The Thru the Bible Story
A story that gets better every time we hear it because every word is true.
At the center of the ministry of Thru the Bible is a love story: God’s own love story for mankind, told through the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments—a story that gets better every time we hear it because every word is true.
Thru the Bible teaches God’s Word across a wide variety of media outlets every day—inviting people to listen and respond to God’s offer of salvation and a life of walking with Him.
Dr. J. Vernon McGee, our founder and teacher, loved to tell God’s story more than anything else. As a pastor and Bible teacher, he began teaching on the radio in 1941, hoping that his local San Gabriel Valley and the Los Angeles area would pay attention and respond to the wonders of God’s Word, simply taught. To Dr. McGee’s surprise, people listened.
Not only is the Bible a good story—and Dr. McGee a good storyteller—but the Bible has always been one of the primary ways God draws us to Himself.
"The only way you and I are going to stay close to Jesus is to stay close to His Word… that's why we're spending time in the Word of God, and the reason I read letters from people on the air. They say, 'For the first time I found out about the joy of the Lord.' The Christian life has been a yoke on them; all they knew was duty and discipline. But when you spend time studying the Bible, you can't help but be drawn to the person of Jesus."
— Dr. J. Vernon McGee, teaching the book of Hebrews
About Our Founder and Teacher
We honor Dr. McGee’s courage to answer God’s call, but we give God the glory for the generations of lives changed through the preaching of His Word.
No one would be more surprised than John Vernon McGee at the worldwide response to his country preaching, with simple ways and endearing mannerisms.
Dr. McGee was born in Hillsboro, Texas, in 1904. After pastorates in Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas, Dr. McGee and his wife, Ruth, settled in Pasadena, California.
In 1941, Dr. McGee was persuaded to begin a Sunday radio broadcast called “The Open Bible Hour” on a single station. It later became “High Noon Bible Class,” which laid the foundation for the 1967 launch of Thru the Bible as we know it today. Dr. McGee recorded the “Sunday Sermon” messages from the pulpit of the Church of the Open Door in Los Angeles, where he served as pastor from 1949 to 1970.
After cancer surgery in 1965, the doctors gave Dr. McGee six months to live. The Lord gave him 23 more years. After retiring, Dr. McGee devoted his life to Thru the Bible. On any given day, you’d find Dr. McGee at the Pasadena office with an open Bible on his desk, facing a microphone.
Dr. McGee and the Board of Directors planned in advance that the recorded 5-year program would remain on the air after Dr. McGee’s death. “Just play the tapes until the money runs out,” was Dr. McGee’s directive. On December 1, 1988, Dr. McGee fell asleep in his chair and quietly passed into the presence of his Savior.
Today, the worldwide work of Thru the Bible continues through a small staff and the prayers and faithful giving of wonderful listeners—committed to keeping the Bible Bus traveling through the whole Word of God until Jesus comes.
There's always room for more on the Bible Bus.
So hop on and invite your friends.