Phylicia and Lisa bring the second episode in the Theology 101 series and break down the creation story and the fall. Somehow they also manage to talk about evolution, original audiences, what it means to be image-bearers, new creation, tactics of the enemy, and the atonement. All of that in only three chapters of the Bible.

This past week I had an enlightening conversation with a friend who reminded me that a lot of believers have probably never read the entire Bible. (This, sadly, forces me to admit that I still look at other people through the lens of my own life and interests instead of seeking out their stories.)

I took a poll on Instagram and it was split almost 50-50 with people having read and not read the whole Bible. The vast majority of people who had not read it all wanted to though. The feedback overwhelmingly went the route of falling behind on a reading plan and getting discouraged. (Also, I shared some things that help me in reading the whole Bible and saved them in highlights under, you guessed it, “whole Bible.”)

Reading the Bible is not a race. I’d like to take a microphone and announce it to the world. I’d like to interrupt conversations among believers and point this out. I’d like to stick a bookmark into your Bible that reminds you of that every single time you read. Reading the Bible is not a race. It’s not a competition. It’s not a time to feel bad that you don’t know more than you do or that someone else knows more than you. You will never know it all. No one will.

This week Lisa interviews Dr. Leighton Flowers of the Soteriology 101 podcast. Dr. Flowers, among many other things, is an apologist for traditional (provisionist) soteriology. We’ve recommended his podcast before and you all were so interested in this topic that we asked him to come on the show!

In this episode, Dr. Flowers discusses how he went into and out of Calvinism, when he started researching soteriology, and why he started his podcast. He also talks about the surges of Calvinism in church history, why we should all care about knowing theology and provides some resources at the end of the show.

I used to think that the Christian faith was private; I don’t think that anymore. I do think our faith is personal but I also see that it’s community-based. We are already part of the church, the Bride of Christ, and we should also be part of a local church. We should join with other believers to “stir up one another to love and good works” (Hebrews 10:24).

What am I getting at? Find a good, Bible-believing church and get involved! We need to run with other believers, cheering each other on and picking each other up.

Yesterday, when I saw on Instagram that it was International Women’s Day, I thought about what that means to me for a while.

I grew up very conservative. I knew that if I went to Facebook I would see posts from people I knew about how women didn’t need a day (or a protest or a march or a movement); they needed to get to work or they needed to forget about themselves and look at Jesus or they needed to stop trying to be men. There are still people who don’t realize that women need a day.

Not because women are better than men. Not because women are the point because really, as trite as it sounds, Jesus is. Not because motherhood isn’t valuable or I don’t believe in traditional marriage or I want to argue about the wage gap.

Women need a day. Women need a day because there are stories like this and this and this. (And that last line of that last article? “I don’t have help from anyone, but my children have dreams and I want to make them real.” makes me cry out ‘Why am I wasting time on dumb stuff?’) Y’all, I skipped the graphic stories. Disappear into the internet on this topic for a while.

Since Phylicia and I are both writers we frequently get asked how to get started as a writer. First thing? Start writing! Then decide how/if you want to share that writing with others.

Then we move on to some work tips; a work ethic is invaluable to learning to write well. Write consistently, be in it for the long haul, read a lot, and write down all your ideas.

You too, can be a writer!

For our second episode in our “How Do We” series, we’re discussing Bible study. How should we approach the Bible? What does Bible study look like with small children? What are some of our favorite resources?

Lisa gives you three questions to consider when coming to the Bible and shares some encouragement if you’ve ever fallen asleep while reading the Bible.

Phylicia breaks down her process for stepping through a passage of Scripture and how she uses outside tools for historical and literary context.

Blue Letter Bible

Women of the Word

Strongs Concordance