July 31, 2025 • 20 mins
Sometimes, the hardest part of studying the Bible is just getting started. In this episode, Ellen and Ashley discuss how they overcame being intimidated by Scripture to develop a regular (and realistic!) rhythm in God's Word.
Scriptures referenced:
- John 6:1-14
- John 6:16-21
- James 1:22-25
Resources:
Pre-order our book: The EASY Bible Study Method: A Guide to Understanding, Applying, and Delighting in God's Word
Click here to read an excerpt!
Ellen and Ashley's favorite study Bibles:
ESV Study Bible | ESV Archaeology Study Bible | NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible
Want to study God's Word for yourself? Try our In-Depth Bible Study Academy
Click here to try a free mini-course!
📫 Subscribe to the Coffee and Bible Time newsletter
🤝 To support the work of Coffee and Bible Time, donate here
💗 See what Ellen, Taylor, Ashley, and guests are loving on Amazon
https://coffeeandbibletime.com
Some of the links in this episode may be affiliate links, meaning if you click through and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ellen Krause (00:04):
At the Coffee and Bible Time podcast.
Our goal is to help you delightin God's Word and thrive in
Christian living.
Each week, we talk to subjectmatter experts who broaden your
biblical understanding,encourage you in hard times and
provide life-building tips toenhance your Christian walk.
We are so glad you have joinedus.
(00:25):
Welcome back to the Coffee andBible Time podcast, where our
goal is to help you delight inGod's Word and thrive in
Christian living.
I'm Ellen, your host.
I'm so glad that you havejoined us today.
When it comes to Bible reading,it can feel so hard sometimes to
(00:46):
even know where to start,especially if you're feeling
distant from God or strugglingwith motivation.
So if that's you today, restassured you are in good company
and we are going to get back tothe basics of Bible reading.
Of course, I wouldn't want todo this topic without my
(01:09):
incredible daughter, ashley.
We are going to talk about whatwe have found that works for us
when studying the Bible, andthat's something that we
affectionately call the EasyBible Study Method.
Today, we're going to talkabout step one of that method,
(01:32):
which is entering into the story.
So, whether you're new toreading scripture or you've been
reading scripture for years,grab some coffee, pull up a
chair and we will have somethingnew that you can learn today.
So welcome back to the podcast.
Ashley Armijo (01:43):
Ash, how are you Good?
I'm so excited to be here andI'm so excited to talk about
something that we have beenpassionately working on for over
a year really hard and that ismaking the easy Bible study
method into a book that anybodycan get.
Ellen Krause (02:01):
Absolutely.
I think it's important that weground our listeners with the
fact that you and I bothstruggled initially with reading
our Bibles.
What types of things did youface early on, Ashley, when you
were starting to learn?
Ashley Armijo (02:17):
Yeah, well, I will say this I still struggle
to read my Bible.
It's probably just in differentways now than it was then, but
when I first started reading myBible so I was very excited and
passionate, which I wish I hadmore of now.
Right, because it was at thebeginning and I was like I'm so
excited to read the Bible, Ican't wait to dive in.
And I think what was thehardest thing for me was I was
(02:39):
just confused about, like, whatin the world is going on,
especially because I started inGenesis and started reading
through the Bible.
From the beginning, I had noidea that the Bible was not in
chronological order and I wasconfused about all the laws that
when once I got to, likeLeviticus and numbers, and there
(03:00):
were so many big words that,like I didn't really comprehend
at the time probably likeatonement and just big Bible
study words that you know,completely went over my head.
And, yeah, I think I just a lotof what I read.
I just didn't really understand, to be honest.
(03:20):
But I will say this that, eventhough I didn't understand a lot
of it, god still opened myheart and spoke to me through
his word, and so that is why Ireally do encourage anybody, no
matter where they're at, justopen your Bible and start.
Begin, even if 90% of it isconfusing to you and hard.
You have to start somewhere andI 100% believe that God will
(03:45):
speak to you, no matter what,even if you don't understand
everything, even if you're brandnew to it or even if you're
having to start back over againfor the millionth time because
you know you've given upwhatever so many times.
So there's always a chance forGod's spirit to speak to you
through his word.
So, yeah, I think at thebeginning I just I really was
(04:06):
lost, and that's why we createdthe Easy Bible Study Method
because, like, we rememberedwhat it felt like to be lost
when you're reading your Bibleand we wanted to produce a tool
to help people, give them alittle bit of okay, here's a
framework of what's going on inthe Bible and how you can study
it.
So, yeah, what was your?
I would love to hear what yourinitial struggles were.
Ellen Krause (04:30):
You know, I went to a Christian grade school and
we had Bible reading as part ofour class, and for me, I just
remember thinking I don'tunderstand any of this, like it
was just so hard.
Now again, I learned on theKing James Version, which made
it even harder.
(04:50):
What an amazing blessing it isnow to have other translations
so that, as you're learning,especially learning for the
first time, I remember when Iswitched to the NLT translation
initially, when I really startedstudying the Bible.
It helped me so much.
But we really have gone througha lot of learning and process
(05:14):
to come up with some tried andtrue steps for people to follow
in order to begin this process,find joy in it.
Let's start, ashley, with whatare the steps to enter into the
story?
Ashley Armijo (05:32):
Yeah, so well.
First of all, for the EASYBible study method it's an
acronym with four steps to themethod.
E-a-s-y stands for easy and thefirst step is E enter into the
story.
And this is such a simple andeasy step.
That's why it's step number one, because anybody can do it and
(05:52):
it's so refreshing and fun.
There's so many incrediblestories within scripture.
In fact, the entirety ofscripture is one big story and
within it there are a bunch oflittle stories that you can
enter into.
So for step one entering intothe story it's literally that
you read it and you put yourselfin the story and you think,
(06:14):
okay, for example, in John right, our big example is Jesus
feeding the 5,000.
So if you imagine yourselfbeing there in the moment and
seeing like, okay, you're, let'ssay, you're somebody in the
crowd and you're hungry, you'restarving, you've been following
Jesus, you know, you see Jesusperform this incredible miracle
of multiplying the bread and thefish, and I mean I just think
(06:53):
about the wonder and awe of thatmoment of seeing, you know,
just this humble man, thisgentle, loving, caring man,
provide food for over 5000people, giving thanks to God in
heaven.
And I mean I love just theopportunity of entering into the
story, because I think in oursociety today we go so fast
(07:16):
through everything, right,because of TikTok and reels and
and YouTube and just wanting toget through information so
quickly.
But when you enter into thestory you have to slow down, you
have to put yourself there andreally like, put your
imagination skills working andthink, okay, what would it be
like if I were there or if I hadinteracted with Jesus at that
(07:37):
moment, or if I would have eatenthe bread that he miraculously
gave to me?
It really does connect you tothe story in a deep way and it
helps you see who Jesus is and Ijust think it's a beautiful
emotional way to connect withthe text.
Ellen Krause (07:56):
Absolutely.
It kind of reminds me of likein songs.
Of course you have lyrics, buta lot of times people will sing
songs, sing the lyrics, and noteven think about what it means,
and I feel like when you'reentering into the story you're
actually stepping into it.
That time when that happenedand I was thinking just of the
(08:20):
Samaritan woman and putting myown self maybe in her place and
just imagining Jesus looking atme in the eyes, this woman that
felt ashamed, who probably hadher head down and what it must
have felt like to have Jesus.
Just look her in the eyes Right.
Ashley Armijo (08:41):
I mean it's just so incredible.
I mean story.
You can do this in scripture,but yeah, I'm thinking about
when Jesus called his firstdisciples.
I mean imagine like havingJesus look at you in the eyes
and be like Ashley, I'm callingyou, I want you to be my
disciple.
How incredible is that?
Like he invited them to wherehe was staying.
(09:01):
They ate a meal with him.
I'm sure they ate a meal withthem.
So much conversation andsharing laughter and stories
together.
It's just like these storiesreally did happen.
And you're right, sometimes wecan read it so almost like
mindlessly, but it's like okay,these stories happened and
they're real and I get topartake in them by reading them
(09:23):
now.
And the goal really is to knowJesus on a deeper level and I do
believe entering into the storyis a great step in that
direction of knowing Jesuspersonally through his word
absolutely part of that contextis also understanding who the
original author was and who wasthat author speaking to.
(09:47):
Right, yeah, so that's a bigstep in entering into the story
is figuring out the context.
And if you've been around theBible study world long enough,
you know that a lot of teachers,pastors, bible study teachers
emphasize context and it is huge.
It helps you understand thestory so much better.
And going back to when I firststarted reading the Bible, that
(10:10):
wasn't on my mind at all, thatwasn't on my radar, I didn't
even know that word, probablyeven existed.
And that's okay.
You can read the Bible and notknow the context and God will
still speak to you, but it doesreally help you stay grounded
and gives you a foundation ofokay, for example, the book of
John, what we've been talkingabout realizing this was a real
(10:32):
letter written by a real man,john, one of Jesus's closest
disciples.
I mean it, like I still my mindis blown that we have a
resource, a letter written byone of Jesus's closest best
friends, like we have the wordsof Jesus, because Jesus's best
(10:52):
friend wrote it right, of course, filled with the Holy Spirit,
he wrote these words down andI'm like whoa, like we get a
picture into who Jesus isthrough the lens of his one of
his closest friends anddisciples.
And I think knowing that beforereading John is like, okay, wow
, like I really am seeing afirsthand witness of Jesus and
(11:14):
his words, and I also understand, okay, he was writing to Jews
and Gentiles right during a veryspecific period likely, when
there was persecution, when thechurch was beginning to grow and
the roots were starting to form, and he's writing this you know
account of who Jesus is and hiswords and his commands and
(11:36):
everything like that, and itjust definitely adds a lot more
of more of a foundation to like,okay, I, I kind of am starting
to understand what's going on.
And the cool thing is is that'sjust the book of John, right?
There's tons of books in theBible that each have unique
authors, that each have a unique, different time period and has
(11:58):
a unique audience, and so Ireally do think that figuring
that out is helpful A lot oftimes.
You can find the context of abook in a study Bible, in a
commentary.
You can simply do a Googlesearch for it.
It's super easy to find usuallyand, yeah, it'll just really
help you gain a betterunderstanding of the text that
(12:19):
you're reading.
Ellen Krause (12:21):
You know, we've just been studying James in our
community and thinking about theauthor there being, this
brother of Jesus on earth,thinking about how he did life
day in and day out, how he knewJesus, how he was with him all
the time and yet didn't believehe was the Messiah initially
(12:44):
right.
But, then, later, we see, as hewrote the book of James, this
fiery passion about tellingpeople not just to be hearers of
the word, which you know, withthe Easy Bible Study Method, our
ultimate goal is to get youinto the Word so that you can be
a doer of the Word.
And I find that, knowing thatcontext of James and how he
(13:09):
became this true proponent ofwho Christ was and his passion
for helping people understandthat, we want to live it out.
We want to make Jesus knownwhen he's not here, by us
representing Jesus, just as hewould have himself.
Well, as far as this wholefirst step of the Easy Bible
(13:32):
Study Method entering into thestory, what would you say to
people who are maybe, you know,a little bit anxious about
starting?
I mean, you and I are justhitting only the tip of the
iceberg here about a lot moredetail that goes into it.
What would you encourage them?
Ashley Armijo (13:52):
Yeah, I mean a lot of people say I want to read
the Bible, I just don't knowwhere to start.
Well, we've been giving you alot of examples from the book of
John and I really do encouragepeople to start in John If
they're wondering where to start.
I mean you can start anywherein the Bible.
But if you're brand new oryou're just feeling like, hey,
I'm stuck, I need somewhere tostart, john is a great book.
(14:19):
It's about the story about whoJesus is, his ministry on earth
and his death on the cross, hisresurrection, and so it's a
great place to just begin and myencouragement would be just to
take it.
You know what?
You could take it one chapterat a time, but I would even
encourage taking it verse byverse at a time, like telling
yourself okay, maybe I'll readfive verses a day.
That's like so simple.
That could take you fiveminutes and just you know,
(14:40):
taking it slow, being prayerfuland saying God, you know what
I'm starting here.
I don't know what I'm doing, Idon't know what's going on, but
speak to me, I want to know you.
Like that's the point ofreading the Bible is really
coming to Jesus and saying Iwant to know you more.
I want to know about your story.
I want to know how I can play apart in your story, because it
is about a larger redemptivestory of Jesus, like I said,
(15:04):
coming, dying for us, saving usfrom our sins, redeeming us.
And we're still today a part ofthat story because Christ is
still yet to return right.
So it is about asking Jesuswhat is your story and how can I
be a part of that?
And I think that's a beautifulthing.
It really simplifies Biblereading and you're not going to
understand everything.
You're just not.
(15:24):
The most incredible scholarsdon't understand everything.
So don't let that stop you,don't let that trip you up.
Keep going.
A lot of people read the Biblefor a week or two weeks and then
they stop, or a day, and thenthey feel like I fell off the
wagon, I'm too far gone, I can'tdo this.
No, come back.
Jesus is always there with openarms.
He wants you to know him, evenif that means you haven't read
(15:47):
your Bible in years.
Just come back.
He's there, he's waiting foryou and he has open arms.
So, yeah, don't beat yourselfup too much.
Just keep coming back, keeptrying again.
Ask the Spirit to give you astrength to carry on and a
willingness to love God throughhis word.
So, yeah, I think that's kindof my biggest advice is to just
(16:09):
start.
Really, I do tell people thatJust start, even if you don't
know what's going on, and keepgoing.
Ellen Krause (16:14):
Absolutely, you know, and as a mentor, I would
just further encourage peoplelike if you are super stuck, get
in a group because that holdsyou accountable to you, don't
want to show up and not havedone it Right.
So I know from my years andyears and years of being in a
mom's group where I led Biblestudies and I just know even
(16:38):
myself as a leader wanting to beprepared, and it's just a great
way, especially on those dayswhere you're like I just don't
feel like doing that today, butultimately you're always blessed
once you go in there and you doread god's word yeah, and I
will say with our book, wereally did create it as a tool
(16:58):
for mentors who want to use itas a tool to help lead their
mentee through bible study.
Ashley Armijo (17:05):
so, whether you're a mentor or you're
someone who wants to be mentored, I'd suggest you pick up this
book.
Especially if you're someonewho wants to be mentored, I'd
suggest you pick up this book,especially if you're someone
who's like, okay, I want tomentor.
Go to your local church and say, literally, ask a pastor or
anyone who works there.
Do you know of anyone who couldmentor me and walk with me
through this book, the EasyBible Study Method?
Each chapter has discussionquestions You'll also go through
(17:29):
, like I said, you'll go throughthe chapter in John about Jesus
feeding the 5,000.
Or you could grab a friend.
You could grab a friend, youcould grab your spouse and just
read this book together, becauseit is a tool that we created to
do in community and with otherpeople.
Ellen Krause (17:43):
Yes, and there are group discussion questions
which make it fun to have aconversation about it as well.
And people can go tocoffeeandbibletimecom and just
right there on our homepage wehave information about it and
you can get a free excerpt ofthe book if you go in there.
So do it, go, do it today and Ithink you will be really
(18:03):
blessed by that.
Well, ashley, thank you so muchfor joining me on the podcast
today, for helping share thefirst step of the Easy Bible
Study Method, which is E.
Enter into the story For thoselistening, if you have loved
this conversation and want to godeeper in our new book.
(18:25):
The Easy Bible Study Method isavailable now for pre-order and
it officially releases on August5th 2025.
This book will give you thestep-by-step guide through all
four parts of the method andit's filled with examples,
prompts, tips, mentoring, groupdiscussion questions so many
(18:49):
things to make your Bible studymore personal and powerful.
We will have a link to this inour show notes and again, thank
you so much, Ashley, for joiningus, for our listeners, for
being here.
Please share this episode witha friend, we would be so
appreciative.
(19:09):
And until next time, keepseeking Jesus and don't forget
God is waiting to meet you inhis word.
At the Coffee and Bible Time podcast.
Our goal is to help you delightin God's Word and thrive in
Christian living.
Each week, we talk to subjectmatter experts who broaden your
biblical understanding,encourage you in hard times and
provide life-building tips toenhance your Christian walk.
We are so glad you have joinedus.
(00:25):
Welcome back to the Coffee andBible Time podcast, where our
goal is to help you delight inGod's Word and thrive in
Christian living.
I'm Ellen, your host.
I'm so glad that you havejoined us today.
When it comes to Bible reading,it can feel so hard sometimes to
(00:46):
even know where to start,especially if you're feeling
distant from God or strugglingwith motivation.
So if that's you today, restassured you are in good company
and we are going to get back tothe basics of Bible reading.
Of course, I wouldn't want todo this topic without my
(01:09):
incredible daughter, ashley.
We are going to talk about whatwe have found that works for us
when studying the Bible, andthat's something that we
affectionately call the EasyBible Study Method.
Today, we're going to talkabout step one of that method,
(01:32):
which is entering into the story.
So, whether you're new toreading scripture or you've been
reading scripture for years,grab some coffee, pull up a
chair and we will have somethingnew that you can learn today.
So welcome back to the podcast.
Ashley Armijo (01:43):
Ash, how are you Good?
I'm so excited to be here andI'm so excited to talk about
something that we have beenpassionately working on for over
a year really hard and that ismaking the easy Bible study
method into a book that anybodycan get.
Ellen Krause (02:01):
Absolutely.
I think it's important that weground our listeners with the
fact that you and I bothstruggled initially with reading
our Bibles.
What types of things did youface early on, Ashley, when you
were starting to learn?
Ashley Armijo (02:17):
Yeah, well, I will say this I still struggle
to read my Bible.
It's probably just in differentways now than it was then, but
when I first started reading myBible so I was very excited and
passionate, which I wish I hadmore of now.
Right, because it was at thebeginning and I was like I'm so
excited to read the Bible, Ican't wait to dive in.
And I think what was thehardest thing for me was I was
(02:39):
just confused about, like, whatin the world is going on,
especially because I started inGenesis and started reading
through the Bible.
From the beginning, I had noidea that the Bible was not in
chronological order and I wasconfused about all the laws that
when once I got to, likeLeviticus and numbers, and there
(03:00):
were so many big words that,like I didn't really comprehend
at the time probably likeatonement and just big Bible
study words that you know,completely went over my head.
And, yeah, I think I just a lotof what I read.
I just didn't really understand, to be honest.
(03:20):
But I will say this that, eventhough I didn't understand a lot
of it, god still opened myheart and spoke to me through
his word, and so that is why Ireally do encourage anybody, no
matter where they're at, justopen your Bible and start.
Begin, even if 90% of it isconfusing to you and hard.
You have to start somewhere andI 100% believe that God will
(03:45):
speak to you, no matter what,even if you don't understand
everything, even if you're brandnew to it or even if you're
having to start back over againfor the millionth time because
you know you've given upwhatever so many times.
So there's always a chance forGod's spirit to speak to you
through his word.
So, yeah, I think at thebeginning I just I really was
(04:06):
lost, and that's why we createdthe Easy Bible Study Method
because, like, we rememberedwhat it felt like to be lost
when you're reading your Bibleand we wanted to produce a tool
to help people, give them alittle bit of okay, here's a
framework of what's going on inthe Bible and how you can study
it.
So, yeah, what was your?
I would love to hear what yourinitial struggles were.
Ellen Krause (04:30):
You know, I went to a Christian grade school and
we had Bible reading as part ofour class, and for me, I just
remember thinking I don'tunderstand any of this, like it
was just so hard.
Now again, I learned on theKing James Version, which made
it even harder.
(04:50):
What an amazing blessing it isnow to have other translations
so that, as you're learning,especially learning for the
first time, I remember when Iswitched to the NLT translation
initially, when I really startedstudying the Bible.
It helped me so much.
But we really have gone througha lot of learning and process
(05:14):
to come up with some tried andtrue steps for people to follow
in order to begin this process,find joy in it.
Let's start, ashley, with whatare the steps to enter into the
story?
Ashley Armijo (05:32):
Yeah, so well.
First of all, for the EASYBible study method it's an
acronym with four steps to themethod.
E-a-s-y stands for easy and thefirst step is E enter into the
story.
And this is such a simple andeasy step.
That's why it's step number one, because anybody can do it and
(05:52):
it's so refreshing and fun.
There's so many incrediblestories within scripture.
In fact, the entirety ofscripture is one big story and
within it there are a bunch oflittle stories that you can
enter into.
So for step one entering intothe story it's literally that
you read it and you put yourselfin the story and you think,
(06:14):
okay, for example, in John right, our big example is Jesus
feeding the 5,000.
So if you imagine yourselfbeing there in the moment and
seeing like, okay, you're, let'ssay, you're somebody in the
crowd and you're hungry, you'restarving, you've been following
Jesus, you know, you see Jesusperform this incredible miracle
of multiplying the bread and thefish, and I mean I just think
(06:53):
about the wonder and awe of thatmoment of seeing, you know,
just this humble man, thisgentle, loving, caring man,
provide food for over 5000people, giving thanks to God in
heaven.
And I mean I love just theopportunity of entering into the
story, because I think in oursociety today we go so fast
(07:16):
through everything, right,because of TikTok and reels and
and YouTube and just wanting toget through information so
quickly.
But when you enter into thestory you have to slow down, you
have to put yourself there andreally like, put your
imagination skills working andthink, okay, what would it be
like if I were there or if I hadinteracted with Jesus at that
(07:37):
moment, or if I would have eatenthe bread that he miraculously
gave to me?
It really does connect you tothe story in a deep way and it
helps you see who Jesus is and Ijust think it's a beautiful
emotional way to connect withthe text.
Ellen Krause (07:56):
Absolutely.
It kind of reminds me of likein songs.
Of course you have lyrics, buta lot of times people will sing
songs, sing the lyrics, and noteven think about what it means,
and I feel like when you'reentering into the story you're
actually stepping into it.
That time when that happenedand I was thinking just of the
(08:20):
Samaritan woman and putting myown self maybe in her place and
just imagining Jesus looking atme in the eyes, this woman that
felt ashamed, who probably hadher head down and what it must
have felt like to have Jesus.
Just look her in the eyes Right.
Ashley Armijo (08:41):
I mean it's just so incredible.
I mean story.
You can do this in scripture,but yeah, I'm thinking about
when Jesus called his firstdisciples.
I mean imagine like havingJesus look at you in the eyes
and be like Ashley, I'm callingyou, I want you to be my
disciple.
How incredible is that?
Like he invited them to wherehe was staying.
(09:01):
They ate a meal with him.
I'm sure they ate a meal withthem.
So much conversation andsharing laughter and stories
together.
It's just like these storiesreally did happen.
And you're right, sometimes wecan read it so almost like
mindlessly, but it's like okay,these stories happened and
they're real and I get topartake in them by reading them
(09:23):
now.
And the goal really is to knowJesus on a deeper level and I do
believe entering into the storyis a great step in that
direction of knowing Jesuspersonally through his word
absolutely part of that contextis also understanding who the
original author was and who wasthat author speaking to.
(09:47):
Right, yeah, so that's a bigstep in entering into the story
is figuring out the context.
And if you've been around theBible study world long enough,
you know that a lot of teachers,pastors, bible study teachers
emphasize context and it is huge.
It helps you understand thestory so much better.
And going back to when I firststarted reading the Bible, that
(10:10):
wasn't on my mind at all, thatwasn't on my radar, I didn't
even know that word, probablyeven existed.
And that's okay.
You can read the Bible and notknow the context and God will
still speak to you, but it doesreally help you stay grounded
and gives you a foundation ofokay, for example, the book of
John, what we've been talkingabout realizing this was a real
(10:32):
letter written by a real man,john, one of Jesus's closest
disciples.
I mean it, like I still my mindis blown that we have a
resource, a letter written byone of Jesus's closest best
friends, like we have the wordsof Jesus, because Jesus's best
(10:52):
friend wrote it right, of course, filled with the Holy Spirit,
he wrote these words down andI'm like whoa, like we get a
picture into who Jesus isthrough the lens of his one of
his closest friends anddisciples.
And I think knowing that beforereading John is like, okay, wow
, like I really am seeing afirsthand witness of Jesus and
(11:14):
his words, and I also understand, okay, he was writing to Jews
and Gentiles right during a veryspecific period likely, when
there was persecution, when thechurch was beginning to grow and
the roots were starting to form, and he's writing this you know
account of who Jesus is and hiswords and his commands and
(11:36):
everything like that, and itjust definitely adds a lot more
of more of a foundation to like,okay, I, I kind of am starting
to understand what's going on.
And the cool thing is is that'sjust the book of John, right?
There's tons of books in theBible that each have unique
authors, that each have a unique, different time period and has
(11:58):
a unique audience, and so Ireally do think that figuring
that out is helpful A lot oftimes.
You can find the context of abook in a study Bible, in a
commentary.
You can simply do a Googlesearch for it.
It's super easy to find usuallyand, yeah, it'll just really
help you gain a betterunderstanding of the text that
(12:19):
you're reading.
Ellen Krause (12:21):
You know, we've just been studying James in our
community and thinking about theauthor there being, this
brother of Jesus on earth,thinking about how he did life
day in and day out, how he knewJesus, how he was with him all
the time and yet didn't believehe was the Messiah initially
(12:44):
right.
But, then, later, we see, as hewrote the book of James, this
fiery passion about tellingpeople not just to be hearers of
the word, which you know, withthe Easy Bible Study Method, our
ultimate goal is to get youinto the Word so that you can be
a doer of the Word.
And I find that, knowing thatcontext of James and how he
(13:09):
became this true proponent ofwho Christ was and his passion
for helping people understandthat, we want to live it out.
We want to make Jesus knownwhen he's not here, by us
representing Jesus, just as hewould have himself.
Well, as far as this wholefirst step of the Easy Bible
(13:32):
Study Method entering into thestory, what would you say to
people who are maybe, you know,a little bit anxious about
starting?
I mean, you and I are justhitting only the tip of the
iceberg here about a lot moredetail that goes into it.
What would you encourage them?
Ashley Armijo (13:52):
Yeah, I mean a lot of people say I want to read
the Bible, I just don't knowwhere to start.
Well, we've been giving you alot of examples from the book of
John and I really do encouragepeople to start in John If
they're wondering where to start.
I mean you can start anywherein the Bible.
But if you're brand new oryou're just feeling like, hey,
I'm stuck, I need somewhere tostart, john is a great book.
(14:19):
It's about the story about whoJesus is, his ministry on earth
and his death on the cross, hisresurrection, and so it's a
great place to just begin and myencouragement would be just to
take it.
You know what?
You could take it one chapterat a time, but I would even
encourage taking it verse byverse at a time, like telling
yourself okay, maybe I'll readfive verses a day.
That's like so simple.
That could take you fiveminutes and just you know,
(14:40):
taking it slow, being prayerfuland saying God, you know what
I'm starting here.
I don't know what I'm doing, Idon't know what's going on, but
speak to me, I want to know you.
Like that's the point ofreading the Bible is really
coming to Jesus and saying Iwant to know you more.
I want to know about your story.
I want to know how I can play apart in your story, because it
is about a larger redemptivestory of Jesus, like I said,
(15:04):
coming, dying for us, saving usfrom our sins, redeeming us.
And we're still today a part ofthat story because Christ is
still yet to return right.
So it is about asking Jesuswhat is your story and how can I
be a part of that?
And I think that's a beautifulthing.
It really simplifies Biblereading and you're not going to
understand everything.
You're just not.
(15:24):
The most incredible scholarsdon't understand everything.
So don't let that stop you,don't let that trip you up.
Keep going.
A lot of people read the Biblefor a week or two weeks and then
they stop, or a day, and thenthey feel like I fell off the
wagon, I'm too far gone, I can'tdo this.
No, come back.
Jesus is always there with openarms.
He wants you to know him, evenif that means you haven't read
(15:47):
your Bible in years.
Just come back.
He's there, he's waiting foryou and he has open arms.
So, yeah, don't beat yourselfup too much.
Just keep coming back, keeptrying again.
Ask the Spirit to give you astrength to carry on and a
willingness to love God throughhis word.
So, yeah, I think that's kindof my biggest advice is to just
(16:09):
start.
Really, I do tell people thatJust start, even if you don't
know what's going on, and keepgoing.
Ellen Krause (16:14):
Absolutely, you know, and as a mentor, I would
just further encourage peoplelike if you are super stuck, get
in a group because that holdsyou accountable to you, don't
want to show up and not havedone it Right.
So I know from my years andyears and years of being in a
mom's group where I led Biblestudies and I just know even
(16:38):
myself as a leader wanting to beprepared, and it's just a great
way, especially on those dayswhere you're like I just don't
feel like doing that today, butultimately you're always blessed
once you go in there and you doread god's word yeah, and I
will say with our book, wereally did create it as a tool
(16:58):
for mentors who want to use itas a tool to help lead their
mentee through bible study.
Ashley Armijo (17:05):
so, whether you're a mentor or you're
someone who wants to be mentored, I'd suggest you pick up this
book.
Especially if you're someonewho wants to be mentored, I'd
suggest you pick up this book,especially if you're someone
who's like, okay, I want tomentor.
Go to your local church and say, literally, ask a pastor or
anyone who works there.
Do you know of anyone who couldmentor me and walk with me
through this book, the EasyBible Study Method?
Each chapter has discussionquestions You'll also go through
(17:29):
, like I said, you'll go throughthe chapter in John about Jesus
feeding the 5,000.
Or you could grab a friend.
You could grab a friend, youcould grab your spouse and just
read this book together, becauseit is a tool that we created to
do in community and with otherpeople.
Ellen Krause (17:43):
Yes, and there are group discussion questions
which make it fun to have aconversation about it as well.
And people can go tocoffeeandbibletimecom and just
right there on our homepage wehave information about it and
you can get a free excerpt ofthe book if you go in there.
So do it, go, do it today and Ithink you will be really
(18:03):
blessed by that.
Well, ashley, thank you so muchfor joining me on the podcast
today, for helping share thefirst step of the Easy Bible
Study Method, which is E.
Enter into the story For thoselistening, if you have loved
this conversation and want to godeeper in our new book.
(18:25):
The Easy Bible Study Method isavailable now for pre-order and
it officially releases on August5th 2025.
This book will give you thestep-by-step guide through all
four parts of the method andit's filled with examples,
prompts, tips, mentoring, groupdiscussion questions so many
(18:49):
things to make your Bible studymore personal and powerful.
We will have a link to this inour show notes and again, thank
you so much, Ashley, for joiningus, for our listeners, for
being here.
Please share this episode witha friend, we would be so
appreciative.
(19:09):
And until next time, keepseeking Jesus and don't forget
God is waiting to meet you inhis word.
Popular Podcasts
Fudd Around And Find Out
UConn basketball star Azzi Fudd brings her championship swag to iHeart Women’s Sports with Fudd Around and Find Out, a weekly podcast that takes fans along for the ride as Azzi spends her final year of college trying to reclaim the National Championship and prepare to be a first round WNBA draft pick. Ever wonder what it’s like to be a world-class athlete in the public spotlight while still managing schoolwork, friendships and family time? It’s time to Fudd Around and Find Out!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.