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 Leadership
In an NBS group, the leader is the one who asks the questions from the
study guide. Members learn that "leading" means facilitating
a discussion rather than lecturing. Experience in leading such a group
gives men and women the confidence to take responsibility in Sunday School
and other church activities.
Church Growth and Christian Maturity
NBS helps to develop the kind of people who have both a sense of responsibility
for ministry, and a confidence to minister. These are factors in genuine
church growth. Learning how to study the Bible in preparation for group
discussions nourishes personal spiritual growth. Interaction with others
about the Bible increases knowledge and understanding of the gospel of
Christ. As people respond with trust and obedience to the truths they discover,
they mature in their faith.
Consultations
Neighborhood Bible Studies representatives are available to consult with
pastors, chaplains, and church leaders, introducing methods and materials
needed to develop outreach Bible studies in the community. NBS staff also
provide specific suggestions for study groups in nursing homes, prisons,
drug rehabilitation facilities, and other non traditional neighborhoods.
NBS Workshops
Participants interact with facilitators on practical
issues:
- how to interest others in Bible study
- how to invite people and begin groups
- how to facilitate a good discussion
- how to maintain healthy groups
- how to develop a network of small groups
How to Use NBS Guides
All guides include an explanation of the NBS inductive
Bible study method and practical suggestions for small group Bible studies.
For an online version of this introduction, see How
to Use NBS Guides.
Why I Like Neighborhood Bible Studies the Best
By Cliff Westergren
This former director of Alliance Press in Hong Kong gives 10 reasons for his choice
of NBS study guides: five business reasons, as a publisher, and five personal reasons.
I've used Neighborhood Bible Studies guides for more than 20 years, at home and abroad. Every pastor, every leader longs to be able to guide people into meaningful Bible study. Probably every month somebody asks me, "Can you tell me what kind of Bible study would be useful? Can you recommend anything?" I recommend to them this precious jewel, Neighborhood Bible Studies.
I'd like to tell you why I like Neighborhood Bible Studies the best, both as a publisher and as a pastor. I'll give you five publishing reasons and then five personal reasons.
Five Publishing Reasons:
- They are thoroughly Biblical.
The first reason is that they are thoroughly Biblical. That may sound over-simplified, but it's the first question a publisher asks when considering materials. Does it have the ring of truth? Is it true not only implicitly, but also in its nuances? Can I trust not only the heart of the content, but also its applications? I look to see if it has a particular denominational slant or theological bias, thus limiting its appeal and marketability to wider audiences. I look very carefully at the thoroughness of the study guide's content in relation to the corresponding Biblical content. That's the first reason I love NBS guides: I just don't have to worry!
- They are timely, timeless, and time-tested.
The second reason is what I call the three T's. First, timeliness. As the Quakers used to say, does it speak to the condition? If it doesn't relate to where people are living now, then I'm not interested as a publisher. It must be timely.
But not only timely, it must be timeless. There are a lot of books that publishers have to publish that are not timeless. We do have to speak to issues, but many issues we speak to are good only for now, and five years later - they 're gone. That book will no longer be useful. But every publisher is also very concerned about "bread and butter" books - that is, those that are going to be good 10, 20, and 30 years from now. If we don't publish books like that, we won't survive in the marketplace, and we won't have the books that people really need. So it's important to have not only timely, but timeless books, and Neighborhood Bible Studies guides are both.
One more T: time-tested. Has it been tried? Can I rely on it? Is there some experience behind it? Experience in the Orient carries tremendous weight. In fact, one of the first questions they ask when someone tries to start a ministry is, "Who do you belong to? Where do you come from?" If you're brand new, the chance of getting started is pretty slim. So time-testedness is very important. NBS study guides have been around a long time.
- They are marketable.
The third reason, from a publishing standpoint, is that NBS guides are marketable. That means two specific things to a publisher: first, cost. Is the cost reasonable so that people will buy it? The size of a guide enters in: the larger the book, the more it's going to cost. It's interesting to me to see the discipline that has gone into keeping NBS guides space and size efficient.
Second is the breadth of coverage. When people study the Bible, they want to know they can keep on studying and cover all or most of its books. NBS guides cover all of the New Testament except for three books: Revelation, 1 and 2 Timothy.
Neighborhood Bible Studies has attended not only to the cost factor and breath of coverage with their guides, but also the need to continue publishing new materials. This is important from a publisher's standpoint as well. If nothing new ever comes out, people lose interest. NBS's thematic studies, and Old Testament guides have been published largely because they deal with Biblical responses to contemporary issues of our society. That's important both to publishers, and to people seeking Biblical answers.
- They appeal to a wide readership.
The fourth publisher reason that you need to be aware of is readership. These NBS study guides are basically open to anybody who can read. That means simply: they're not too difficult and they're not too easy. As a publisher, I'm very interested in the breadth of market that these books are going to have. Almost anyone can use them effectively.
- They are easy to use.
Fifth, as a publisher, I can tell you they're easy to use, and easy to adapt. You're not going to find a lot of strictly Western thinking, because Biblical thinking is incorporated in these studies. I can't tell you how important that is! If I'm looking at material to use abroad, that is an automatic filter in my thinking. Something that is strongly or exclusively oriented toward another culture will lose its breadth of appeal. Those serving in foreign cultures don't have time to rewrite material to make it culturally relevant and sensitive. These have been translated into over 30 languages without the content itself having to be revised.
Five Personal Reasons
- They promote personal discovery.
They don't mouth things that somebody else has said. They don't create mental blocks for people. Some books or study guides are so mapped out and so authoritatively presented that after you finish it, you simply can't think of any other way to look at it. That's a mental block. I would not fill a library with those kinds of books. They hinder rather than help. I like books that are creative in their presentation and that push me to be creative. That's exactly what Neighborhood Bible Studies guides do. They push towards discovery.
There are no gimmicks, fill in the blanks, or neat little outlines in these books. They're like a good road map. They present the whole map to you and allow you to make your own choice of which road you want to travel. In doing so, you discover new things. That's always satisfactory. You come away with a good feeling. Whether or not you're a creative person, it helps you along those lines.
- They are Biblically balanced.
The second personal reason why I delight in Neighborhood Bible Studies is the Biblical balance between content and reality, or truth and experience, or the Word and the Holy Spirit. It's never just the Word; that will kill. It's never just the Spirit; that's wildfire. Written into these studies is this beautiful balance, and that's the first thing I saw the first time I ever picked up one of these books.
- They make you think clearly.
Third, these NBS study guides make me think clearly. Why is that important? Because God always speaks to the heart through the mind. He doesn't speak just to the mind, but He never bypasses the mind. Why is good exposition, and good Bible study so important? Because that's how God speaks to us. When he speaks to the heart through the mind, it usually results in decisions of the will that do not change, do not fluctuate, do not go up and down. They remain firm and steady and sure. So these guides cause me to think, and to think clearly.
But what about the people on the lower rung of society who aren't used to that? Every human being born into the world knows how to think. My wife Marlene and I have spent about half of our lives working with refugees and if you were to come into the camp where we work, you would call them absolutely the dregs of society. I mean it's really bad. But let me tell you something: they are thinking people! Don't ever get the idea when you see people languishing in bad circumstances, uneducated, that they don't think. That's absolutely false. In fact, they probably think more than you do. That's why these NBS studies are as valuable for them as they are for anybody in a sophisticated society.
- They save time, but are well prepared.
Fourth, these NBS study guides are save time, but are preparation-based. I am a very busy missionary, and if you think New York is fast, you ought to live in Hong Kong. It is non-stop! The demands upon our lives out there are just beyond what people here understand. So I'm always looking for something that can help me significantly. When I come to the Neighborhood Bible Studies, I recognize that tremendous amounts of effort and time have gone into their preparation: long preparation, thoughtful preparation. That means that all that time that I would have to spend reading and reflecting on the text to write good inductive questions that allow for discovery is already done. I'm given help. That doesn't mean that I don't have to study, or that I don't have to prepare, but it does mean that a significant chunk of work has already been done for me. NBS guides save tremendous amounts of time and still allow for thoughtful Biblical study.
- They stimulate me to create my own studies.
Fifth - and this is one that I've never seen anyone talk about, but to me it's the most important - they stimulate me to create my own studies. The ultimate question in missionary life is, "If I leave tomorrow, what happens to my work?" In Neighborhood Bible Studies it's, "If you were suddenly without these books, how would you approach the Bible?" I can only tell you that if you use these regularly, and as they should be used, you're going to want to go out and try yourself. That's the ultimate usefulness of any Bible study guide.
In my own life, these NBS guides have created a desire to study and become an "expert" in many special books of the Bible on my own. They have helped me immensely and pushed me to do that. They gave birth to all kinds of personal attempts. They helped me to be creative in my approach to Bible study and in leading Bible studies in Hong Kong as well as here.
(Excerpted from Mr. Westergren's lecture at the 1989 Neighborhood Bible Studies Leadership Training Seminar, Stony Point, NY. Copyright, 1989 Neighborhood Bible Studies, Inc.)
Transcribed lecture edited for a reading audience by Jan Howard, 8/17/06.
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