WEBVTT 00:00:02.730 --> 00:00:05.009 Hello, everyone, and welcome to this week's episode 00:00:05.009 --> 00:00:08.029 of Trinity Talks. My name is Kyla. I'm Jordana. 00:00:08.189 --> 00:00:12.980 I'm Elizabeth. I'm a Marvel. And today we are 00:00:12.980 --> 00:00:15.839 continuing our journey in a series called This 00:00:15.839 --> 00:00:18.339 Is The Way, where we're learning about what it 00:00:18.339 --> 00:00:21.379 means to follow Jesus and how some of these different 00:00:21.379 --> 00:00:23.940 spiritual practices that we have, like prayer 00:00:23.940 --> 00:00:26.420 and Bible reading and fasting and worshiping 00:00:26.420 --> 00:00:29.920 together, all help us to become more like Jesus 00:00:29.920 --> 00:00:33.600 and to learn to love Jesus more. And today we 00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:36.920 are talking about... the Bible, which is, I think, 00:00:36.920 --> 00:00:39.659 a really important part of our faith. Obviously, 00:00:39.719 --> 00:00:42.859 it's sort of the basis of our faith, but it can 00:00:42.859 --> 00:00:45.060 also be a really confusing part of our faith 00:00:45.060 --> 00:00:47.200 at different moments. And so I'm excited to sort 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:50.060 of unpack that with all of you and see, yeah, 00:00:50.100 --> 00:00:52.899 how has the Bible informed our lives and how 00:00:52.899 --> 00:00:57.090 can we work through it together? So as we get 00:00:57.090 --> 00:00:59.530 started here, the first question that I just 00:00:59.530 --> 00:01:01.270 want to have is like, what has been your experience 00:01:01.270 --> 00:01:03.549 with the Bible? How has it been sort of part 00:01:03.549 --> 00:01:05.689 of your spiritual life? Do you want to start 00:01:05.689 --> 00:01:10.030 us off a model? Sure. You know, it's been it 00:01:10.030 --> 00:01:13.269 hasn't been as big of a part because I've only 00:01:13.269 --> 00:01:17.030 been doing this for about a year. But I definitely 00:01:17.030 --> 00:01:20.939 it's definitely interesting when it's. when like 00:01:20.939 --> 00:01:23.640 when rob does like a sermon series or so like 00:01:23.640 --> 00:01:27.420 the seven letters to the church or when we did 00:01:27.420 --> 00:01:29.480 the sermon on the mount series because i'm able 00:01:29.480 --> 00:01:34.000 to sort of like read it before and sort of get 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:35.939 in that headspace or just sort of be able to 00:01:35.939 --> 00:01:40.040 try to at least have a view or a theory of what 00:01:40.040 --> 00:01:45.099 what's actually happening sure and uh but i mean 00:01:45.099 --> 00:01:49.299 the bible it's it's definitely an important piece 00:01:49.299 --> 00:01:53.439 of uh of of being a christian you know and i 00:01:53.439 --> 00:01:56.480 actually wrote it down that when it comes to 00:01:56.480 --> 00:02:00.340 the the uh like the words of the bible you know 00:02:00.340 --> 00:02:03.140 or whenever you're reading from the bible um 00:02:03.140 --> 00:02:06.159 you should be looking for it to be an answer 00:02:06.159 --> 00:02:09.840 a reminder a comfort or a message okay you know 00:02:09.840 --> 00:02:13.120 and there's there's no empty words in the bible 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:15.949 there's not You know, there's no filler. There's 00:02:15.949 --> 00:02:17.969 no nothing. You know, there's everything is meant 00:02:17.969 --> 00:02:21.250 to be there. Sure. And I mean, there's times 00:02:21.250 --> 00:02:23.550 where you just like you're reading through it 00:02:23.550 --> 00:02:27.229 and you're like, I don't get it. For sure. You 00:02:27.229 --> 00:02:30.129 don't have much of a reaction. And then other 00:02:30.129 --> 00:02:33.930 times it really hits you, you know. And I mean, 00:02:33.949 --> 00:02:36.289 sometimes that's how God communicates, you know, 00:02:36.289 --> 00:02:39.870 open up to this scripture or some, you know, 00:02:39.870 --> 00:02:43.750 or someone brings up. you know, Bible verse on 00:02:43.750 --> 00:02:46.789 your Facebook feed and you're like, wow, I really 00:02:46.789 --> 00:02:49.009 needed to hear this. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 00:02:49.009 --> 00:02:50.629 No, I, I resonate with that. There are definitely 00:02:50.629 --> 00:02:52.669 moments where it just feels like, okay, I'm doing 00:02:52.669 --> 00:02:55.370 this like as a faithful practice and following 00:02:55.370 --> 00:02:59.150 God, but it doesn't feel super like deeply meaningful. 00:02:59.210 --> 00:03:00.750 But then there are other moments where it's like, 00:03:00.830 --> 00:03:03.750 wow, this feels like life changing in some ways. 00:03:03.909 --> 00:03:06.110 Yeah, exactly. Yeah. What about for you, Elizabeth? 00:03:06.169 --> 00:03:07.909 How's reading the Bible been sort of part of 00:03:07.909 --> 00:03:14.479 your life? It's been part of my daily life because 00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:21.439 it's the Word of God, and it was written by inspiration 00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:27.139 through other people in the Bible. So it's the 00:03:27.139 --> 00:03:31.840 anchor to my faith, and it's like the compass 00:03:31.840 --> 00:03:39.610 that directs our path. So it's a good way. To 00:03:39.610 --> 00:03:43.050 get closer to God through reading the Word of 00:03:43.050 --> 00:03:46.710 God. Okay, yeah. And so what has the practice 00:03:46.710 --> 00:03:49.270 of reading the Bible looked like in your life? 00:03:49.349 --> 00:03:51.490 Is that something that you do really regularly, 00:03:51.509 --> 00:03:55.289 or is it something that you find hard to do at 00:03:55.289 --> 00:04:00.250 times? I do it regularly, to be sincere, because 00:04:00.250 --> 00:04:06.030 it's been part of my life. It's like a comforting 00:04:06.030 --> 00:04:11.210 book that I read daily. Okay. And sometimes even 00:04:11.210 --> 00:04:15.229 if I wake up in the morning and I can't go through 00:04:15.229 --> 00:04:18.910 the whole chapter or some verses that I really 00:04:18.910 --> 00:04:22.209 want, then later in the day, I will still go 00:04:22.209 --> 00:04:27.050 back and read it. Yeah. So it's a really strong 00:04:27.050 --> 00:04:29.189 central sort of part of your faith. That's awesome. 00:04:29.230 --> 00:04:32.709 Yeah. What about for you, Jordana? Oh, I'll say 00:04:32.709 --> 00:04:36.529 that. I think it used to be a very strong central 00:04:36.529 --> 00:04:39.350 part of my faith. I think more growing up, mostly 00:04:39.350 --> 00:04:42.329 in my teenage years where I would reach for it 00:04:42.329 --> 00:04:46.910 very often and read through and, you know, go 00:04:46.910 --> 00:04:49.529 through the letters of Paul and the gospels and 00:04:49.529 --> 00:04:52.889 things like that. I think. More recently, I've 00:04:52.889 --> 00:04:56.449 been less consistent. Sure. You know, there have 00:04:56.449 --> 00:04:59.189 been times of frustration and I'll go back and 00:04:59.189 --> 00:05:00.769 then I'll stop and I'll go back and then I'll 00:05:00.769 --> 00:05:04.290 stop this constant cycle of beginning again that 00:05:04.290 --> 00:05:07.360 I've... I need to work on. And so it's nice to 00:05:07.360 --> 00:05:10.899 do the series, but certainly I think back to 00:05:10.899 --> 00:05:14.000 those times when I was very consistent and reading 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:17.560 and memorizing and, you know, as very formative 00:05:17.560 --> 00:05:21.060 and grounding and just God's grace, because that 00:05:21.060 --> 00:05:24.660 when you do that, it ends up carrying you through 00:05:24.660 --> 00:05:27.879 tough times. You know, you rep, you're able to 00:05:27.879 --> 00:05:30.959 recall passages that can be comforting, or you 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:36.089 can recall passages where you reach for, God's 00:05:36.089 --> 00:05:41.550 presence. And, um, I will say that, you know, 00:05:41.569 --> 00:05:44.850 I should get back to that. Sure. Sure. Yeah. 00:05:44.930 --> 00:05:47.350 I think it's hard, like just in different seasons 00:05:47.350 --> 00:05:49.850 of our lives where there are different things 00:05:49.850 --> 00:05:52.050 happening, it can be hard to like make that space. 00:05:52.230 --> 00:05:54.689 Yes, for sure. For sure. Even though we know 00:05:54.689 --> 00:05:56.949 that it's good for us, even though we know that 00:05:56.949 --> 00:05:58.930 it will bring us joy and comfort and all these 00:05:58.930 --> 00:06:01.649 things, making that space is hard. Yes, it is 00:06:01.649 --> 00:06:06.300 for sure. For sure. Um, So when we think about 00:06:06.300 --> 00:06:09.740 the Bible, I think you had just told us a little 00:06:09.740 --> 00:06:13.060 bit about going to buy a Bible. Yes, yes. Do 00:06:13.060 --> 00:06:15.180 you want to just share what that was like? Well, 00:06:15.220 --> 00:06:17.660 when I first started thinking about being serious 00:06:17.660 --> 00:06:19.720 with Christianity and went to go buy a Bible, 00:06:19.800 --> 00:06:22.139 and it's like, you know, I thought, okay, there's 00:06:22.139 --> 00:06:25.360 like one version. Is it? You know, just like, 00:06:25.420 --> 00:06:27.720 you know, maybe like the King's James version. 00:06:27.740 --> 00:06:29.259 You know, that's what everybody knows, right? 00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:32.300 Sure. I go, and then there's like six or seven 00:06:32.300 --> 00:06:35.290 or eight different Bibles. I'm like. uh which 00:06:35.290 --> 00:06:40.310 do i choose yes yeah and then and then online 00:06:40.310 --> 00:06:42.689 people will be like debating oh don't use this 00:06:42.689 --> 00:06:44.829 version don't use that version only go with this 00:06:44.829 --> 00:06:47.449 version yes or when you're doing or when you're 00:06:47.449 --> 00:06:49.129 reading go through this version when you're getting 00:06:49.129 --> 00:06:51.410 serious going in this version and this is like 00:06:51.410 --> 00:06:55.720 yes you know it's like You know, it becomes almost 00:06:55.720 --> 00:06:57.439 like a supermarket where you can't, you know, 00:06:57.439 --> 00:07:01.120 where it's like, you know, you, you know, you 00:07:01.120 --> 00:07:03.360 think you go for one thing and you can get confused 00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:06.040 by all the different versions. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. 00:07:06.220 --> 00:07:09.459 So there is this, this different translations 00:07:09.459 --> 00:07:12.259 is one of the things that makes it hard for us 00:07:12.259 --> 00:07:14.779 to read the Bible, hard to understand what it 00:07:14.779 --> 00:07:17.480 is. And so I think before we go any further, 00:07:17.560 --> 00:07:19.220 we should maybe spend some time on that. Like 00:07:19.220 --> 00:07:23.589 what, what is the Bible and how do we read? it. 00:07:25.329 --> 00:07:27.769 Yeah, Elizabeth, when you think about what is 00:07:27.769 --> 00:07:32.569 the Bible, what would you sort of say? To me, 00:07:32.589 --> 00:07:37.029 I would say the Bible introduces us to the full 00:07:37.029 --> 00:07:41.250 66 books of the Bible according to the description 00:07:41.250 --> 00:07:46.430 within. In Old Testament, we have 39 while in 00:07:46.430 --> 00:07:54.490 the New Testament we have 27 books. So, and, 00:07:54.689 --> 00:08:00.930 excuse me, it is written in a chronological order, 00:08:01.029 --> 00:08:05.490 according to the inspiration that was given to 00:08:05.490 --> 00:08:09.430 those individuals that wrote the Bible. Okay. 00:08:09.430 --> 00:08:11.529 Yeah. So it's this whole collection. I think 00:08:11.529 --> 00:08:13.269 the first part that's important there is that 00:08:13.269 --> 00:08:19.850 it's 66 books, that it is one book bound together, 00:08:20.029 --> 00:08:25.939 but it is actually, 66 different scrolls. We 00:08:25.939 --> 00:08:28.660 call them books, but they were originally printed 00:08:28.660 --> 00:08:31.720 as a bunch of different scrolls. Right. And so 00:08:31.720 --> 00:08:34.419 they're each coming from a slightly different 00:08:34.419 --> 00:08:37.179 perspective, each telling a different piece of 00:08:37.179 --> 00:08:39.860 the story. And so if you just pick up your Bible 00:08:39.860 --> 00:08:43.240 and start reading it at Genesis and try to read 00:08:43.240 --> 00:08:45.659 it all the way through, you can do that. But 00:08:45.659 --> 00:08:49.590 you're going to find that like. Some of the pieces 00:08:49.590 --> 00:08:52.690 don't make sense without some of the other pieces, 00:08:52.750 --> 00:08:55.950 I think. And some pieces are telling you the 00:08:55.950 --> 00:08:58.149 same story in two different ways. And, you know, 00:08:58.169 --> 00:09:02.529 you actually end up having to navigate how that 00:09:02.529 --> 00:09:05.490 story is being told in very different ways at 00:09:05.490 --> 00:09:07.389 different times. And so, yeah, I mean, I'm just 00:09:07.389 --> 00:09:09.210 thinking of the four Gospels, right? You know, 00:09:09.210 --> 00:09:12.590 as the most. obvious example of what's happening 00:09:12.590 --> 00:09:14.429 there with Jesus' life. It's not one biography. 00:09:15.429 --> 00:09:19.149 It's four different early biographical writings, 00:09:19.330 --> 00:09:21.789 first century biographical writings. So I would 00:09:21.789 --> 00:09:25.649 say that having a sense that there are very different 00:09:25.649 --> 00:09:30.769 times being in context. ways of telling narratives 00:09:30.769 --> 00:09:34.509 and different genres in there all come into play 00:09:34.509 --> 00:09:37.409 in some of the challenges of reading the Bible. 00:09:37.549 --> 00:09:39.669 For sure. And at the same time, recognizing there's 00:09:39.669 --> 00:09:41.590 a coherence to it. It has a beginning. It has 00:09:41.590 --> 00:09:44.350 an end. There's a sense of God constantly drawing 00:09:44.350 --> 00:09:46.929 humans to himself over time in different ways, 00:09:47.029 --> 00:09:49.269 in different cultures, culminating in Jesus. 00:09:49.690 --> 00:09:52.690 And so there is that overall coherence, even 00:09:52.690 --> 00:09:56.039 as... um there's such a difference as well yeah 00:09:56.039 --> 00:09:59.320 yeah yeah for sure for sure yeah yeah i think 00:09:59.320 --> 00:10:01.480 like one of the things that christian dd johnson 00:10:01.480 --> 00:10:03.879 who gave our sermon at trinity today talked about 00:10:03.879 --> 00:10:05.740 was like the importance of understanding like 00:10:05.740 --> 00:10:08.299 the genre yeah that that you're looking at right 00:10:08.299 --> 00:10:10.460 that like some of these things are biography 00:10:10.460 --> 00:10:12.799 some of these things are history some of these 00:10:12.799 --> 00:10:16.019 things are poetry and if we try to read the poetry 00:10:16.019 --> 00:10:19.559 as if it is a historical narrative we're going 00:10:19.559 --> 00:10:22.240 to get really confused and if we try to read 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:26.830 the story the letters of Paul as if they were 00:10:26.830 --> 00:10:29.490 poetry, we're also going to get really confused, 00:10:29.830 --> 00:10:32.389 right? Like, so understanding some of those differences. 00:10:32.750 --> 00:10:35.049 I will also say that what makes it challenging 00:10:35.049 --> 00:10:37.429 is sometimes those genres are not as clear cut. 00:10:37.610 --> 00:10:41.269 Sure. Like, you know, Psalms is poetry predominantly 00:10:41.269 --> 00:10:45.350 and prophecy and history. And you know what I 00:10:45.350 --> 00:10:51.210 mean? Genres are nice to get a sense in a very 00:10:51.210 --> 00:10:53.750 broad way of what's happening. And then they 00:10:53.750 --> 00:10:57.090 get muddied very fast. Sure. And so, yeah, so 00:10:57.090 --> 00:10:59.470 to actually figure out what's going on and how 00:10:59.470 --> 00:11:02.110 people are speaking in that moment or how they 00:11:02.110 --> 00:11:05.649 are writing in that moment is, it can be a challenge. 00:11:05.830 --> 00:11:09.000 Yeah. Yeah. And I know one resource that several 00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:10.840 of us have sort of mentioned is the Bible Project 00:11:10.840 --> 00:11:14.340 is like one way that it's this whole website 00:11:14.340 --> 00:11:16.100 that has a whole bunch of videos and podcasts 00:11:16.100 --> 00:11:19.100 and different blogs and things that help us figure 00:11:19.100 --> 00:11:21.299 out, OK, what is it that we're reading? Where 00:11:21.299 --> 00:11:23.700 does it fit into the story of Scripture? All 00:11:23.700 --> 00:11:28.440 of that is really helpful in. And I've used the 00:11:28.440 --> 00:11:30.480 Bible Project quite a bit to get a sense of the 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:34.240 overviews of each book are really well explained. 00:11:35.100 --> 00:11:38.100 The thematic videos are really well done. And 00:11:38.100 --> 00:11:40.860 so I've used it a lot for understanding what's 00:11:40.860 --> 00:11:43.779 happening. Yeah, yeah, for sure. So then when 00:11:43.779 --> 00:11:47.039 you think about how do we read the Bible, what 00:11:47.039 --> 00:11:49.460 would you sort of say in terms of, yeah, like 00:11:49.460 --> 00:11:56.840 strategies or just like ways and practices? Being 00:11:56.840 --> 00:11:59.100 a part of a life group, especially for our church 00:11:59.100 --> 00:12:03.059 with the sermon questions, is a great way because 00:12:03.059 --> 00:12:06.980 there's always at least one passage of the Bible 00:12:06.980 --> 00:12:09.820 that's being highlighted and then questions on 00:12:09.820 --> 00:12:13.779 it. And I think just being involved with people 00:12:13.779 --> 00:12:16.960 that you can be like, I didn't really get this 00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:21.340 or what do you think this means? I think that's 00:12:21.340 --> 00:12:28.220 one way as well. Yeah, I mean, I think that's 00:12:28.220 --> 00:12:31.639 probably one of the best ways I've seen it, you 00:12:31.639 --> 00:12:35.120 know. Or sometimes if you even just like other 00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:39.480 people might have a teaching series on YouTube 00:12:39.480 --> 00:12:43.059 or so where they'll go through a certain book 00:12:43.059 --> 00:12:48.799 of the Bible and they'll say, you know, how this 00:12:48.799 --> 00:12:51.480 relates to our modern day. Sure. Because one 00:12:51.480 --> 00:12:54.919 of the biggest challenge is. It's context. Sure. 00:12:55.100 --> 00:12:57.960 Because, you know, like, you know, it's just 00:12:57.960 --> 00:13:00.179 like if you wrote a book a hundred years ago, 00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:03.059 it wouldn't read the same as something today. 00:13:03.340 --> 00:13:07.440 Right. And this is like, you know, a couple thousand, 00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:10.399 sometimes like 5 ,000 years ago. And then when 00:13:10.399 --> 00:13:12.879 you add in the fact that you're trying to translate 00:13:12.879 --> 00:13:16.879 words as accurate as possible, you know, it gets 00:13:16.879 --> 00:13:20.860 challenging. For sure. For sure. Yeah. So having 00:13:20.860 --> 00:13:23.320 some like wise teachers and having a community 00:13:23.320 --> 00:13:25.940 of people to read together. But I think understanding 00:13:25.940 --> 00:13:29.259 that the intention is always good. Intention 00:13:29.259 --> 00:13:31.840 is to understand God's word. Right. That's the 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:34.559 that's the key, because there's a lot, of course, 00:13:34.620 --> 00:13:37.919 for people that are against Christianity. They 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:40.179 you know, they always say, oh, you know, like 00:13:40.179 --> 00:13:43.220 there's there's so many changes. It's inconsistent. 00:13:43.620 --> 00:13:46.000 There's things that have been taken out. There's 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:48.639 been. you know different versions and all this 00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:50.940 kind of stuff but you got to look at the heart 00:13:50.940 --> 00:13:54.299 and the intention sure i gotta believe that people 00:13:54.299 --> 00:13:58.360 that are that are you know doing even different 00:13:58.360 --> 00:14:01.740 versions of the bible or even the idea of translating 00:14:01.740 --> 00:14:04.539 the bible into different languages and dialects 00:14:04.539 --> 00:14:07.259 you know it comes from a good place it comes 00:14:07.259 --> 00:14:09.480 from the idea of spreading the word and spreading 00:14:09.480 --> 00:14:13.990 the gospel sure yeah yeah yeah What about you? 00:14:14.009 --> 00:14:15.470 How would you talk about, like, what are different 00:14:15.470 --> 00:14:18.009 ways of reading the Bible that you found helpful? 00:14:18.629 --> 00:14:23.389 I've read the Bible through devotional reading. 00:14:23.769 --> 00:14:28.370 This is when I read a passage of the scripture 00:14:28.370 --> 00:14:33.970 and meditating on what God is saying to me. The 00:14:33.970 --> 00:14:38.110 second one is analytical Bible reading. This 00:14:38.110 --> 00:14:43.820 is reading for someone or Bible study. focusing 00:14:43.820 --> 00:14:47.960 on religious instruction and moral disclosure. 00:14:48.980 --> 00:14:52.240 Okay, so reading it devotionally, like reading 00:14:52.240 --> 00:14:54.919 it to sort of apply it to your own life, and 00:14:54.919 --> 00:14:57.139 then reading it homiletically, like as a way 00:14:57.139 --> 00:14:59.460 of trying to help other people understand it. 00:14:59.500 --> 00:15:04.019 Yeah, okay. And then the academic part of it 00:15:04.019 --> 00:15:07.899 is about learning more about the narrative part 00:15:07.899 --> 00:15:14.019 of the Bible. Then the chronological reading 00:15:14.019 --> 00:15:18.779 of the Bible is in order that invent and actually 00:15:18.779 --> 00:15:25.259 historically. Okay. And then the gospel immersion 00:15:25.259 --> 00:15:29.799 reading through the gospel and acts multiple 00:15:29.799 --> 00:15:35.519 times to understand the life of Jesus. And theological 00:15:35.519 --> 00:15:41.289 and social historical examining the text. through 00:15:41.289 --> 00:15:46.210 its original uh contents auto intense and cultural 00:15:46.210 --> 00:15:50.590 background okay so then like there's lots of 00:15:50.590 --> 00:15:53.870 different ways we can read the bible so like 00:15:53.870 --> 00:15:57.250 how do you think we like how do you learn to 00:15:57.250 --> 00:15:59.409 do some of these different things like are these 00:15:59.409 --> 00:16:02.850 all things that you practice Yeah, because I 00:16:02.850 --> 00:16:08.230 went to Bible college. Okay. So somebody taught 00:16:08.230 --> 00:16:10.929 you about these different methods. Yeah. I see. 00:16:10.950 --> 00:16:14.970 I see. Yeah. But I think even for those of us, 00:16:15.029 --> 00:16:18.330 you know, if we don't go to Bible school or if 00:16:18.330 --> 00:16:20.149 we don't, you know, have these different things, 00:16:20.230 --> 00:16:23.590 I think starting by asking, you know, what am 00:16:23.590 --> 00:16:25.690 I hoping to get out of this? What is the way 00:16:25.690 --> 00:16:29.009 that I'm reading this? Am I reading it for information? 00:16:29.129 --> 00:16:32.200 Am I reading it? To grow closer to God? Am I 00:16:32.200 --> 00:16:34.320 reading it because I need to teach somebody else 00:16:34.320 --> 00:16:37.399 about it? Like these different methods. Before 00:16:37.399 --> 00:16:41.100 I went to Bible school, I've been reading Bible. 00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:46.799 But sometimes I struggle with it because, you 00:16:46.799 --> 00:16:51.740 know, you're reading certain chapter, but the 00:16:51.740 --> 00:16:56.720 understanding is not there. You pray to God and 00:16:56.720 --> 00:17:02.070 Holy Spirit for. you know, and understanding. 00:17:02.889 --> 00:17:08.549 So I always, then I, you know, I research a lot 00:17:08.549 --> 00:17:12.549 about when I am reading certain chapter, then 00:17:12.549 --> 00:17:17.769 I go and research. So to get full knowledge of 00:17:17.769 --> 00:17:23.150 what I'm reading. Bible has been, you know, part 00:17:23.150 --> 00:17:26.720 of my life, but sometimes you still, reading 00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:29.440 certain chapter and you struggle with it you 00:17:29.440 --> 00:17:33.380 know so everybody is not perfect you know we 00:17:33.380 --> 00:17:38.740 grow daily day by day so that's it about the 00:17:38.740 --> 00:17:41.400 bible yeah yeah yeah yeah being able to have 00:17:41.400 --> 00:17:43.759 some of those resources and knowing that even 00:17:43.759 --> 00:17:46.720 just knowing it's okay it's normal to be confused 00:17:46.720 --> 00:17:49.519 or just struggle through it yeah yeah what about 00:17:49.519 --> 00:17:52.930 for you jordana i think the times that i've enjoyed 00:17:52.930 --> 00:17:55.069 the Bible most is when I've had the time to read 00:17:55.069 --> 00:17:57.769 longer passages. I think what frustrates me is 00:17:57.769 --> 00:17:59.009 when you don't have the time and you're reading 00:17:59.009 --> 00:18:01.430 shorter ones and then they get disconnected from 00:18:01.430 --> 00:18:04.450 each other. And for me, that kind of reading 00:18:04.450 --> 00:18:07.950 doesn't work very well. I tend to go, I'm at, 00:18:08.009 --> 00:18:09.809 I don't know, chapter five and I've forgotten 00:18:09.809 --> 00:18:13.029 what chapter one's about. And it just feels these, 00:18:13.130 --> 00:18:15.390 even though you're trying to be consistent with 00:18:15.390 --> 00:18:19.930 it, the narrative flow and structure and the 00:18:19.930 --> 00:18:22.329 things that bring meaning. through the way the 00:18:22.329 --> 00:18:25.509 story is told, it gets lost, I think, for me 00:18:25.509 --> 00:18:27.289 in those smaller passages. And those are times 00:18:27.289 --> 00:18:30.690 when I've been most frustrated and inconsistent, 00:18:31.509 --> 00:18:34.910 I think, when I've done it piecemeal, when I've 00:18:34.910 --> 00:18:37.630 had the time to sit and read longer passages 00:18:37.630 --> 00:18:39.910 or read a book or read, you know, those are the 00:18:39.910 --> 00:18:42.630 times when I've gotten, have got the most out 00:18:42.630 --> 00:18:48.089 of it or felt that I'm encountering the story 00:18:48.089 --> 00:18:52.160 more fully. And so that, I think it's personal. 00:18:52.240 --> 00:18:54.460 Some people really like those small passages 00:18:54.460 --> 00:18:57.480 and allow it lets you meditate in those moments. 00:18:57.640 --> 00:19:00.500 I have had that where I've begun to read a chapter 00:19:00.500 --> 00:19:02.619 and then I've been arrested by something small 00:19:02.619 --> 00:19:05.500 and I've had to just stop and pray or listen 00:19:05.500 --> 00:19:09.779 more and focus on it. But it's that ability to 00:19:09.779 --> 00:19:12.539 go through that has been most helpful for me. 00:19:12.640 --> 00:19:15.000 Yeah. Yeah. And that makes me think like often 00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:18.039 we think about practices like, you know, prayer 00:19:18.039 --> 00:19:19.539 and scripture reading and we say, OK, I need 00:19:19.539 --> 00:19:21.849 to set aside. five minutes or 10 minutes every 00:19:21.849 --> 00:19:24.230 day to do it. And, and yeah, sure. Do that. If 00:19:24.230 --> 00:19:25.589 that works for you, that's like really great. 00:19:25.650 --> 00:19:27.349 I would definitely encourage that. But I think 00:19:27.349 --> 00:19:28.930 there's also something to be said about, okay, 00:19:28.970 --> 00:19:32.109 maybe once a week, maybe once a month, I set 00:19:32.109 --> 00:19:35.990 aside a chunk of hours to sort of be like, okay, 00:19:36.029 --> 00:19:38.289 I'm just going to read through the gospel of 00:19:38.289 --> 00:19:40.230 Matthew, or I'm just going to read through this, 00:19:40.289 --> 00:19:42.609 the letter of Romans or whatever it is. Right. 00:19:42.710 --> 00:19:46.029 And to sort of get that arc that you can't get 00:19:46.029 --> 00:19:48.650 if you're reading it like a few verses at a time, 00:19:48.710 --> 00:19:51.450 which I know we're, I'm jumping way ahead, but, 00:19:51.529 --> 00:19:55.009 uh, you know, it's like, I think if you, you 00:19:55.009 --> 00:19:57.930 know, to book up, uh, to block out that time, 00:19:58.009 --> 00:20:00.349 you know, I guess if you're trying to keep the 00:20:00.349 --> 00:20:02.789 Sabbath or like trying to disconnect from everything, 00:20:02.950 --> 00:20:06.000 that's the good time to. For sure. Because I 00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:07.420 was just going to say, like, Jordan, how long 00:20:07.420 --> 00:20:09.980 does it take to read those longer passages, you 00:20:09.980 --> 00:20:11.940 know? It depends on the book. Like, if it's one 00:20:11.940 --> 00:20:13.680 of the letters of Paul, which are four or five 00:20:13.680 --> 00:20:16.400 or six chapters, it's only 45 minutes, you know? 00:20:16.400 --> 00:20:18.880 Like, it's one hour. Even when you say only 45 00:20:18.880 --> 00:20:20.880 minutes, people are just like, I don't even want, 00:20:20.980 --> 00:20:24.539 I maybe have five minutes. True, true. I mean, 00:20:24.559 --> 00:20:27.059 so that is something that I can't do every, I 00:20:27.059 --> 00:20:30.099 shouldn't say can't, like, honestly, but. It's 00:20:30.099 --> 00:20:32.720 more challenging. It's when you're reading something 00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:35.829 that's 30, 40, 50 chapters long. Right, yes. 00:20:35.890 --> 00:20:37.690 Maybe you can't sit down and read the whole book 00:20:37.690 --> 00:20:39.789 of Genesis in one sitting. Yeah, all at once. 00:20:40.450 --> 00:20:44.250 But Genesis is almost easier to do because there's 00:20:44.250 --> 00:20:46.849 so many stories. Sure, sure. Leviticus, definitely 00:20:46.849 --> 00:20:49.950 not. Yeah, definitely not. And then even with 00:20:49.950 --> 00:20:52.049 that, it's like, if you're reading it, are you 00:20:52.049 --> 00:20:54.869 really absorbing it? Or are you reading it like... 00:20:54.869 --> 00:20:56.470 Well, you're not reading it just once, right? 00:20:56.549 --> 00:20:58.190 So at that time, you might read it once. But 00:20:58.190 --> 00:20:59.990 because you've got a sense of structure, narrative, 00:21:00.069 --> 00:21:04.779 and flow, as you reread things... I'm a literature 00:21:04.779 --> 00:21:07.319 student, right? So read one. And there's no such 00:21:07.319 --> 00:21:09.539 thing as reading one. It's like all reading is 00:21:09.539 --> 00:21:13.640 rereading. And then you read for more detail 00:21:13.640 --> 00:21:16.019 the next time. You don't want to treat it like 00:21:16.019 --> 00:21:20.099 a book report. You know, read this chapter and 00:21:20.099 --> 00:21:22.779 then write a little blurb, you know, like afterwards. 00:21:23.420 --> 00:21:26.259 But you definitely get the details and things 00:21:26.259 --> 00:21:28.839 you miss the first time come alive more when 00:21:28.839 --> 00:21:31.079 you've read it more than once. Right. And so 00:21:31.079 --> 00:21:33.500 we are talking about a book that we are. hopefully 00:21:33.500 --> 00:21:37.220 reading more than once. Sure. And I think reading 00:21:37.220 --> 00:21:40.640 it prayerfully and reading it. So you talked 00:21:40.640 --> 00:21:42.400 about, you know, not right, not doing it like 00:21:42.400 --> 00:21:43.900 a book report where you're like making notes 00:21:43.900 --> 00:21:46.119 and things, but sometimes for some people, myself 00:21:46.119 --> 00:21:48.920 included, making notes isn't for a book report. 00:21:49.059 --> 00:21:52.099 It's for me. I understand it better when I can 00:21:52.099 --> 00:21:54.359 make a note in the margin or in a journal or 00:21:54.359 --> 00:21:56.279 whatever it is. Right. I mean, going back to 00:21:56.279 --> 00:21:58.400 rereading it, I think sometimes you maybe get 00:21:58.400 --> 00:22:01.259 it at certain points in your life or stages in 00:22:01.259 --> 00:22:03.750 your life, because I guess, I think sometimes 00:22:03.750 --> 00:22:06.569 maybe it's like there's parts of the Bible that 00:22:06.569 --> 00:22:09.450 are really effective, like when you're a young 00:22:09.450 --> 00:22:12.670 single person and then when you're a parent and 00:22:12.670 --> 00:22:14.849 then maybe when you're in your later years in 00:22:14.849 --> 00:22:17.029 life, you know. Yeah. And then, you know, you 00:22:17.029 --> 00:22:20.450 still read it, but it's like it really hits differently. 00:22:21.599 --> 00:22:24.980 Sure. And like the same passage can mean something 00:22:24.980 --> 00:22:27.400 different to me today than it meant to me five 00:22:27.400 --> 00:22:29.240 years ago than it will mean to me five years 00:22:29.240 --> 00:22:33.700 from now. Yeah. Yeah. Even when I listen to Rob 00:22:33.700 --> 00:22:38.259 Salmon, I make a note. And when I go home, maybe 00:22:38.259 --> 00:22:40.839 it might be later in the evening before I go 00:22:40.839 --> 00:22:44.880 to bed. I still watch online, you know, just 00:22:44.880 --> 00:22:49.380 to, you know, assimilate everything that he said 00:22:49.380 --> 00:22:52.299 during the service. Yeah. yeah yeah for sure 00:22:52.299 --> 00:22:56.759 so when you think about like some of the challenges 00:22:56.759 --> 00:22:58.559 of reading the bibles we've talked about you 00:22:58.559 --> 00:23:00.960 know making time for it but i think you also 00:23:00.960 --> 00:23:04.339 a novel made reference to like the context of 00:23:04.339 --> 00:23:06.400 the bible it can be really hard to understand 00:23:06.400 --> 00:23:10.539 sometimes yeah um yeah do we have any tips or 00:23:10.539 --> 00:23:14.269 ideas for like yeah how how do we deal with that 00:23:14.269 --> 00:23:19.170 challenge of the Bible? I know Elizabeth, you 00:23:19.170 --> 00:23:20.950 talked about, you know, leaning, going to Bible 00:23:20.950 --> 00:23:23.430 school, obviously super helpful, but even just, 00:23:23.549 --> 00:23:26.329 you know, talking to one another, talking to 00:23:26.329 --> 00:23:28.890 priests or to Bible scholars and things like 00:23:28.890 --> 00:23:32.849 that, or finding them on the internet. The most 00:23:32.849 --> 00:23:36.470 challenging part of reading the Bible is like, 00:23:36.839 --> 00:23:40.720 translating from, you know, like Hebrew, because 00:23:40.720 --> 00:23:45.019 Bible is written in so many languages, Hebrew, 00:23:45.259 --> 00:23:52.160 Aramaic, Greek, and there are distant cultures. 00:23:52.460 --> 00:23:58.599 So this creates a distant distraction for me, 00:23:58.660 --> 00:24:03.819 you know, to make it... difficult to understand 00:24:03.819 --> 00:24:08.279 the original context requiring serious study 00:24:08.279 --> 00:24:11.299 you know because sometimes i stay in the in the 00:24:11.299 --> 00:24:15.319 library for three to four hours okay well when 00:24:15.319 --> 00:24:19.299 i really want to dig in you know sure to study 00:24:19.299 --> 00:24:23.700 the bible and maybe if it might just be sat in 00:24:23.700 --> 00:24:27.599 the chapter but i will search research go back 00:24:27.599 --> 00:24:32.059 and forth you know searching until I'm fully 00:24:32.059 --> 00:24:37.240 filled and understand what I'm reading. Sure. 00:24:37.259 --> 00:24:41.519 Sure. Yeah. A lot of commitment. I think in a 00:24:41.519 --> 00:24:44.579 way, sometimes the best is when it's you, you 00:24:44.579 --> 00:24:48.960 have long form content on like even just a couple 00:24:48.960 --> 00:24:51.900 of lines or a passage in the Bible. So you can 00:24:51.900 --> 00:24:55.759 really, really get the full idea or context or 00:24:55.759 --> 00:24:58.220 just like different clips. Like, for example, 00:24:58.220 --> 00:25:00.119 like one of the ones that I was thinking about 00:25:00.119 --> 00:25:03.579 is, When Jesus dies on the cross, he says, it 00:25:03.579 --> 00:25:07.099 is done. Yeah. Or it is finished. Yeah. And apparently 00:25:07.099 --> 00:25:11.460 in the original, what he said, he said one, I 00:25:11.460 --> 00:25:14.440 think he said one word. Yeah. That has three 00:25:14.440 --> 00:25:17.559 different contexts in that one word. Right. You 00:25:17.559 --> 00:25:23.920 know, like, or like in, I think one was to do 00:25:23.920 --> 00:25:28.700 with debt. One was to do with like. like serving 00:25:28.700 --> 00:25:31.539 your time as like in, uh, like if you go to prison 00:25:31.539 --> 00:25:35.619 and then the other is like conquering. Okay. 00:25:35.859 --> 00:25:39.000 All in one word. Right. You know, so, you know, 00:25:39.000 --> 00:25:41.640 just trying to like interpretation. Exactly. 00:25:41.779 --> 00:25:45.119 So I just, I think sometimes, you know, even 00:25:45.119 --> 00:25:49.180 just like, you know, like whether, even if you're 00:25:49.180 --> 00:25:51.079 not going to Trinity church, but you're going 00:25:51.079 --> 00:25:54.500 to another church, just, you know, focusing on, 00:25:54.619 --> 00:25:57.319 you know, are the pastors talking about, one 00:25:57.319 --> 00:26:00.359 section and how deep depth are they going and 00:26:00.359 --> 00:26:02.599 sure you know and again like even stuff like 00:26:02.599 --> 00:26:06.079 with the bible project you know and like again 00:26:06.079 --> 00:26:09.680 again it's just trying to understand the context 00:26:09.680 --> 00:26:13.759 and i think as well sometimes like even if you 00:26:13.759 --> 00:26:16.619 read a section when you finish it can you look 00:26:16.619 --> 00:26:20.019 go back and say what was the section about sure 00:26:20.019 --> 00:26:23.299 and your interpretation of it sure sure yeah 00:26:23.299 --> 00:26:28.779 yeah oh Consistency. But I want to speak a little 00:26:28.779 --> 00:26:33.779 bit more as you were talking about why there 00:26:33.779 --> 00:26:37.400 is that struggle with consistency. Sure. And 00:26:37.400 --> 00:26:40.700 that sense of, you know, you begin really well, 00:26:40.819 --> 00:26:43.240 you go on a few days, maybe in a few weeks, and 00:26:43.240 --> 00:26:46.240 then there's a resistance that builds up. Sure. 00:26:46.319 --> 00:26:49.220 A sense of not wanting to sit in some of the 00:26:49.220 --> 00:26:51.380 difficult passages. And I think very often the 00:26:51.380 --> 00:26:54.690 real battle tends to be. that space where you 00:26:54.690 --> 00:26:58.210 begin to not want to sit in that space. It's 00:26:58.210 --> 00:27:00.650 an internal battle very often. You know, you 00:27:00.650 --> 00:27:03.230 can fill that space up then very easily by saying, 00:27:03.250 --> 00:27:07.410 I have 25 ,000 things to do, right? But it's 00:27:07.410 --> 00:27:11.109 that inability to sit in that silence and that 00:27:11.109 --> 00:27:16.950 space and ask what it is you are expecting, where 00:27:16.950 --> 00:27:21.670 maybe have your expectations fallen, and what 00:27:21.670 --> 00:27:24.740 are you hoping? for in the time where you sit 00:27:24.740 --> 00:27:27.819 with the word and i and i'm reflecting on how 00:27:27.819 --> 00:27:31.680 much i sometimes avoid that space sure after 00:27:31.680 --> 00:27:35.779 a while when a bit of fatigue comes in and what 00:27:35.779 --> 00:27:38.119 it might mean to be able to say it's okay to 00:27:38.119 --> 00:27:40.839 feel that and at the same time to recognize that 00:27:40.839 --> 00:27:43.359 you know there are all kinds of pressures and 00:27:43.359 --> 00:27:45.539 i have to say the battle is spiritual right i 00:27:45.539 --> 00:27:49.220 do want to say that We are speaking as if it's 00:27:49.220 --> 00:27:52.359 only happening at the sort of horizontal level 00:27:52.359 --> 00:27:55.299 where it's time and space and consistency. But 00:27:55.299 --> 00:27:58.599 I know there is a spiritual element to this where 00:27:58.599 --> 00:28:03.960 I think we can be worn down and not feel that 00:28:03.960 --> 00:28:06.980 God's working fast enough or what's happened, 00:28:07.079 --> 00:28:09.420 you know, or the confusion of the Bible makes 00:28:09.420 --> 00:28:13.289 it difficult to work and sit in those. that space 00:28:13.289 --> 00:28:15.789 of mystery, let the spirit work. Yeah. That can 00:28:15.789 --> 00:28:19.089 be hard. For sure. So I do want to, so that struggle 00:28:19.089 --> 00:28:21.970 and the internal reflection may, may help me. 00:28:21.990 --> 00:28:27.250 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I would, I wanted to just give 00:28:27.250 --> 00:28:29.589 voice to some of that internal struggle. For 00:28:29.589 --> 00:28:32.589 sure. Yeah. And we live in a distracting world 00:28:32.589 --> 00:28:36.130 anyways. It's a very go, go, go world. I mean, 00:28:36.150 --> 00:28:39.930 even when, even when you think of like what work 00:28:39.930 --> 00:28:43.920 culture is, right. You know, it's, you know you're 00:28:43.920 --> 00:28:46.960 putting plenty of hours and then you you're you're 00:28:46.960 --> 00:28:49.799 spending hours in traffic and then you yeah and 00:28:49.799 --> 00:28:51.980 then if you have a family well then you know 00:28:51.980 --> 00:28:55.019 you're you're trying to take the kids this place 00:28:55.019 --> 00:28:57.500 in that place and yeah you know and sometimes 00:28:57.500 --> 00:29:00.440 you just don't you want to zone out and not think 00:29:00.440 --> 00:29:02.220 about the last thing you want to think about 00:29:02.220 --> 00:29:04.859 is the bible sure but i mean even though we should 00:29:04.859 --> 00:29:08.029 you know yeah but it's uh you know Yeah, there's 00:29:08.029 --> 00:29:10.029 a lot competing for our attention. But yeah, 00:29:10.089 --> 00:29:12.349 I mean, I think, Jordana, I think you probably 00:29:12.349 --> 00:29:15.369 represent a lot of modern Christians. We want 00:29:15.369 --> 00:29:19.690 to be doing better with reading the Bible and 00:29:19.690 --> 00:29:22.650 everything like that. But it's, you know, you 00:29:22.650 --> 00:29:28.029 got to fight to make that time and sit in there 00:29:28.029 --> 00:29:30.599 and, you know. Even if it is five minutes or 00:29:30.599 --> 00:29:32.839 whatever. Sure. Yeah. I think the other piece 00:29:32.839 --> 00:29:34.700 that I want to sort of say in all this is we 00:29:34.700 --> 00:29:36.519 spent quite a bit of time talking about, you 00:29:36.519 --> 00:29:38.920 know, understanding the Bible and understanding 00:29:38.920 --> 00:29:41.400 the context of what is it and how do we read 00:29:41.400 --> 00:29:42.900 these different genres and things. And I think 00:29:42.900 --> 00:29:46.519 that is all really valuable work. I think we 00:29:46.519 --> 00:29:48.940 also need to accept the mystery of the spirit 00:29:48.940 --> 00:29:53.599 of God in the text and in our. in amongst us 00:29:53.599 --> 00:29:55.220 right so there are going to be things about the 00:29:55.220 --> 00:29:57.519 bible that we just won't understand and there 00:29:57.519 --> 00:29:59.799 are going to be things about the bible that like 00:30:00.200 --> 00:30:03.279 god will work through us even if we never understand 00:30:03.279 --> 00:30:05.559 the context or even if we don't go to bible school 00:30:05.559 --> 00:30:08.039 or if we don't do this scholarly work like god 00:30:08.039 --> 00:30:11.720 is still speaking and yeah and i think uh kristen 00:30:11.720 --> 00:30:13.619 spoke about it today that approaching it with 00:30:13.619 --> 00:30:15.619 humility right because if you think you're going 00:30:15.619 --> 00:30:18.000 to go there and master that text in that moment 00:30:18.000 --> 00:30:19.680 it's always going to speak to you in exactly 00:30:19.680 --> 00:30:21.920 that the way you need yeah you're going to get 00:30:21.920 --> 00:30:24.380 frustrated over time for sure right so that space 00:30:24.380 --> 00:30:27.200 of humility where you let the text work on you 00:30:27.200 --> 00:30:31.539 yeah um It takes patience and it takes trust. 00:30:31.700 --> 00:30:35.460 For sure. For sure, yeah. So thank you so much, 00:30:35.480 --> 00:30:37.759 folks. Just as we end, there's a few resources 00:30:37.759 --> 00:30:39.799 that I just want to mention. So as we said, the 00:30:39.799 --> 00:30:43.000 Bible Project is a really great resource. Amavu, 00:30:43.019 --> 00:30:44.680 you shared that you have a Bible app on your 00:30:44.680 --> 00:30:47.220 phone. That's a really great resource. There 00:30:47.220 --> 00:30:50.200 are audio Bible apps and websites as well. So 00:30:50.200 --> 00:30:52.319 if you're someone who doesn't like reading, but 00:30:52.319 --> 00:30:54.579 you'd rather listen while you're out for a run 00:30:54.579 --> 00:30:57.039 or while you're driving, whatever, listening 00:30:57.039 --> 00:31:00.180 to the Bible. And then taking some time to really 00:31:00.180 --> 00:31:02.500 understand the... the narrative of the Bible. 00:31:02.559 --> 00:31:04.279 Like Jordana had mentioned earlier this week, 00:31:04.319 --> 00:31:06.640 this idea of sometimes we just need to go back 00:31:06.640 --> 00:31:08.740 to the children's Bible so that we can get the 00:31:08.740 --> 00:31:11.119 whole story, get the whole arc and understand 00:31:11.119 --> 00:31:13.079 how all the pieces fit together. And I think 00:31:13.079 --> 00:31:16.160 that's, that's a really insightful take. So yeah, 00:31:16.200 --> 00:31:18.279 hopefully some of those resources are helpful 00:31:18.279 --> 00:31:21.819 to you as our listeners, as you continue in your 00:31:21.819 --> 00:31:23.880 journey of scripture, whether that is something 00:31:23.880 --> 00:31:25.599 that is brand new to you or something you've 00:31:25.599 --> 00:31:28.160 been doing for a really long time. And we will 00:31:28.160 --> 00:31:29.400 see you again next week.