Suggestions for a devotional/study I can do with my 18 yo nephew?

[AZ_dad-2girls]

Hi there everyone!

 

I am a new forum member. It's been 14 years since Jesus pulled me out of darkness and became my Lord and Savior.

My sister has asked that I take a more active role in mentoring my 18 year old nephew, who is 2 states away and about to enter college.

My sister did a tremendous job raising a respectful and smart kid, but she tells me he does not really read his Bible despite being churched for all of his life.

Dad is in the picture and loves him but he's not a believer, so my sister has asked for me to spiritually mentor my nephew since he looks up to me.

I have always given my testimony and godly advice to my nephew, but I was thinking of doing a weekly Bible study with him over the phone.

Does anyone have any suggestions for source materials, any devotionals or study plans that would be good for a middle aged uncle to do with his college aged nephew? 

Thinking of something I could order for he and I to go over.

Very thankful for any suggestions.

 

Many thanks and Blessings !

Chuck

[Tzephanyahu]

Shalom Chuck,

6 hours ago, AZ_dad-2girls said:

Does anyone have any suggestions for source materials, any devotionals or study plans that would be good for a middle aged uncle to do with his college aged nephew? 

There is a great set of videos on Youtube you can work through by the Bible Project - example here.  They cover all the books of the Bible, some useful concepts and even word studies.  Perfect for young an old alike, and their doctrine is sound.  This will give you a platform to jump off in your study together.

As for approaching the Bible itself, I have found that the best way for the first study is to understand the epic of Israel's story.  This will bring a nice crescendo to the New Testament.  If you just drop in at the New Testament, he'll probably go on to have a lot of questions and definitely less understanding.  Therefore, I tend to recommend this route for the first read through:

1. Genesis
2. Exodus
3. Deuteronomy
4. Joshua
5. Judges
6. 1 & 2 Samuel
7. 1 & 2 Kings
8. Ecclesiastes - This will leave the Old Testament hanging in the air needing a solution...
9. Luke
10. Acts
11. Romans
12. 1 Peter
13. Revelation

This will give your nephew the complete story, as basic as possible.  It will also give him the blueprint of a timeline to fit in the prophets for a second read through.

I'm currently developing a Bible Guide website.  It's not quite ready yet, but if you have any specific questions on certain books, I might know of some more resources that could help.

Love & Shalom

[Debp]

Maybe you could use this idea for part of the Bible Study.   Maybe take a good devotional such as Charles  Spurgeon's Faith's Checkbook and read it over with your nephew and discuss it together?   Spurgeon usually has such gems of thought in his writings.   Since Faith's Checkbook devotionals are short, you could even discuss a couple of them at a time.

I have a free app by Tap Tap Studio which has Faith's Checkbook, plus eleven other classic devotionals on it.

[Bawcash]

8 hours ago, AZ_dad-2girls said:

Does anyone have any suggestions for source materials, any devotionals or study plans that would be good for a middle aged uncle to do with his college aged nephew? 

The YouVersion Bible app has tons of devotionals. You both can join and friend each other and do devotionals together. Plenty of plans for new Christians, millennials, men, etc. Wherever you see the need for him to be fed. Definitely worth checking out.

[GandalfTheWise]

11 hours ago, AZ_dad-2girls said:

My sister has asked that I take a more active role in mentoring my 18 year old nephew, who is 2 states away and about to enter college. My sister did a tremendous job raising a respectful and smart kid, but she tells me he does not really read his Bible despite being churched for all of his life. Dad is in the picture and loves him but he's not a believer, so my sister has asked for me to spiritually mentor my nephew since he looks up to me.

I have always given my testimony and godly advice to my nephew, but I was thinking of doing a weekly Bible study with him over the phone. Does anyone have any suggestions for source materials, any devotionals or study plans that would be good for a middle aged uncle to do with his college aged nephew? 

[EDIT: reformatted]

There's another possible direction to go for a young man.  The reality in today's culture is that many young men have no clue that it is possible to be a masculine godly man.  In some ways the church does the same thing spending its efforts telling young men what not to do and how to fit in comfortably to the church.  Many young men need permission to be a masculine man of God and to become who that unique person God created them to be is.  How many influential people in the Bible were safe conformists who fit in with no real identity of their own?  Not many.  The church spends its efforts trying to make young men fit in, find what they are good at so they can be kept busy with activities so they don't get into trouble, and basically make them carbon copies of the ideal Christian and church member.  Little effort seems to be spent on helping them become the unique person God created them to be and to walk with Him in the unique way they were created for.  The world (and to some degree the church) have become so frightened of young men growing up to become mass shooters that they try to take away everything that would make them a good man.  In trying to eliminate mass shooters, the courageous men who without thinking would have thrown themselves into the line of fire are turned into those who quickly hide. 

A book such as "Wild at Heart" or "Waking the Dead" by John Eldredge might be a good one to go through.  Now that I have grandkids, I've been giving a lot of thought to what I want them to remember and learn from me.  A decade ago, it would have been all about being a good Christian as defined by church expectations and evangelical Christian culture.  Today and going forward, it will be about one thing.  Who did God create those little toddlers to be?  What is the grand adventure of life and epic battles that they will face?  Who is the unique person they are each to become to reflect God's glory in a way unique to them?   Instead of trying to make them into the image of what I think a good Christian is,  I want to get a good sense of who God created them to be and then encourage them in that.  I'm still hoping they'll be excited enough about Grandpa's greek and hebrew bibles and shelves of books to become Christian scholars, but I'd now much rather watch them blossom into who God created them to be than to fit my expectations of what a good Christian looks like.

 

[missmuffet]

You could go to Dr. Charles Stanley's website and see if there is a devotional and study. He is an excellent teacher and you do not have to worry about a false teacher if you choose him.

https://www.intouch.org/

[AZ_dad-2girls]

Great suggestions here, so many directions to go.  My nephew is in an ROTC program and seems to be busy but wants to do it!

 

I want to make sure he has the basics of salvation, I want to first do the Navigators bridge with him to see where he is at. I will challenge him to memorize verses. He is very competitive so that might motivate him as I don't think he has much scripture memorized.

 

I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart and if you have more suggestions, please bring them on!

[Prycejosh1987]

On 8/12/2019 at 3:05 AM, AZ_dad-2girls said:

Hi there everyone!

 

I am a new forum member. It's been 14 years since Jesus pulled me out of darkness and became my Lord and Savior.

My sister has asked that I take a more active role in mentoring my 18 year old nephew, who is 2 states away and about to enter college.

My sister did a tremendous job raising a respectful and smart kid, but she tells me he does not really read his Bible despite being churched for all of his life.

Dad is in the picture and loves him but he's not a believer, so my sister has asked for me to spiritually mentor my nephew since he looks up to me.

I have always given my testimony and godly advice to my nephew, but I was thinking of doing a weekly Bible study with him over the phone.

Does anyone have any suggestions for source materials, any devotionals or study plans that would be good for a middle aged uncle to do with his college aged nephew? 

Thinking of something I could order for he and I to go over.

Very thankful for any suggestions.

 

Many thanks and Blessings !

Chuck

Study gospel of Matthew.