I first read this book when I was about to give a workshop on 1-1 work. It said all the things I was wanting to say, and more, and better! I also read it in a very short time in spare time during the conference I was giving the workshop at, because it is compact and easy to read.

But one of the best things about it is all the useful templates and sample structures for doing 1-1, including breakups of of specific Bible books, along with rationale for them. It is these tools that have convinced me to give the book to a couple of guys I have done 1-1 with, as I have then encouraged them to go and find others to do the same. This little book puts resources at their fingertips to help give them confidence to get on with this important ministry.

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We're always grateful when readers point out typos or mistakes in our resources so that we can fix them up in the second printing. Some eagle-eyed readers of "One-to-One Bible Reading" have pointed out a gaffe on page 61 that is worth saying something about briefly. A sentence on that page reads: "The epistles are first- and second-century letters, all written in Greek".

For those who know about these things, this sounds like a pretty liberal view of the composition of Scripture--suggesting that some of the New Testament epistles weren't written until the second century (i.e. after the lifetime of the apostles). Just to reassure you that we haven't started to go wobbly, this is not the view of David Helm (the author) nor of our editors here at Matthias Media. We're all convinced that the epistles were written in the first century!

How the 'second-century' reference got there in the first place, we're not entirely sure. Dave Helm thinks it might have been a slip of his pen due to the academic context at the University of Chicago in which he ministers. And how the phrase got all the way through our editorial process without someone noticing it, I also cannot explain. (Well, I can. We messed up!)

Needless to say, we will fix this in our second printing.

Tony Payne
Publishing Director

[Note] This review was transferred from our old online store which did not give ratings. But this new store requires ratings. So in order to transfer them we have tried to give a rating which reflects the content of the review. So you may prefer to ignore the rating and just read the review.
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In One to One Bible Reading, David Helm aims to equip Christians to fruitfully read the bible with another Christian or with an interested non-Christian.

It is quite a short book- the body of the book is less than 80 pages long so could be read in a sitting or two by most people. It is enough to get you started at successfully reading the bible with someone without getting unnecessarily bogged down in theory.

I appreciated the encouragement that any Christian is capable of doing this and the good advice on how to make time reading the bible with someone else fruitful. The advice takes the form of practical tips like how not to dominate the discussion or how to prepare for a meeting and of outlines for how to structure a study. They provide broad frameworks for approaching passages as well as questions that might be helpful in understanding each of the different biblical genres. I haven't used the frameworks they suggest extensively in a one to one bible reading setting however they look solid and helpful. There is some useful photocopyable worksheets in the back of the book for one of the frameworks.

Even if reading the bible with one other person is not the approach you choose to take, there is still things to learn from this book. The advice about how to work through a biblical text is solid and would be useful in any form of group or personal bible study. I think I might start using some of the questions in my personal bible study.

I can attest that the ideas in this book work. The ministry I help lead has been encouraging one to one bible reading for some time. Earlier this year over the course of a few months I got together with someone to read some of the Old Testament minor prophets. I found that I learned a lot more by reading and discussing with someone else than I did by just reading on my own. Others in our ministry have been involved in fruitful bible reading partnerships with non-Christians. I'm really glad that the author has put together this book as it will make training more people to read the bible with others so much easier.

I will definitely be recommending that our ministry use this book. I'd likewise recommend it to any Christian who is interested in discipline other Christians or introducing non-Christian friends to what the bible has to say.

[Note] This review was transferred from our old online store which did not give ratings. But this new store requires ratings. So in order to transfer them we have tried to give a rating which reflects the content of the review. So you may prefer to ignore the rating and just read the review.
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As a committed Christian, I read the Bible regularly. Most days. I'm not going to claim to read it every day without fail because I am sinful and I fail. I try to read the Bible by myself and then on weekdays I read the Bible with our children in the morning. On weekends we read a different passage as a family. We also hear God's word read out at Church.

Although I read the Bible a lot I confess that I don't always know what to "do" with it other than read it aloud. I know that we need to apply God's word to our lives, but I sometimes struggle with how to encourage my children in this as we read the Bible, so I was excited when I learnt that Matthias Media were offering free copies of some of their books to bloggers (or those who can review books in their Church) in exchange for a review. I requested a copy of One To One Bible Reading by David Helm.

It's hard to know whether to call One To One Bible Reading a book, or a booklet. The text covers less than seventy pages (plus extensive appendicies) and is set out in brief, easy to read chapters. Part of the book's brevity is because the author truly believes that the Bible is accessible, and doesn't need any special talents, study or extensive preparation to read. It is a book and can be read like a book, albeit the most important and valuable book.

David Helm takes the seemingly-daunting task of reading the Bible with someone you know, and makes it seem easy. Because, really, it should be easy. Not every part of the Bible is simple to read and understand, but reading the Bible, and chatting with someone else about what the passage is saying, that's not hard.

I found the book encouraging. It has given me some simple tools to use with my children when reading the Bible, which will (hopefully) enrich our Bible reading time. It has also encouraged me to consider other adults in my life who I could read the Bible with.

Even if you a not a "reader", I encourage you to take a look at this accessible and inexpensive book. It won't take long to read and will hopefully encourage to you read the Bible more, especially with other people in your life.

[Note] This review was transferred from our old online store which did not give ratings. But this new store requires ratings. So in order to transfer them we have tried to give a rating which reflects the content of the review. So you may prefer to ignore the rating and just read the review.
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David Helm, One to one Bible reading – a simple guide for every Christian, (Matthias Media, 2011). Pp1-103 including resource guides and sheets for copying.

Jesus got personal with me through reading the Bible. My dad (a pastor) gave me a Bible one Christmas. I thought 'what a joke, another one of dad's religious kicks'. However I was bored (sweating out a mindless factory job in between the HSC and uni) and lonely (my girlfriend had dumped me because I was not a Christian*). So I read it right through over a few months. It wasn't long after that before my faith was first hand instead of second hand.

And I kept reading the Bible. Uni studies were pushed aside for late night sessions reading through the Bible at depth and making my own notes on book after book. And as the years passed it's been a regular habit to let no day pass without reading some part of Scripture.

My story encourages me that one of the best things we can do with non-Christians is to get them reading the Bible. Of course, the same applies to Christians at any level of maturity. Reading the Bible puts us in touch with God and moves us along the path to Christ-likeness and usefulness to God. All this makes sense if we recall what the Bible says about itself. This book claims to be all God-inspired and like a sharp sword that cuts through everything and is useful to make people wise for salvation and to help them be fully ready for all that God has in mind (Heb 4:12; 2 Tim 3:15-16).

Great! But not everyone is going to pick up and Bible and start reading and keep reading. This is especially unlikely for a non-Christian. How can we encourage and help people read the Bible?

This book is a simple 'how to' on one to one Bible reading with non-Christians or fellow believers. Part 1 (seven chapters) deals with some helpful start-up issues of how to set up a one to one Bible reading relationship and what it can look like. This is useful material and some people will find it enough to get them moving. Part 11 gets down to technicalities with quite specific advice on just how to approach and use the Bible one-on one.

The book is simplicity plus (but not simplistic). The two suggested Bible reading methods (Swedish and COMA) are easily grasped and should be transferable to almost any new Bible reader. Many will find the chapter on eight weeks through Mark's Gospel a great launching pad.

This book could be used in a training programme for vine workers or just picked up and used individually. Many will find that it gives them the confidence to start out on a one to one Bible ministry and to stimulate them to work out their own approach.

(David Burke was Director of Christian Education for the NSW Presbyterian Church for many years and is now a teacher at the Presbyterian Theological Centre.)

* The good news is that I got the girlfriend back after I became a Christian and we celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary this year.