Which study Bible in 2026? Thursday, Dec 18 2025 

Biblical history and Biographical and Church news and Doctrine and Family and Motivational and New Testament and Old Testament and Uncategorized , , , , kennethbow 11:06 am

 Which study Bible for 2026?

One of the most common questions I have been asked over the last 50 years in my travels is simply which is the best study Bible?

I think all of us know there is no singular answer that encompasses everything.

Some Bibles excel in readability like large print. Some Bibles appeal because of their size and ease of carry. I am of the opinion some Bibles are carried in our modern world because they are currently a fad. You know it’s the groovy Bible to carry. It is the latest… Have you got one yet? There are even some Bibles that would carry a certain status with some people. Maybe it’s a collectible. Maybe it’s a new bind in an exotic leather of some type. I really do understand all that, and that is not even my subject today. My subject today is totally trying to focus on the content and what it would add to your knowledge in the next 365 days of 2026.

Every year at this time I spend a little time deciding which study Bible I’m going to use for the next 12 months. This is a simple process that I have used for the last 30 years or so. I have used many study Bibles. Here are a few that I have used. I began with the Thompson Chain Bible. I have also used the Schofield Bible, the Dake Bible, the Companion Bible, the Spirit Application Bible, the Ryrie Study Bible, the Chronological Bible, the Student Bible, the Hebrew Bible, the Apostolic Study Bible, and of course, the Premier Study Bible. There have been others that I have used, but I think you get the picture.

I have read the Bible every year cover to cover since I was 14 years old. The majority of those years has been a different study Bible. I do my best to read not only the Bible text, but the footnotes, the introductions, and all the added information.

When Young ministers ask me what I would recommend them to read I always recommend use a different study Bible every year and read everything. That includes the dates, the notes, the references, all of it. It is my personal opinion this is one way a young preacher can “round out” a lot of his thinking on doctrinal issues and also biblical history.

I would like to tell the young impatient ministers there are no shortcuts to really understanding the Bible. It is a long, lifetime process. There is no one study Bible that’s going to make you brilliant and smart by itself alone. I believe most older advanced ministers would tell you that the more they’ve studied the more they realize what they don’t know.

I would like to add a personal recommendation. If you only read or study so that you can preach a message you’re going to miss the greatest moments in your spiritual life. I believe your study should be because you love Jesus Christ. 

I believe your study should be daily. If you truly study daily, you will never be without a message to preach. You will always have more subjects than you can deliver in public services. Learn to be consistent, learn to put the word of God first, and God will give you sermons and revelations.

Having said that let’s begin. I am not going to include the Premier Study Bible (PSB) in this blog. My reason is, I have spent a number of years participating writing commentary and in the development of this Bible. I am still on the publishing board and the financial board of the PBS. It is impossible for me to be impartial and to not prefer it above the others —so please know that what I’m about to write does not include the PSB. Every young beginning minister should start his ministry by reading the PSB cover to cover.

I realize this next comment will cross swords with a number of preachers, and I am fine if you disagree. I have never read any translation, except the King James version of the Bible. It is my preferred reading and study. I have used other translations to see if there is a meaning in a particular passage that I am overlooking, however, to be honest I’m 99% always using the KJV. I believe in the majority text and I believe it is the correct text to study. This whole subject is maybe for another blog. Suffice it to say that I am not a believer in the minority text and the Bibles that are printed from that textus. This also applies to even the interlinear. It is impossible to remove 60,000 words from the text without affecting what you’re studying.

So today the question I am discussing is: if you could only have one study Bible, which one would it be?

My answer (that excludes the PSB) is if I could only have one Bible, I would want to use the Thompson Chain. It is possible that some of my bias is because it was the first Bible I began to use when I started preaching full-time at 23 years old. I still have it, and it literally has been written on every single page of the Bible. I believe in writing and making notes in my Bible -that is just a personal preference.

The original Thompson Chain-Reference Bible company was purchased in the last few years by Zondervan. They have produced it in a new binding and a new block text. This is a very good Bible. It is a Bible that if you did not own any other reference material, you would still be able to get a very well-rounded picture of doctrine and Bible history. It is literally the Bible on itself -meaning what does the Bible say about the Bible, and it leads you through chains of scriptures to do that.There is no one “Bible wonder” that does everything, but I do think this particular Bible comes closer than the others.

Just for fun I’m going to list some Bibles and what I prefer about these particular Bibles:

For reading: Schuyler (I like the chapter divisions)

For carry to church: Allan ( I like red letter and Allan does not make any)

For size/convience: Cambridge (my first Bible bought with my own money at 16)

For article/cool notes/introductions: The Student Bible (Zondervan-out of print)

For new preppie cool factor: Humble Lamb

For being a collectible: Thomas Nelson Signature Series (out of print)

Whatever Bible you choose to use in 2026 may I highly recommend reading your Bible cover to cover in 2026.

Blessings

 

Reflecting on 50 years of Ministry Saturday, Dec 6 2025 

Uncategorized , , , , , kennethbow 2:48 pm

Reflections on 50 years of preaching and modern preaching.

One half of a century: In some ways it seems a blink of an eye, in other ways it seems like a bite of eternity.

50 years ago I was 23 and today I am 73. At the end of last July, 2025 I reached 49 years of full time ministry. At the end of July 2026 I will complete 50 years of full time ministry. So much has changed and much has remained the same. 

My focus today is ministry and preaching. Concerning preaching I am referencing style, content, and delivery. These are my somewhat random thoughts.

Recently, over the last few years I have noticed in myself I prefer slower, quieter preaching. I kind of drifted into that without planning or even recognizing it was happening.

It seems to me I gradually began to see this in myself and began to analyze my thoughts. I found myself being disloyal to the loud fast preaching and decided to not allow negative thoughts to influence me in the years that remain in my life. I had found myself grimacing when the screaming got loud. As lame as it may sound I sincerely began to seek God for what He thought as opposed to what I was experiencing.

I may be misreading this next part as to what happened to me, but I see the poetic justice God uses at times in what happened. 

I had been given a small book on Hebrew words as a birthday gift by a dear lady in our church. I have been reading it slowly and carefully. While in the mindset of considering modern preaching it seems God straightened out my thinking.

There is a small Hebrew word TAL. It is the word for dew, morning dew. The small book ignited my thinking on how God speaks to us. This book emphasizes how the dew is so important in scripture. It is used 37 times if I have counted correctly. It is always used in terms of blessing.

As I pondered this I realized God has two major ways to send the water to earth that earth must have to survive. God uses dew and rain.

There are two ways the Word of God comes:

The dew – gentle, quiet, soaking over time -this is teaching.

The rain – loud, powerful, saturating fast – this is preaching.

Both are heavenly.

Both are divine.

Both are needed.

But they are not the same.

THE DEW OF TEACHING: SLOW, CONSISTENT, NOURISHING

The dew falls silently in the night when no one hears it.

It doesn’t shout.

It doesn’t announce itself.

It simply appears.

I will be as the dew unto Israel…

Hosea 14:5

Dew is personal.

Dew is delicate.

Dew doesn’t run off – it soaks in.

Teaching is the dew of heaven.

It comes quietly into the spirit,

line upon line,

precept upon precept.

For precept must be upon precept… line upon line… here a little, and there a little.

Isaiah 28:10

This is teaching:

where the pastor calmly

opens the Scriptures,

and expounds the Word,

and truth sinks gently into the soul.

Pentecostals love the shout 

but we also need the stillness of instruction.

For the dew of teaching forms roots.

THE RAIN OF PREACHING IS SUDDEN, POWERFUL, AND REVIVING.

Now look again at the text:

My doctrine shall drop as the rain…

 Deuteronomy 32:2

Rain is bold.

Rain is public.

Rain makes a noise on the rooftops.

Rain gets everyone’s attention.

This is preaching.

The voice lifts.

The anointing strikes.

The Word thunders like Elijah on Mount Carmel:

there is a sound of abundance of rain.

1 Kings 18:41

When preaching falls,

chains break,

altars fill,

sinners weep,

and backsliders tremble.

Rain produces shout,

but dew produces depth.

Rain revives quickly,

but dew sustains quietly.

THE CHURCH NEEDS BOTH THE DEW AND THE RAIN

Some churches only get dew 

and the saints grow knowledgeable but grow dry in passion.

Some churches only get rain 

and the saints shout but lack foundation.

Their spirituality only lasts a few days.

But God intended both.

In my search I discovered there is no place on planet earth where dew is not found. In some arid locations it is the only form of hydration for plants, hence a desert. Dew is quiet but causes nourishment daily. None of it is lost. It slowly works its purpose without any waste or runoff. The Bible uses dew as a metaphor for blessing. 

Rain is more noticeable. Rain can be gentle or intense. Rain can bless or cause destruction by flooding with cloud bursts. Rain can be forecast by weathermen. All rain is not salvaged. We must have drains and gutters and French drains due to overflow. Rain was used as a form of judgment in the days of Noah’s ark. Rain has more forms and intensity. Rain is loud and obvious. 

As I pondered this I began to feel like God was chiding me and correcting me. It was clear from a Bible perspective both are needed to give life giving water to our earth.

My conclusion is we need both dew (teaching) and rain (preaching). 

When I began to travel as a young evangelist I was 23 and only knew how my pastor did things. Brother Terry, my pastor, was a strong teacher.  Our general church life was we would have a long revival of six weeks or so and then Brother Terry would teach and establish the new converts. He also preached at times but in my memory he taught more often.

It seems to me this was the case with many churches in the 1960-1970 era. The large churches of those decades were built by men of teaching and preaching (dew and rain). Men like Paul Price, the Davis brothers, David Gray (used charts at times), Voar Shoemake, Clyde Haney, and others. 

I say this to encourage young preachers. Preach it hard and loud and long. 

Bring the rain!

Those of us who have many miles on our odometer can also take confidence in the value of the dew (teaching). The manna was attached to the dew so never doubt the value of teaching.

Numbers 11.9

9 And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it.

In Simple Terms

If an environment is very dry or very stable in temperature, dew will not form. 

Jesus said I would that you were either hot or cold.

Just as there are places on earth where dew is rare, there are hearts where the spirit’s moisture no longer settles. 

Dryness comes when prayer ceases, when the air of faith grows thin. 

But just as Elijah prayed and the heavens gave both rain and dew again,  revival always begins when someone kneels and calls upon the Lord.

So let us not become deserts.  

Don’t let your faith become dry in the heat of distraction.  

Let the dew return – the quiet Word that roots us.  

Let the rain fall – the power that renews us.

When the dew rests upon our spirit, truth takes hold.  

When the rain pours from heaven, the fruit appears.  

And when both move together: teaching and preaching, Word and Spirit — the Church becomes a flourishing field under open heavens.

Lord, make us a people who receive Your dew in the dawn and Your rain in the storm that Your Word may live in us,  

and through us, the earth may be refreshed again.

 

False Teachers Thursday, Dec 4 2025 

Uncategorized , , , kennethbow 9:52 am

False teachers by Kenneth Bow

They stand in garments shining, yet their hearts are full of night;

They speak with swelling words of praise, but never walk in light.

They promise fountains flowing, yet their wells are dry within;

They cause the hurt of Zion, but they never call it sin.

With smooth and crafted speeches they deceive the simple soul;

They bind with cords of flattery, yet never make men whole.

They love the chiefest places, and the greeting in the street;

But tremble not before the Lord, nor bow at Mercy’s seat.

They flee when wolves are coming, for they never knew the Lamb;

Their staff is but a painted rod, their cry a hollow sham.

They steal the words of others, saying, “Thus the Lord hath said,”

While God stands far from their deceit and truth falls cold and dead.

But still the Good Shepherd rises, and His voice the sheep will hear;

His rod corrects, His staff protects, His presence calms their fear.

For every false anointed, there is One who reigns above—

The Shepherd true, whose only crown was truth, sacrifice and love.

So test the spirits daily, weigh each voice against His Word;

For many feign the prophet’s fire, yet do not obey the Lord

Cling to the ancient pathway, let His truth defend your way—

The Lamb will guard His chosen flock until His coming day.