Word & the Wild

Word & the Wild | Episode 02 | What to Pack for the Adventure
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[00:00:00] Owen: This is Word & the Wild, the one year Bible adventure with friends. We are just about ready to hit the trail, and so I've got a few ideas on how to get the most of our adventure together. Delighted to have you with us. A special welcome to our Word and the Wild Plus members. You know who you are. It's been fun getting to know you so far, and we are only getting started.

[00:00:38] Well, I imagine us all circled up around the campfire. See, we're about to hit the trail and we're dreaming about what we're gonna see. maYbe feeling a little bit intimidated by what we might encounter. Not sure what's ahead at times. And we're maybe even swapping some ideas about what we're gonna put into our backpacks before we head out.

[00:01:02] Into the wonderful wild woods of God's Word. Well, let's talk about some of those essentials to have in your bag. But first a little bit about me. My name is Owen. I'm your host and your guide. And together we are on a 12 month journey as a podcast plus community. Where we read the Bible for ourselves, but not by ourselves.

[00:01:28] We're here for the fun, to explore and learn, and to discover insights and inspiration from the Bible. And it's more rewarding, doable, and fun when you roll with some friends. And that's what we are all about. So, if you haven't hit subscribe to keep up with us each week, now is the perfect time to do that.

[00:01:50] Now, to get us all set up to roll out on this adventure, I want to talk through a few essentials that you want to pack to help you get the most out of this year through the Bible and for you to actually enjoy yourself in the process. Now, when I say essentials to pack, I'm thinking about your mental gear, if you will.

[00:02:13] the mindset you can equip yourself with to help you tackle whatever this trail throws our way. I love hiking. I love being outside. You can probably tell that by this subtle hiking theme we kind of have going on. And for me. One of the best things about, I don't know, having a little excuse to go outside is the gear that you get to buy or I can bring with you.

[00:02:40] So I want to take that idea and talk about some gear to gear yourself up for what's ahead. Now when I talk about gear, I'm not talking about the logistics of how we're actually going to join the journey. We've already covered that. in a previous episode. We talked about last time we talked about Word in the Wild being chronological daily reading with interactive conversation.

[00:03:06] And I unpacked that a little bit. We also covered the Bible that we're using to read together this year. We talked about subscribing to this podcast and how you might do that and even becoming a member of the Word in the Wild Plus community. To really get the most out of your experience. So if you missed all that, go back to the episode that's called gear up for the adventure right here in your favorite podcast platform.

[00:03:34] It's the previous episode.

[00:03:41] Now I want to talk about packing the right kind of gear in your mind. Okay. I want to talk about mindset, but before I do that real quick, I just have to give a to our word in the wild plus. community members, especially our Sherpas. Yes, there are Sherpas. Our Sherpa tier members are sharing the load.

[00:04:06] They're being extra generous with their donations to make space for the rest of us on this adventure. And if you'd like to join them, support this adventure and enjoy bonus member benefits. You can get all the details over. At word and the wild. com, right? So thank you Sherpas. Now, today we're going to talk about again, what to pack in your head, the mindset, the mental equipment for this journey through the Bible that can help you get the most out of it.

[00:04:36] Now I've helped a lot of people read and understand the big story of the Bible from cover to cover and the ones who tend to enjoy it. And I was going to say, even sometimes even have their lives. Changed by the experience, they tend to have three qualities in their approach to reading that I want to suggest are essentials for you to pack in your mindset bag, if you will, three essentials to help you get the most out of the adventure, your mental equipment.

[00:05:12] Okay, here we go. The first one is just simply be surprisable. I don't know if that's exactly technically a word, but we're about to make it one. All right, be surprisable by that. I mean, embrace the adventure. Part of the fun of an adventure is that you never know. Really exactly what's around the next bend in the trail.

[00:05:40] I've got two boys, they're nine and seven right now. One is about to turn ten. And, and, often times, if we go on a road trip. We just tell the boys we're going on an adventure. We don't tell them where we're headed. Exactly. We tell them what they need to bring. And then we just we just hop in the truck and we'd go right.

[00:06:01] Think of this in the same way and be surprisable. It is an adventure. Okay. Keep that playful mindset. with room to discover something unexpected. If you find yourself starting conversations this year about the Bible with yourself, with your family, with people in the Word in the Wild Plus community, you're using phrases like, well I've always thought or, well I heard this sermon one time that's okay, but, but it might be an indicator that you, my friend, are long overdue for a fresh, first hand encounter with the Bible for yourself.

[00:06:44] So, be surprise able. That's the one thing to bring along with you, a surprise able attitude. The second one is simply stay curious. All right, we're going to read together, and no honest question whether it be to God to inside of our community, or just in your own thinking and processing, no honest question is a dumb question.

[00:07:12] Word and the Wild is all about making space for you to stomp around in the woods without getting lost. Keep asking questions. The who. What? When? Where? Why? And how? Not every question can be answered, but even the unanswerable questions can help us understand. No honest question is a dumb question. Stay curious, alright?

[00:07:44] And one more. I say keep walking. Simple as that. We're talking about being surprisable, stay curious, simply keep walking. Alright, just decide I'm not going to give up on this. We're going to keep going step by step every day. And when you hit a little section on the trail where you read and you're just completely stumped by it, don't throw in the towel.

[00:08:10] Okay, part of learning involves just having the humility to admit. When we don't have a clue what's going on, just keep reading and keep looking for clues to help you find your footing again and then reach out to the community. See, I'm convinced that the Bible is not written to be some kind of unsolvable puzzle with secret meaning or some kind of circular philosophical treatise that spirals on and on.

[00:08:43] No, no, no. The Bible is a story that's meant to be read and understood. In a way, the Bible is like the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Okay, stick with me for a second. Okay. Ha ha. You know, the whole MCU universe, and it's got so many characters, there's backstory, cross references, plot twists, it all makes for a great story.

[00:09:07] And it's so satisfying when you get it right, when you see what's happening and it makes sense. But I'm not a kind of person that knows all that stuff. So when I watch one of those movies, I got to sit down. With some kind of a, you know, MCU aficionado and have them explain some stuff to me so I don't get lost.

[00:09:27] That's what I'm here for on our one year Bible adventure together. I'm here to help you make sure you don't get lost. So, don't give up. Enjoy the ride, even if sometimes you don't understand where the ride is taking you at the moment, right? All right, so here's what to pack in your mindset, be surprisable, stay curious, keep walking.

[00:09:58] All right. And now when we have that kind of mindset, as we step into the beautiful, inspiring universe that is the Bible with all its characters and cross references and stories and ideas that's going to help us keep our footing.

[00:10:19] Now, while we're talking about keeping our footing. I've got three more things pack these away too, because I put these out here as, as, as core concepts that are going to help us stay, stay grounded and, and, and not get too, too lost out there. I mean, if I were going to use our adventure theme here these ideas, they kind of formed the base camp for us on this journey.

[00:10:43] Through the woods of God's word. Okay. And again, I got three of them. I don't know. I just got stuck on having three things. So it is these are our base camp core ideas. First one, first core idea. Okay. Not everything in the Bible was written to you, but everything was written for you. That's idea. Number one, I'm going to say it again.

[00:11:06] Not everything in the Bible was written to you, but everything was written for you. See, it's a classic way to lose the plot. When I act like every verse in the Bible is God saying something directly to The Bible is full of many, many conversations, lessons, and ideas. And, and many of those were spoken to other people in other places and other times, not to me directly that that doesn't mean the Bible isn't relevant.

[00:11:45] No, it's been preserved through the millennia. For us, we're meant to read it. It is relevant. It is compelling and it is instructive for you and for me, but we just have to make sure we always have our eyes on who the original audience is as we read. That's key to understanding the Bible and getting something out of it.

[00:12:11] Again, not everything in the Bible was written to you, but everything was written for you. So that's one of our base camp ideas. Here's another one. God is the main character. The Bible starts with the words, In the beginning, God. And it continues to tell His story from that point on. That's why one of the most useful questions you can ever ask while you're reading something from the Bible is simply, What does this tell me about God?

[00:12:48] As the story of the Bible reveals more and more about its main character, that's God, that we get more and more insight into how people like us can get to know Him and interact with Him ourselves, which is a core, core idea for the Bible. In fact, it forms a base camp for us. God is the main character of the Bible.

[00:13:12] And then another one here I'd throw out there is, is simply this, ask yourself as we're reading, as you're reading, as we're reading, let's ask ourselves. What does it say? Before I ask myself, what does it say to me? Okay, once again, ask yourself, what does this particular verse, this section of the Bible, this idea, what does it say?

[00:13:36] Before I ask myself, what does it say to me? to me. See, at the end of the day, we read the Bible because we want to get something out of it, right? I mean, that's the whole idea. We, we want an answer, whether it be an answer to the mysteries of life. We, we want to understand why things happen the way they do.

[00:13:57] Why I am how I am and why those other people are the way they are. I, I want to know, right? And that's why we, we, we, At the end of the day, we crack open the Bible. It's a good impulse to have that desire to know the big Answer to the big questions and I want to read the Bible and I want it to say something to me.

[00:14:21] All right. Yeah, that's it's perfectly normal to, to, to feel that way and to approach it that way. But I want to, in the rush to get something out of the Bible that we can apply to our own lives, our own questions, our own situations, we can skip the essential step of simply asking What does it say? Like, literally, like, what are these words on the page?

[00:14:47] Who is saying these words? What other words and conversations are all around what I'm reading? In other words, what's the context? And I'm gonna tell you, you will get the most insight and the most truth from what you read. If you take that step to interpret what you're reading before you apply what you are reading to yourself.

[00:15:08] In other words, just ask yourself, and I'm going to do the same, What does it say? Before I ask myself, what does it say to me? Now, my personal lens on the Bible and you'll pick this up soon, this is, this is, this is me. And you don't have to share this approach, but this is, this is me. I, I believe, I've come to believe the Bible is God's inspired word, passed down, preserved through the centuries to show us what God is like and what it's like to have a relationship with him.

[00:15:43] To me, God's Word is powerful, insightful. and alive. And when I read it, I start by asking God himself to show me himself, then show me myself through what I read. That's my personal perspective. That's my approach. You don't need to believe that in order to enjoy this Bible adventure together. But you do need to just stay surprisable, stay curious, and keep walking, alright?

[00:16:16] And then just keep in mind God is the main character. Not every verse in the Bible was written to you, but it's there for you. To read, and then simply just take the step to ask yourself as you read, if you get stuck, especially, and you're like, what's going on here? Just ask yourself, what does this say?

[00:16:38] Before you ask yourself, what does it say to? All right. And if you got your bags packed with those kinds of mindsets, then you are in for an incredible adventure. And even in the confusing little moments. We are gonna get through it. Okay. I think you're going to see for yourself why the Bible remains just this perennial source of interest, controversy, conversation, and inspiration year after year.

[00:17:09] I mean, we are in for one lack of an adventure together. , I can't wait. All right, so I gotta ask you here as we wrap this thing up, are you in? All right. If you're in with us, then come on. Let's go join in the fun. It's simple to do. Just subscribe to this podcast on your favorite platform and then find Word and the Wild on Facebook.

[00:17:33] Look for our page, simply search for it. You'll see it there. Okay. Then consider becoming a Word and the Wild Plus member for access to our private, safe, lively online community where you can interact, find bonus content like our weekly video live stream Q and A. There's a daily reading guide and more get all the details on that membership over at wordandthewild.com.

[00:17:58] Word & the Wild is a LineHouse community. It's part of the line house community network. It's a nonprofit organization with a mission to bring neighbors together. To promote awareness, appreciation, and understanding of the Bible because we believe friendship and God's word changes lives and changes cities.

[00:18:22] The folks of the LineHouse Community Network are the reason why this adventure exists. Also, big thanks and to the lum of a's Podcast Network for giving us a home here in the podcast community. Well, until next time, my friend, I am Owen, your host and guide, and I can't wait. To see you on the trail in the Word and in the wild until then have a good one.