In the Dust of the Rabbi

In the Dust of the Rabbi is an adult DVD curriculum which blends history with discipleship. It is part of the Faith Lessons series which is hosted & written by Ray Vander Laan. The DVD consists of 5 20-30 minute segments in which Mr. Vander Lann takes a group through various archeological ruins & shares how believers in that time period experienced faith. Here, the group travels from Galilee, Israel to Priene, Turkey (near Ephesus) to Didyma (home of the second largest temple in the world - that to Apollos).
Being a history nut, I found the sights & facts about the places fascinating. The talks were good, but fairly basic. Mr. Vander Laan's primary audience, in my estimation, would be new believers (with some sort of penchant for history). This would not be very useful as an evangelistic tool or for a seeker small group. It is going to be primarily effective in a discipleship small group.
The content is quality (if a little shallow or basic) & deals with being a true follower of Jesus, our Rabbi. What did discipleship look like in Jesus' day & how can we pattern our community of discipleship like that? Mr. Vander Laan deals with the effects for first century believers & the implications for today on being a "counter-cultural community", on being "living stones" & the importance of "the very words of God".
Another tool that is helpful as a companion to this is the Discovery Guide. This has questions & notes from the DVD as well as a small group outline for when the group is going through the specific session. The Discovery Guide also includes daily in-depth personal study sessions to keep the material fresh through the week as well as to dig deeper.

You can pick up the DVD here for 20% off.
You can check out the Discovery Guide here (also 20% off)
Browse through the rest of the Faith Lesson series here.


Category: Bible Studies