The Remnant Bible Study

The Remnant Bible Study Course is a series of lessons designed not only to educate Christians on the basics of the faith but also to teach them about some topics on a deeper level, including a few that do not get the coverage in modern churches that they should. David Fore and James Burch, two of the founders of It Ain’t Over Ministries, collaborated on this study course, the first edition being written and edited between February 5, 2018, and June 7, 2021. We were led by God to share the truths that He had shown us, deciding to put them into a Bible study format. In fact, we were still learning as we put the Bible study together. Our desire is to learn more of God and the Bible throughout our lives. This includes remaining teachable, even to the point of correcting shared information if God shows us we were wrong or otherwise had an incomplete understanding of something pertaining to Him or His Word.

The first edition contains a lot of information but is of a very plain, utilitarian format. In the works of many creators of various studies and so forth, their first editions are something like rough drafts or starter experiments, if you will, and ours was no exception. By the middle of 2022 it was felt that a second edition of the Remnant Bible Study Course was needed.

Work began on the second edition of the RBSC on November 3, 2022. The first edition contained 18 lessons that were organized into three tiers called phases. In the second edition there are now 20 lessons, with the Heaven and Hell teachings having been combined into one lesson and three new lessons added. The tiers have been renamed as follows, Level 1 – “Getting Grounded”, Level 2 – “Moving Forward in the Faith”, and Level 3 – “Excelling in Victorious Christian Living”. Pictures, maps and charts have been added to the second edition, and the tables have been reformatted to be more aesthetically pleasing and not so plain. This new edition of the RBSC has been streamlined, with redundant information removed and the remaining material more concisely worded. Old information has been updated and an effort was made to reduce the amount of time-sensitive material, making future updates easier. The citation of sources in the first edition of the RBSC was done in a way that sometimes cluttered the lessons. In the second edition, more traditional source citations are used, with a bibliography placed at the end of each lesson. This not only protects us, but also the concise placement of this information all together in one listing quickly enables students to check out the references for themselves. We have also cut down on the amount of lesson reviewing in the later lessons. Since those utilizing the RBSC will have all the lessons at their disposal, we refer them to the appropriate lessons or lesson sections to review. Where we felt that  adding review material was in order, we kept it to the bare minimum necessary.

 One other feature which the collaborators on this Bible study felt needed to be changed was the widespread naming of erring ministers and ministries. We have found that when we name them, fellow believers are often offended and do not take our admonitions to heart, mistaking our efforts for personal attacks. Now, there is a time and a place to call people out, but we are not heresy hunters and cultists. What we have done this time and will do from now on is name the errant teachings that are out there in today’s church world, only calling out individuals or ministries if absolutely necessary.