Faith - October 13, 2016

Here’s How To Understand The Bible Without Going To Seminary

HERE’S HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE BIBLE WITHOUT GOING TO SEMINARY

Have you ever wanted to read the entire bible and….totes failed? If you’re like me, you’re too scared to commit because you know you’ll get bored or confused or just straight up overwhelmed? I’m super ADD so sitting down and reading anything (much less 1000k+ pages) is pretty overwhelming, especially when I don’t understand what the CHECK is going on (which is how I feel for 65% of the old testament #dontjudge). Or let’s say you’ve given it a shot, signed up for a reading plan and maybe even had accountability with a few of your buddies, but you made it halfway through Genesis and lost your motivation?

If you’re on the same page as I am, this post is for you, my fellow not-the-best bible reader! If you’re one of those special people that knows the bible front and back and feels comfortable reading 1 & 2 kings slash you went to seminary and are a brilliant bible expert, then please go be awesome elsewhere (lol totes kidding, but really though, this post isn’t best for you. But I’m jealous of your bible knowledge!).

Anyway, if you need some help when it comes to reading the bible (especially the old testament!), then I’ve got something REALLY freakin’ amazing to share with y’all today! A few weeks ago, I came across this website that has literally changed my bible-reading life. And no it’s not sponsored, I just think it’s a really cool. Okay, life-changing might be a little dramatic, but my excitement and passion for how awesome this website is does, however, make me super giddy.

I’ve been telling everyone and anyone who’ll listen about this amazing resource. Really though, my excitement is a tad out of control. Needless to say, I felt completely compelled to let y’all in on the magic too…because that would only be natural, right?! I truly love sharing resources or basically anything good I find in life with y’all.

I’m going to actually get to my point eventually, y’all, but I want to do some storytelling and set the stage first. So if you’ll have me, I’ll keep talking. And then I’ll get to the actual website I’m talking about. Hang tight!

How I Found This Golden Egg (aka the resource)

I signed up to teach middle school bible study at my church for the year and was struggling to find a curriculum that I was excited about and felt right. My co-teacher and I prayed about it and met a few times to try and figure out what we were going to do, but nothing really felt great. We wanted to make sure there was a good balance of bible teaching and discussing concepts with ACTUALLY reading the bible.

After little luck, I randomly decided to see if my old Christian summer camp (Camp Ozark) had any resources for studying the bible listed on their website. I know, it’s random, and I have no idea why this thought crossed my mind either. But whatever the case, it dawned on me to check it out, and sure enough, I found GOLD. Long story short, this is how I discovered JoinThebibleproject.com. And I kid you not, I’m getting butterflies (maybe more like adrenaline) just typing this because I’m so stinkin’ excited to share it!

Okay, So What is The Bible Project Anyway?

I could try and explain to y’all what the website is, but these dudes do a MUCH better job in this video below. Please watch it and it will explain EVERYTHING. K?! Thx.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=8Tbcofs6l3o+

Why Do You Love it So Much?

OK so……did you watch the video?!!?!

I’m assuming you did and that you’re JUST as excited as I am. Or maybe I’m alone in my giddyness. But regardless, I think it’s SUPER helpful, and the only thing in the world that has made me ACTUALLY want to sit down and read Leviticus and Numbers, 1 & 2nd Kings, and other blah books in the old testament. I mean, let’s be honest, who REALLY wants to read Leviticus…more like #BOREviticus?? Judge me if you want, but I’m just sayin’ what a lot of other people are thinking.

genesis poster join the bible project
They also have the illustrations (that they’re animating in the videos) for you to download and print yourself for FREE here. And they have these drawings for every book in the bible – or at least they plan to once they get all the funding they need.

How Do You Use It?

Although we are only using some of the content for our middle school bible study, I’ve been using it during MY FREE TIME (yes, I’m talking Friday nights, people) because it has been so addicting. The Bible Project has not only been helpful for me to teach the bible to kids, but it’s teaching ME, too. It’s taking big concepts and breaking them into bite-sized, understandable chunks. Ahhh-mazing!

I’ve been using it to understand the larger meanings of a book. I’ll watch the overview videos a few times each – or until I feel pretty confident about the overarching concepts, then I’ll watch the more detailed videos (the “read the bible” videos). And THEN I’ll read it for myself and dig deeper into the word now that I’ve got a decent framework (or filing folders if that makes sense?) to put all the “STUFF” in. At the end of the day, it’s been a tremendous resource and one I wanted to share with y’all! Let me know your thoughts!

PS: If you liked this post, LET ME KNOW and if you’re wanting more on this topic, I’ve actually blogged about my favorite bible resources before so you should check that post out too!