Why Written Studies?
Scripture says “Faith comes from hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). Fundamental to making disciples in the political arena is teaching the Word of God. It is the irreducible minimum in effective ministry.
In my estimation, people in ministry who are not committed to regularly teaching God’s Word year round are missing the mark. How can you say you are making disciples amongst the political people group of America if you have five or six, a dozen, or two dozen Bible studies with them every year — if any at all? That doesn’t cut it in my book.
The question in the political arena, is how best do you unleash the Word of God? I believe the answer to that question must be informed by the lifestyle of Public Servants: the higher they go in their career paths, the more complicated their daily schedules become — and the more difficult it is for them to maintain consistency in attending a weekly Bible study — wherein I or another ministry leader teach them (in person) the Word of God.
Accordingly, for the past 20 years (and with seminary training) I have been committed to continually perfecting written Bible studies for Public Servants — Bible studies that have both depth and personalized application to these busy, influential people. As you know, I publish 52 studies a year, one per week, that average 8 pages in length.
In my way of thinking, if someone is reading my studies every week, he is reading the equivalent of a 400-page college/seminary-level book every year! Unfortunately, very few people in our culture will read a 400-page book related to biblical theology, commentary, and word studies of the original Greek and Hebrew — and yet that is precisely what they most need to grow in Christ and do their job of leading our nation in a God-honoring way! By publishing a four-color, beautifully illustrated Bible study every week, I believe that we are creating taste buds for the Word of God in a way that is attractive and palatable to the people who lead our nation! I believe that accomplishing this objective is directly related to one’s overall effectiveness in making disciples: again, teaching the Word of God is the irreducible minimum in making disciples! Romans 12:1-2 states that we are transformed by the renewing of our minds.
Greatly aiding the effectiveness of producing printed weekly Bible studies is today’s technology: Computer-aided design, color printing, internet distribution, email blasting, website posting, and App downloading — all aid in creating attractive, applicable, in-depth Bible studies that can be efficiently delivered to Public Servants throughout America and the world at every level of their career paths. In addition, in January of 2017, we started offering the weekly Bible studies in audio form so that people can listen to someone read them the study. Without such technological advancements such a singular niche approach would not be possible. Such a niche ministry approach to ministry was not available to ministers even a decade ago. That’s to say, as a result, how much greater now — versus in the past — can be our influence for the Gospel amongst the world’s political leaders! My vision is to match in-depth Bible study content with this distribution technology. Capitol Ministries is the first to do this.
Lastly, the other great advantage of niche, in-depth, attractive, written Bible studies is that they can be translated and distributed worldwide at very little cost — with both immediacy and efficiency. We are so excited about the recent developments that the Lord has enabled us to do in this way: you will notice on our capmin.org website that we are now publishing our D.C. Bible studies in Spanish, French, and Russian. This will greatly facilitate and enable the expansion of effective public servant discipleship ministries in other areas of the world.
In 1996, when I first began writing one-page Bible studies for Members of the California state legislature, I never imagined this ministry tool would gain such worldwide distribution. We praise God for this, for the team that takes my manuscripts and produces what you see, and for your partnership. All are necessary teammates to make it all happen.
Thank you and God bless you for your partnership.
Ralph Drollinger
President & Founder
Capitol Ministries