Hi, I’m Yvon Prehn and this website exists to help YOU know, trust, and apply the Bible.
And now, with the addition of the FREE Bible805 Academy, to help you TEACH the Bible.
The name Bible 805 comes from my belief that the Bible, Jesus, and the Christian faith are as real as the place I live in (area code 805)—Ventura, California.
First, a few words about who this site is for.
I’m doing this site for Three Groups
Audience Number One, for people who believe in Jesus
Because believing in Jesus doesn’t mean all spiritual doubts are removed or that you have any idea that Jesus is more than a way to avoid eternal suffering.
First, about the doubts—they are OK. They should serve as motivators to study, explore, and learn all you can about your faith. I believe if you do, not only will you not be disappointed, but your Christian life will be energized.
I think many Christians live in unconscious fear of what I call the “gotcha” questions. Ones like these: “Why do you say Christianity is the only way to God?” “Why is your Bible different than any other holy book?” “Aren’t all good people going to end up at the same place?” Finding answers to questions like these can be energizing and exciting. Though this is not an apologetic site primarily (one that argues for the faith), once you learn your Bible well, you’ll know the answers to the big questions. Not only to answer the questions of others, but to answer the doubts in your heart in the dark night of the soul we all experience from time to time.
Second, and this is the primary reason the podcast, videos, and the site overall are organized the way they are, is that many Christians don’t know their Bibles in any way other than having a few favorite go-to passages when life gets tough or verses they claim when they want something from God. Your Christian life will be so much richer and more obedient to our Lord if you KNOW the Bible—the whole Bible. The best way to do that is to read it cover to cover in chronological, historical order. CLICK HERE for a free eBook and schedules to get started.
If you’ve never done this before, I promise it will change your life, and if you have, the riches in God’s Word are so deep, I pray you will gain new insights and grow in your love and obedience as a Christ-follower if you do it again and again. I’ve made going through the Bible in chronological order my primary spiritual discipline for many decades, and it has made a huge difference in my life.
Audience Number Two, for believers in Jesus who want to teach the Bible
There are many resources out there to help you teach the Bible, but I believe that the Lord delights in great variety in many areas of His Creation and in the area of teaching the Bible, I feel He wants me to share what I’ve learned in the unique ways He has taught me.
I’ve seen the content of what I’ve taught transform lives, and so I am making many of my materials available to others including podcasts, videos, transcripts, notes and questions that go with the individual lessons. Many are available here on the Bible805 site. To receive updates on when new materials are posted CLICK HERE to sign up for the Bible805 newsletter.
In addition, I’ve also created the Bible805 Academy, where for FREE or PWYW (pay what you want) and FREE is just fine, you can download and freely use and repurpose PowerPoint Presentations (including original, editable files), notes, questions, associated charts, and PR materials to advertise the classes to your church. This website and the Bible805 YouTube channel are a preview of what is available in the Bible805 Academy. The additions in the Bible805 Academy are that you have videos without YouTube advertisements and can modify and make the PowerPoints, notes, and other materials your own. You can even take my name off them. I give you TOTAL freedom to use them however you want to teach others the Word of God. The only limitation is that you cannot repurpose them for sale.
Audience Number Three, for people who don’t believe in Jesus
Many people seem to have the idea that religion isn’t part of the real world, but a nice addition to a decent life as in “I’m a spiritual person.” I want to share with you how the Christian faith is a worthy area for spiritual exploration.
I have friends in this group and I’m not always the best at explaining what I believe in person-to-person conversation. I do better in writing and in planned speaking or teaching, now primarily in digital formats. This site is my expression in those ways of what is most important to me. In addition to my personal communication inadequacies, the Christian faith is somewhat complex if you take it seriously and I want to give you a complete picture of what it is all about–again, something I feel I can do best in writing and digital communication. Also, I want to respect your will and time to explore the faith before you make a commitment to follow it.
To check out what it means to be a Christian, please check out this section of podcasts, videos, and blogs: https://bible805.com/category/the-gospel-what-it-means-to-trust-jesus-as-savior-and-grow-as-his-disciple/
About Yvon Prehn, content creator for Bible805
I am a writer and teacher for Jesus and Bible805 is my latest adventure in expressing that identity.
Through the many twists and turns my life has taken, from the time I started helping kindergartners in Sunday School class when I was in third grade, to working with youth groups, teaching adult Bible classes, and working as an associate professor of church history at a Jesuit University, being writer and teacher for Jesus has been part of my life.
Along the way, I’ve read through the Bible many times, studied it deeply, and as a layperson tried to share that the Bible is the source for truth, salvation, meaning, and purpose in life now and forever.
The podcasts, videos, blogs, and other parts of this site are my latest adventures in writing and teaching for Jesus. It’s a long way from the flannelgraphs I used when I was teaching children over 50 years ago. When I was in college, I felt the Lord gave me Acts 1:8 as a defining verse in my life, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” I’ve tried to be His witness in teaching and writing, and with the internet, it literally goes to the ends of the earth.
About Bible805.com
Bible805.com is currently the hub of my Bible-teaching ministry. It started out as a podcast and an adult Sunday School class. In doing both I needed a blog to go with them, and so I developed the website (www.Bible805.com) to share notes and additional Bible information. From that I developed the Bible805 Academy to make the resources available for others to freely use.
My assurance to you of my editorial independence
As always, please know the only products mentioned on this site are ones I create (eBooks, various things in process including Printables, Items in the Bibleverse Shop) to help you get the Bible into all your life and for the support of this site. This site never has and never will take any advertising, in any way, participate in affiliate or referral marketing, nor will it be accepting sponsorships of any kind. If I recommend something other than what I create, it is truly because I like it and not for any additional monetary reason.
About my educational and theological background
I hesitate to put this in as there are few things I dislike more than talking about myself, but I know I want to know this information from anyone I read or learn from who teaches the Bible. None of what follows is a matter of debate or discussion, but for informational purposes only.
When I was growing up we were a military family and moved constantly. I never started or finished a school year in the same school through all of grade school.
No matter where we were, we always went to church. My mother was Mennonite, my father was Catholic. Though we primarily attended Presbyterian churches when possible, I also attended both denominations with extended family and I cherish both traditions.
When I was in sixth grade and we were stationed at Ft. Ord, CA, we were attending a little church in Marina, CA. From my earliest days, I knew about Jesus and was strongly influenced by a godly grandmother, but my faith had a large component of fear and I remember always praying, “Dear God, please let me go to heaven when I die and not to hell.” One summer at the little church they had a Child Evangelism club for a week and I remember the reality that Jesus came to save me forever finally made sense. I asked Jesus to be my Savior and never again did I worry about what would happen to me when I died. I knew I’d go to heaven to be with Jesus.
When my father retired from the military we moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado where we attended Ivywild Presbyterian church, which was a solid, Bible-teaching church. From 3rd grade on (when I started teaching kindergarteners), I always taught a Sunday School class and when I was a sophomore in high school, our youth group leaders moved away and no one wanted to run the group. I said, “I think I can do that” and went on to do youth ministry and teaching for many years.
I was heavily involved with the Navigator ministry in college as well as InterVarsity Christian Ministry. The Navigator’s emphasis on studying the Bible, sharing your faith in practical ways, and integrating life and ministry had a tremendous influence on my life. Living in Colorado Springs, I had the privilege of learning from some of the founders of the ministry, LeRoy Eims, Jerry Bridges, Lorne Sanny, Jerry White, and others who spoke to and led our college group.
Educationally, I have degrees in English and education, plus an additional major in history. I have a master’s degree in History, focusing on church history. I’ve done additional graduate work in Communications and have attended seminary (Fuller Seminary). I taught at a Catholic high school and was an associate professor teaching church history at a Jesuit university.
My husband Paul, who has since been called home to Jesus, was a bi-vocational pastor for many years, and we ministered at Baptist, non-denominational, and Presbyterian Churches. A number of these were Purpose-Driven churches. In these settings, I served as an adult Sunday School teacher, Bible class teacher, and did communications for our shared ministries.
At the same time, I started my church communications ministry, Effective Church Communications, and for over 20 years traveled all over North America (I do it all online now) teaching church communication seminars to every imaginable denomination. The seminars were sponsored by a secular company, but I had total control over the content of the seminars. They were advertised to the entire church audience wherever I taught, and a huge variety of churches showed up. In discussions, interactions, and looking at their materials, I got to know and love the broad variety of expressions in the Body of Christ. From this experience, I sometimes have referred to myself as a walking ecumenical council.
I currently live in Ventura, California (the most wonderful place on earth) and am joyfully and busily involved in Community Presbyterian Church.