Show Notes
30% of the Bible is ancient poetry, and it's the type of writing that every human can connect with on an emotional level. Narrative is a recording of external events — the who, what, when and where… Poetry explores the why — by revealing the inner dialogue at play between people and God. By igniting the imagination. By asking questions. By making comparisons. By deepening understanding. By emotionally expressing. By honestly venting. Reading biblical poetry can sometimes feel like you'r...
More from Carry Confetti
You might have heard the Bible been called "an instruction manual for life" or something along those lines. Now, that is true... but I also think that phrase can paint the wrong image of the Bible – meaning an image of God's book being all about the do's and don'ts of life rather than the story of God's people and his redemptive plan for humanity. The Bible contains law, but it isn't all law. If we only see the Bible as law, then we might start to only see God as a d...
Your brain loves a good story. In fact, a really clear narrative has the ability to cut through every other distraction in your life (of which there are many). A captivating story has the power to make you pay attention, focus, and sync up with the words and emotions of the storyteller. A story can also change you, move you, and motivate you to live differently. And the Bible is filled with stories about real people who faced real struggles and overcame real obstacles. It's the narrativ...
If the aim in analytical reading is to fully understand a book as a singular book written by one author conveying their point of view, then the aim of syntopical reading is much different. In Level 4 of reading, we now have to ask: How do all of these books individually form one bigger picture and present one key over-arching storyline? How do the authors present the same message in various ways, at various times, to various groups of people? Do all of these books together verify the story of...
Don't let the Bible simply be a verbal memory that you recite emptily. Don't fall victim to verbalism where you can quote the Bible but not explain the very words you just quoted. Our aim in reading the Bible is not about gathering information (although it's packed with it). It's not about being entertained (although parts are VERY entertaining). Our ultimate goal is transformation and the renewing of our minds, because that will change our lives for the better. THAT will lead us to bec...
Have you ever started a Bible reading plan that just felt so disconnected, so you were left feeling lost and confused? Have you ever set a goal to read the Bible in a year, but then you fell behind and got discouraged... so you started to speed-read to catch up but started to miss what God was trying to show you, because you were aiming for quantity of pages read instead of quality of time spent in his Word? Yeah, me too, my friend. Everything used to feel so disconnected until I ...