How To Study The Bible - Week 4 Session 1

Well, good evening, everybody! How are you all doing? You are the ones who braved the harsh weather to make it out here tonight. It was like a San Diego hurricane! Man, oh man, the danger! You should no doubt see storm watch on Channel 10 news tonight. We have team coverage of all the people.

As people are making their way in, I want to remind you that you can send a text message with your questions. Those questions come to me, not just tonight but throughout the week. I've been receiving some questions from people related to the topics we've been covering.

One of the questions that came through was, "How do I know if what I think God is speaking to me is the Lord?" This is a really good question. We often come across things in Scripture or, as we're in prayer, we may have some sort of impression or thought. My general rule is always to test that against the Scriptures. The Scriptures will validate or invalidate what we think may be the word of the Lord to us.

We need to be very careful. No prophecy of Scripture ever came about by any private interpretation, as Peter says in one of his letters. We really need to test what we are sensing that we might be hearing from the Lord while spending time in prayer and meditating on the Scriptures. We should seek to validate or invalidate that word through the Scriptures.

You will also find that God will validate or invalidate a word He is speaking through the fellowship of the body of Christ, through other brothers and sisters, and through good teaching. However, primarily, the Scriptures are where we go to validate or invalidate a word as being from the Lord. Nothing that God speaks to you in the secret place of your closet will contradict His word in the Scriptures. Therefore, we want to validate or invalidate by the word.

Another question that has come up, and this has actually been asked two or three times in the last week, is: "Can I take passages like the one I had you guys read from Isaiah 51 as a word to me if the context was written to Israel?" This is a really important and good question. It is essential that we look at the passages of Scripture, whether they are Old or New Testament, trying to determine...

This week, we will delve even more into what is called inductive Bible study. We want to try to understand what the original author was saying to the original audience. Our goal is to determine what that word specifically is from the author to the readers at that time. However, there are general principles that we can draw out of the passage.

A few examples come to mind, particularly regarding Old Testament passages that Christians often apply in a global way to the church. In reality, there was a very direct word being spoken to the children of Israel or the people at that time. One example is found in Second Chronicles, chapter 7, verse 14: "If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray to me and seek me from heaven, then I will hear from heaven and heal their land."

Contextually, this was during the time that King Solomon established the temple in Jerusalem. They consecrated the temple and held a great coronation service for it. Afterward, God spoke to Solomon, reiterating His promise to Solomon and the children of Israel. He assured them that if they called out to God from the temple or that place, He would hear from heaven if they humbled themselves.

It is important to recognize that while this message was specifically directed to King Solomon 3,000 years ago, in relation to the temple and the children of Israel, there is also a general principle at play. This is part of the reason we have been studying through the book of Deuteronomy here at the church.

For those of you who have been part of the church for a long time, you may recall that several years ago, we studied the New Testament, using the book of Acts as our roadmap through the New Testament letters. As we finished our studies in the New Testament, I knew I wanted to transition to the Old Testament. I sought a book that would serve as a guide and foundation for our studies in the rest of the Old Testament books. Deuteronomy truly fulfills that role, as much of the history that follows—Joshua, Judges, Ruth, First and Second Samuel, and so forth, along with all of the prophets—relies heavily on the teachings found in the book of Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy provides a lens through which we can understand the events happening in the nation during that time. As we explore the book of Deuteronomy, we will see how it filters the nation's circumstances through what God had said He would do. In several weeks, when we reach Deuteronomy chapter 28, we will encounter the blessings and curses of the law, which detail exactly what God had communicated to the Israelites.

In Deuteronomy 28 and earlier in Deuteronomy chapter 4, God reiterates His message to Solomon in Second Chronicles chapter 7, verse 14. He states that if the people walk away from Him and do not follow His law, curses will come upon them. However, if they turn to Him, humble themselves, and pray, He will respond positively. What is happening in Second Chronicles 7:14 is not a new revelation; rather, it is a restatement of what God had already conveyed to Israel several hundred years earlier through Moses in the book of Deuteronomy.

Understanding the book of Deuteronomy is crucial for interpreting other Old Testament texts. This is why we are currently studying it. When you delve into the prophets, such as Isaiah, which is one of my favorite Old Testament books, having a solid grasp of the history of Israel as described in Kings and Chronicles is essential. This historical context aligns with the same period as the book of Isaiah and the book of Deuteronomy. Without this knowledge, the book of Isaiah may seem relatively obscure and difficult to comprehend.

Once you begin to understand Deuteronomy, you can better grasp what Isaiah is conveying. Much of Israel's history and the messages from the prophets are filtered through the teachings that God provided through Moses. Second Chronicles 7:14 serves as a specific word to Solomon and the children of Israel, as God anticipates their eventual turn away from Him into idolatry and their subsequent exile from the land. In the midst of this, He outlines what they need to do when that time comes.

Therefore, it is vital to familiarize yourself with books like Deuteronomy and the historical books of the Old Testament. This foundational knowledge will enhance your understanding of the prophets' messages. It is important to recognize that unlocking passages, such as those in the book of Jeremiah, will take many years of study and reflection.

The Book of Isaiah and the Book of Ezekiel are not passages you should open expecting to understand everything on the first read. I have taught Isaiah, I want to say, seven times at the Bible College, and every time I prepare to teach through it, I go through the book again and look at my old notes. I find myself making connections that I didn't see before, linking it to other places in Deuteronomy, other parts of the Old Testament, or even the New Testament. There are always new insights that emerge, and I realize, "Oh, I didn't see that reference before."

Over time, as you begin to build your internal bookshelf, having read through the New Testament books or the Minor Prophets, you will be able to draw upon that knowledge, and things will become clearer. It's similar to going to the optometrist for an eye exam. You look through the big, giant machine, and everything is fuzzy and unclear. Then they drop in different lenses, and suddenly, you can see clearly. This is exactly what happens as you start to build the lenses of understanding through these other books.

You want to look for the general principles that emerge from passages like 2 Chronicles 7:14. Another example that comes to mind is Jeremiah 1:5, where God says to Jeremiah, "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and I called you to be a prophet to the nations." We can draw a general principle from this that is applicable to us, even though we are not Jeremiah living 2,500 years ago. I believe God knew who you were before He created you, and He created you with a purpose in mind.

You can take the general principle found in Paul's teaching in Ephesians 2, which states that God has created you for good works. Each of us is purposefully created by God for good works, which He ordained beforehand that we should walk in them. We ought to walk in them.

So, while we see that general principle in Jeremiah, it is also validated again in Ephesians 2. However, is God speaking to you, John, and saying, "I'm calling you to be a prophet to the nations"? I think that would be a bit of a stretch from that passage.

I tell you, in my over 20 years of serving in pastoral ministry, I have had some people tell me and quote that passage, claiming, "I'm a prophet; God has called me to be a prophet." I just respond, "Okay, well, God bless you as you go to a different church." I hope so. A prophet always has a word for you; they always have something they want to tell you that God told them. My answer is always, "Well, I haven't heard that from the Lord, so it's okay."

There is a general principle to consider: before God created you, He knew who you were, and I believe He has created you for a purpose. Another verse that often comes up, which Christians love, is Jeremiah 29:11. It states, "I know the thoughts I think towards you, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." Yes, that is specifically spoken to the people of Israel at that period of time, 2,500 years ago during the time of Jeremiah. However, there are general principles in that whole passage. You can't just take that one verse out of the passage and divorce it from the context.

We always want to read three or four verses before and three or four verses after, or the paragraph before and the paragraph after, to get the whole sense of what is being said. In that passage, there is also an exhortation, or really a condition. I will emphasize this a lot as we continue through the book of Deuteronomy because so much of the prophecy of the Old Testament is what I call conditional prophecy, or "if-then" prophecy.

It is not necessarily just very specific prophetic words about one nation subduing another, although there is that in the prophetic books of the Old Testament. There is a lot of "if you do this, this is going to happen." The prophets will see, "Well, God said if this, then this, and here you're doing this, so this is what's going to happen." Their prediction goes back to Deuteronomy and God's conditional work.

In Jeremiah 29, the condition of being those who have that promise is when you seek for Me with all of your heart. Again, we can validate that in the New Testament. What is Jesus's teaching if not, "Seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you"? We can validate that word in the New Testament.

There are general principles that we want to look for and then try to draw out applications from those general principles. We will talk more about this as we get into some of the inductive Bible study over the next few weeks. When we are reading the Old Testament, we should always read it first, trying to...

Determine the intent of the original author for the original reader. This is a key focus in the book by Gordon Fee, which discusses this concept extensively. We are trying to find that intent as much as possible, and we will delve into this topic more next week. So, keep those questions coming as we go through what we will be discussing tonight.

Tonight, we will be talking about tools for Bible study. Up to this point, the only tools I have asked you to use are a Bible, a notebook, and a pen or pencil. That is the only tool I want you to use for now.

As you read through Isaiah 51 with the two questions I provided, the temptation will be to read something and think, "Oh, that reminds me of something over here in Psalm 87," or "That reminds me of something in Joshua chapter 7," or whatever it may be. The temptation is to start going down the rabbit holes of cross-references, which is great, and I want you to correlate and cross-reference passages. However, I don't want you to do that yet. What I want you to get into the routine of doing is simply sitting down with a Bible, a pen, and a notepad, and going through the Scriptures. Look for the things we have talked about so far, and I will touch on that a little more in just a moment.

As I have mentioned every week, the purpose of this class is that we might learn to access the Scriptures ourselves in order to make them accessible to others. Why? Because all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and it is useful. We need to recognize that it is not just useful; I love that one of the English translations says it is profitable. I assume that because you are here in this class, you want to profit from the Word—p-r-o-f-i-t, not p-h-e-t. You want to profit from the Word of God so that it begins to do the work that God desires in our lives, producing fruit.

I cannot emphasize this enough in my teaching, whether in this class or on Sunday mornings. The primary thing we want to see in us is a sanctifying transformation. God is using His Word to transform our thinking, which filters down into our behavior.

The way that we think, the way that we perceive this world, and the way that we perceive how people interact with us all influence how we interact on the other side of that. If we are not growing in the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, self-control—then we are doing it wrong when it comes to our study of the Bible. If you're just getting a fat head and not a bigger heart, then you're doing it wrong.

As a pastor, I have to step back and evaluate this from time to time. One of the occupational hazards of studying the Bible as a pastor is that you can fall into the trap of only studying the Bible because you have to prepare another Bible study or because you're trying to figure something out in a passage of Scripture. I have taught at a Bible college for a very long time and have sat through many Bible teaching classes over the years.

There is a significant danger, and I tell all my students when they start out in a class at the Bible college—many of whom are first-semester students who will be there for two or four semesters—that the real danger is getting into the routine of doing Bible study for classes and homework all week long. This can lead to laying aside your time spent with the Lord in devotion. Your time at the Bible college can end up being a very dry, desert-like experience for your soul, which is very dangerous.

We want to ensure that we understand and grow in our knowledge of the Scriptures, but the intent should be that the overflow of that knowledge leads to greater worship of God, a stronger relationship with God, and a greater love for other people. Jesus taught the two great commandments: love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

All of that in the Old Testament hinges upon loving God and loving others. Therefore, the goal should be growth in the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. This should serve as a real test for us—a mirror, if you will—to look at our lives and see if we are increasing in love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, patience, and self-control. Those last two, patience and self-control, are the hardest for me, and I’m sure I’m not alone in that.

In the season that we have all been going through for the last two and a half to three years, just watching what is going on in the news, I’m sure you all...

Pay attention to the news. You know the same, if not more, than I do. I don't watch any of the news, but I read way too much news or get it fed to me on all these old devices. There is so much happening in the world, whether it's economic issues, the situation with OPEC and what that means for our nation, the upcoming election in just a month, or the situation in Ukraine.

You can quickly find yourself in a place where you're losing your peace and joy. If you find yourself in that situation, you should increase your intake of positive influences and decrease your intake of negative ones. If you are experiencing a deficit of joy, think of it like that little indicator light on your dashboard that says low fuel. If you are lacking in joy, peace, love, self-control, or any of the fruits of the Spirit, increase your intake of uplifting content and decrease your consumption of negative media. This could mean reducing your time spent on sports, Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, or whatever it is that you are putting into your mind. It is directly related.

I have encouraged many people over the years, especially in the last three years, to take a fast from social media or corporate media, and that has proven to be incredibly helpful.

Now, while those topics are not what we are going to discuss tonight, I want to emphasize that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. It is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness, so that the man or woman of God may be thoroughly equipped and ready for every good work.

What did God create you for? As mentioned in Ephesians 2:10, you are created in Christ Jesus for good works. How are you prepared for good works? Through the Word of God, which is essentially necessary in our lives.

Over the last few weeks, we have discovered devotional and purposeful Bible study. To quickly review, in devotional Bible study, we are looking for two things: truths to believe and truths to obey—doctrines and commands. We go through the tips model that I talked about. The "T" is to identify what the truths are in the passage to believe and to obey. Then, I evaluate or inspect myself in light of those truths: Do I believe this? Do I do this? After that, I pray and plan to obey, and then I obey with the Spirit's help.

So, that's tips for Bible study. Last week, we looked at purposeful Bible study, where we read the Bible with intention. We examine passages of Scripture through the lens of very simple questions that we establish before we start studying. What is the question that I will be looking at this passage through?

I talked about how, in grade school reading comprehension, you are given questions on whatever text you had to read, whether it was a paragraph or a page. There are questions to help you determine if you understood what you just read. A lot of times, those questions are very simple and should be answered right in the body of the text. We approach the text with various questions.

This last week, your homework was Isaiah 51. We asked, "What is God like? How does God treat us?" Again, we are looking for general principles in the passage and trying to guard against the temptation to turn this into a rabbit hunt for all the different cross-references and how this relates to something that might happen in 2022. Of course, the prophet Isaiah must have end-time prophecies that talk about today, and maybe Vladimir Putin is mentioned somewhere, with some Bible code in that passage.

Stop. Whether or not that is true doesn't matter. We are trying to focus on the objective, and that can be hard, especially if you've been a student of the Bible for several years. You have received enough teaching—whether here, at another church, or on the radio—to have a kind of knowledge that can be dangerous. It's like they say about first-year Greek students at seminary: they know just enough Greek to be dangerous. It's similar with end-time prophecies; you might know just enough to grab at all kinds of crazy things from the Bible that have nothing to do with what the text says, what it means, and what it means for us.

We need to slow down and reduce our focus, zeroing in on what we are trying to find in this passage so that we can grow in our knowledge of God and understand what He wants us to do. There is a lot more that we can glean from the Scriptures, and we will delve into that more over the next several weeks as we go through this class.

I have been really blessed by receiving correspondence from a number of people in the class so far—emails and texts from individuals who have been Christians for 10, 20, or even 30 years and have read the Bible.

Multiple times, I have been reading the Bible on a regular, habitual basis—daily or at least a couple of times a week—for many years. This simple process of looking for the truths to believe and the truths to obey, or examining the text through the lens of a couple of questions, has revolutionized the way many people understand the Bible. Even after just a couple of weeks, if you begin to develop this as a pattern or a habit in your life, it will change you. It will transform you. If this book, which I believe is living and powerful, is true, then it says it will transform you by the renewing of your mind. I have seen this in my own life and have watched it in the lives of many people here at the church over the years. It is always an amazing thing to me how the simple work of God's Word, by His Spirit, is profound.

I will never forget a call I received before I became the pastor of this church. It was a Wednesday afternoon, late in the day, from a gentleman who did not attend the church. He had a young son who was being brought to church on Sundays by their next-door neighbor. At the time, their son was in second or third grade, and his parents had never gone to church. The gentleman called me in crisis, saying, "My son has been coming to your church. Is there any chance that my wife and I can come and sit down and talk with you? We're having a marital crisis." I said, "Sure, why don't you guys come down?"

We sat down in one of the offices, and it was discovered that there had been some infidelity in their relationship. Their life was in chaos all of a sudden, and they were sharing all this with me. They didn't want to immediately push the divorce button and go down that path. So, I simply shared the gospel with them and emphasized their need for the forgiving grace of God in their lives, for Him to transform them individually and then their marriage. I led them in a prayer, and they asked, "Well, now what?"

I said, "Here's what we're going to do. Let's meet next Wednesday, but between now and then, I want you to take this Bible." I gave them a Bible and said, "I want you to read this book called Ephesians. Before you do, I just want you to pray, 'God, would you help me to understand what you're saying in this passage?' There are six chapters; read a chapter a day between now and next week."

When we got back together the following week, we sat down, prayed, and started talking. They immediately had a whole bunch of questions about Ephesians, but one of the things they discovered was in Ephesians...

Chapter 5 states, "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it." It also instructs wives to honor and respect their husbands. The passage advises against being drunk with wine. We often read this and reflect on our own drinking habits, considering whether we might be drinking too much. Some have expressed concerns about this, asking if they should stop. I believe that would probably be a good idea.

This is simply God's word working in their lives. They have since moved to another county for work, but they are still walking with the Lord and seriously serving at a church in Orange County. This demonstrates that God's word is true, and the Holy Spirit is real. He works in us through His word as we allow it to renew and transform us.

Now, regarding the ocentric analysis of Isaiah 51, I hope you all took some time to go through that during the break. I will collect your homework shortly. I reviewed most of your assignments from last week, and they were great. I can tell that some of you are worried about making the wrong answers, but that's okay. I don't expect you to understand everything you read.

However, I would say that more than 75 percent of what I saw was right on the money. Many of you identified truths to believe and truths to obey in the passage, along with simple applications of what you need to change in your life. For instance, some of you mentioned struggling to believe that you are forgiven, a saint, and beloved of God.

It's about going through the word of God and allowing it to renew our thinking and behavior. So, what is God like? How does God treat us? As we go through the passage tonight, we will discuss tools for Bible study beyond just a Bible, a pen, and a piece of paper. However, I want to emphasize the importance of spending time devotionally in the Scriptures.

This morning, after getting the kids off to school, I returned home, made a cup of coffee, and sat at the dining room table. I opened the Bible to the section I have been reading, taking it just a paragraph at a time. I managed to get through three verses in Second Thessalonians chapter 3 and wrote down several pages of devotional thoughts as I reflected on the passage. It was very refreshing to hear God speaking through His word by His Spirit.

Specific things that I've been wrestling with in my heart and in my mind come straight from the Word. These are things that I've read dozens of times and taught through multiple times. I've taught through Thessalonians multiple times, but as I'm reading through it, there are just things that are coming out that feel like exactly what I needed to hear today. God speaks through His Word.

I spent time in the Scriptures and only got through three verses. What will I do tomorrow? I'll open back up to Second Thessalonians chapter three and continue with the next three or six verses, or however long I am in that passage, just slowly going through it. As we look at tools that you can use to go a little bit deeper or to cross-reference, I don't want you to miss the simplicity of going through the Scriptures verse by verse.

When we talk about tools for studying the Bible, we've all heard the terms "amateurs" and "pros" before. When I think of an amateur, I think of a pro. One of the things that comes to my mind is something that's been a hobby of mine for many years: graphic design and photography. I am nowhere near a pro in graphic design or photography. I might have a little bit more understanding than most of you, especially in the area of graphic design.

One of the major distinctions between an amateur and a pro is not that the pro makes money while the amateur does not. The major distinction I see is that the professional knows and understands their tools better than the amateur. For example, consider a professional carpenter versus an amateur hobbyist woodworker. The major difference is that the professional knows how to use their tools effectively.

Take Adobe Photoshop, for instance. For most people, if they opened Adobe Photoshop, they would be completely lost and wouldn't know how to open a new file. Even if they did, there are so many tools that they would just be scratching their heads, scared that they would break something if they clicked on anything. In contrast, a professional can do phenomenal things with Adobe Photoshop.

I am really good at using Adobe Illustrator, but if an average person opens it, they will be completely lost and have no idea what any tool does. However, when you watch a pro use it, you see that they not only know the tools but also all the shortcut keys on the keyboard to use every single one of those tools without clicking the mouse. They can accomplish in five minutes what would take an amateur much longer.

It takes five years to master the tools of photography, and the same can be said for professional photographers. I have spent time with some amazing professionals, and now amateurs have access to all the same tools. High-quality lenses, DSLR cameras, and other great equipment are readily available for purchase. Additionally, programs like the Photos app on an Apple computer or Pixelmator allow users to apply filters and make automatic adjustments. Even Instagram offers filters that can transform images in remarkable ways.

However, the true distinction between a professional photographer and an amateur lies in the professional's ability to use the camera's settings, such as aperture and f-stops, to achieve the desired effect directly in the camera. This skill allows them to accomplish what others might attempt to do in Photoshop or similar applications. The major difference I have observed is the understanding of tools and how to use them effectively. This principle applies not only to photography but also to carpentry, automotive work, and cooking.

For instance, I occasionally watch cooking shows on YouTube, and I am always amazed at how some chefs can measure spices without using measuring spoons. They seem to know exactly how much to add with just a flick of the wrist, while I find myself searching for the right tools in my kitchen. The key difference is their familiarity with the tools at their disposal.

I recognize that I am simplifying the distinction between professionals and amateurs, but it is a significant factor. I want to share some tools that can help unlock the Scriptures. One such tool, which I will not elaborate on extensively, is called Logos. It is the tool of choice for most Bible teachers, scholars, seminarians, and professors at seminaries. Anyone deeply studying the Scriptures likely has Logos on their computer and has invested a considerable amount of money to acquire various resources. Logos contains layers upon layers of tools that the average person would never need.

I use them on a regular basis because I know how to use those tools, and it's very helpful to my study of the Scriptures. What I'm going to show you are some real basic tools that are freely available and don't cost thousands of dollars, which I think every single one of you can use and should use in your study of the Scriptures. I'll go through specifics on how to do that.

Before we even get to what those tools are, it is so important that you, in your study of the Scriptures, discover what way works best for you in putting your thoughts down on paper. For most people, especially those who grew up in the last 25 or 30 years, going to school, they learned a certain way to put their thoughts down on paper. Generally, this is an outline referred to as a Harvard outline. It looks something like this: Roman numeral number one, letter A, then a number one, and then letter B, and the number two, and so forth, Roman numeral number two.

What I've discovered is that this method might work for a certain percentage of society, but it doesn't work for everybody. For probably more than a few of you here, that is totally unhelpful. You were forced to do that in school and told this is the way to take notes. You were required to do that or to follow some sort of APA format or whatever format your college or school mandated. It just never worked for you, and you felt like Sisyphus, climbing up a hill with a rock every time you did your work.

There are different ways of taking notes. I've shared this same content that I'm going to share with you dozens of times with different groups, whether at Bible colleges or conferences where I've taught. Every single time, I have people who come up to me and say, "You just unlocked my brain to think differently," because everybody thinks differently.

I've shared with you before that I have dyslexia, which for a long time made it very difficult for me to get my thoughts down on paper in a way that made sense to me. Over time, I've grown to really like a format like this. I use a hybrid of a Harvard outline; my notes are kind of an expanded Harvard outline.

It's not just a Harvard outline; it's a mix between that and a simple manuscript where you're writing out your full thought as if you're going to speak it, just like you would in a notebook or a journal. One way to approach this is to write out your thoughts in long form, like a manuscript, word for word, what you want to put down. Another way is to create little bullet points or quick blurbs that help you recall what you are reading, studying, or wanting to document.

Another method I have shared with people, which does not work for me but has been effective for at least a quarter of the people I talk with, is called mind mapping. It may look like a mash of unhelpful information to some, but it can be quite beneficial. For example, I found a mind map from the Scriptures that illustrates the Spirit in the Book of Acts. You can see how it branches out, with each number representing different aspects of the Spirit: the Spirit given and received, the Spirit coming upon, the Spirit filling, the Spirit being poured forth, and the Spirit speaking.

For me, I might actually do this as an outline, which contains the same information, but the outline is totally unhelpful for a certain demographic of people. I would suggest that about 25% of people find mind mapping far more helpful because of how their brains work. I've had students at the Bible College who, after I show them this method, turn in their notes in this format, and it revolutionizes the way they study.

There are actually Bible programs and various flowchart applications that facilitate this kind of note-taking. Here's another example: the Ten Commandments and all the way up to Judas Iscariot. There are all kinds of elements involved in this mind map. Most of the time, it starts with something in the middle, and then you branch out from 12 o'clock to 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock, 3 o'clock, and so on, moving clockwise around the circle. Each of these subsections can also have their own branches, following the same pattern. There is even an application out there that supports this method.

You can do this on your computer or even with an iPad and a stylus. After you build this, you push the outline button, and it turns the entire thing into an outline. It's amazing! It's called iMindMap; it might go by a different name now, but years ago, it was called iMindMap. For some people, this is how they think. I have met some pastors who get up to teach with a single piece of paper printed out, and it's basically their entire message laid out that way. They can go through the whole thing seamlessly.

Here's another example that may look like a jumbled mess to me, but for some people, their brains are a jumbled mess, and that is very helpful. While it may not be as artistic as what we're going to see, you can move from mind maps to sketchnotes. This was someone’s notes when I was teaching Isaiah 30 at the Bible College in 2014. I took a picture of it. I mean, it looks like a comic book page, but it represents what they were hearing as I was teaching through Isaiah 30. If you had just looked at what they were doing, you might have thought this person was not paying attention and was just doodling. However, they were actually keeping notes on my message from Isaiah chapter 30.

It's called sketchnotes. Here's another example of sketchnotes. This is someone’s sketchnotes done on an iPad with a stylus. This represents an entire conference that this person attended where John Maxwell was speaking, along with Brian Stevenson, another speaker. This is this person's notes from a multiple-day conference. They look at this whole thing, and it helps them to see everything that happened at the conference.

There is an entire group of people online who share their sketchnotes about various topics they have listened to. It's phenomenal! Sometimes they post these things on Instagram; that's where I found this one.

So, there are different ways that you can take notes. Now, this right here is a resource that I will recommend to you called the Bible Project. If you just go to bibleproject.com, the Bible Project has put together these one-sheet outlines for the entire Bible, covering every book of the Bible. This is for Colossians. I'm not going to zoom into every single one, but this is for Philippians. You can see it's the entire book of Philippians, going from left to right, normally in columns.

It is the whole book, and they do this for whole theological concepts and doctrines. Now, I will say there are certain doctrinal positions that The Bible Project holds that I don't agree with entirely, having to do with issues like Reformed Theology and stuff like that. However, the material they put together is spectacular. They have a whole YouTube channel where they go through the book of Philippians, and this gets filled in as they talk, walking through the entire book. You can listen to the entire book in ten minutes.

What is the book of Isaiah about? How does it break apart? What are the major themes and major verses? They just go through the whole thing, and these resources are spectacular. You can find a quick snapshot at bibleproject.com. These are just sketch notes, and for some people who are creatively minded or artistically inclined, this is the way they think. They hear someone speak and see pictures in their mind. If they are artistically minded, they can put those pictures down.

I have a child who is like this. My daughter, Addison, is incredibly artistic. She sometimes has a hard time articulating her feelings, so I tell her to draw me a picture. She can put it all on a piece of paper in a beautiful way, and she is able to comprehend what she is feeling. I might ask her, "What am I feeling?" and she can express it through her art. It’s phenomenal.

We should all be very grateful for the iconographers who create this kind of work because it is important to recognize the impact of visual storytelling. Many of you have traveled to Europe and seen the beautiful cathedrals, stained glass windows, and paintings that showcase incredible beauty. It is important to remember that the vast majority of people who lived during the time those works were created were totally illiterate. Their only understanding of the Scriptures was through the stories demonstrated in those images.

This is where the idea of illuminated Bibles or illuminated Scriptures comes from, where the Bible text is in the middle and pictures surround it, illustrating what is happening in the story. Many people are semi-literate or illiterate, and this kind of visual aid is very helpful. Therefore, it is crucial to begin by determining the best way for you to put your thoughts down on paper. It might be a manuscript, writing everything out, or it might be an outline with just key points.

Blurbs at points might be a huge mind map, sketch notes, a picture, or whatever it is. You've got to find a way to get down on paper what is in your heart and in your mind. It doesn't matter if it's not the same thing that your spouse or your friend is doing. If you can explain what is there and why it is there, then use whatever format of note-taking works best for you.

While we have this paradigm in our schooling or education system where we say everybody needs to do it this way, I just don't think that's wise because we're not all the same. Any of you who are in education know that totally because you work with students where you just go, "This is not going to work for this person at all." Yet, we keep trying to force round pegs through square holes, and it's not working.

The next thing that I think is very helpful is to learn to type. I realize that for some of you, this might seem daunting, but I have been typing as my primary way of putting my thoughts down since I was in high school. Now, I can type probably three, if not four, times faster than I can write. Sometimes, I will go back to just writing because I need to slow down. I've talked about this before; sometimes, you really do need to slow yourself down so you can think a little more clearly.

Many times, I will grab one of my favorite pens and one of my notebooks, sit down, and start writing out my thoughts before I get to the computer. Eventually, I get to the computer, and then I'm able to produce things very quickly. This is essential because my notes on an average week—these are my notes from last Sunday—total 4,600 words. If I were to write all this out by hand, it would take a while, and the editing would be very hard.

On average, I have between four and seven thousand words of notes for a Sunday message every single week. Writing it out by hand would be rather difficult, especially because editing is important. So, learning to type, even though you may feel like you couldn't do that or don't want to do that, will increase the speed at which you're able to work.

If you're doing this stuff more regularly and trying to put your thoughts down, it is very helpful. Now, obviously, you guys are not in my Bible college class, but at the Bible college, it's basically like a standard. If you don't know how to write in that way and type quickly, then you're going to be lost in a college setting today. That's just the way it is.

I am very pleased that they started teaching my kids how to type when they were in second grade. All of my kids know how to use word processors like Google Docs, Apple Pages, and Microsoft Word very effectively at this point. By the time they're in third and fourth grade, they're making presentations using PowerPoint, Apple Pages, or Google Presenter. Those tools are really helpful.

Now, they will teach you how to type before they teach you how to write in cursive. For many of you, when you went to school, cursive was the big deal. Now, it's typing. This is the first major tool in your arsenal as you start to develop as a student of the Scriptures. Discover what kind of note-taking method works best for you and use that as effectively as you can. Utilize the tools, like a computer, that are available to you.

The next tool is study Bibles. I have a whole bunch of them up here. I bought four different versions: the New King James, the Christian Standard Bible (CSB), the New International Version (NIV), and the English Standard Version (ESV). The retail price of one of these is $54.99, but I believe this is on Amazon right now for $32. This is so valuable.

On many trips that I have taken to Africa or Asia to teach pastors, the group that goes often takes a suitcase full of these to give to pastors in other countries. This tool is invaluable if you want to study the Bible. It is worth way more than the $32 that you will spend on it. It is filled with outlines, commentary, and articles about all kinds of different topics throughout, not just the scriptural passages. Each one of these study Bibles is around $32, and I think one of them was $40.

The New International Version was only twenty-eight dollars, while the ESV was somewhere around thirty-five. For under fifty dollars, you are getting a resource that many pastors throughout China, Asia, and Africa would practically die for. They would love to have one of these Bibles.

We will take a break in a little bit, and you can take a look at some of these tools that are up here. These study Bibles, if you don't have one, are kind of an essential tool if you're going to really get into the Scriptures. That said, I still highly recommend a simple reader Bible that you can read through slowly with a piece of paper and a pen. You can study through the Bible devotionally or purposefully.

It is easy to get lost in all of the extra things that are included, which are not part of the Bible. There are really great articles, lots of great commentary, and all kinds of wonderful illustrations, but they are not just the Bible. The tools are helpful, but they can sometimes distract you.

Next, what we are going to look at after the break is blueletterbible.com. I have the great privilege of serving on the board at Blue Letter Bible. I have been on the board for maybe four or five years now, and we have a wonderful team of about twenty people. The office is located in Lake Forest, Orange County, but they are in the process of moving their offices, sadly, to South Carolina. Everybody seems to be leaving California.

I have really great friends there, particularly two guys: Jim Milligan and Frank Rabinovich. They were in the tech industry during the 90s and the dot-com boom. Fortunately, they got out before the dot-com bust. Frank, God blessed him with a mind that can astound you. He can do crazy mathematical equations without even thinking, and you find yourself wondering how he does it. I often think, "Is he right?" and, yes, he is right.

He took a whole bunch of money that he made in the tech industry and put it together with his friend Jim. Now, let me see if I can show it to you guys in a minute. We have this site that shows all the people who are visiting the site; little dots show up on the map.

Map all around the world, and it's absolutely stunning to see. This gets hundreds of millions of page views a week and billions annually from people all over the world. This tool is phenomenal, and it's completely free. You can download the app on your phone or tablet, or you can just go to the website blb.com or blueletterbible.com or .org; they both work. Blue Letter Bible is essential. For me, Blue Letter Bible was my primary tool for studying the Bible for at least ten years. It became one of my major tools for studying the Bible when I moved to Germany because I no longer had the Bible study resources that I had here. I needed something entirely online, and this became my default tool.

The other one that I will show you briefly is called Logos. This is software that is available both as an internet program, where you can access it on a website, and as an application that runs on your computer, whether Windows or Mac. It also runs as a phone application for Android and Apple or on tablets. It's a great program. There are certain parts of this that are free, but most of it is incredibly costly. To this point, I know some of you have professions in construction or other fields, and you have tools that you've spent a lot of money on for your profession. I have probably spent six thousand dollars on all this software because studying the Scriptures is my work. This is very helpful, but you don't need all of this.

Another tool I have the privilege of serving on is the board of Enduring Word, found at enduringword.com. I built this website for Enduring Word, and now we get between ten and twenty million page views a month worldwide. I will show you this tool as well after the break. This is the Bible commentary resource of Pastor David Guzik, who has spoken here before. It is pretty phenomenal what God is doing with Enduring Word because these tools are so helpful for understanding the Scriptures.

One other website is called Precept Austin. If you go to preceptaustin.org, I will also show you this after the break. I'll actually bring it up on the screen, and we'll go through some of the content there. There is a guy in Texas, and I don't remember his name, but Pastor David Guzik spent some time with him. He made this his hobby.

I have a passion to put this website together, and when I show you what he has compiled, I have no idea if this guy has ever slept. The amount of work that he has put into gathering resources from all over the Internet to put it together in one place, where you can use it for free, is astounding. There have been several groups that have come and tried to buy this from the guy who created it for millions of dollars, but he has not sold it. He just continues to provide it for free, which is an amazing testament to his commitment.

We are going to take about a 10-minute break. After the break, you can come and take a look at some of these Bibles if you'd like. Once we reconvene, I will open up Blue Letter Bible, and we will go through the tools that you can use and how to use them. It’s one thing to have the tools; the other thing is figuring out what to do with them. Unless someone shows you, you won’t know how to use them. So, we will go through that after the break.