Kerri’s Blog

I am often asked where I get the historical information contained in many of my messages.

I get it from lots of sources, but one of my favorites is from a gentleman named Dr. Constable on a site called Sonic Light. Dr. Constable is (or was — I think he is now deceased) a professor at the renowned Dallas Theological Seminary. The notes on his site are his expository Bible notes that he published for his students. They are VERY academic and comprehensive in nature, but they are FREE! You can download and print them in PDF format.

I find them to be very helpful and my go-to source for comprehensive book studies as they are well researched and referenced throughout.

OK — the blog post officially ends here. You may be dismissed.

But if you want to know what a comprehensive book study is keep reading. This is for people who LOOOOVVVEEEE in depth study. Here’s a clue: if you ever go back and read the books listed in the bibliography of a book you just read, this is for you!

When I am doing a comprehensive study of a book of the Bible, I read the book in three ways: First, I read the book as a whole, reading only the text. I just read it like I am reading it for my devotional, letting my heart and mind respond to it, letting it bring conviction, correction and inspiration.

If it’s a short book, like Ephesians, this might take me one or two days. If it’s a long book, like Romans, I skip this part and do all three steps simultaneously chapter by chapter or even by section if the text is complicated.

I take notes along the way in a journal just to keep track of thoughts, questions, and things I would like more information about. For example, when I taught on Acts 1:12-26 on Wednesday, I was confused by the story of Judas’ death so I made a note of that on my first reading, but did not get caught up in it.

Next I read an overarching commentary of the whole book. I would liken this to reading the introduction to Cliff Notes.

This is where I learn a lot of the historical context of the books I am studying.

In Dr. constable’s notes, this is basically the introduction to his commentary.

I take notes in outline form at this point. After that, I read the book chapter by chapter along with the commentary making notes along the way which merge everything together. I make life-application notes at this point to bring it home to the 21st century.

Although I love Dr. Constable, for a less academic approach to commentary I prefer the late Dr. Warren Weirsbe. I often read his commentary during the third step. Life application is a big part of his commentary, and I love that.