Posts from March 2026

Each year on the weekend of the first Sunday in March, the Southwest congregation hosts its Arise! workshop. This is a blessing and benefit to our congregation and the SWSBS student body. The study, singing, and social fellowship are hard to beat. One of the best parts of the Arise! weekend is the opportunity to spend time with alumni. Most SWSBS graduates work as local preachers. They have pulpit and evangelistic works that bless those churches whom they serve. But,…

“What is your favorite book or author?” This may have been a question you have been asked if you are a big reader or not. In one way, shape, or form, we can most likely answer this question as we have read a book that has left some impression on us, whether that is reading for leisure or out of obligation, such as an assigned reading in school. Our answers would reflect our preference for genre or author. This preference…

One of the great privileges of my life has been to be involved in various archaeological digs in Israel and Jordan. I have excavated at Khirbet Iskander in Jordan, Tel Rehov and Tel Beth Shemesh in Israel, and recently at Shiloh, where the Ark of the Covenant resided during Israel’s early history. This region is commonly called the Bible lands, or the Holy Land. I became interested in doing archaeology there because of the rich and helpful lessons it brings…

In his book, Words of Delight, Leland Ryken said, “… the ability to interpret poetry is a requirement, not an option, when we read the Bible” (pg. 160). Considering roughly one-third of the Bible is poetry, Ryken’s statement is absolutely true. There are 150 Psalms, 31 chapters of Proverbs, poetic prophecy sprinkled throughout the major and minor prophets, and poetry can even be found in the teachings of Jesus Christ and other places in the New Testament. If we want…

To encourage a young preacher named Timothy, the Apostle Paul wrote, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). His wise counsel remains as relevant today as it was then. Christianity is a learned religion. To be a faithful disciple, studying God’s Word is essential. A key area that should be included in one’s efforts to increase their knowledge of Scripture is…

Did you know that over 40% of the Bible is narrative? When studying the Bible we need to treat apocalyptic literature like what we find in the book of Revelation or Ezekiel differently than an epistle like Colossians or 1 Peter. We have to consider the differences between a work of poetry in the Psalms and a Persian official’s letter in Ezra. We want to read to understand what God has given us in His word so we must take…

Throughout the Bible, God communicates with people through words (Gen. 1:28). Words, and our ability to reason with them, are how God intended people to learn His ways (Isa. 1:18). Whether orally spoken to the prophets, passed down in conversation with descendants, written down as Scripture, or preached from the mouths of saints and evangelists, people are meant to hear and learn through the preaching of the Gospel (Heb. 1:1–2; Deut. 6:3–4; Exod. 24:12; 2 Tim. 4:2). When studying preaching…

This week our brother Jerry Hill will head to prison for things he was a part of before he left the depths of addiction and became a Christian. He will need our support, our encouragement, our letters, and our prayers (James 5:16). We hope and pray that his time in prison is short. After a few months of mandated prison ministry, we expect Jerry to be back preaching in Spicewood and worshipping with us from time-to-time at SW. When we…

Poetry often presents itself as a picture. These pictures help us not only to think logically about truth, but to “see”, “feel”, “smell”, or even “taste” it. Some pictures are more pleasant than others, and the one given in Proverbs 26:11 is, well,… disgusting. Proverbs 26:11 says, “Like a dog that returns to its vomit is a fool who repeats his folly” (NASB 95). Let us consider this simile for a moment. Do you have a dog? I want you…

Walking through life is sweet when you’re walking with work that matters, cherished loved ones, family, a sense of purpose, etc. But if you do not walk with God none of the above matters. Christians enjoy the spiritual blessing Paul described as “newness of life” (Rom. 6:4). It’s a life that truly fulfills. We have been richly blessed to study topics and passages relevant to the theme this past weekend at the 9th annual Arise Spiritual Growth Workshop. We have…