Living the Reclaimed Life

7 Questions That Will Transform the Way You Read the Bible with Keith Ferrin Ep. 147

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If you’ve ever opened your Bible and wondered, “Where do I even start?” today’s episode is for you.

I’m joined once again by Bible coach Keith Ferrin, and we're diving into 7 simple but powerful questions that can transform how you read, understand, and actually enjoy the Bible.

These questions aren’t about checking a box—they're about connecting with God, discovering your identity in Him, and walking away changed. This episode will give you tools you can use anytime you open the Word.

Stay Connected with Keith and grab one of his courses. 
He is offering our listeners two courses for the price of one! 

Follow Keith for more great tools! 

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Their mission is to raise awareness and provide care for widowed women and others experiencing loss, while their vision is to help the Church revive meaningful bereavement ministries.

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Transcript is auto-generated.

Denisha: [00:00:00] I have the pleasure of welcoming back to the podcast, Keith Farrin, your Bible coach. I'm gonna keep saying that because you are now our Bible coach. 

Keith: Happy to. 

Denisha: It is. And two weeks ago, if you missed the last episode, be sure to jump in and listen to that. Keith went over some great ways that we can enjoy reading our Bible.

Mm-hmm. And just different things that maybe we've never thought about. So we're excited to have you back today. And today we're gonna talk about seven simple questions to help you as you study any Bible passage. So before we jump into that, just in case someone missed the last episode. Keith, tell us a little bit about yourself.

You're an author, you're a speaker, authored 16 books almost, you guys, it's pretty amazing. Speaks all over the world. Not trying to steal your thunder, but you're kind of a legend in a lot of ways. And so tell us a little bit about you if someone missed the last episode. 

Keith: most importantly, I'm a husband to one and a and a [00:01:00] father to three. So we've got three kids. One graduated from college, one in college, one in high school, and my wife and I have been married for 20. We got married. we tell people March of 96 was a busy month because March 3rd. Is when my ministry launched.

It was the first time that I presented the Gospel of John and started my kind of work as a biblical storyteller. And then March 15th she graduated from college. And March 23rd we got married. So that was a busy three weeks. so I, yeah, and I started, I. Was a youth and worship pastor at a small little church plant in Tacoma, Washington, right outta college.

So I did that for six years and then started speaking and writing and at one point, blogging and don't blog as much anymore. My blog is now a YouTube channel that I've been doing for a couple of years, and that's been fun. That's where, that's where the your Bible coach came from and been been doing that and speaking at.

Conferences and banquets and churches and universities, and anywhere you can think of men's retreats, family camps, you, [00:02:00] you name it. But, a lot of what I'm either doing when I present is word for word biblical storytelling. These books of the Bible or sections of scripture that I've internalized presenting those as if you've ever seen a one man storyteller.

That's what that is. for me, the storytelling, since my background is not theater, my is. Psychology and then Bible and, ministry that my passion is taking those storytelling, letting that lead into conversations about how we can read, understand, trust, and apply and enjoy God's word more.

Because I find for so many myself, the first 20 something years I was a Christian and for so many I come in contact with the Bible is the one aspect of their life with Jesus that is more of a should than a want. And so I help people move from should to want when it comes to reading and studying the Bible.

So that's the two minute nugget. 

Denisha: I love it. And you're a very good example of taking it from should to want, because if you miss the last episode, when you say word for word. [00:03:00] Storytelling. You are literally reciting books of the Bible in front of audiences without a teleprompter, right being the word.

And so he's really applying you guys. He's not just giving us advice on, oh, here's what you can do. Again in the should department. Right, right. He really wanted to just chew on and integrate God's word into his life, and here he is internalizing it and even able to word for word repeat back from memory the Gospel of John or Philippians.

that to me blows my mind. I don't think I have that gift of brain power of, of memorizing like that. But the one thing you said in the last episode too that I thought is, how many songs do we have memorized? Right. I'm telling you, eighties, nineties songs. I am here for that. Yeah.

You're preaching to the 

Keith: choir now. 

Denisha: Yes. So I'll bet you I know a whole lot more songs in the eighties and nineties than I know different books of the Bible. And so that, I'm not saying that's a good 

thing. I'm just saying look at the [00:04:00] potential guys. There's so much more potential and you have this way of making it fun and that you, we don't read it to, as we talked about too, is knowing more and behaving better.

But you're actually reading it to hang out with Jesus, right. To get to know him. To just hang out and be with like you would a friend over coffee. So, ah, I just, I love that. And as we kind of soak in that, Keith, what are some ways, what are some things we should be asking ourselves as we dive into the word?

As we pick up and go? Okay, I'm gonna read Philippians today. What are some questions we can ask ourselves to help us understand it? You mentioned context and culture, right? And some different things. How do we do that? 

Keith: there are a couple different approaches. One is really what I would say is the.

study, a book of the Bible where you soak in it. And that's really a process that I lay out in, you know, some of my YouTube videos as well as some of my books on the process that we talked about last time of [00:05:00] spend a month with Laying the foundation. Kind of that analogy, building a house, you've got foundation and then framing and kind of what, what are the themes, how's it organized?

That kind of thing. And then finish work, which is more the detailed study that we do, but. Some of what we, you and I talked about having a conversation about in this episode is what do you do with any Bible passage? Like I, I find that there are times when you're doing two months where you're immersing yourself in Ephesians or Philippians or something like that, or you might be studying along with your small group, something about marriage or something about money or parenting or.

A theme like joy or perseverance or, so you might be in the midst of doing a deep study, but there are times where you might be, you might have a week where you're in between studies. you know, that two weeks from now your small group's gonna be starting a two month journey through Galatians or something, and you've got some time where you're just opening up the Bible to a parable or to another book [00:06:00] of the Bible or something.

I think those are frequently the times when people lose consistency, right? It's like, I've got this plan of studying this book or this topic, and then I've got this week or two period where I'm in between things. We're in between a sermon series of church. We're in between something with our small group.

We're in between the, and so we don't do anything and I wanted to create something that was, well, what are the questions that we can ask? Of any Bible passage at any time that will help us kind of enter into it. And so you wanna just walk through those seven? 

Denisha: Yeah, let's do it. Love it. Okay. 

Keith: I'll put a link in the show notes.

I'll give you a link that you can put in the show notes where people can kind of get, a one or two page overview of this. So if you're driving your cars. Don't take notes and, uh, but, uh, and there is a, I'll have you link to the YouTube video where I walk through this process as well.

but the first is what does this passage say [00:07:00] about who God is? But I think so often in our ME-centric culture, we look at what does the Bible have to say to me today right now? And we kind of forget that. The main character in every passage of scripture is God, not us. That, is it a letter to us or is it for us?

Sure it is, but it is primarily about us. if we're studying the Bible relationally primarily to hang out with God, primarily to be in the presence of Jesus, primarily to be filled with the Spirit, Then asking what does this passage have something to say about who God is, the better that I can get to know God even before I start asking questions about application and response and all those other things that are important.

But if you read a passage of scripture and this is the only question you answer, I feel like I've gotten to know who God [00:08:00] is better. That's time well spent. That's right. And so, so question number one is what does this passage say about who God is? The kind of immediate follow up to that is what does this passage say about what God has done?

What is this? What is he doing in this? Is he interacting with a person or a group of people, or is he doing something that has historical background to it? is he setting the stage for something that's to come? is it something where, you know, when you read Ephesians, you see so much about what God has done, the act, who God is and what God has done and that whole.

Answering that. if you've now taken that step of, okay, now I know a little bit more about who God is and I can see what God has done in the past or in that event, or in that story, or in that conversation or whatever, that, that will lead you. Then to the third question, which still isn't an application question, it's, it's [00:09:00] what does this passage say about who I am?

Or what is this passage? Another way of wording that is what does this passage say about your identity? Mm-hmm. Because I think so often we go to the what action am I supposed to take? and I believe that God wants us to become something before we change our behavior. that the gospel is not just a gospel of behavior modification.

it's a gospel of identity and. when we look in Corinthians in second Corinthians five where he says, if anyone is in Christ, he or she is a new creation. It doesn't say if anyone is in Christ, he should do these things. And uh, and so I think that I remember.

When I was writing the book that I wrote for parents about how to help our kids connect with the Bible, one of the chapters in there is remind them of who the Bible says they are, not just what it says they're supposed to do. Hmm. Because when we live out our faith, whether it's our [00:10:00] parents instilling something in our children, or whether it's ourselves just trying to honor God with our lives, if we live out our faith from a place of identity rather than a place of morality, everything changes.

that if I have a conversation with my kids about morality, that's an easy conversation. Hey, you, the Bible says, don't lie. So you need to tell the truth. That's an easy conversation, but it's not a powerful or lasting conversation. If I have a conversation about what it means to be a person of integrity.

You are called to be somebody whose word can be trusted, who there's power in the words that come out of your mouth, and therefore the true response and how we say that and how we speak truth. And when we speak truth and when we not hold back truth, but when we hold back saying anything because silence is golden, right?

And so it's a messier conversation, but I want my kids to know that they're created to be people of. Integrity and people of truth [00:11:00] and people who, that's who they were designed to be. Not just to not lie because lying is wrong. and too often I think we go to the Bible with a lens of what does this say I'm supposed to do?

What's the morality lens instead of the identity lens? And I just think we're putting the cart before the horse a little bit, which my favorite example of that is, certainly one of my favorite books of the Bible is Ephesians. and one of the reasons that Ephesians gets preached on more than almost any other book, probably the Gospels and Book of Philippians are probably the only five books preached on more than the book of Ephesians.

But, uh, one of the reasons it get preached on is because there is a ton in there about how to live life, about marriage, about parenting, about sex, about. Prayer about, you know, how we work about, I mean, there's so much in there about unity, about getting along, about telling the truth. I mean, there's so much in there, but what a lot of people don't realize is that 100%, not 99%, 100% of the practical advice in Ephesians is in chapters [00:12:00] four, five, and six.

Chapters one, two, and three are 100% about identity. Mm. The only active verb in the first three chapters of Ephesians that applies to us. There's a lot that apply to God, who God is and what God has done, but the only active verb that applies to us is in chapter two, when he says to remember. Mm, that's it.

Everything else is about identity. You are wanted, you are known. You are chosen, you are gifted, you are called, you are, I mean, there are more than 30 identity messages in the first three chapters. And then he praise that famous prayer that ends with, now the is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, right?

And then he says, amen. And then the first verse of chapter four is, well, as a prisoner for the Lord, then I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. And he goes into all the practice. It's like. Okay, here's who you are. This is what your look like should look like because of who you are.

And so that picture of, identity leading to a new life rather [00:13:00] than just behave differently. and so what does this passage say about your identity is the third question. you want me to pause for a second or just keep eyeing away? I just wanna 

Denisha: say it's so good. I like guys, rewind that and listen to question three again.

It is so good that our life flows out of our identity. And I've never picked that up before on from Ephesians that it's who God is who you are in him through him. Then here's what flows out of that. I just think that that it will bring some freedom and some grace to someone as they go. Maybe I need to look back at identity and who God is and who I am in him before I start with the list of I need tos.

Keith: Yeah, 

Denisha: so I just, I love that. You can carry on to number four now, but number three is pretty powerful and life changing. 

Keith: I look at questions four and five as really flip sides of the same coin. So what encourages you and what challenges you? So is there something encouraging in this passage, something [00:14:00] comforting, something inspirational, and what challenges you, is there something that.

Wow, this does challenge my thinking or my attitude or my behavior or whatever it is that, that writing down, if you've got journal or a digital journal or something like that, uh, or a wide margin note taking Bible or whatever you've got, but, uh, writing down, okay, what's encouraging from this passage and what's challenging from this passage, I think are good questions to ask.

of any Bible passage. before kind of moving on to question six, I wanna make it clear that the, the goal of this is not to take any passage, write down all seven questions and make sure you have an answer there. You know, you, you may ask question one, answer, question one, and be done.

Right. And there may be something that is very challenging and you haven't found anything, at least in that particular day, there's nothing encouraging in there for you. It may just be a challenging passage, whatever. So these are kind of lenses to look at a [00:15:00] passage through and you may have times where you look at it and there you've got all seven and there may be times when you look at it and you answer two.

And so, Again, they're just kinda lenses to look at it through. So having said that, the sixth one is really what questions do you have? what are the answers you don't have as you look at this, what are the things you'd be like, man, I'm gonna, I need to go search on, I need to go search on YouTube for this.

Or, I need to go ask my pastor about this, or I wanna bring this up when we talk about this in small group or whatever. 'cause this is confusing as anything. I do not get it. and I find that that can lead to really good discussions if you have people that you're getting together with, whether it's a buddy that you get together with at a coffee shop once a week, whether it's a small group that you're in with couples or whether it's a Sunday school class or, or whatever, or just family dinner time or whatever.

I think that those questions can lead to good discussions. I also find that there are times when I'm walking through a study. and I create a list of [00:16:00] questions that become an extra week of study where I just take, after I've kind of completed the, the organized study, if you will, I. I just spend another week just doing kind of, Hey, I just want to do, spend a day, spend 20 minutes or 30 minutes doing some research and a deep dive on this question.

Are there other passages of scripture to talk about this? Are there other articles that have been written about this or devotions or are there sermons online? Are there something that I could go deeper and that can lead to a pretty cool week or two or sometimes that turns into a month? 'cause it's something I've got a lot of questions on.

You might have an extra month of study, like I think. I mentioned, I think in the last episode that I typically study a book of the Bible for two months, and I do foundation for one month, and then the, the framing and finish work for one month. Well, when I studied Romans, it's like foundation and framing.

Spread out into two months and then four months is what I ended up spending. So I was like half a year in and I was barely getting done. But, um, lots and [00:17:00] lots of questions. I think jotting down what questions you have, because a lot of times we have questions that we don't have time to look up the answers right then.

And if we just think, oh, I'll look at that later without jotting it down, we just forget because it was a question that we had anyway. And so we just don't remember. So jotting down what questions do I have? And then the final question is where people oftentimes start is that kind of application question, but I've actually shifted that instead of asking, what am I gonna apply, what's the truth to apply, I just say, how will, how will you respond?

Because I think that that opens up the door for the times when there is a very specific application. I think sometimes the response is just gratitude. Sometimes the response is spending time in silence or worship. Sometimes the response is jotting down some notes that you wanna dive more deeply into That. I think sometimes when we always ask, okay, what does this say? What does [00:18:00] this mean? And how does this apply that we're teeing ourselves up for, if we can't discover that nugget of truth, that is an application point to our life today. We feel like we're bad at Bible study. Mm-hmm. But I think we can always respond to scripture and that's a different.

Mindset to approach scripture. That includes application, but it doesn't make our response to scripture only be application. And so that seventh question is how we respond. So what does it say about who God is? What God has done is number two, what is it say about my identity is three. What encourages you is four.

Five is challenges you. Six is what questions do you have and seven is how will you respond? 

Denisha: On number six, what questions do you have? Mm-hmm. You know, we can't believe everything we find out online. Right, 

Keith: right. For sure. 

Denisha: Are there a couple of resources besides Keith Faron on YouTube? Are there a [00:19:00] couple of, 'cause I know that, I know that's solid and I can, I can trust that.

Where else, what other resources do you recommend for people who are like, I wanna take a deep dive, I'm gonna actually write down some questions that maybe I don't understand in the text, or have. 

Keith: there are several. I mean, I think that if you've, one piece of software that is not free, it does cost is logos, L-O-G-O-S.

But they have a basic foundational version that has, I don't know, $800 worth of resources or something for $49. I have a link that gives you a couple extra free books that's. Keith faron.com/logos. L-O-G-O-S-I think that will do that. Um, I think that's a great piece of Bible software I do a lot of, from a free standpoint, a lot of the places that I go, if I'm just comparing translations, I typically go to Bible Gateway.

If I'm doing some study, I typically either go to bible hub.com or Blue Letter Bible. I don't even know the [00:20:00] significance behind Blue Letter Bible. I'll have to look that up. I don't know, but blue letter bible.org. It's not.com. So blue letter bible.org and bible hub.com are two free sites. Everything on their sites are, is free.

A lot of ads and different things like in the corner and blah, blah, blah. but it's free. they're both amazing. They've got lots of commentaries and searches. And one thing that, uh, and I didn't even know that you were gonna ask that we didn't even talk, you might not even know that I did this, but I have a friend of mine who runs a software company.

Who he built an AI tool for writers, and I was talking to him about the foundation and function of it and using AI and all that kinda stuff. and I know people are pretty skeptical of it, and there's a lot of craziness that can be out there, but. He and I teamed together with some of my Bible study stuff and some of his software and, and things with AI that, uh, to create something called Bible Toolbox that is what we call guided ai, that you basically, it, it is hard to [00:21:00] describe without doing like a whole screen share.

Uh, and if you wanna do a webinar sometime for your people, we can invite people to that and I could just show it to them. but it's basically a way that through dropdown menus, that's, Hey, I wanna. look at this translation of scripture and I wanna look at this passage, and I want you to act as if you are a conservative Christian theologian.

And I wanna do a word study on this, and kind of by using some dropdown menus, it puts what I call guardrails on, much different than if you just go to Google and you search. What does it mean in Ephesians five when it says this, that it's really. Putting what that builds on the back as far as what it sends out to.

The AI model has so many parameters on it that it's gonna give you something that you know is 98% gonna have the stuff filtered out, which quite honestly, I would certainly hope that if somebody's watching one of my videos, if somebody's reading a their favorite commentary that. Nothing I [00:22:00] say other than quoting scripture.

Nothing I say and nothing that's in a commentary is divinely inspired word of God. So you better be double checking it. You better be checking up if you find something on Google or Bing or whatever, your search engine, you find an article from some pastor that's not gospel. I've heard some people say a commentary is nothing more than another Christian's comments on the Bible.

Are they helpful? Sure, they're helpful and you better be double checking. always go back to Acts 17 when Paul is traveling and most people that go to Act 17 go right to the second half where Paul's in Athens and he is having this conversation with the people in Athens, the philosophers about the unknown God, and he's near to you and blah, blah, blah.

But right before that, he goes through this town called Berea. It says now the Berean were of more noble character than the Thessalonians for. They receive the message with great eagerness and examine the scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. That's good. I'm like, okay. If these average every day people in Berea are checking up [00:23:00] daily on the theology of the Apostle Paul, then you better be checking on anybody.

Whether it's something you found online or whether it's a commentary or whether it's whatever, just to take it. but that's a tool Bible toolbox. I use it all the time. It's amazing for doing board studies, getting background, getting context, getting, I mean, because it's got access to everything that's out there.

Kind of people don't understand the kind of, the purpose of AI is to summarize the most common answers, not to give the random things. Whereas if you just search on Google, somebody who is totally crazy and out there in left field, but has designed their website really, really well, to show up in search engines can be in the top rankings even when what they're saying is crazy.

But with ai, it's saying, okay. When I search all these sermons, this is what's been said 1500 times. so I actually find that AI gives a more [00:24:00] accurate, account than a lot of just open searching. So 

Denisha: I. Well in the toolbox, Bible 

Keith: toolbox is what it's called. If you use my, if you, because I'm a co-creator of it, I've got a special link.

If you go to keith farrin.com/bible toolbox, all one word, it will redirect you to a page where you can get 30% off. So. 

Denisha: The first time you sent out an email, because I am on your email list and I highly recommend, uh, people subscribing to you. Uh, the first time I got that I purchased it. Oh, yeah. And because I loved the fact, there's so many different things that it can do on there, whether you're looking to minister to your friend, whether you're looking to do a deep.

Dive or whether you're a content creator and putting stuff out there that you wanna make sure is, is right and, and spot on. So I personally use that. I feel like I'm letting out all my personal secrets in these two episodes. Good. Like keep this my Bible coach and I use the Bible toolbox and I think you should too.

So there we go. There you go. 

Keith: There you go. Uh, it's been amazing. And [00:25:00] we're, and CJ and I, the guy that built it, He and I are talking all the time and we're, I've already put another feature request. I'm like, oh, I tried to do this and it couldn't do it, so let's change this one little thing.

'cause I wanna, uh, so it's a feature that I guess I can't talk about yet because we haven't added it and I don't know for sure that it's gonna work. So until it's tested, but 

Denisha: okay. If it does email, I'll let you know and we'll have you back on to talk about that. We can talk about that. Happy all together too.

Happy do, happy 

Keith: to do it. 

Denisha: So fun. Well, Keith, you have so much content out there and so much rich, rich teaching. I know your YouTube channel's a great place to find you. Tell us a little bit about, more about what you have for us everyday people out there. 

Keith: Yeah. it is funny that you just said for everyday people because the new video series that I just created, I'm releasing it.

I'm scheduling it right now, actually, depending on when this goes live, it might already be out on my YouTube channel, but I just recorded a new video series for the you version Bible app. Yes. 

Denisha: Called 

Keith: Bible memorization for normal [00:26:00] people. 

Denisha: Yes. There you go. There you go. 

Keith: And, uh, so connecting with me on the YouVersion Bible app, you can just search my name, Keith Faron, and, uh, you'll be notified when I release a new plan or a new video series or a teaching verse of the day or something like that.

Uh, YouTube is certainly the place where I'm most consistent. releasing new content there every week. so you can just search again, Keith Faron, or if you forget my last name or can't spell it, just search Keith and the word Bible and you'll find it. and keith faron.com is my website, and that's where you find information about my courses.

And I, I have a, I didn't even mention this on the first episode, but uh, I have an online Bible study community for people who want to interact more regularly called the Bible Life Community. So if you just go to keith farrin.com/try, bible life, all one word, then that will give you your first four weeks for $4.

You can see what it is. But then when you join that. You get access to all of my courses and all of [00:27:00] my books, and then we study the Bible together. And so, like, currently we're in a study on the GOs. We're about to wrap up a study on the Gospel of John. and so I teach live there every Monday and we post kind of guidance, bible study guidance and discussion questions for the group every Monday through Friday.

and so between the, and we have once a month we just gather on Zoom and we can see each other and interact and just ask questions and share what we're seeing and just be a community. So it's people around the world, do that together. So that's the Bible life community. so you can find out more@biblelifecommunity.com, but if you go to keith farrin.com/try bible life, that's where you'll get the.

When you wanna register, just do that with, use that link and you'll get your first four weeks for four bucks. So 

Denisha: love that and love the community aspect of that. Well, super fun. Well, that's great fun. And then U version, that's pretty amazing that you're on U version. Yeah, it's pretty crazy.

Congratulations. That's a huge, that's a big deal right there. Well, and we'll have links in the show notes and you [00:28:00] guys, yeah, definitely go check out Keith. You're gonna be blessed by his content, blessed by what you learned from him. And he's just a real guy who loves the Bible. So it's not theologian type, you know, scary words where you're like, I have to look those up and need like a dictionary.

You're a real guy who loves the word of God and has done just some incredible things, and you share that with all who listen. So thank you for what you do. Pleasure and be sure to follow us, um, on social media. We'll be posting a bunch of Keith's stuff, um, over the next couple of weeks and, um, be sure to follow Keith as well.

So Keith Farrin, F-E-R-R-I-N. And Keith, I would love to have you back on the podcast anytime and just appreciate all that you do for all of us. 

Keith: You know how to get ahold of me 

Denisha: up on that.