330 How to Read the Bible for Yourself (with Ben Windle)

This week's conversation is a great reminder that people are at different stages in their walk with God. Plus, we find encouragement from some of the very first Christians. Life was hard then, and the encouragement Paul gave them applies to us today as well. 

Maybe you've heard to "root for your enemies". While we should love them, should we be "rooting" for them if they're doing evil? One Psalm gives a great balance of love... and destruction. 

It might shock you to know how little time people spend reading their Bible. Ben Windle has been a pastor and now speaks all around the world about how to read and truly study the Bible for yourself. He shares some helpful tips and some of his story growing up as a pastor's kid. 

When hard things happen in life, our faith can be shaken. And when a faith mentor quits believing, it can really give us doubts. We dig into how to pass along truth to our kids so that they won't be shaken when life happens.

We discuss some well meaning things people say, but aren't actually scriptural truth. We also talk about things in life that people can settle for, and how our relationship with Jesus is what truly lasts.

If bitterness takes root in our lives, we may find ourselves acting irrational. We can tend to treat the person we are bitter towards, with a standard we don't hold anyone else to. But on the flip side, if we let the Spirit of Jesus lead us, we may find ourselves doing things most people find impossible. Like what one woman said to the man that killed her husband.

How should I read through prophetic scripture about the end of days? Am I apathetic about Jesus coming back again or obsessed? How would Jesus have me live until he comes back?

We looked at a family vacation drama situation from all sides, that will hopefully prepare us for similar situations in life. It led to a great conversation of what the Bible means when it uses the word "Godliness" and how sometimes we have to give grace to a situation that we will never understand.

There are moments where Jesus' words can be uncomfortable, especially if you were raised in western culture. We talk about what Jesus said and did regarding the Canaanite woman who asked for her daughter's healing.

The Bible tells us to not complain. But what does that practically look like in our every day lives? We go over specific circumstances and whether something is a complaint, or a frustration that we should take to someone else, whether it be an authority/boss or that very person.