Kyle.
"I see ... And that must be Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus," Ms. Terri said.
"But who's the fourth person?"
"Oh, that's Pontius - the Pilot.

Bibleminute.Org

It can be hard - especially toward the end of the school year - to find time to spend reading the Bible. But there are resources online that can help you squeeze in a little time with God in busy times. Consider checking out BibleMinute.Org which provides a quick reading from scripture, and a quick application of the scripture to your life. It certainly isn't learning a whole chapter each week, but it can be a way to get some spiritual nourishment.

Experience is the best teacher

Luke Bible Quiz (KJV)

How have your off season been going? Are you maintaining your knowledge of the Gospel of Luke? If you are not sure, consider clicking over here to a quickie Bible Quiz on the Gospel of Luke. The text is from the King James Version, not the NIV that we use, but it should be close enough for most of us to figure it out. Let us know how you do!

U.S. Army burns Bibles in Afghanistan

It has been revealed that in an attempt to avoid offending Afghan muslims, the U.S. military has ordered the burning of Bibles sent to a soldier to distribute by his home church. Distribution of Bibles by uniformed soldiers is against the rules of the military, something the donating church had been unaware of.

"The decision was made that it was a 'force protection' measure to throw them away, because, if they did get out, it could be perceived by Afghans that the U.S. government or the U.S. military was trying to convert Muslims," Wright said.

The military said a soldier at Bagram received the Bibles and didn't realize he wasn't allowed to hand them out. The Al Jazeera network has shown footage of the Bibles at a prayer service where an unnamed soldier says members of his church raised money for them.

The chaplain later "corrected" the soldier and confiscated the Bibles, Wright said.

Clearly, this soldier broke the rules. The question is why the Bibles were burned instead of being returned to the donating church for use elsewhere in America. This is clearly a hard case where wisdom is needed.

2010 - Year of the Bible?

One Senator has submitted a bill to declare 2010 the "year of the Bible" in an attempt to honor God's Word. The idea is facing stiff opposition, and definitely raises questions of separation of church and state.

Broun’s simple congressional resolution aimed at honoring the Good Book has produced a push-back of biblical proportion in the blogosphere, with critics dismissing it as either unconstitutional or a waste of time. Jews in Congress and atheist activists are dismissing the resolution, while none of the many Democrats in Congress who are Christian have bothered to sign on as co-sponsors...Broun rejects the critiques leveled at this effort.
“This doesn’t have anything to do with Christianity,” he said in an interview with POLITICO. Rather, he says, it seeks to recognize that the Bible played an integral role in the building of the United States, including providing the basis for our freedom of religion that allows Muslims, Hindus and even atheists to vocalize their own beliefs.

What do Quiz Teamers think? Is this a good idea, or something best left out of the halls of Congress?

Memorial Day Reminder

HUMOR: Top 10 Ways Bible Would be Different if Written by College Students

From here.

10. Last Supper would have been eaten the next morning cold.

9. The Ten Commandments are actually only five, double-spaced, and written in a large font.

8. New edition every two years in order to limit reselling.

7. Forbidden fruit would have been eaten because it wasn't cafeteria.

6. Paul's letter to the Romans becomes Paul's e-mail to abuse@romans.gov.

5. Reason Cain killed Abel: They were roommates.

4. The place where the end of the world occurs: Finals, not Armageddon.

3. Out go the mules, in come the mountain bikes.

2. Reason why Moses and followers walked in desert for 40 years: They didn't want to ask directions and look like freshmen.

1. Instead of God creating the world in six days and resting on the seventh, He would have put it off until the night before it was due and then pulled an all-nighter.

Daily Devotionals with Christian Musicians

There are many disciplines in life which are useful in growing in your relationship with God, but there is one that was hard for me as a teenager - the daily devotional and Bible reading. This is not Bible Quizzing studying, where you are focused on memorizing the text, but rather engaging God's word to see how He is speaking to you.

So, I was excited to see Scriptures from the Heart, a new daily devotional study lead by various Christian artists looking to help you engage scripture and consider the place of the Bible in your life. It can be a fun way to establish the every-day discipline of spending time with God.

COMIC: The Power of Faith

General Bible Knowledge Quiz

Some online Bible Quizzes are tough, and some are REALLY easy. This one falls towards the easy side of the spectrum, but has a few tricky questions built into there that might trip up even a dedicated Bible reader. Click on thru and see what your score is. I wound up with a 98%, so I am interested to see how many of you can beat me (without going to Google or your parents to answer any questions).

Oh, and if anyone answers that "Dr. Suess" wrote the book of Acts, we may have to sit down and have a little talk.

Gideon's challenged for Bible distribution in Frisco Schools

The Gideons are an organization of Christian businesspeople who seek to distribute Bibles to as many people as possible, including those in schools, prisons, half-way houses, hotels, etc. Odds are if you have ever stayed at a hotel or motel, you'd find a Gideon Bible in the nightstand. Well, one group of parents is challenging the right of the Gideons to distribute Bibles in a San Francisco public school.

District policy says nonschool literature is allowed as long as it doesn't "attack ethnic, religious, or racial groups." It also can't "interfere with school activities or the rights of others."

"I just think religion should be out of schools," Lutz said.

...But Wilks says offering — not pushing — the Bible should be fair game. "I believe in freedom of religion, but I think there are people from the other religions who would like to completely stifle the Christian side of it," she said.

God does say that His Word does not return to Him void. As Bible Quizzers, we should be thinking about how the Bible can inform and change lives thru people like the Gideons.

Pastor bikes cross-country for Bible

The International Bible Society has one many great things to bring the Bible to the masses. We are coming up on their 200th anniversary and one pastor has decided to do a cross-country bike trip to celebrate the occasion and raise money for the IBS.

Accompanied by a support team, Gardner will cycle through 14 states: California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. Daily destinations are indicated at BikingForBibles.com, where viewers can view Gardner's itinerary, check his progress, read his blog, and learn more about IBS ministry. Riders are welcome to join along the way and ride at their own pace.

This kind of thing may seem strange at first glance, but it is a fun way to draw attention to something important and to raise money for a worthy organization.

Wedding Photos

While not a former Quiz Teamer, Dagney Pitts (now Mrs. Dagney Stone) is a good friend of the Quiz Team. So, I thought you would all enjoy seeing these shots I took at her wedding. Click on the image below for the whole set.

HUMOR: Antiques

From here.

A collector of rare books ran into an acquaintance who told him he had just thrown away an old Bible that he found in a dusty, old box. He happened to mention that Guten-somebody-or-other had printed it.

"Not Gutenberg?" gasped the collector.

"Yes, that was it!"

"You idiot! You've thrown away one of the first books ever printed. A copy recently sold at auction for half a million dollars!"

"Oh, I don't think this book would have been worth anything close to that much," replied the man. "It was scribbled all over in the margins by some guy named Martin Luther."

How do you start a Bible Quiz Team?

This may not be something you expect to have to deal with, but some quizzers are learning that you can't be sure you'll be around a church with a quiz team for all of your teen years. If you are thinking about starting a Bible Quiz Team at a new church, how do you do it? This site has some good tips on starting a Quiz Team at your church, whether you are a teen or an adult.

One effective way to promote quizzing is through quiz demonstrations. Even before any quizzers are involved, you can demonstrate quizzing to a youth group by having them try out quizzing for themselves. The system described in the WBQA Information manual has been found to be quite successful . Since most people are unfamiliar with quizzing, this a great way for them to discover how much they will enjoy it. To those who are interested, you should be ready to hand out scripture portions, rules, and sample questions for the first quiz.

Who knows? Maybe one day you'll be the Coach of a new Bible Quiz Team, and be able to share your love of scripture with others!

COMIC: Mmmmm... Eternity....

Test your knowledge of the Gospels

We're on a break from Quiz Team for the summer, but it can always be fun to see how your general Bible knowledge is doing. All of life should be a learning experience, and there is never a time when you DON'T want to be in scripture. Consider jumping over to this online quiz on the Gospels to see how well you know Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Bible Quizzing in Ghana!

Bible quizzing is a great way to learn the Bible, because it engages you with the text and forces you to really see what it is saying. It turns out this is not only a program for the Americas, but is being introduced into the country of Ghana by the Bible Society.

Rev. Twumasi said the NGO would soon introduce a Bible quiz competition among students in communities and prizes would be given to deserving participants to motivate them to continue to read the word of God.

He advised parents to encourage their children to read the Bible regularly in order for them to live above reproach and develop good morals.

Montgommery Districts 2009 Photos

It is hard to have too many photos from Districts, and we coaches are doing our best to keep you supplied with shots from many different angles. Click on the image below for the whole set of photos taken by Coach Rich from Montgommery.

The Taliban Fears the Bible

The Bible is known to be a powerful book. It has freed prisoners, it has brought down tyrants, and it has raised up great leaders. Its enemies know this, and fear it. The Taliban in Aghanistan is now decrying local-language Bibles that are appearing in the country. They are accusing American soldiers of distributing them.

Afghanistan's Taliban have urged Afghan Muslims to resist anyone trying to convert them, after a television network aired pictures of U.S. soldiers in the country with bibles translated into local languages.

Qatar-based Al Jazeera television showed footage on Monday of a bible studies class on a U.S. base in Afghanistan where a soldier had brought a stack of bibles translated into the Afghan languages Dari and Pashto.

This is one of the reasons why we learn and memorize scripture in Bible Quizzing. People can ban paper and electronic Bibles, but they can't stop you from bringing memorized scripture with you wherever you go.

Happy Mother's Day, Quiz Team Moms!

Both coaches and quiz teamers want to take this moment to thank our mothers for all they do for us. We know that without you, both our lives and our team would be far poorer. We hope this day you truly are blessed by us, because we know that you have blessed us more than we can ever say. (I only have photos of a few of you, but the thanks is to you all.)

Are you helping out with Summer Spectacular?

If you are planning to help out with Summer Spectacular (that's Vacation Bible School to us old fogeys), remember to click on over and register online. The church leadership needs to know who is available, to ensure that they know how many people can come and how many kids they can support. With the down economy, it is likely we will see more families taking advantage of an inexpensive summer activity for the kids. And, of course, VBS is always guaranteed to be fun for all.

COMIC: Be sure to plan ahead

Israel holds Bible Quiz to celebrate 61st anniversary of Independence

Independence Day in America is all about remembering the brave men and women who died for our freedom. We remember the Revolutionary War, the framers of the Constitution, and the Founding Fathers who sacrificed so much for us. When Israel celebrates their Independence Day, they remember the promise God made to Abraham thousands of years ago to preserve his offspring as a great nation. And what better way to celebrate this than with a Bible Quiz?

On Wednesday, Independence Day, the army will hold air and sea displays and Israel Defense Forces bases will open to the public. The National Bible Quiz and a ceremony for outstanding soldiers will be held in Jerusalem.

One more Bible Knowledge Test

Quiz Team may be over for the year, but your knowledge of Luke is there to stay. If you want to see how much you have learned, and how quickly you can put it to use, consider clicking over to "Speed Button" which asks you a number of Bible-Quiz-like questions in a timed test. See how many questions you can answer in 60 seconds!

Feel free to post your scores in the Chat area, so we can see who is the fastest!

A survey is coming!

Be watching your in-boxes! In an effort to continue to improve the quizzing experience, I am looking to make some design changes to the QuizPad.Com website. I'll be sending out an e-mail to all quizzers, coaches, and parents with an embedded survey asking what you like about the website, what you don't like, and what ideas you'd like to see for next season. Start thinking now about what you want to say.

Active Learning - A Better Way to Study?

While Quiz Team is over for the summer, it is never a bad time to be thinking about new and better ways to study for next year. Typically, a Bible quizzer learns the old fashioned way - he or she simply reads the same chapter over and over and over again. But maybe that is not the best way. New research indicates that "active learning" might be a better way.

But some scientists would say that you've left out the most important step: Put the book aside and hide your notes. Then recall everything you can. Write it down, or, if you're uninhibited, say it out loud.

Two psychology journals have recently published papers showing that this strategy works, the latest findings from a decades-old body of research. When students study on their own, "active recall" — recitation, for instance, or flashcards and other self-quizzing — is the most effective way to inscribe something in long-term memory.

It is worth noting that this is not only applicable to Bible Quizzing. It is good practice for schoolwork as well. Finals season is coming up, so maybe this is worth thinking about.

Scripture Memory Songs - 1 & 2 Corinthians

In general, we like to leave the summer as a time to rest and recover from the tough Bible Quizzing season. But we know some like to get a head start on the next year. If you are interested in a nice low-impact way to start learning, maybe these scripture memory songs might be useful. The quality and style various quite widely - don't be expecting Casting Crowns here - but they might be an easy way to begin treasuring up next year's books in your heart.

FINAL Scoreboard of the Year

We have totalled up all of your scores for the year, so you can see how you did before Midwinter, after Midwinter, and overall for the year. There are some interesting lessons to be learned from these stats. If you have questions, feel free to e-mail me.

Upper Division


Lower Division

Everyone is a critic