This past week, a group of Evangelical Free Church pastors gathered in Lynnwood, WA for a day and a half workshop on our Pathways Bible Study method. It was the first training I’ve done with a group in the area, and we had a wonderful time together challenging each other through the book of Jonah in how to train others to study and preach the Word of God well expositionally.

I was greatly encouraged as a colleague, Pastor Daniel Grell, who will be joining me in Ethiopia in a few weeks to train a network of pastors there, made the journey from Illinois to assist in the training. We generally try to train in pairs recognizing our training is stronger and healthier in groups of two, just as Jesus sent his disciples out in pairs. Daniel did an excellent job, and I’m confident he will likewise do well in Ethiopia.

All the participants commented on how much they enjoyed the training. Pastor Ray shared, “Thank you so much for the emphasis on dealing with the whole passage rather than just on parts that are easy to preach. I needed to hear this. This discipline of coming up with the main idea of a passage is something I’ve neglected, but is so important. People need to hear this clearly presented.” Every time we offer this training the pastors share how much they appreciate the tools we offer in healthy Bible exposition.

We were encouraged that every one of the pastors is eager to receive the next workshop, and several are ready to move forward with taking our trainings overseas with us. I have recently heard that there are more and more fields globally waiting for Pathways, and so we need the assistance of experienced expository preachers to aid in taking Pathways to the ends of the earth, to pastors hungry for good Bible training. I’m grateful for the opportunity to offer this training stateside as well as globally. 

Pressing on, Eric