Draw Thru the Bible is the result of the Lord speaking to me on Saturday, May 3, 2008. Prior to this I was completing my first semester as an instructor at New Hope Christian College teaching New Testament Survey. We had gone from Matthew through Jude, but I constantly felt that there was a better way to teach the course yet I couldn’t put my finger on it.
I had just finished a pastoral course at King’s Seminary, Van Nuys, California. As I was walking towards my gate at Los Angeles International Airport on that fateful day in May, I stopped at the airport bookstore trying to kill some time.
Looking around the business section a book caught my eye, The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures. The premise is that if you can communicate what you are trying to say by drawing simple pictures, rather than relying on a presentation program, you have distilled the idea to its core.
The Lord impressed on my heart, “This is what you’re looking for.” As soon as I boarded the plane I took out my yellow pad and started drawing the last book of the New Testament, Revelation. I used simple pictures such as a star, a throne, a book with seven seals, trumpets, and bowls. The five-hour flight back to Honolulu seemed like minutes. Even the passenger sitting next to me was drawn to the simple illustrations. By the end of the flight, I had the book of Revelation charted out in very rough form. Throughout the week I continued to refine the drawings and the main points. But I had a big concern – would it work in a classroom of college students?
When I got to class the following Thursday I asked everyone to take out a piece of paper, position it landscape and draw seven columns. Over the next three hours we drew the book of Revelation. To this day, if you were to ask those students what they remember most from that semester they will say it was the drawing of Revelation. My only regret was that we didn’t do this for the other 26 books of the New Testament.
Over the next year I was able to chart out all the books of the Bible. My desire has been that these charts would be used on the mission field to help those who can’t afford a Bible college education to get one. Draw Thru the Bible has the potential to make God more and more famous.
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