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In our first episode, Pastor John Hallowell and I sit down for a deep dive into how we ought to approach reading the Bible and the very real problems that arise when we approach the Bible too quickly or with bad reading habits and reflexes. Pastor John offers a clear, thorough approach anyone can use to help them engage the text in deeper and more accurate ways, a method of Bible reading that can be done in as little as 15 minutes or as much as several hours. We believe that daily Bible reading is of such value and importance in the life of a Christian that we ought to be willing to invest the care and effort needed in order to do it well.

Show Notes:

Here’s a little outline you can return to to recall the IOWA method Pastor John lays out (which begins about minute 25:30):

First Pass: What did this mean when it was written?

• Identify: Passages not verses, Genre, Textual Context (within the book), Historical Context
• Observe: The Author’s Intent and Language  (voice, mind, heart, spirit)
• Write: A Creative Record (free form, mind map, diagram sentences, notations)
• Analyze: What did it mean?  Summarize the passage

• Identify: Differences between then & now.  Your Context (both spiritual [New Covenant] and historical)
• Observe: What is going on inside of you/If the Holy Spirit is showing you something.  Is there something healthy here the Spirit wants you to emulate, a warning he wants you to heed?
• Write: A formal expression of what the Spirit has done in you in relation to this passage: a journal entry, a song, a sermon, a prayer, a letter
• Analyze: The Big Picture: What does it all mean?  And what has the Spirit planted in you now that you have encountered this Word?