4:13 Podcast: Can I Understand Scripture Without a Seminary Degree? With Mikella Van Dyke [Episode 348]

Mikella Van Dyke: All these questions, they help us to really understand the original intent of the passage we're studying. So some other questions are when did this happen? Where did it take place? Why was this written? How will it happen? So we're asking all these questions to try to discover the original intent of what God is saying in the pages of Scripture.

And then the last step of inductive Bible study is, okay, now that I've understood and asked all these questions and gathered information on the context, well, now I can more so correctly apply it to my life and have these transcendent truths that are going to just lead me as I live my life.

Jennifer Rothschild: Calling all Bible study geeks. Actually, this episode is for anyone who is curious about the Bible. So today on The 4:13, Bible teacher Mikella Van Dyke is going to break down the misconceptions and reservations that so many of us have when it comes to studying the Bible. She'll be using her story along with the inductive Bible study method, and she will teach us a systematic way to study Scripture.

Oh, my friend, you don't need a seminary degree to understand Scripture. All you need is an open heart. So open your heart and here we go.

KC Wright: Welcome to the 4:13 Podcast, where practical encouragement and biblical wisdom set you up to live the "I Can" life, because you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.

Now, welcome your host, Jennifer Rothschild.

Jennifer Rothschild: Hello, our people. Welcome back to the 4:13 family. We're so glad you're here. KC Wright over there, my Seeing Eye Guy, and we are nestled under the stairs here in the podcast closet. Two friends, one topic, and zero stress.

I hope you've had a good week. We've had a good week around here. It's getting springtime, and I love that. And I only have a few more weeks left to wear my new long sleeve T-shirt. KC, you see what it says on it?

KC Wright: Yeah. What's it say?

Jennifer Rothschild: It says "Palm Beach Atlantic --

Jennifer and KC: Sailfish.

Jennifer Rothschild: Okay. You know why I'm wearing this?

KC Wright: Explain.

Jennifer Rothschild: That's where I went to college, Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Florida.

By the way, you mamas, you grandmas, you dads, listen, this is a great university for you to send your students to. Christ-centered, educationally very rigorous, beautiful campus in West Palm Beach, Florida.

KC Wright: Wow.

Jennifer Rothschild: And they've got 4,000 students now.

KC Wright: What?

Jennifer Rothschild: It is really a wonderful experience. But I'm wearing the T-shirt because we were there. I guess it was the end of February, KC. They had, like, a founder's weekend and parents' weekend.

Anyway, Phil and I were honored to receive alumni awards.

KC Wright: Wow.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah.

KC Wright: That's a big deal.

Jennifer Rothschild: We're distinguished. You get old enough, and soon it'll be extinguished alumni award.

KC Wright: No.

Jennifer Rothschild: But anyway...

I got to tell you something, though, that happened. Okay. So the university was very kind in the way they honored us, and we got to speak at chapel. It was really special. Everything was special. But two things I'll tell you about. Okay. So one, when Phil was a -- he worked at the university when he graduated. He was the Director of Student Life, Director of Student Activities. And so the school did not yet have -- they had the sailfish as the mascot, but they didn't have any, like, costumed fun thing, right?

KC Wright: Okay.

Jennifer Rothschild: So he with another student named Paul, the student worker, they sketched out this mascot that they named Sailfish Jack. And he's like this big old giant sailfish with attitude. You know what I mean? He's cool. Okay. And so we even -- we were newly married. We even went to Atlanta, because you can't just find anybody to make these giant costumes.

KC Wright: Yeah.

Jennifer Rothschild: So we went to this costume designer who lived in Atlanta. She designed -- you know, she helped create. So that was how Sailfish Jack was born.

KC Wright: Wow.

Jennifer Rothschild: So we are in the bookstore late February when we're at this event, and they have these little stuffy Sailfish Jacks.

KC Wright: Oh, my goodness.

Jennifer Rothschild: Phil handed it to me. I was like, "Oh, honey," like, "you are Jack Daddy." So I've been calling him Jack Daddy ever since.

KC Wright: He loves that.

Jennifer Rothschild: So I got Jack Daddy. Oh, my goodness. But, yeah, Sailfish Jack is very cool. Okay, that was just a fun thing.

But here was the sweetest thing. So we're in chapel, we are speaking to the students, and it's a really sweet thing. They kind of did this little interview. Well, then the Director of Development -- her name is Laura -- she says, "By the way, we have" -- or, I'm sorry, V.P. of Development -- "We have a special surprise for you, Phil." And then this video runs. And this video was a woman named Sara. Her married name now is Chauncey. And so Sara is talking about when she was a student, and that she was, you know, like three or four years younger than Phil, and how one day -- she was not a believer in Christ yet, and she was standing near this building we affectionately -- you know how you do on college campuses, you rename things. So we called it the Orange Building.

KC Wright: Right.

Jennifer Rothschild: And so she was standing near the Orange Building, and having a bad day, Phil got into conversation with her and basically shared the Gospel with her.

KC Wright: Wow.

Jennifer Rothschild: During that conversation she did not come to Christ, but shortly thereafter she did.

KC Wright: Praise God.

Jennifer Rothschild: And she talked about how it was because of his influence in that conversation.

KC Wright: Wow.

Jennifer Rothschild: Okay, so he didn't know all this, so it was such a sweet revelation. Then not only did that video show, but that woman, Sara, was there.

KC Wright: Yes. Oh.

Jennifer Rothschild: And then they presented him, Phil, with a brick. Okay. So they had taken down that Orange Building. It had been torn down. But someone knew about this story, and so -- it was Laura Bishop, and so she saved the brick.

KC Wright: Oh, my goodness.

Jennifer Rothschild: And so she had it put together in a frame with a beautiful plaque representing how a life was changed.

KC Wright: That is beautiful.

Jennifer Rothschild: I'm telling you --

KC Wright: Beautiful.

Jennifer Rothschild: -- y'all, in this life could there ever be a better reward than to know that because of your faithfulness --

KC Wright: Come on.

Jennifer Rothschild: -- someone is in eternity. And she's a pastor's wife. Multiplied the message. She has reached so many for Christ. And so we have that orange brick now as a reminder. Isn't that the sweetest?

KC Wright: Oh, my goodness.

Jennifer Rothschild: I know.

KC Wright: That's what life's all about.

Jennifer Rothschild: It is what life's all about.

So I am wearing my Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish shirt proudly.

KC Wright: Come on.

Jennifer Rothschild: And you know what they say on campus? Fear the fish. Yes.

KC Wright: Fear the fish.

Jennifer Rothschild: Fear the fish.

Okay. Anyway, really I don't think that has anything to do with what we're talking about today, except I guess I could make a sorry little connection with this, you know. I mean, obviously, when we were at Palm Beach Atlantic, it was a place of learning and -- but the beautiful thing is -- what we're about to talk about today is you don't have to have a college degree. You don't have to have a seminary degree. All you need is the Holy Spirit.

KC Wright: Come on.

Jennifer Rothschild: So Mikella's going to talk to us about that. So introduce her, KC.

KC Wright: Mikella Van Dyke is the founder of Chasing Sacred, a ministry that provides resources to help women study the Bible. She has a master's in practical theology from Regent University. She and her husband, Jamie, live in New Hampshire with their five kids. Did I say five kids?

Jennifer Rothschild: Five.

KC Wright: I said five kids. How does this woman have time for anything? Well, here she is.

Jennifer Rothschild: All right, Mikella. I think the way you pronounce your name is beautiful, by the way. So I'm telling our listeners, get it right, sisters and brothers out there, Mikella, Mikella, Mikella, because it's beautiful.

So we're going to talk, Mikella, about studying the Bible. But before we do, I read that your parents are Bible translators. And I think that's so fascinating. So I don't know if they're in a country where you could share where they work or -- just give us a picture of what that's like to have Bible translators as parents.

Mikella Van Dyke: Yes, it is actually wild. So I actually grew up in Southeast Asia. I grew up in Thailand. They translate the Bible for a minority group in Southeast Asia that is actually under a lot of persecution, so I do not actually talk about the name of the people group.

But it was such a wild experience growing up with parents as Bible translators. I just remember the richness of going off to school and seeing my mom and dad open the pages of Scripture, because they were in it all day long. And so they often talked about how much they loved their job and how it was so amazing to be able to be reading the Bible all day, and just how much they loved their minority group that they were translating the Bible with.

They talk often about how they're not the only people translating the Bible, they do it with national translators, and so I got kind of an inside scoop into the process of Bible translation growing up. And so as I got older, I realized how much people don't understand about Bible translation, and so in my book I actually write an entire chapter on it. Which my publishing house was like, "I think we need to move that to the appendix," and I was like, "No. This is important."

Jennifer Rothschild: It is. So that was one of the reasons I was really excited about talking to you, because I agree, it is so important. And there is ignorance sometimes. And I don't mean that in a negative way, I mean we just don't know. Believers don't know. We pick up a Bible and assume, okay, well, this is it. And there's so much nuance in translation, in the way we study. So let's just go at this, Mikella, with a very -- like, as if we know nothing at all. All right? Because it is familiar to you, and all these concepts of translation and study are familiar to you, even though it's -- because it's not for everyone, let's start with some very basic definitions.

For instance, tell us what inductive Bible study is. Because a lot of times we just open the Bible, and whatever verse we land on, we're like, oh, thank you, Holy Spirit, and we start. Okay. So what is inductive bible study?

Mikella Van Dyke: Yes. So inductive Bible study is actually a method of Bible interpretation, so interpreting the Scriptures. Now, I always like to preface this to my audience. It's not the only method, and it's not saying that this is the right one for everyone, but I have found that inductive Bible study has really helped me to study the Scriptures in a way that brings the Scriptures to life.

I learned about it in Bible college, and so I kind of was -- you know, as a daughter of missionaries and being with parents that were Bible translators, I went off to get my theology degree, and I just remember I had all this pride. I was like, you know what? I know how to study the Bible. You know, don't worry about me, I know everything there is about this. And I just remember being blown away when I went to my first class that taught me how to do inductive Bible study.

So the inductive method actually looks at the text, the biblical text, and then draws conclusions from what is already there. So it uses inductive reasoning, and that's through a three-step process, which is actually observation, what do I see or what does this say; interpretation, what does this mean; and then application, how does this apply to me or what does this tell me about God's character?

Because I think what happens is often -- I did this -- pretty much my entire upbringing was -- I would approach the biblical text and I'd be like, okay, what is this saying to me right now? You know, where I am, in this culture, in the 21st century, like, what is the Bible saying to me? And I didn't consider the context. I didn't consider the historical context, the cultural context, the literary context.

So then I go off to Bible college -- you know, I am an adult at this time -- and I am like, oh, my goodness, how I wish I had known.

Jennifer Rothschild: Well, and I love that, because I think -- you know, we all have the tendency to look at it like, what does it say to me right now in this culture? So tell us, then -- and by the way, we will have -- those three ways of doing inductive Bible study, we will have that on the transcripts, our people. So if you realize, oh, my gosh, I wish I had written that down, you can look at the Show Notes.

But let's stick with that. Because you mentioned something, Mikella, that studying -- observing what are the places. Like, what are -- what's the context here? So tell us, why is it important that we note the background, the places, the people? Why is that important for studying Scripture?

Mikella Van Dyke: Yeah. So what I like to say to answer that question is that it's important because it really helps us to discern and see what God is actually saying. And then the last step of inductive Bible study is actually to apply it to ourselves, so once we gather what I call is background information.

So inductive Bible study is asking questions of the text. And so I do a lot of this in my book as I give you all the questions to ask. But gathering background information, like you just talked about, would be asking, who was the author? Who was the audience in this book of the Bible? Who are the key characters? What is the author saying? And all these questions, they help us to really understand the original intent of the passage we're studying.

So some other questions are when did this happen? Where did it take place? Why was this written? How will it happen? So we're asking all these questions to try to discover the original intent of what God is saying in the pages of Scripture.

And then the last step of inductive Bible study is, okay, now that I've understood and asked all these questions and gathered information on the context, well, now I can more so correctly apply it to my life and have these transcendent truths that are going to just lead me as I live my life.

Jennifer Rothschild: And so when we're doing that, when we're studying, trying to understand background, people, places, et cetera, how would someone -- if they're new to the Bible, how do they figure that out? Do they look in other places in the Bible to understand that? How do they find that information?

Mikella Van Dyke: Well, I love that you said that, because there is a hermeneutical principle that I like to say often, which is Scripture interprets Scripture. And so, yes, for sure you can look at other places in Scripture. But I also -- especially if you're new to studying the Bible -- and also I do this as well -- but I like to check my observations with trusted commentaries. I use Logos Bible software to look through different commentaries and to see what other scholars, other people that are a lot smarter than I am, have to say about the text. And so there are so many things.

Like, if you get a study Bible -- I always say start with a study Bible. And when you open and you're like, you know what? I need a place to start in Scripture. Maybe you decide, okay, I'm going to pick a gospel or I'm going to pick an epistle, you end up picking a place in Scripture. Read through the entire book that you're studying, if you can, to just gain that context, that overarching view, and then start by reading front to back slowly, chronologically of that book of the Bible, and then start by asking these questions. So what I do first is gather that background information so I can really understand, okay, what am I looking at? What am I getting into? Where -- you know, when did this happen? Who wrote this?

And it really helps us -- like, for example, with maybe an epistle and a letter, you're going to be able to contextualize like, okay, so the author is writing to this audience. Well, there's probably a specific problem or this might be an occasional document, which means there's something -- a specific issue that this author is addressing with their audience, then it really helps you to root yourself in the pages of Scripture and in the pages of what you're studying.

Jennifer Rothschild: Okay, that's so good. And I appreciate you mentioned Logos Bible software, which is really great. And I know also for some people that may not be as affordable, and there's lots of free resources out there. We'll have links to them, also for you to be able to find some of what I call my favorite dead authors, Mikella.

Mikella Van Dyke: Yes.

Jennifer Rothschild: There are some great commentators who you can even access for free. So, yes, this is so accessible, our people. But the best part of this is there is one thing we have accessible as we're studying Scripture, and you talk about it in your book. So let's go there. What is the importance of prayer when we're studying the Bible?

Mikella Van Dyke: I love that question. So I always say start your Bible reading with prayer, because what you want to do is root yourself in the fact that God is the one that interprets Scripture for us, right? The Holy Spirit helps us as we're reading the Scriptures. And so we pray as a means to talk to God, and just like we read the Bible, as he talks to us. So it's a two-way communication there. And so communicating with God through prayer is so important when it comes to reading the Bible.

But I kind of give this example. So growing up in Thailand, we had a king, we had a queen, we had a princess, the royal family. And I talk about how basically I remember doing this dance performance, and during the dance performance -- the princess decided to come watch my dance performance. And there's all these things in Thailand, rules about approaching royalty. And so after the dance performance -- she had watched it -- we all came in. And we all had to come in on our knees, and we couldn't look at her. And it was this, like, thing where it was like, okay, we're honoring her royalty.

But I just thought -- you know, when I thought back to this memory, like, I am so glad that God makes himself so accessible through the pages of Scripture to us, and then through prayer as we pray to him. And it's not like every single day we serve this accessible God where we're not having to go through the Old Testament sacrificial system; instead, we have the Holy Spirit within us. And so that was really cool for me to kind of talk about in the book.

Jennifer Rothschild: Well, and I love that picture. Because God Most High is worthy of that kind of reverence, yet he humbled himself through Christ and now we can approach him. And so to think that we are asking the author of the Book to help us understand what he means is pretty substantial when it comes to studying. So I love that you pull that out.

Because here's the thing too, Mikella. I don't know about you, but I enjoy studying Scripture. And without the guardrails and guidance of prayer, I can just get kind of like buzzed up about just, oh, this is so fun. I'm learning this and I'm learning that. And the point of Scripture is not just for our learning, but it's for our living and being able to translate that life into the way we live and the way we minister to others.

So, yeah, we cannot -- we just can't approach Scripture outside of prayer or I think we're missing a big, huge element. So I'm really grateful you talk about that so much in the book. I love that illustration, by the way, of the princess and the dancing. Wow.

Mikella Van Dyke: Thank you.

Jennifer Rothschild: That's really cool.

Okay. So another thing that I think is a big deal for people, where there's a lot of confusion, is Bible translations. Okay, we got the NIV, we got the NASB, we got the NLT. We got the alphabet soup of Bible translations. And so sometimes people are like, well, I don't know which one is best. Is one better than the other? Why are they different? So let's go there. All right? So why is it that we have so many translations, and then what tips do you have? Like, if someone is trying to figure out which one should I read or which one should I use to study, like, what tips could you give us to figure that out?

Mikella Van Dyke: I love this question. So I actually get asked this question a lot, and I think because there's so much confusion, as you highlighted. So one of the things I like to say, first and foremost, is that all of our English translations are so well done, with such great scholarship, right? I talk about a few of them sometimes that maybe aren't. But most of them -- right? -- are just great scholarship. Teams of translators worked on them. You should trust -- you should trust your English Bible.

And so what I get a little bit frustrated with is if we get hung up on a specific translation. The truth is, I say we should compare translations, because comparing translations give us a lot of insight into the words and phrases that the author used to convey what they were saying. When we compare translations, we get to see different words that the translators picked, which show us that some words can have varying meanings.

Because when you look at Bible translation, each Bible translator, group of Bible translators, have translation philosophies. And so what that means is that you have some that are more word-for-word, you have some that are more thought-for-thought, you have some that try to stay in the middle, and when you compare translations, you're getting a variety of different interpretations of what that means.

So I think it's really interesting, I like to always say to everyone, like, trust the scholarship of your translation. Understand that every translator is working with that Greek and Hebrew text -- right? -- and then they're moving it into the receptor language, which is whatever translation they're translating into -- so for us, English -- and they're doing so with so many resources, with usually a national translator, and so they're doing so.

So trust your Bibles and also compare translations, some from word-for-word, some from thought-for-thought, maybe grab some that are more middle of the road, and then look at all of those together.

Jennifer Rothschild: Good. Okay. Tell us, is there a difference between a translation and a paraphrase of Scripture?

Mikella Van Dyke: Yes. Yes, that's a great question. And so when you're studying the Scriptures, a paraphrase is going to be moving a little bit farther off of the thought-for-thought. So I would say consider a paraphrase translation more so when you're trying to get more to the poetry and the emotion behind the text, maybe not so when you're studying and trying to do a word study or something like that.

So there is a difference. I would say paraphrase I wouldn't more so make as my -- I mean, I would. In certain seasons when I'm really struggling, picking up a paraphrase can be really beautiful so I can kind of get those ideas into my heart and really meditate on the Scriptures. But when I am studying, I'm going to more so pick one of the ones on the spectrum of thought-for-thought versus word-for-word.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah, I love that you pointed that out. I agree with you. And there is a place for paraphrase. Like, many of us love The Message by Eugene Peterson. That is truly a paraphrase --

Mikella Van Dyke: Right.

Jennifer Rothschild: -- and there's a specific intention behind that. That is not lackadaisical scholarship either, by the way. The man was very scholarly in his intention behind how he did that. But, yeah, it's more devotional. It's kind of just something you -- it's like listening to music in some ways. And so, yes, comparing all of them all the time is going to be our best way to do this. But I appreciate you pointing all that out. That's super helpful.

Okay, so we've gone from the head and the theory, so now we got to put feet on the ground, Mikella. Because in my introduction -- or in KC's introduction of you -- okay, we mentioned you have five children. So every busy person wants to know, how in heaven's name are you able to study the Bible while you're raising five humans?

Mikella Van Dyke: Yeah. I love that question. So it makes me laugh, because it is not always easy.

Jennifer Rothschild: No.

Mikella Van Dyke: I'm just going to put that out there. It's not quiet. And in a lot of seasons, I have had a baby on my lap while I'm reading the Bible. And so I think I just want to put it out there that, like, it is for every season. The Bible is for every season. And you can do it audibly, you can mark up your Bible, you can not mark up your Bible and just try to read it while you're doing dishes at the kitchen sink. I have had to fit the Scriptures into my life in every season in different ways. I think it's more so about that hunger for the Scriptures, and so always trying to put it in somewhere in my life.

I think also slowing down. I know that -- I think that in every season -- like, there's times we want to read front to back of the Bible and get the overarching meta-narrative. There's other times that we want to slow down and use the inductive Bible study method and zoom into the text and really just study one passage of Scripture. Do not let that deter you. Studying one paragraph or one sentence is still being in the Word of God. And so I do that sometimes.

In some seasons, I wake up and I'm like, you know what? I am literally going to just repeat this one sentence over and over again to myself today, and that is the only thing that's realistic for that day. And so just knowing that every season is different and that there's grace when it comes to Bible studies, so much grace.

Jennifer Rothschild: You know -- thank you for saying that. Because I think a lot of us who have really good intentions, and we love the Lord, we think if it's not done a certain way for a certain time frame, for a certain duration like she does it, then it's not good enough. And what does that lack of Bible study bring us? Is shame. Or what if we pull it off? Then it brings pride. It's all about grace.

And I love that you said one verse, because I have an empty nest and there days when my life is so crammed full, I do one verse also. Like, my YouVersion, you know, gives me a verse of the day, and I literally will leave it there on my phone and I'll listen to it all day. Meditate on it, pray it. It's Bible study. It's just being in the Word. It's the relationship. So I love that no matter -- like you said, whatever season we're in, the Bible is for all of us. Mmm, girl.

Okay. We're going to hit our last question, though. And we're going to do something fun. I hope you think it's fun. All right.

So this podcast is based on Philippians 4:13, because we are really striving in all that we do to show that it is through Christ that we can be who he's called us to be, we can do what he's called us to do. Okay. But you always risk, when you pull a verse like that out -- it's like what I call a Hobby Lobby verse. We put it on our coffee mugs, we hang it on our walls. So when we use Philippians 4:13 as a title of a podcast, we can risk it being misunderstood or taken out of context. So I want you to kind of show us, how should we approach a verse like Philippians 4:13, like, when we're studying the Bible -- like, let's just do a brief coaching, Mikella, of how you would approach studying Philippians 4:13.

Mikella Van Dyke: I love that. Because -- I talk about this in my book. I talk about this and I say never -- there's this verse I love by Greg Koukl, and it's, "Never read a Bible verse." And it makes me laugh. Because right now we're talking about Bible study, right? And so, of course, I'm not saying never read a Bible verse. But what he is saying is always read the context of a Bible verse.

So we would go to that -- you know, we would go to Philippians and we would do an overarching readthrough. So we would read through the Book of Philippians -- and I actually talk about it in my book. Like, read it, if you can, like, two times to yourself and then once out loud. When you read Scripture out loud, it sets in, like, you really, really learn it and understand it.

And then what I would do after I gained that overarching context, I would ask myself, okay, there's context to this. There's literary context, right? So it's in Philippians, which is a letter. So I would think about the genre of it. I would answer some questions about it. So I would say, okay, who wrote it? You know, Paul wrote it. Who was it to? The Church of Philippi, right? You would do those kind of things.

And then I would mark up some of the key characters. And then I would kind of write in, okay, what is he saying and what does the context around us tell us about what he is saying? Who is he actually writing this to? Why did he write this? What was the original intent of this passage? What was he seeking to encourage them in?

And then I would mark up my text. And so I would say, okay, are there any keywords in this text? I would mark up any of those linking words. Linking words would be like "but," "and," "then."

And so I would do all that, and then I would move -- so after I observe it, which is, what does this say? Paraphrasing is really helpful here -- I would move to interpretation. So I would say, what does this actually mean? Considering the context, considering the historical context, the cultural context, and the literary context, and the context of being in the Book of Philippians, right?

And then I would go to application. So how does this apply to me right now where I'm at? Move towards the 21st century, how does it apply to me right where I'm at in my everyday life?

Jennifer Rothschild: Okay, that's so good. Because if you don't do that, you risk taking a verse like Philippians 4:13 as your superpower, your magic sugar pill. Oh, I can do it. I can do it. I can lose 20 pounds. But when you're reading the context, you recognize Paul's talking about contentment and having a ton and having nothing. And then suddenly he says, ah, but I found the secret of being content. "I can do all things." And then the real significance is "through Christ." Yeah, and you miss that, Mikella. You miss that. So what great coaching.

Okay. So, our people, you heard all that. That's the way we approach all Scripture.

I said that was the last question you were going to give us coaching, Mikella, but I have to ask you one more. Okay. This is your really last, last question. So if there was one book of the Bible that someone was like, okay, I am so inspired, I want to start this, which Book of the Bible would you recommend they start?

Mikella Van Dyke: Ooh. It depends on -- that's such a hard question because it depends on where they're at. You know, are they new believers? Are they seasoned believers? Are they struggling? But I guess I go always back to the Psalms, and that's because the Psalms in every season give us the words that we can pray and help us to really feel that emotional connection with the Lord and really give us words to express what it's like to be human. And so I guess I would start maybe with the Psalms.

KC Wright: For all the humans out there, Psalms is always a good place to go. It gives words to your joy, sorrow, struggle. You need to do this. So apply this method of inductive study to just one psalm. In fact, we did a podcast on this a while back.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah, we sure did.

KC Wright: I say that more and more. When people have problems and they come talk to me, I go, "We did a podcast on that." You know, in the old days you'd hand them a book. Now I just refer them to a podcast.

Jennifer Rothschild: I love it.

KC Wright: Anyway, you've got to go back and check out the podcast about the different Psalms. I do believe it was Episode 111. You can go there to determine which one you want to start with.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah, that's great. 111's easy to remember. Also, my people, we're going to have a link to that podcast on the Show Notes at 413podcast.com/348. And, of course, we'll link you to the transcript of this conversation so that you can review these steps of inductive Bible study and, even better, get the book. What a great resource.

KC Wright: Or you know what? You could do Philippians as Mikella showed us.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah.

KC Wright: The point is, get her book and then do this thing. You need it. You need the Word, I need the Word. All us humans need the Word. And you can study Scripture, give Scripture without going to seminary, because, you know what? You have the teacher. Hallelujah. You have the Holy Spirit, the teacher living big on the inside, and you can do all things through Christ who gives you strength. I can.

Jennifer Rothschild: I can.

Jennifer and KC: And you can.

KC Wright: And, you know, Phil -- that testimony really inspires me today. What conversation can I jump into today with the gal at Walmart or the dude at Dollar General or wherever your path may go that may -- one day down the road they present you with a brick of a legacy of them becoming born again from above because of a conversation you started.

Jennifer Rothschild: Exactly. Pressure's off. Just be faithful. Let the Holy Spirit do what he does.