Now That's a Good Question!: How To Lead Quality Bible Discussions

by Terry Powell

What can you do to help engrossing Bible discussions thrive in your small group? Now that's a good question! This book is teeming with ideas and examples to help you lead your small group or Sunday school class - guiding group members to observe, interpret and apply God's Word in productive, meaningful discussion sessions.

134 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2007

Reviews

[Michael Mack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terry Powell is one of the leading authorities in the country when it comes to leading life-changing Bible discussions. His newly revised book, Now That’s a Good Question, provides practical wisdom for how to lead a great Bible study, either in a small group or Sunday school environment, as well as examples and opportunities to practice these skills yourself.

Powell shows leaders how to make the climate right for quality discussions of God’s Word, he provides all the guidelines needed for leading those discussions, and he helps the leader get everyone involved in lively and life-changing Bible discussions.

Whether you want to develop your own studies or you are using written study guides, this book will help you grow as a leader.

This new edition adds two chapters not in the original book by the same name, which I had the privilege to edit, released in 2007 by Standard Publishing. The new chapters offer tips for handling discussion problems, such as tangents, monopolizers, controversial subject matter, avoiding excessive relativism in Bible discussions, and keeping discussion from degenerating into a pooling of ignorance. These two new chapters make the book well worth its price!

[Joelendil · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has excellent suggestions for how to generate useful, thought-provoking discussion questions for small groups (or any other ministry that allows for interactive teaching). It also has some decent guidelines for putting together a Bible study if you are a beginner. To me, the few "teamwork" exercises scattered throughout the book felt like the kind of stupid "rah-rah let's all pretend that this is beneficial but it's really just obnoxiously cheery and insulting to our intelligence" exercises that I had to suffer through at various job orientations (though maybe I'm just emotionally scarred by past experience).

The one major weakness of the book was in its formatting. Some pages looked like the content was just barfed onto it in a jumble of font sizes and styles, bullet points, block quotes, infoboxes, and awkward stock photos. I think it's supposed to look light and playful, but it comes across amateurish with some pages so busy that it is hard to follow the flow of thought.

Overall, despite the tacky formatting, I highly recommend this book for new teachers in church ministries.

[Michael Mack · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was the editor for this book and the series editor for these Small Group Help Guides. I asked Terry to write this book because I knew that no one in the country has his wealth of knowledge and experience on this topic. Not only that, Terry is an excellent writer; this book is easy and fun to read, and will help you become a better Bible study leader.

Terry shows you how to make the climate right for quality discussions of God's Word, he provides you with all the guidelines you'll need for leading those discussions, and he helps you get everyone involved in lively--and life-changing--Bible discussions.

Whether you want to write your own studies or you are using written study guides, you will grow as a leader by reading this book. If you lead a church-wide small group ministry, do like I did and buy a copy for every leader!