Are the questions in your Bible study stimulating, or dull and tired? We’re all used to reading a passage like The Man with the Withered Hand and asking, ‘how can I apply this to my life?’ But try a more experiential tack: what did it feel like for the disabled man (who has lived in this village his whole life) to havefriends, family and neighbors all give a thumbs-down to his healing? How would YOU feel in that situation? In an Honor/Shame culture, what did it mean for a person to get dissed in that way?

And consider this: we often think Jesus knows everything before it happens. But if that is so, Jesus just invited this guy up front to get publicly embarrassed! That doesn’t sound like Jesus at all. So did this turn out in a way he wasn’t expecting? Did Jesus think that the man’s community would choose love over law, and it surprised him that they didn’t? If so, it might explain why he gets so angry as he looks around at the stony silence in the synagogue. And what new insight on Jesus does it give us to learn that he can be surprised and disappointed in people just like we can?

How to Read the Bible Like a Human Being is about engaging scripture with the emotional brain instead of the rational, trying to grasp what Jesus experiencedinstead of what he taught. Volume Three covers Mark 2:14 - 3:15, and includes leader materials for twelve weeks of in-depth study on four passages:

• The Call of Levi: He had extorted from the disciples’ families for years. Then things get even more awkward when he invites the rabbi’s team to a party with his riff-raff friends.
• Harvesting Grain on the Sabbath: You’d have to be really famished to make a meal of raw wheat berries. So how often did Jesus’ disciples go hungry?
• The Man with the Withered Hand: Jesus healed this man on the Sabbath without breaking any of the Pharisee’s regulations. But why was he so careful?
• Crowds Follow and Twelve Are Chosen: After a chaotic and exhausting day, Jesus decides doing this alone isn’t working. So, he chooses twelve teammates to help shoulder the load.

These small-group studies are completely discussion-based, using incisive questions developed by a master coach who has taught asking skills to thousands for 25 years. Along with the companion Workbook, each of the four study outlines in this Leader’s Guide include:

• Discussion Questions:Over 200 incisive questions mean you’ll always have something to ask to keep the conversation going.
• Setting Videos: Shot on location in Israel, these short videos help you see where the story happened in your mind.
• Background Information: Learn about fascinating cultural details from Jesus’ day that influence how you read the story.
• Free Texting App: Participants get one short text each weekday with a cool fact about the passage. It keeps peoples’ heads in the game during the week without having to assign homework.
• Sample Narratives: Multiple-page re-tellings of the passage from one character’s viewpoint, with extensive footnotes explaining the story.
• Companion Web Site:with orientation videos, research link pages, narrative writing resources, and much more.

About the Author
Tony Stoltzfus has decades of ministry experiences, including 25 years training professional Christian coaches on how to ask great questions like the one’s these materials are based on. He’s the author of 20 books, has founded several leadership- and missions organizations, and coached hundreds of pastors and para-church leaders. He and his wife Kathy have been married for 35 years and have two adult children.