My latest notebook was designed for deep Bible study. This is a PDF notebook designed to work with tablets and pens, and your favorite PDF app. It includes templates that you can copy and paste anywhere within the notebook, allowing you to expand and organize your Bible study. The notebook doesn’t include study resources, such as Bibles and commentaries. Instead, it works with any resources you want to use, including printed and digital resources.
Bible study can take you in a lot of different directions. You might begin by reading through a book of the Bible and notice a passage you want to explore a little deeper. That passage leads you to a particular verse, which raises a question about a word. Then you discover a related passage somewhere else in Scripture, and suddenly you have notes scattered across several notebooks, Bible pages, sticky notes, and digital files.
There is nothing wrong with studying that way. In fact, following those connections is often one of the most rewarding parts of Bible study. One of the biggest helps is having a place to track everything you’ve discovered.
That’s one of the reasons I created the new Digital Bible Study Notebook from Ministry Notebook.
A Framework for Your Own Study
The notebook doesn’t tell you how you should study the Bible. Instead, it provides a framework that you can use when it is helpful and ignore when it isn’t. The sections move from broad to specific, giving you several ways to approach Scripture.
Book Study provides a place to look at an entire book, including its context, structure, themes, important people, and key passages.
Passage Study lets you slow down and work through a section of Scripture, from observation and context through interpretation, application, and connections that you discover.
Verse Study focuses on an individual verse, including context, references, interpretation, and application.
Word Study provides a place to investigate an important word, including its original language, usage, related words, and what you discovered through the study process.
There are also sections for Topical Study and Character Study, along with pages for recording information from commentaries, study Bibles, dictionaries, books, articles, sermons, and other resources.
Make It Your Own
One thing I wanted to avoid was creating another notebook where every page is filled with boxes that tell you exactly what to write. Bible study doesn’t always work that way. Sometimes you need a table. Sometimes you need a few prompts to get started. And sometimes you just want a blank page and plenty of room to think and scribble.
The notebook includes reusable lined, dotted, blank, grid, and checklist pages so you can add the kind of workspace you need. There’s also a small Personal Journal section for reflections, questions you’re still exploring, and things you want to remember. The result is less about following a prescribed method and more about creating a lasting record of your own study that allows you to use any method that’s comfortable to you.
A Record You Can Return To
One of the benefits of keeping organized Bible study notes is that you don’t have to start over every time you return to a subject. You can look back at what you studied months or years ago, add new discoveries, revisit questions, and see how your understanding has developed. That’s the idea behind the Digital Bible Study Notebook.
Study Scripture. Record what you discover. Keep it somewhere you can return to.
The new Digital Bible Study Notebook is available now from Ministry Notebook as a 71-page digital PDF notebook designed for use with compatible PDF note-taking and annotation apps.
