That the World May Know

After about 20 or so trips to Israel, I had a desire to produce a teaching series filmed on location.  The Bible just comes alive when placed in the context of the land. I knew this would be expensive, but had hopes that funding could be raised to allow this kind of teaching aid to be produced.  After two aborted attempts to make the trip and begin putting the messages together, it occurred to me that perhaps I was not to do this.  Then I learned about "That The World May Know" produced by Focus on the Family and taught by Ray Vander Laan. Suddenly, I had the resource that I desired to produce already in a package that I could begin teaching.  It is excellent.  I have used this for about four years now and it still seems fresh and new.  The quality is superb and the teaching is done very well. The most impressive thing to me is that it uses the five things I have been teaching as vital to understanding the Bible: language, history, culture, geography and archaeology.  Ray Vander Laan does a great job of pulling out these areas to make the Bible come alive.  There is a depth of understanding that I have found in very few Bible teachers.  I still make use of these lessons and recommend them to anyone who desires to be a student of the Bible.  I feel so strongly that I have taken a set on DVD to Malawi, East Africa and placed them in a study center in the village of Nchala.  They are currently being used to teach and train pastors and church leaders in the surrounding communities with much success.  I don't believe that any serious library is complete without this resource.

Cheryle Holeman writes from HaY'Did in Tulsa: As a Graduate Assistant in Undergrad Theology at Oral Roberts University, I was blessed to introduce TTWMK to the general education students as part of the Old and New Testament Survey curriculum over the last three years. The other graduate assistants loved how easily the Leader's Guide and colored overhead transparencies allowed for easy preparation on their part since their own schedules were busy with their own class work. The Leader's Guide was well written and printed in a comfortable size font that was easy to work with even in front of the class. Lesson preparation consisted of viewing the 20-45 minute video and then about 30 minutes to read over the well laid out lesson plans. Each video could be expanded into several different lesson suggestions, so that different aspects of the video could be discussed. In other words, one video lesson might last 3-4 class meetings, because of the extra information in the Leader's Guide that allowed for a more indepth study. All of my classes responded positively about the lessons, and some even purchased the sets to take back to their home churches. I personally have used the video series with 4-6 graders, and even a vacation Bible school program. Going onsite to Israel makes the Bible come alive, and little things that you read over without thinking about it, now adds more depth to the reading and understanding of  a passage because of something explained on the film.