Bible Bee "Off Season"

Now that the Bible Bee is over, some of us are struggling to figure out what to do with our free time (even though it has only been a few days). So… I am wondering if anyone out there is interested in playing the part of the Bible Bee staff. We could choose a book (or passage), write a study guide, pick memory verses, and create a test. It could be a fun way to fill in all that extra time, practice for next year's Bible Bee, and (most importantly) study the Word of God. If you're interested, please reply. If not, you could just ignore this post and let it sit here lonely all by itself.

EDIT:
Update – We are planning to start in January. Anyone who's interested should email me at Joshuabb@believershome.com.
Update – The study book is being posted online at www.swaimfamily.net/study_book/

Hey, that sounds cool! If we do I vote Everett C to write the tests! :P dunno if enough people will want to though… I've heard some want to do this year's SS instead! I'd be willing to do either.

I'm interested though I can't commit to anything yet. Just so you know, I'll be studying John 13-21 with some others starting in January.

That's a really good idea! I'm interested! I too am looking for something to do.

Joshua, are you of the alumninati also? I definitely like this idea, being too old for the BB now. Count me in. I have a SA pen, and Marriot note paper; I CAN WRITE QUESTIONS!!! or what e'r else you lack.

I'm not too old for the Bible Bee yet (if that's what you're asking), but I certainly don't mind Bible Bee alumni helping.

I thought your practice test this year was very well done, so I'll be glad if you can help. It's fine that you can't commit anything. Right now, I'm just seeing if enough people are interested.

Great!

Really??? I was wanting to do that, and wondered if any others were doing so… Could I join? Join, I guess, meaning keep up with you on it and get input from you? Like how you helped me for Nats… And don't feel bad saying know to me :) if that's the case.

I guess we'll see if enough people are interested. If not, we could write a test for the book of Ruth (although that won't be as much fun since the Sword Study is already written).

I'd love to at least sorta participate, you know, motivate me to actually do the real thing next year!

I'm interested! I am an alumni now (sniff) but I would love to study something (John 13-21? hint hint) before next Bible bee season when I'll do the study alongside of my siblings. I'm not quite ready to start because of busyness but come January I probably will :)
BTW Joshua, you were my Family Fun Room Game show host. ;D

I also plan to finish memorizing the Gospel of John (Lord willing, by June). I'm not sure about doing an in depth study, though, because I was planning to do the Ruth SS, but I might reconsider… :)

I thought your practice test this year was very well done, so I'll be glad if you can help. It's fine that you can't commit anything. Right now, I'm just seeing if enough people are interested.

Okay. I'll probably write some practice questions as I'm studying, but I won't have time to make them super high quality.

I also want to do the Ruth study at some point :D

This is a super awesome idea! I'd love to participate!

IDK about y'all, but I would love to study Acts 1-6: it would be a lot of fun to study. Just a suggestion ;)
So I'm guessing this would be a lot less of a time commitment than regular BB? Because some of us got a little behind on the thing called school during BB season… xD

I like the idea of doing the Ruth SS, but that kinda costs money… :/ -something that I'm sadly lacking for the most part :P

I agree with you on the "school" that needs to get done. :D lol

Well, I say whatever we do we should get as many BBers in it as possible! My suggestion would be to finish John up.. Why leave it undone? Let's finish it - we all learned so much from the first 12 chapters so why not?

Sooo when it was John 1-12 this year I assumed it would be John 13- 21 next year? Is that most likely not true then?

I would think they'd want to surprise us with something different. ;)

Yeah, that is true. I'd just think they would finish a book. But, who knows? ;)

Here are my calculations (and they might be wrong :)):

There are 293 verses in John 13-21.

There are 183 days from today to May 12th. ^I'll be starting memorizing John 13 today, Lord willing. The reason for finishing May 12th is because it would be exactly a year and a half since I started the Gospel of John.^

If I were to memorize every single day, that would be an average of only 1.6 verses a day. Most likely, there will be days that I miss, but this is still very doable.

This is definitely what I want to do! I think it would be very neat and practical (of course! :)) to have the Gospel of John memorized and it's doable even with extra schoolwork and everything else that was put on hold for Bible Bee :).

Exactly^^
But Anna, would you consider doing the study with us during Jan-April?

I agree with you on the "school" that needs to get done. :D lol Well, I say whatever we do we should get as many BBers in it as possible! My suggestion would be to finish John up.. Why leave it undone? Let's finish it - we all learned so much from the first 12 chapters so why not?

Right! I see your point, but I think that would give those who have already studied that passage of scripture an advantage. Obviously, this is more about studying the Bible than having a competition, but it's always better to start on an even ground, IMO.

I'm fine with whatever everyone else decides tho :D thanks for suggesting this Joshua!

I'll definitely consider it, but I'm not sure if I'll do it :). I may want to see if my siblings are doing the SS before I decide. Even if I do the SS, I could probably do it and study John 13-21. But, I don't want to overcommit and then be unable to do it all. We'll see! BTW, I don't know who's in charge of the John 13-21 study, but I haven't actually been invited to join, so if they want to keep the group small, then that's fine! :)

Ohhh, you guys are really making me want to study the rest of John now. ^not that I didn't already…^ We already bought the Ruth SS, and I'm trying to convince a nonBB friend of mine to do it with me this December. Maybe I'll at least try to memorize the rest of John with y'all, but I have that other thing called school to do also. =P

Denver Bontrager is leading it. I'll forward you his email.

Thanks! Now I really don't know. Maybe I could do the Ruth SS, but not memorize the verses that go along with it or do the Digging Deepers… It may depend a lot on what my siblings do, though.

Hey folks,
Sounds like a great idea, it seems hard not to finish off John, there's so much richness left.
Also, it was fantabulous to meet so many of you last week!!! Hope everyone has safe travels home.

I know I'm not much of an Memverse person – haven't been "active" for quite a while – but I've been thinking about his post, and I've got something to say.
Most of us, I think, have younger siblings, and are of an age that we ought to enjoy the Word without needing competition to encourage us. So, I suggest that, whatever ends up being studied, we try to:

1. purposefully include our families (maybe encourage younger siblings to study the same thing and make our quizzes appropriate to them),
2. seek wisdom, not just geeky knowledge (not that geekiness isn't great in proper measure – that's how the fellow discovered the ocean currents),
3. and that we avoid competition between each other as much as may be, at least among the older Juniors and Seniors. (It can be distracting from the goal, not to mention discouraging.)
   Thanks for reading. :)

I want to do both Ruth and the rest of John. I can't decide which. =P

I was thinking of working through the Ruth SS too, but since others were studying John I decided to do it. Also, John 1-12 and 13-21 have so many similarities and relate really well to each other, so I think studying 13-21 would benefit me the most. :)

I want to do both Ruth and the rest of John. I can't decide which. =P

^ That. xD

I have a few weeks left in a Daniel study I'm doing but after that I think that I am going to do Ruth. It would be slightly confusing to study John 13-21 without 1-12.

Hey folks, Sounds like a great idea, it seems hard not to finish off John, there's so much richness left. Also, it was fantabulous to meet so many of you last week!!! Hope everyone has safe travels home. I know I'm not much of an Memverse person -- haven't been "active" for quite a while -- but I've been thinking about his post, and I've got something to say. Most of us, I think, have younger siblings, and are of an age that we ought to enjoy the Word without needing competition to encourage us. So, I suggest that, whatever ends up being studied, we try to: 1. purposefully include our families (maybe encourage younger siblings to study the same thing and make our quizzes appropriate to them), 2. seek wisdom, not just geeky knowledge (not that geekiness isn't great in proper measure -- that's how the fellow discovered the ocean currents), 3. and that we avoid competition between each other as much as may be, at least among the older Juniors and Seniors. (It can be distracting from the goal, not to mention discouraging.) Thanks for reading. :)

^^ Good thoughts.

BTW, I really enjoyed seeing you last week! :D

I want to do both Ruth and the rest of John. I can't decide which. =P

^ That. xD

Same!^ lol

Wouldn't it be even more encouraging as all if we all tried to do the same study? Obviously Ik we all have different commitments, but it would still be really fun to try. Specially to those who can't do BB and more sniff

I don't have "lots of younger siblings" I am the younger sibling. Haha! But Ik most you you guys do.

Question: whoever said this would be highly competitive or anything? We mostly want to study together, but yes, it would be nice to have a test and some competition, I think. Also, I don't think anyone here really cares about "prizes" and such.

2nd Question: whatever passage/book is studied, when do y'all plan on starting??

Just to throw my two-cents in although this possibility hasn't really been brought up and probably won't catch on, after much prayer on my own part (as Ruth and the rest of John both sound so amazing) the Lord has led me to study the book of Acts. Why? Well here are some of the things I am going to be studying:

1) Prayer
2) The work/life of the Holy Spirit
3) Miracles
4) Evangelism
5) The life of the early church (how the functioned-what they spent their time doing, etc.)
6) Persecution and how the early church handled it

These are all areas that the Lord has been challenging me and teaching me many things and I am excited to begin a new study to learn even more about His character and greatness!

P.S. Even as I was reading over Acts this morning, I was surprised at how many lessons I had learned from John 1-12 tied back into what I was reading. It was really amazing!

Ohhh, you guys are really making me want to study the rest of John now. ^not that I didn't already...^ We already bought the Ruth SS, and I'm trying to convince a nonBB friend of mine to do it with me this December. Maybe I'll at least try to memorize the rest of John with y'all, but I have that other thing called school to do also. =P

Oh… :/ I wish you could study John! And you should! ;P lol lets just all forget about school and become scholars of the Bible. Haha!

Nobody said it would be really, really competitive, though I was afraid it would sound like I thought that. I'm just being cautious 'cause competition often encourages either pride or discouragement…at least for me.

EDIT: I finally got my thoughts sorted out (30 min later). It seems that my real difficulty with competition is that can breed the "test-taking mentality". But, if that doesn't bother you, fire away, enjoy, and God bless you! :D

lets just all forget about school and become scholars of the Bible. Haha!

That's exactly how I feel! :) ^even though I think that you were partly joking :)^

I'm in! Let's announce a strike on schoolwork!

@Rachel
Yes, I remember being your game show host.

@The rest of you
It looks like the choice for passages to study is either John 13-21, Ruth, or possibly Acts. Personally, I think we should finish of John. We could also just do John 13-17 (Jesus' discourse with His disciples) and leave the last four chapters for later. Ruth is also a possibility, but not everyone will buy the Sword Study, and there would be no point in writing a study guide if the Sword Study was already written. While I am sure Acts would be a great book to study (as would any other book of the Bible), I think most of us would prefer to finish up John. I'm willing to be corrected though. What do you all think?
As for timing, I know some of us have catch up with school work. I know some of you were planning to start John 13-21 in January, but January is a long time away! I know, I know, patience is one of the fruits of the spirit, but is anyone interested in starting some time in December?

@Evie
Good points!
While I still think it would be fun to create a test, we don't have to compete against each other. If we put the test on classmarker.com, I'm not even sure if we could figure out every test-taker's rank without paying money.
I also like the idea of encouraging our younger siblings to study the Bible. We could gear our study guide toward a younger age group (or even toward multiple age groups).
I also think whatever we write should focus just as much on comprehension as on "geeky knowledge."

Finishing John would be great. Who knows what NBB will choose next year, but people have aready put a lot of work into starting john, so it makes sense.
As far as when [to start it], January would be my position. Whatever y'all decide, if you create study material, you'll need a lot more time than a couple of weeks, if you want it to be comprehensive for each chapter. Great ideas from every one here.

Evie and servant of the king- I wish I had met you guys. I didn't realize either of you were there. :(

Finishing John would be great. Who knows what NBB will choose next year, but people have aready put a lot of work into starting john, so it makes sense. As far as when [to start it], January would be my position. Whatever y'all decide, if you create study material, you'll need a lot more time than a couple of weeks, if you want it to be comprehensive for each chapter. Great ideas from every one here. Evie and servant of the king- I wish I had met you guys. I didn't realize either of you were there. :(

applauds I like, and agree with this. :)

EDIT: @anna, :D yes, I was kind of joking. If I thought school really wasn't important then I would actually mean that; however, sadly we do need it. ;P haha.

Yeah, I understand what you're saying :) and I think competition should also come 2nd to studying the Word.. So thanks for the caution. :)

One thing I'm doing is compiling a list of five Bible passages for each chapter to memorize. Kind of like the Local memory passages :)

One thing I'm doing is compiling a list of five Bible passages for each chapter to memorize. Kind of like the Local memory passages :)

I like this a lot. :D

It's a great idea! I'm planning on continuing in John but Acts 1-6 sounds great as well.
(Btw, that crazy picture is my Dad not me, don't mind it.)

I'm actually going to remove my opinion about Acts- although I think it would be super fun to study, since I'm doing Denver B's off-season BB as well, it would be better to study the same passages for both Bees. Sorry, I know I'm being one of the ones creating a lot of confusion… ;)

I'm in! Let's announce a strike on schoolwork!

I don't think my mother would approve xD

^^ haha yes, same here.