Delegates at recent prominent conferences such as Bible by the Beach and the Evangelical Ministry Assembly have had the chance to view a new online course designed to teach the great themes of Scripture. The Biblical Story course at http://www.biblemesh.com combines a passion for Scripture with some of the latest advances in online learning.
The vision for BibleMesh comes from Emmanuel A. Kampouris, retired Chairman and CEO of the multinational company American Standard. In extensive travel, Mr. Kampouris saw the dramatic need for the prophetic voice of the church and increased biblical literacy throughout the world.
In 2002, he founded Kairos Journal, an online journal for pastors and Christian leaders, to help in grappling with the serious moral and ethical issues in contemporary culture. BibleMesh takes a step further with the intention of assisting pastors in their responsibility to teach all of Scripture to the body of Christ.
The BibleMesh experience has three steps. In the first step, ‘Watch’, users are given a documentary-style overview of the Bible using animation and various teachers, anchored by commentary from Tim Keller throughout. The seven parts of this video run to over an hour in length, giving users a dramatic overview of the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, is widely recognised as one of the finest Christian communicators of our generation and his teaching gifts sparkle throughout these presentations.
Bible guidebook
The second step is ‘Explore’. This section essentially serves as a Bible guidebook. Containing over 200 topics for understanding the Bible, the Explore section gives users short, single-page articles on each topic, with other supplementary materials such as maps, charts, and related Scripture verses. An exciting feature of the Explore section is the supplementary videos, which provide brief two-minute lessons on these topics by an international assortment of respected Bible teachers, such as Vaughan Roberts, Liam Goligher, Mark Dever and Ligon Duncan.
Not just learning
The last step of the BibleMesh experience is ‘Learn’. Most Bible readers struggle to recall the content of passages studied. The Learn section is specially designed to help with this. BibleMesh has partnered with smart.fm, a cutting-edge website pioneering memory retention software to help users learn. This unique software learns as you learn, developing a personal profile for how each individual user remembers and/or forgets the information they have studied. It then uses these personal profiles to ‘remind’ you of the information that you are about to forget! Through this process you can be sure that you will not simply learn more about the Bible, but remember it, so that it can truly change your life.
The approach of BibleMesh is unique. Some Bible overview courses attempt to give a comprehensive overview of the entire Bible, covering every chapter and verse. While such an approach is useful, BibleMesh focuses on the big picture so that users don’t lose sight of the forest by focusing on the individual trees. That is, it presents the Bible as a coherent story of God’s redemption of humankind through Jesus Christ, beginning in the Garden of Eden and ending in the new heavens and new earth. Approaching the Bible in this way gives users a framework in which to see the significance of all the smaller, individual stories. This is the assumption behind the BibleMesh tagline, ‘One God. One Book. One Story’.
Not a church substitute
It can be both discouraging and frustrating studying the Bible in isolation. BibleMesh seeks to develop community by combining a Bible overview course with social networking software. Users have the opportunity to join groups where they can walk through the content with other people. In these groups they can ask questions and upload their own documents, videos, and photos. The groups provide a perfect place for a pastor or Bible study leader to guide their congregation or study group through the wealth of content that is available on BibleMesh. Far from seeking to replace the church, BibleMesh is intended to serve as a powerful tool that church leaders can use for discipleship and evangelism.
Multi-lingual
The vision of BibleMesh is worldwide. The English language website is now available and the course has been translated into French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Arabic, Russian, and Greek. These language sites are now in development and other courses covering biblical languages, ethics, and church history are planned. This is an exciting new venture and the course is available at various subscription rates for individuals, pastors, students, and congregations.
Michael McClenahan,
assistant minister, Greenwell Street Presbyterian Church, Newtownards, Northern Ireland
