Written by Pamela Honor
Having never been through one of Beth Moore’s bible studies, I’ll admit I began this DVD bible study on the book of James, MERCY TRIUMPHS, with skepticism. Beth Moore’s name has pretty much become iconic in the christian community, and when someone has that kind of status, I naturally default to cynicism. Could they really be that good? But it took only one session for me to see why people naturally gravitate towards both the person and the materials from Beth Moore. Mercy Triumphs is an engaging and relevant walk through the book of James that will dynamically change the way you look at this brother of Jesus.
With a small group of 8 women, we set out to travel through the DVD teaching and workbook homework of MERCY TRIUMPHS over a 16 week time period. All of us teachers, we felt the crunch to limit our time each week, meeting just after the last student had gone home. One week was DVD instruction, the following, we worked through the weekly homework and opened it up for discussion. We committed the precious time because we knew that theoretically it was something we needed, but we also knew, we didn’t have alot of time to lose. So each of us came with the same premise – don’t waste my time.
The MERCY TRIUMPHS DVD sessions were well-produced, and drew in the viewer almost immediately. Multiple screen angles and a small audiencein the same room as Beth, generated the feeling of intimacy, sitting down with a good friend and talking church. Beth talked to her present audience, and also spoke out many times to her “virtual audience”, which was us. It did not feel forced or artificial, it seemed almost as if we were in that same room with the other women.
The workbook and homework for the MERCY TRIUMPHS series were equally dynamic and jam-packed with information, additional related scriptures and relevant assignments that walked us through the 5 chapters of James, each week opening up new insight and understanding. The historical background alone that Beth Moore offers would have made it worth the effort. But add to that the complete package of seeing the history, personality, specific relationships and shaky beginnings of a new religion, and the MERCY TRIUMPHS series becomes a full-meal deal even if it is only covers the small 5 chapter book of James.
As we came to the end of our 16 week journey, we all agreed that it was truly time very well spent, and have already made plans to continue in the fall with another Beth Moore study. For busy women who are teachers, wives, mothers, sisters and daughters, with full-lives and overloaded schedules, the fact that we will make room for another study should speak volumes. The DVD series and workbook for “James, MERCY TRIUMPHS” by Beth Moore is well-worth the investment of time, and money to go deeper in your faith journey, and understand a little more about your life as a believer,