The 5+1 New Bible Quizzing Resources for 1&2 Corinthians

I love Amazon. One of the biggest perks of any online store is that you get to shop from the cozy comfort of your own home while wearing pajamas. And besides being able to compare prices without burning a tank of gas and wasting your day, have you ever noticed that Amazon uses “frustration-free” packaging? That means no impenetrable hard plastic clamshell cases or M.C. Escher-esque wire ties, and a lot less – if any – chances of being one of the nearly 6,000 people who go to the emergency room annually for an injury inflicted by the razor-sharp shards of packing material. Additionally, the majority of Amazon orders are shipped in corrugated containers that contain 43% recycled materials and are 100% recyclable. So, in effect, I am helping the environment by ordering from Amazon!
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But while Amazon takes this whole “shopping from home” thing to a whole new level by offering everything from toilet paper to video games, coffee, adult Madagascar hissing cockroaches and more, they fall short with resources for Teen Bible Quizzing.

​Recently, I was fortunate enough to be asked by NPH to consult on Quizzing material. As a result, NPH has introduced new and unique product offerings for the 1&2 Corinthians season designed specifically to onboard new Teen Bible Quizzers and Coaches and equip those returning for another season. Showing a renewed dedication to provide resources for all aspects of Teen Bible Quizzing, NPH seems to be aiming to be the "Amazon” for Bible Quizzing.

Following is a summary of the 5 (+1) new and improved Bible Quizzing resources offered for 1&2 Corinthians and how I plan to use them this coming year:

1. The Beginner’s Guide for the New and Novice Quizzer

As the title implies, this book is designed to cover the basics of Teen Bible Quizzing for anyone who is relatively new to the program – and not just quizzers! I recommend this book for new coaches and parents of new quizzers as well. It is designed to get everyone comfortable with the basic rules and terminology of the game as well as give quizzers – whether new or novice – suggestions regarding how to study at home.

I plan to give this book to each of our District’s Children quizzers who are moving on to Teen Quizzing in the fall. As they read this short book over the summer they will get an overview of the quiz season, what to expect at a quiz meet, the basic rules of the game, an explanation of each of the types of questions, and the memory verse list with prejumps for the upcoming season.
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But perhaps the most beneficial chapter for new quizzers is “How To Study”, which presents a structured, daily routine that incorporates a variety of study methods. Having been a quiz coach for many years, I’ve observed that some students struggle to make the transition from an adult-led study routine to one that requires a fair amount of self-discipline to study on their own. Additionally, some of these youth haven’t been taught how to study effectively. This chapter addresses those challenges and concludes with a checklist to track progress. (Product Link)

2. A Quizzer's Daily Devotional

​A daily devotional book designed and formatted just for Teen Bible Quizzers! This devotional is divided into 29 weeks’ worth of study to correspond to each of the 29 chapters found in 1 & 2 Corinthians. Each day provides an Insight into a portion of the chapter followed by a practical Application – or even a challenge – to equip the student to be an effective disciple of Jesus Christ in the midst of the contemporary culture they face every day.

Additionally, throughout the book are Study Aids which contain various types of entries – all designed to aid in the studying of the material, understanding content, and preparing for later competition.
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Once we begin our study of 1 & 2 Corinthians in earnest this fall, each of my students will use this book as part of their daily time spent in the Word. (Product Link)

3. Coach’s Idea Book

Whenever possible, my goal is to have a quiz practice that balances learning, application, fun and fellowship while practicing skills for competition. But sometimes – and far too often, unfortunately – I just don’t feel motivated to think up a fun, creative way to hold everyone’s attention at quiz practice.  So if you are like me – or especially if you are new to leading a Bible Quiz program – this book will come in handy.

Not only does it provide a guide for conducting a well-balanced quiz practice useful for the novice coach, but every coach will appreciate the 23 fun activities and games designed to incorporate the quiz material and involve even the most reserved teen. Inject some fun by playing a short – or long! – game at each quiz practice. While some of the activities are variants of games many of us have played with our teams, the majority will be totally new to your teens. Vary the games each week to keep everyone engaged. (Product Link)
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4. Listening CD for 1 & 2 Corinthians

​I’m a big fan of engaging a variety of senses and methods of learning. My daughter, for example, is quite the auditory learner. She could read the instructions for an assignment several times, but it is not until she reads it out loud – and hears her own voice – that she notices a detail she had overlooked.

​And for some of our teens... they could at least listen to the scripture as they travel to and from their extracurricular activities. 

​And for some of our teens who claim to be – or really are – too busy to study more than they do, they could at least listen to the scripture as they travel to and from their extracurricular activities.
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These listening CDs feature a professional, single voice (Max McLean, I believe) reading the scripture without potentially distracting background music or sound effects. (Product Link)
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Now if only we could get Hide & Keep to make catchy jingles or raps for each of the teen memory verses like they do for Children’s Quizzing…

5. Novice and Experienced Quizzer Kits

To make things easy, NPH has grouped the essential quizzing resources into discounted kits based on the experience level of the quizzer:

• Novice Quizzers get: Daily Devotional, Practice Questions book, Listening CD, Pocket Scripture portion, Beginner’s Guide book.
• Experienced Quizzers get: Daily Devotional, Practice Questions book, Listening CD, Spiral-bound Scripture and Concordance.

There is even a Coach’s Kit which includes the Experienced Quizzer kit as well as the Beginner’s Guide, Coach’s Idea Book, and a subscription to Set Maker so they can generate question sets for quiz practices. (Product Page Link)

+1. A New and Improved Pocket Scripture Portion

The pocket Scripture portion isn’t new, but this year it performs a new trick: the unique words are in bold italic!

Knowing and instantly recognizing the key words in the scripture provides an advantage to be the first quizzer to jump on a question. Having unique words appear in bold italic aids the reader in connecting those words to a particular passage of Scripture when they appear in competition questions. For example, if a question began with “Who planted…”, you would know that the question could only be:

“Who planted the seed?”

The word planted is only found in 1 Corinthians 3:6, so they would know the answer is “Paul”. Reading and re-reading the chapters over and over should help a quizzer recognize these unique words and enough of the associated verse to jump well before the complete question is read.

Conclusion

So give these products a test drive and let me know what you think in the comments below. And if there are other products you feel are beneficial, please share! I’d love to give them a try!