One
of my hopes for this summer was to use this short season to focus on a few key
areas: household organization & meal/cleaning planning (help!!!),
photography and other hobby/DIY things I’d been procrastinating on, and also really
grasping a means of Bible study that goes beyond a daily reading and allows me
to really see God from Genesis through Revelations and that would tie together
all these key passages and doctrines that I believe but are often disjointed
and not clearly seen interwoven. The Bible is so much more than a manual of
rules, doctrines, storylines, characters, and/or concepts! It is a book about
God. The months following a birth have always been challenging physically and
emotionally for me, and while I have taken definite steps to help with those
areas this go-around (eliminating problem foods, stocking the freezer with
meals ahead of time, specific vitamins, etc.), I know that above all having my
heart needs to be focused on truth.
One
of the things about Dwight that stood out to me early on in our relationship
was how he really knew his Bible. He loved reading God’s Word and learning –
not was others said it was saying, or what he felt it was saying to him – but
what it actually said. I wanted that to be true of myself! I had my consistent reading
yet really desired more. The Bible is God’s Word, and we are commanded to wield
it rightly but I felt incredibly confused and ill-equipped. My brain was fuzzy,
my body was weary and sleep-deprived, and when reading and stopping to really
delve deep I was lost. I didn’t know how to move beyond and learn more, and was
quite certain that it wasn’t just a dangling carrot available only to seminary
grads! I became discouraged and doubtful that it would ever happen for me,
because it all just seemed to be too overwhelming. I felt like a newbie, and
was ashamed that I wasn’t getting it. I desperately want to be able to know
God’s word so well that false doctrines or unbiblical teachings or erroneous advice
will no longer confuse me because I’ll be grounded in His Truth. I want to know
scripture so well that as I interact with my babies that I’m not just telling
them what I want them to do or be, but have the wisdom to point them to God and
mother in God-honoring ways. I want to be reflecting Christ to my Sweetheart
and friends. So I began to pray that God would provide what He knew I needed.
It
wasn’t long before He practically plopped tools and resources onto my lap! For
instance, our Sunday School started working its way through Jonah, with one of
our pastors walking us through the studying process which he has found most
helpful, a women’s Bible Study I signed up for had the Authority of Scripture
as its first session with loads of practical instruction, reading a simple blog
post introduced me to a non-fluffy/non-celebrity study that is challenging (for
me!) to go through but is just what I had been hoping for (again… I’m sleep
deprived! And quiet time around here is almost non-existent unless I want to
wake up at 2), and then a book unexpectedly showed up in my mailbox one day! It
was an advanced reader copy of Women of
the Word, written by Jen Wilkie, and Crossway was kindly asking that I
would simply read it and share a review. Over the next couple of weeks it was
eagerly read and even Dwight’s curiosity got the best of him so he picked it up
too. :-) God is so gracious to
me, giving me gifts like these out of the blue and just what I needed for
encouragement and the proverbial much needed shove in the right direction. I
still have the strong desire, yet the sheer audacity of the task has been
lessened. I love how Jen Wilkie described in her book how she also felt
overwhelmed and inadequate, yet found what she called a gloriously simple
answer. The answer to how you learn to properly interpret and apply scripture?
It’s simply one spoonful at a time.
I
hope this book review is helpful and encouraging to you. :-)
Women of the Word: How to Study the Bible
with Both our Hearts and our Minds is
written by Jen Wilkin, an author and Bible teacher. It is published by Crossway
Books, who generously provided me with the copy free of charge which enabled me
to provide this honest review.
In her
book, Jen Wilkin begins by introducing the reader to her own personal testimony
of learning to study the Bible and invites women, ministry workers, parents,
the curious yet brave husband (after all, it is a book written with a female audience in mind ::Grin::), and anyone who desires to learn to study God’s Word
themselves to join her in the quest of God-focused Biblical literacy. I couldn’t help but chuckle as she describes
some of the many incomplete approaches people can take to Bible reading, having
been taught them personally: the Xanax
approach (treating the Bible as if it exists to make us feel better), the Pinball approach (which fails to give
thought to cultural, historical, or textual context), the Magic 8 Ball approach (the Bible is not intended to tell us what to
do, but rather who to be), the Personal
Shopper approach aka topical Bible study (helpful in integrating God’s Word
practically but fail to give us a foundation understanding and prevent us from
the work necessary to truly “own” God’s Word for ourselves as we study from
start to finish), the Telephone Game
approach (happens when we read books about
the Bible instead of reading the actual Bible itself), the Jack Sprat approach (only studying books with characters, plots, or
topics that we can easily identify ourselves with rather than recognizing that
ALL Scripture is God-breathed and profitable). After identifying with several
of these approaches, I was relieved to see that she offered hope! She continues
to share a process that has helped her as well as those she teaches though the
ministry of The Village Church (in Dallas,
TX). The pages addressing why
Biblical literacy matters are an essential read!
The
process she shares is what she calls the Five P’s of Sound Study: Study with Purpose,
Study with Perspective, Study with Patience, Study with Process,
and Study with Prayer. (She makes note to clearly state at the onset that
these are not strictly linear but rather are equally necessary and
interrelated.) I appreciated how she introduced each of these generally, yet
transitioned into specific ways of application that made sense as she guides
the reader through the book of James. Her goal is for us to be excited about
seeing the Big Story of the Bible and how all the parts fit together to show us
God’s redeeming plan! If the process shared made sense to me (struggling to not
nod off while energetic munchkins bounce around me along with an excitable
puppy) they will make sense to anyone! ::Wink:: I’m eager to begin putting these into practice as I
study and learn more about God through His Word and heartily recommend this
title.
"A well-rounded approach to Bible study addresses a
topic as it arises in Scripture, rather than attaching Scripture to a topic." –
Jen Wilkie
