September 29, 2025 • 35 mins
In Part III of this "Ask Us Anything" series....
What happens when kids move from “borrowed faith” to their own authentic relationship with Jesus? In this episode, Kate talks with Aaron and Liam—two pre-teens learning to follow Jesus—whose insights remind us why family Bible study matters.
Kate and Jason also share candidly about their own rhythms: how studying separately still leads to meaningful conversations, how personality shapes learning, and how faith can show up naturally—even on vacation. You’ll also hear practical ways to include children in Scripture, approach prayer with confidence, and choose church and resources wisely.
This conversation will encourage you that family Bible study doesn’t have to look identical or perfect—just real, personal, and rooted in God’s Word.
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Episode Transcript
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Kate (00:00):
Hey guys, this is Kate from Abidible.com, and you're
listening to the AbidiblePodcast.
I'm just a regular wife and momwho's had my life transformed
by learning to study the Bibleon my own.
If I can, you can.
On this show, I help you knowand love God more by abiding in
Him through His Word, yourself.
(00:21):
All right, my friends, I have aspecial surprise today on the
podcast.
While we are talking aboutfamily and discipling family,
there is a special guest joiningme on the podcast, a very good
(00:43):
family friend of ours and Liam'sbuddy.
They've been really goodbuddies for about three years,
known each other for four years.
Aaron is joining us on thepodcast, and he is going to
answer some questions aboutstudying the Bible.
Liam, my son, is going to askAaron the questions.
And this is going to be reallyneat for you guys as parents to
hear, or those of you who aregrandparents or who have nieces
(01:05):
and nephews who you'd love toteach the Bible to.
We've got some great questionsthat these two are going to talk
about right now.
So, Liam, you ready to ask somequestions?
Liam (01:14):
Good to see you be back here on the podcast once again.
Hello, world.
So, Aaron, if a friend your ageasked you what the Bible is,
what would you say?
Aaron (01:27):
Well, Liam, I would say the Bible is God's word that He
told people to write down for usand not just to only use it on
Sunday.
Every day, whenever you want.
We need it even if we don'tthink we have time for it.
Liam (01:42):
That is perfectly true, right out of the Bible.
Exactly how it should bescripted.
So why do you think kids shouldread and study the Bible?
Aaron (01:53):
Well, Liam, I think kids should study the Bible because
we don't want the kids to haveborrowed faith from their
parents.
We need them to have their ownfaith, their own relationship
with Jesus, our Creator.
If they don't, they're gonna,there's gonna be a problem.
Liam (02:09):
That's a good one that you got from youth group.
That one is such a good one.
Next question is what doesstudying the Bible look like in
your family?
Aaron (02:21):
Well, in our family, usually in the morning, you see,
we're homeschooled.
So in the morning when we'redoing school, my mom will get
off get out a Bible study andshe will read about it and then
she will ask us to look upverses, and then when we're
done, we usually talk about theverse.
Liam (02:40):
Oh, that's fun.
I should really try that.
I really want to try that.
Since we're also homeschooledas well, um, we usually just
come here around nine o'clock orten o'clock, and we get up, get
to the table, and then we openthe Bible, and then we just read
we're reading through Johnright now, then we'll probably
move into Acts or Romans orsomething.
We've just been reading inthere, and then we just pick
(03:01):
whatever's next, and then weread a good chunk of it that
goes together in the flow, andthen we read it, and then we do
a praise, repent, and ask, andthen we do the Lord's Prayer.
After I ask after I ask morethan 15 questions.
Why more than that?
(03:22):
Homeschool for the win.
Yeah.
The second to last questionWhat advice would you have for
parents who want to help theirkids love the B-I-B-L-E?
Aaron (03:39):
Um I would advise don't just hand them the Bible and
hand them the book the Biblestudy.
Actually do it with them.
Because kids, I know fromexperience, unfortunately, they
just sometimes skim over it anddon't really like learn the word
that they need it, even if theydon't feel like they do.
Kate (03:58):
And you and I had talked to Aaron briefly about what
about a parent who feels likethey don't know everything?
Like, what if my kid asks mesomething that I don't know the
answer to?
Aaron (04:08):
Well, I would say you're not gonna have all the answers
no matter how hard you try.
You're just gonna have to prayand ask God for the answers.
Because you're not gonna knowall the answers.
Only God knows all the answers.
Kate (04:23):
Does mama always know the answers, Lam, when you ask me
the question?
Liam (04:27):
Uh not always, but most of the most of them if they are
the questions.
But what do we do if we don'tknow the answer?
We uh look it up on maybe uh youcould do like on AI or on
Google.
Yeah, put that.
Or blue letter Bible orsomething.
Oh, I have that app.
Yeah, there's lots of differentAI.
Aaron (04:49):
AI basically just AI.
I should also mention now thatAI was not always gonna be
correct.
Don't trust everything you seethat AI makes.
Double check, triple check,quadruple check.
Liam (05:03):
Next question is are there any verses you'd like to share
from members of the Okay, I'mprobably gonna mess this up, but
let's just go for it.
Aaron (05:12):
Hero Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
You shall love the Lord yourGod with all your heart and all
your soul and all your might.
And these words that I commandyou today shall be on your
heart, and you shall teach themdiligently to your children, and
you shall talk of them when yousit in your house, and when you
walk by the way, and when youlie down, and when you rise.
Amazing.
Does he have a Bible in frontof him?
Liam (05:34):
No.
Is he doing that from memory?
Yep, I can do that from memorytoo.
That's pretty cool.
You want to give it a try?
No.
Okay, good.
So that was Deuteronomy 6, 4through 7, that Aaron just did.
Kate (05:45):
Hey, Aaron, thank you for popping over to our house again
on the title.
Liam (05:48):
Any day.
Any day.
Thanks for asking thequestions, Liam.
Welcome.
See you later.
Oh, hold on.
Lam, signing off.
Aaron?
Bye.
Jason (06:00):
Well, all right then.
Uh don't necessarily know howto transition from those boys,
one of them obviously being myboy, and by the voices, you can
probably d decide which one thatis.
But on a serious note, it isvery cool to hear them doing
this.
And as their Sunday schoolteacher for a couple years, it's
(06:21):
also cool to s to hear themgrow and some of the things that
they're saying that I thinkthey really d understand and
know.
And it's not just words thathave been fed to them.
I think Aaron said somethingabout not borrowing your
parents' faith, but having yourown.
And I think it's becomingevident in the way that you can
hear them talk.
So it's very cool to hear themdo that and very special that
(06:42):
they wanted to do that on here.
Kate (06:44):
So encouraging that they wanted to share that with you
guys.
I hope you enjoyed that littlesegment from our buddies.
Now we're gonna transition intoum some questions that you sent
in for Jason and I.
Our topic today is abidingtogether.
Your questions were prettyheavily focused on us as a
couple, but there was some stuffabout our children as well.
So this is kind of an abidingtogether Bible study, prayer,
(07:04):
and discipleship for the wholefamily.
So we're gonna kick off withsort of um an interesting
question, which is what doesyour Bible study look like on
vacation?
Jason (07:13):
Oh, I wish we could have started with a different
question.
Um I'll just say straight upfrom the beginning.
It often doesn't look likeanything.
When I go on vacation, I getvery caught up in vacation.
Either relaxing or wanting tojust go do and see everything
(07:35):
that's not something that Irecommend or that I'm
highlighting, but you know, Ithink it's important to be
honest that it doesn't alwayslook great.
So that's something that I amconvicted of and something that
I want to do better at is toactually have a method and
system of Bible study.
Saying that, I think if I couldencourage people, maybe even
(07:57):
encourage myself, it's probablygonna look different.
And in some ways it's gonnalook I don't want to say less
necessarily, but but if you'rethinking of Bible study as
having multiple tools open andyour Bible out and sitting at a
desk, it's probably not gonnalook that way on vacation.
And so it could just be it's ait's a reading plan, you know.
It may not be that you're doingan in-depth study, you know, it
(08:20):
may just be a journal, or youknow, sometimes just gonna be
reading something and maybe itisn't a journal.
It's a I think it's gonna lookdifferent.
So I think just understandingthat and giving yourself the
grace and freedom to have itlook different and be okay with
that and understand thatvacation is different than
regular life.
Kate (08:40):
Yeah, I agree.
I think that we have to berealistic about what it's gonna
look like and also remember whywe abide in the first place.
Like time with God is to knowand love him more.
And you can do that onvacation.
I I know that when, you know,like say Disneyland, for
example, we're up super early,we go hard, we're there all day,
and we come home late.
(09:01):
And exactly what you said,we're not gonna have all of our
commentaries and Bible notebooksand everything open and handy.
But I think one thing that I'venoticed change for me is that,
you know, I do miss having thatform.
I you guys know me, I'm a nerd.
I love having everything spreadout and studying.
So I miss that time when I'm onvacation, but I also find the
(09:23):
deposits that I've made in thatmore formal time available as
withdrawals, meaning like thatit just kind of spills over into
conversation while we're onvacation.
And so that might look like,you know, seeing my son
overjoyed with emotion andexcitement that he was able to
do a roller coaster that wasterrifying to him and praying
(09:44):
with him about it beforehand,talking to him about God being
with him.
It's a roller coaster.
I know that might sound silly,but it's not silly because it
matters to him in that moment.
And so, who is God to my sonwhen he's doing this thing, he's
terrified about?
God is here, God is with you,what do we know to be true?
And then praising God togetherafterwards, even just like God
is so cool that he helped you todo that thing.
(10:05):
And so finding ways, and Ithink this is the crux of
Abidible, and it's the crux ofthe verse that we um used as
inspiration for Abidible fromDeuteronomy, which Aaron just
quoted about teaching itdiligently to your children and
talking about it when you go outand when you come.
It's not just meant to be or tolook a certain way, and it's
supposed to be when you rise andwhen you go back to sleep.
(10:27):
So I guess I would say thatit's just a natural overflow
from what has already beendeposited from what we're doing,
like our natural rhythms thatwe're doing together, even just
Liam and I, like in our quiettime that he mentioned in the
mornings before school starts,that it's natural and easy for
me to say those things to himabout God in an amusement park.
(10:50):
Whereas five years ago, when weweren't doing that at all, he
would have been like, What?
Like, why are you trying tothank God for helping us to be
on a roller coaster?
And so that's why I think therhythms of everyday life are
important and the discipline ofbeing in the word, like Aaron
was talking about, you know,doing it because we need it.
You know, I love that Aaronsaid it's something that we
need.
I think that that can be in abeautiful way, it can spill
(11:14):
over, and then you can begracious with yourself to not be
like, well, I didn't sit downfor my hour long quiet time in
the middle of my Europeanvacation.
Jason (11:23):
Can you talk about some ways that you and Jason are able
to study together andorseparately through doing a
similar method within theabidable framework?
What looks similar and whatlooks different?
Does it depend on gender,personality, or learning style?
Kate (11:39):
Oh my gosh, that's a really good, really hard
question, too.
Uh multifaceted question.
I would say just the first partof it, talking about how you
and I study together.
Uh, we mostly study separately,but we're often studying the
same things.
For example, now we're both ininto the wilderness.
And what happens most often forus is that one of us will see
something or learn something andbring it up in conversation
(12:02):
with one another.
We currently in this season donot have a formal, like, hey,
we're I'm doing that, we'redoing the same verse today, and
then we're gonna, you know, doour memory work together on
Friday.
We don't have that sort offormal structure right now
because we're also both doingseparate things.
I do my own individual privatestudy, separate from anything
having to do with abidable.
Uh, and then you also have somestuff that you do with your
(12:24):
accountability partner and yourband of brothers.
So we have a lot of a lot ofthings, different things going
on.
But whenever something reallycool or interesting or exciting
comes up that we see or that welearn, we frequently just talk
about it.
In terms of doing a similarmethod within the abidable
framework, do you want to goahead and answer that second
part about what looks differentfor the two of us?
Jason (12:44):
So part of the question says, does it depend on gender
personality or learning style?
And then, you know, kind ofwhat looks different or similar
for us.
I think it absolutely dependson the person.
So there's gonna be differencesin gender, but then even within
gender, it's gonna lookdifferent too, person to person.
I think one main differencebetween the two of us is you
(13:07):
like to go much deeper andlonger and write more notes.
Whereas I'm fewer words, and soI'll research something, get
something that I think is likethat's really good, and I want
to just sit on that and camp onit.
And there may be five otherthings there, but it's just not
my personality or the way that Istudy or the way that things
(13:29):
connect as much to write downall of those things and to look
at every commentary and write abunch of notes and all those
things.
So I think that's one bigdifference.
Whereas maybe you go wider, Imay potentially go deeper on
certain things, and so thosecomplement each other really
well.
Things that I didn't seebecause I didn't look at every
single word you did, and thenthat helps inform something that
(13:53):
I saw that you didn't see forthat same word.
So ultimately, in in thisquestion, it's gonna look
different for everybody, andthat's that's cool, and that's
that's what I think is gonnacomplement, you know, people,
whether it's couples, whetherit's groups of people.
I mean, like that's that's thebeauty of the body is that God
reveals different things todifferent people, and the word
(14:15):
is living and active.
So even me, I'm gonna readsomething today, get something
out of it tomorrow, completelydifferent, or or maybe not
completely different, butsomething different because I'm
in a different season, and thesame thing with different
people.
Kate (14:29):
I think that season piece is really important too.
Like that we have we have a lotof moms with like lots of kids.
We have moms with like littlekids, so their season looks
different.
We've got, you know, workingprofessionals that are coming
home really exhausted, makingdinner, cleaning the house, and
going to bed to do it all overagain.
So even getting up early in themorning is a challenge.
(14:50):
So finding the time is hard,you know.
So at a biteable, like one ofthe things that I am most
passionate about saying is thatthe idea here is you just know
what the next thing is that youcan do.
And even if that means that youare cross-referencing a single
verse for multiple days, likemaybe you are doing Deuteronomy
(15:12):
6, 4, and you are spendingthree, four days
cross-referencing because you'reenjoying it that much, you are
in the Word.
You're with God and it's abouttime with Him.
It's not a race, it's a placethat you get to be.
And our method, what I loveabout it so much, and why I'm so
passionate about repeating thisto people, is that we just have
in our mind that it has to looka certain way.
We have to check a certainnumber of boxes, we have to feel
(15:34):
like we've accomplished acertain amount of things to have
qualified for, quote, quiettime or Bible study time, when
it's more about being sitting,abiding with the Lord and
letting the Holy Spirit reallyguide that time too, even if
it's 10 minutes, even if it'stwo hours.
And I would say that I thinkit's really important for us to
(15:59):
be gracious, even with theschedule.
And I think that's why Jasonand I have found that it's
difficult for us to go through astudy and stay at the same pace
because he and I approach itdifferently.
So we have enjoyed giving eachother the freedom and
flexibility to one of ussometimes gets ahead of the
other, and then we still shareand talk about the things that
(16:20):
we're learning along the waywithout having to be as
structured.
Now, if this is the first timethat you're studying together in
this way and you want to bemore aligned, then you can do
that.
You can set a schedule and youcan, as each person, you know,
approaches it, and maybe maybethe husband has more time and
can go more in depth, thenthat's how it looks.
And the and the wife in thatseason is doing the same verse
(16:42):
on the same day, but she's doingit her way, that's fine.
Just talk that through.
And probably I would suggesthave clear expectations and
clear communication about it asyou go.
And if you find that it'sworking, keep doing it.
If you find that you need tokind of free each other up to go
at your own pace and do it inyour own way, I think that's
important too to not because weare, we are all different.
(17:03):
Our learning styles aredifferent, and the amount of
time that we want to spend isdifferent.
So I understand that thedesire, though, as a husband and
wife to be like unified in theverses that they're studying
together.
This kind of ties into our nextquestion, which is just
describing your experience as aman related to abidable, in
terms of is this a good methodfor men uh who are in small
(17:24):
groups?
Jason (17:25):
Yeah, I mean, I think it definitely can be.
I uh have not done it um with asmall group, but I know that
you have women who are doing itin small groups, and I think
anybody studying the Bibletogether is gonna be a good
thing.
So I don't think there's anydifference necessarily between
it's gonna work better for womenversus men.
I would say my experience, I'min a band of brothers, we're not
(17:48):
going through the Bible studymethod, but it does come into
play in our conversations.
You know, there are times whenwe're going through a book of
the Bible, and you know, I'llbust out the blue letter Bible
app to look up something becausewe're talking about a verse,
and it's like, well, what doesthat word really mean?
You know, what does that meanfor us as men?
And there have been plenty oftimes when I've been able to
(18:10):
bring that in, or things thatyou and I have studied through
an abidable study um or thatmethod.
I've been able to bring thatknowledge and that wisdom in,
which I wouldn't have been ableto do before, especially if I
just had read through things andoh, this is what that means.
And that was because that'swhat it meant to me at one
(18:30):
point, and that was in my ownwisdom, but I didn't do any sort
of study on commentary orcross-references or anything
like that.
So it's been very cool to seethat that's able I'm able to do
that more often now, where oh,that reminds me of this verse.
And then you say that andsomebody goes, Oh wow, you know,
that's really good.
(18:51):
Like I didn't I didn't knowabout that verse, I didn't see
it that way.
It like that speaks to metoday.
I think it just goes back tothe previous question.
Like, we are meant to live incommunity, and we've got
different experiences, differentknowledge, different
understanding of things,different wisdom.
And when we can get togetherand share what we're learning
(19:11):
and encourage other people, andthen point out things that hey,
maybe you have never, you know,read this first or didn't know
what that meant.
Stuff like that, I think, isjust very cool.
So um absolutely, would it begood for men in small groups?
Definitely.
And even if you're not doing itin a small group, you're doing
it yourself, it's it's going tocome into play in terms of how
(19:33):
you participate in those groupstoo.
Kate (19:35):
As you're talking, it m reminded me of something that I
wanted to circle back on fromlast week.
And I know we'll probably touchon it again in our last episode
on the church, hurt, healing,and hope.
That episode uh will be episodenumber 70, uh, two episodes
from now.
But I wanted to also mention uhthat I've heard different
theories or opinions on this.
(19:55):
I'd be interested to see whatyou think that the most
important thing that you'relooking for in a church is a
strong children's ministry wherethe gospel is preached, you
know, over morality, being agood person, like that that kids
from the beginning are beingshown that they need Jesus, who
Jesus is, why Jesus matters, andthat it's not just a book about
(20:17):
Bible stories, but it's helpingthem to understand what the
Bible is and how to study theBible and all of that.
Okay.
So I've heard children'sministry is most important, but
I've also heard men's, like notnecessarily a formal men's
ministry, but just who the menare in the church.
And I guess, yes, what'savailable to men in terms of
(20:37):
like fellowship, community, likemen's groups, men's leadership
opportunities.
And I would say as a wife, thatwe have been very fortunate to
be in a church for a very longtime that has solid men who have
come alongside you early onwith a very clear mentoring and
(20:58):
coaching program, as well asjust men who have loved you
well, who have modeled what itlooks like.
You know, they they're they'reolder, they've gone before you,
they've been married longer,have modeled what it looks like,
you know, where it is cool tobe a man who loves the Lord
unabashedly, wholeheartedly, whoserves well, who leads well,
who is a humble servant leaderwho, like we talked about last
(21:19):
week, loves his wife as Christloves the church.
And I think that a church,what's most important for a
family is to find a church whereman is going to have other men
to come alongside him in reallyimportant biblical ways.
What would you say?
Jason (21:35):
I think I agree if we're talking about the the different
programs at the church.
Kate (21:42):
It doesn't even have to necessarily be formal programs.
It just means I just mean like,you know, if you're in a life
group, the men in the lifegroup, you can tell, are walking
with Jesus, they're leadingwith, you know, they're they're
they're walking the talk thatthey love God, they love his
word, because then all of thattrickles down into the family.
Like you could have a greatkids' ministry, but if there's
not, you know, if you'rebringing your husband to a
(22:03):
church and he doesn't, there'snothing being modeled for him
and no men who are going to comealongside him and love him
well, serve him well.
Jason (22:10):
I think it comes down to is it a church that's preaching
the Bible?
Of course.
If you strip everything elseaway, if what's coming from the
the pastor, what's coming fromthe pulpit, what's coming from
the stage, what's being taughtthroughout the church is
biblical, then I I don't want tosay it doesn't matter if you
(22:32):
have a good kids' ministry orwomen's ministry or men's
ministry or life groups or youknow, whatever, food bank,
homeless outreach.
But I think if you can onlypick the one, then it's we
faithfully preach the Bible eachand every week in everything
that we do, then that's gonnabear results.
(22:52):
But then yeah, I would say, youknow, if you have a church that
doesn't have men who are livingthat way and who are excited to
demonstrate that and to mentorother people and lead well, lead
their families, that's criticalin a church.
I think there are some churchesjust like you said, there are
some people that say the mostimportant thing is uh a thriving
(23:16):
kids ministry.
And I think that's incrediblyimportant and critical.
But some of those churches thathave the quote unquote best
kids ministry might be the oneswho are a little bit light in
the other areas and so they'vegot a really colorful, great
entrance to the kids, greatprograms, the kids are super
(23:38):
excited, but then where do theygo once they grow up?
And vice versa, you may haveanother church that has no kids
ministry and it just dies outbecause none of the kids want to
be there because it's it's justa terrible culture, there's
nothing for them.
But I think if you'refaithfully preaching the Bible
and there's a authentic hungerfor the word and holding to what
(24:01):
the Bible says and followingthat, then you're going to have
those programs as an outpouring.
You're gonna have the strongmen's groups and men in your
church, you're gonna have youknow, thriving kids' ministry
and women's ministry becausepeople are living out the gospel
in an authentic way.
So I don't know if that answersthe question, but I think it's
a yes to both of those.
Kate (24:22):
We can and we can we're gonna get thankfully, we're
gonna get to talk more about thecriteria for choosing a church,
and you are definitely spot onthat most important is that the
Bible is being preached from thepulpit.
But I just was asking thatquestion for you because the
second part of my question wasjust about how is how for wives
can we encourage our men withoutnagging?
And we touched on that a littlebit last week in terms of like
I don't want to repeat what wealready talked about last week,
(24:44):
but I I brought that up becauseI think that in addition to the
wife walking with Jesus, lovingJesus, abiding in the Word, and
letting God transform her inways that overflow in how she
serves and loves her husband, inaddition to that is the idea of
being in a church where othermen can come alongside him.
Because there have been thingsthat you have heard from other
(25:04):
men in the church that the Lordused differently than had I been
the one to say it.
And that's a beautiful thing.
And it's why we need eachother.
It's why our whole season, whenwe were gone from church,
struggling so deeply, we weremissing that kind of fellowship
and relationship with people.
You know, the idea is aboutknowing and being known, people
(25:25):
who know you and who can comealongside you and say, Hey man,
what are you doing?
Like, or you can come to themand say, I have no clue what I'm
doing.
Okay, let's move on to the nextone.
Jason (25:35):
How can I get more comfortable in my prayer time?
Kate (25:40):
I would say that it's really important to remember
that conversation with God islike talking to a friend.
He is holy and we ought to fearhim in the turn in terms of
respecting him and having awe ofhim.
And the more you abide in theword, the more that flows
naturally because you're gettinga correct picture of who he is.
So the way that you approachhim and the way that you talk to
(26:03):
him will be, you know,appropriately holy and reverent.
But at the same time, he callsus his friend and he loves us
and he tells us to come to himwhen we're weary and burdened
and tired.
And our prayers don't have tobe fancy, though he did teach us
how to pray.
So the Lord's prayer is a greatplace to start, but help is
also a great prayer that heanswers and that he hears uh
(26:24):
when we cry out to him.
The Bible repeatedly says thathe hears when we cry out to him.
And not only does he hear, buthe responds.
It's an active um hearing, it'shearing and responding, hearing
and doing where he comes to ourrescue.
So I would say, you know, abidein the word.
It'll naturally flow out ofyou.
And also go to the Psalms.
If you want models for how topray, or if you just want actual
(26:47):
words to pray, then pray thePsalms.
It will transform your prayertime.
Uh, and then my final tip wouldjust be to maybe get in the
practice of journaling, writingout your prayers.
If you have a hard timefocusing, like I do, I it's hard
for me to sit still.
I lose my train of thought.
So journaling is a great wayfor me to pray.
I'm gonna ask you the next one.
(27:07):
How do you know which resourcesto trust or use?
There's so much out there thatthe process can get
overwhelming.
Jason (27:14):
Yeah, I think it's a great question because it it can
get overwhelming because thereis so much and it's probably
just gonna get more and moreoverwhelming.
Or or not get more and moreoverwhelming, but feel like it
if you're just trying to look ateverything in one shot.
So I think it's just startingsmall.
Finding whether it's peoplethat you trust or seeing what
(27:38):
other people are using that theyreally love, and just trying
that one thing.
Because I think what can happenis okay, so I'm gonna get a you
know, set of commentaries, I'mgonna get a you know,
encyclopedia and a dictionaryand you know, all these books,
and then I'm gonna lay them allout, and then well, I don't have
time.
If I try to do all of thesethings, it's gonna take me three
(27:59):
hours a day, and so then I justdon't do it.
You know, starting small,finding finding something that's
working, get consistent withthat, and then supplement and
then see.
And it just depends what worksfor you.
I mean, I think as as long asuh you're doing your research
and you're you're in communitywith people to be checking to
see like is this accurate?
(28:19):
Is this a good resource?
If it is, if it's biblical andyou like it and your
relationship with Jesus isthriving and the Holy Spirit
speaking to you through it, thenuse that thing.
It doesn't have to it can besomething from the 1600s.
It doesn't have to be a newtool, it doesn't have to be
anything fancy, it doesn't haveto look like anybody else.
So I I would just say, yeah,just what works for you, start
(28:42):
small and then add as it makessense.
Don't try to start with toomuch at the beginning, because I
think that's where it getsreally overwhelming is by the
sheer volume of it.
Kate (28:53):
I think I get overwhelmed hearing this question as like a
teacher because I am like, oh, Idon't want them, you know, to I
worry because I I know there'sa lot of heretical teaching out
there, and there's uh a lot ofpastors who are wolves in
sheep's clothing, who lead theirflocks astray and who, you
know, say things that sound goodand they're leading people
straight off a cliff into hell.
It's it's this is a scaryquestion to me for that reason.
(29:17):
And I I had to remind myselfthat when I started out, you
know, when we first startedcoming to a church where the
Bible was really being preached,I remember hearing friends
talking about resources andwhat's good and what's bad, and
I didn't know those things.
And it took time.
It took time for me beingaround people who were solid in
(29:37):
scripture and being in a churchwhere the Bible was preached and
taught and the gospel wascentral and trial and error and
time with wiser, more maturebelievers than me.
So I think your first point wasso important, which is to ask
somebody that you trust.
And if you if you don't know,then email us at hello at
(30:00):
Abidible.com.
We would like to be thosepeople for you to help sort of
goalkeep some of the resourcesthat are out there.
There are religions that saythat they are Christian
religions, like Mormonism, andit is not a Christian religion.
It's a heretical religion thatteaches things that are
antithetical to the Bible.
Uh, and sometimes the searchesthat you are looking for, the
Church of Jesus Christ ofLatter-day Saints is one of the
(30:21):
top hits on Google, for example.
And so if you don't know, findsomeone you can trust who knows
the Bible, who's solid, or emailus.
We would be happy to help youpoint you in the direction.
The resources in blue letteredBible are generally really good
resources.
Bible Project is a greatresource.
And the Gospel Coalition, thereare certain pastors that are
(30:43):
great and have been solid formany years.
Now that can get into a wholenother conversation about who
thinks who is good and not.
And that's a conversation maybefor a different day.
But I am just gonna pray inJesus' name that he, through the
power of his Holy Spirit, willgive you wisdom and discernment.
And maybe it just starts withthe awareness of knowing not to
(31:03):
trust every single thing thatpops up in a search, that not
every resource is reliable.
And so, like Jason said, startsmall, start with one that you
know you can trust, onecommentary that is biblical, and
um go from there.
So you have the last question.
Jason (31:23):
What is the best way to use the studies and products
you've created to includechildren?
Could they be used as churchcurriculum, especially for
teens?
And then they said examples.
Kate (31:35):
Yeah, I feel like this could be a whole nother podcast
episode.
I do have a podcast episodecalled How to Talk to Your
Children About God.
And so I can link that in thisepisode description.
So go ahead and look for that.
That might be a helpful thing.
But I will say, in terms ofabidable, that on the most basic
level, you doing the studyyourself, you being in the word
(31:57):
yourself, you saying yourscripture out loud, your kids
will hear you and they will takeinterest in what you're doing
and you can talk to them aboutwhat you're learning.
And they will.
Kids are like sponges.
It's so cool that they hearyou.
And plus, not just the factthat they're sponges.
God's word is alive and active,and the Holy Spirit wants to
draw them to himself throughwhat you're learning and what
(32:18):
you're doing.
So the first most basic, simpleexample is that, you know, as
Jason and I were studying, Liamheard, Liam engaged, Liam asked
questions.
And that is an informal,beautiful way to involve your
kids in the study of scripture,in particular in this case, as
it refers to this answer withthe Bible.
That's how you can use a Biblein that way.
(32:38):
You know, think about how Mosestalks about teaching your
children, you know, this is justtelling the stories to your
children and your children'schildren and remembering them to
generations to come.
And there was no formal, mostof them didn't even know how to
read or write at that period oftime, didn't have access to
paper and pens or computers likewe do.
And so if they could do it, wecertainly can do it too.
(32:59):
And some of it is just thenatural overflow.
We do have a God is one kidsstudy.
It has two age groups that youcan check out online to see what
might be a better fit for yourkids than to have them doing
some lettering, somecross-referencing, some of the
same basic skills that we do inAbidible.
That is currently our only kidsstudy that's available.
That's something that we wouldlove to grow in in the future.
(33:21):
But for now, we just have oneavailable.
I do think, in terms of thislast question with teens, that
teens, even, you know, 12 andup, are absolutely capable of
doing the adult studies at theirown pace.
They don't have to do, youknow, 10 cross-references.
Have them do one, have themlook up one commentary quote,
get them in the word, studyingin this way so that when they
(33:44):
leave you, they will know whatto do with their Bibles
themselves.
I think absolutely yourteenagers can use and and your
your youth groups can use theAbidible Studies to um learn how
to abide in God's wordthemselves.
So we're gonna wrap it up therefor today.
I'm super appreciative.
It's kind of late at nighttonight.
We have had a very long weekgetting back to school and me
(34:05):
kind of getting back to lifenormal.
Jason worked all day, and Isuper appreciate you being on
again, and we'll have you backon next week.
Jason (34:13):
Looking forward to it.
Kate (34:15):
And that's it for this episode.
If you know someone who wouldbe blessed by what you just
heard, please share the Abidiblepodcast with them.
Keep spreading the word so wecan make much of the word.
Drop us a review, tell us whatyou love and what you're
learning.
Check out the link to learnmore about partnering with us by
buying us a coffee one time, byjoining our Abidible Plus
(34:37):
women's membership community for$10 a month, or by becoming a
monthly supporter.
In next week's episode, we willbe talking about calling,
waiting, and walking with God.
You've got questions for usabout the heartbreak and
frustration that can come withwaiting, as well as how to know
how to surrender and honor Godthrough different seasons.
(34:59):
It's going to be a specialepisode.
We can't wait to be back withyou next week.
Until then, remember you areable to abide in the Bible.
We'll see you next time.
Until then, let's abide.
Hey guys, this is Kate from Abidible.com, and you're
listening to the AbidiblePodcast.
I'm just a regular wife and momwho's had my life transformed
by learning to study the Bibleon my own.
If I can, you can.
On this show, I help you knowand love God more by abiding in
Him through His Word, yourself.
(00:21):
All right, my friends, I have aspecial surprise today on the
podcast.
While we are talking aboutfamily and discipling family,
there is a special guest joiningme on the podcast, a very good
(00:43):
family friend of ours and Liam'sbuddy.
They've been really goodbuddies for about three years,
known each other for four years.
Aaron is joining us on thepodcast, and he is going to
answer some questions aboutstudying the Bible.
Liam, my son, is going to askAaron the questions.
And this is going to be reallyneat for you guys as parents to
hear, or those of you who aregrandparents or who have nieces
(01:05):
and nephews who you'd love toteach the Bible to.
We've got some great questionsthat these two are going to talk
about right now.
So, Liam, you ready to ask somequestions?
Liam (01:14):
Good to see you be back here on the podcast once again.
Hello, world.
So, Aaron, if a friend your ageasked you what the Bible is,
what would you say?
Aaron (01:27):
Well, Liam, I would say the Bible is God's word that He
told people to write down for usand not just to only use it on
Sunday.
Every day, whenever you want.
We need it even if we don'tthink we have time for it.
Liam (01:42):
That is perfectly true, right out of the Bible.
Exactly how it should bescripted.
So why do you think kids shouldread and study the Bible?
Aaron (01:53):
Well, Liam, I think kids should study the Bible because
we don't want the kids to haveborrowed faith from their
parents.
We need them to have their ownfaith, their own relationship
with Jesus, our Creator.
If they don't, they're gonna,there's gonna be a problem.
Liam (02:09):
That's a good one that you got from youth group.
That one is such a good one.
Next question is what doesstudying the Bible look like in
your family?
Aaron (02:21):
Well, in our family, usually in the morning, you see,
we're homeschooled.
So in the morning when we'redoing school, my mom will get
off get out a Bible study andshe will read about it and then
she will ask us to look upverses, and then when we're
done, we usually talk about theverse.
Liam (02:40):
Oh, that's fun.
I should really try that.
I really want to try that.
Since we're also homeschooledas well, um, we usually just
come here around nine o'clock orten o'clock, and we get up, get
to the table, and then we openthe Bible, and then we just read
we're reading through Johnright now, then we'll probably
move into Acts or Romans orsomething.
We've just been reading inthere, and then we just pick
(03:01):
whatever's next, and then weread a good chunk of it that
goes together in the flow, andthen we read it, and then we do
a praise, repent, and ask, andthen we do the Lord's Prayer.
After I ask after I ask morethan 15 questions.
Why more than that?
(03:22):
Homeschool for the win.
Yeah.
The second to last questionWhat advice would you have for
parents who want to help theirkids love the B-I-B-L-E?
Aaron (03:39):
Um I would advise don't just hand them the Bible and
hand them the book the Biblestudy.
Actually do it with them.
Because kids, I know fromexperience, unfortunately, they
just sometimes skim over it anddon't really like learn the word
that they need it, even if theydon't feel like they do.
Kate (03:58):
And you and I had talked to Aaron briefly about what
about a parent who feels likethey don't know everything?
Like, what if my kid asks mesomething that I don't know the
answer to?
Aaron (04:08):
Well, I would say you're not gonna have all the answers
no matter how hard you try.
You're just gonna have to prayand ask God for the answers.
Because you're not gonna knowall the answers.
Only God knows all the answers.
Kate (04:23):
Does mama always know the answers, Lam, when you ask me
the question?
Liam (04:27):
Uh not always, but most of the most of them if they are
the questions.
But what do we do if we don'tknow the answer?
We uh look it up on maybe uh youcould do like on AI or on
Google.
Yeah, put that.
Or blue letter Bible orsomething.
Oh, I have that app.
Yeah, there's lots of differentAI.
Aaron (04:49):
AI basically just AI.
I should also mention now thatAI was not always gonna be
correct.
Don't trust everything you seethat AI makes.
Double check, triple check,quadruple check.
Liam (05:03):
Next question is are there any verses you'd like to share
from members of the Okay, I'mprobably gonna mess this up, but
let's just go for it.
Aaron (05:12):
Hero Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
You shall love the Lord yourGod with all your heart and all
your soul and all your might.
And these words that I commandyou today shall be on your
heart, and you shall teach themdiligently to your children, and
you shall talk of them when yousit in your house, and when you
walk by the way, and when youlie down, and when you rise.
Amazing.
Does he have a Bible in frontof him?
Liam (05:34):
No.
Is he doing that from memory?
Yep, I can do that from memorytoo.
That's pretty cool.
You want to give it a try?
No.
Okay, good.
So that was Deuteronomy 6, 4through 7, that Aaron just did.
Kate (05:45):
Hey, Aaron, thank you for popping over to our house again
on the title.
Liam (05:48):
Any day.
Any day.
Thanks for asking thequestions, Liam.
Welcome.
See you later.
Oh, hold on.
Lam, signing off.
Aaron?
Bye.
Jason (06:00):
Well, all right then.
Uh don't necessarily know howto transition from those boys,
one of them obviously being myboy, and by the voices, you can
probably d decide which one thatis.
But on a serious note, it isvery cool to hear them doing
this.
And as their Sunday schoolteacher for a couple years, it's
(06:21):
also cool to s to hear themgrow and some of the things that
they're saying that I thinkthey really d understand and
know.
And it's not just words thathave been fed to them.
I think Aaron said somethingabout not borrowing your
parents' faith, but having yourown.
And I think it's becomingevident in the way that you can
hear them talk.
So it's very cool to hear themdo that and very special that
(06:42):
they wanted to do that on here.
Kate (06:44):
So encouraging that they wanted to share that with you
guys.
I hope you enjoyed that littlesegment from our buddies.
Now we're gonna transition intoum some questions that you sent
in for Jason and I.
Our topic today is abidingtogether.
Your questions were prettyheavily focused on us as a
couple, but there was some stuffabout our children as well.
So this is kind of an abidingtogether Bible study, prayer,
(07:04):
and discipleship for the wholefamily.
So we're gonna kick off withsort of um an interesting
question, which is what doesyour Bible study look like on
vacation?
Jason (07:13):
Oh, I wish we could have started with a different
question.
Um I'll just say straight upfrom the beginning.
It often doesn't look likeanything.
When I go on vacation, I getvery caught up in vacation.
Either relaxing or wanting tojust go do and see everything
(07:35):
that's not something that Irecommend or that I'm
highlighting, but you know, Ithink it's important to be
honest that it doesn't alwayslook great.
So that's something that I amconvicted of and something that
I want to do better at is toactually have a method and
system of Bible study.
Saying that, I think if I couldencourage people, maybe even
(07:57):
encourage myself, it's probablygonna look different.
And in some ways it's gonnalook I don't want to say less
necessarily, but but if you'rethinking of Bible study as
having multiple tools open andyour Bible out and sitting at a
desk, it's probably not gonnalook that way on vacation.
And so it could just be it's ait's a reading plan, you know.
It may not be that you're doingan in-depth study, you know, it
(08:20):
may just be a journal, or youknow, sometimes just gonna be
reading something and maybe itisn't a journal.
It's a I think it's gonna lookdifferent.
So I think just understandingthat and giving yourself the
grace and freedom to have itlook different and be okay with
that and understand thatvacation is different than
regular life.
Kate (08:40):
Yeah, I agree.
I think that we have to berealistic about what it's gonna
look like and also remember whywe abide in the first place.
Like time with God is to knowand love him more.
And you can do that onvacation.
I I know that when, you know,like say Disneyland, for
example, we're up super early,we go hard, we're there all day,
and we come home late.
(09:01):
And exactly what you said,we're not gonna have all of our
commentaries and Bible notebooksand everything open and handy.
But I think one thing that I'venoticed change for me is that,
you know, I do miss having thatform.
I you guys know me, I'm a nerd.
I love having everything spreadout and studying.
So I miss that time when I'm onvacation, but I also find the
(09:23):
deposits that I've made in thatmore formal time available as
withdrawals, meaning like thatit just kind of spills over into
conversation while we're onvacation.
And so that might look like,you know, seeing my son
overjoyed with emotion andexcitement that he was able to
do a roller coaster that wasterrifying to him and praying
(09:44):
with him about it beforehand,talking to him about God being
with him.
It's a roller coaster.
I know that might sound silly,but it's not silly because it
matters to him in that moment.
And so, who is God to my sonwhen he's doing this thing, he's
terrified about?
God is here, God is with you,what do we know to be true?
And then praising God togetherafterwards, even just like God
is so cool that he helped you todo that thing.
(10:05):
And so finding ways, and Ithink this is the crux of
Abidible, and it's the crux ofthe verse that we um used as
inspiration for Abidible fromDeuteronomy, which Aaron just
quoted about teaching itdiligently to your children and
talking about it when you go outand when you come.
It's not just meant to be or tolook a certain way, and it's
supposed to be when you rise andwhen you go back to sleep.
(10:27):
So I guess I would say thatit's just a natural overflow
from what has already beendeposited from what we're doing,
like our natural rhythms thatwe're doing together, even just
Liam and I, like in our quiettime that he mentioned in the
mornings before school starts,that it's natural and easy for
me to say those things to himabout God in an amusement park.
(10:50):
Whereas five years ago, when weweren't doing that at all, he
would have been like, What?
Like, why are you trying tothank God for helping us to be
on a roller coaster?
And so that's why I think therhythms of everyday life are
important and the discipline ofbeing in the word, like Aaron
was talking about, you know,doing it because we need it.
You know, I love that Aaronsaid it's something that we
need.
I think that that can be in abeautiful way, it can spill
(11:14):
over, and then you can begracious with yourself to not be
like, well, I didn't sit downfor my hour long quiet time in
the middle of my Europeanvacation.
Jason (11:23):
Can you talk about some ways that you and Jason are able
to study together andorseparately through doing a
similar method within theabidable framework?
What looks similar and whatlooks different?
Does it depend on gender,personality, or learning style?
Kate (11:39):
Oh my gosh, that's a really good, really hard
question, too.
Uh multifaceted question.
I would say just the first partof it, talking about how you
and I study together.
Uh, we mostly study separately,but we're often studying the
same things.
For example, now we're both ininto the wilderness.
And what happens most often forus is that one of us will see
something or learn something andbring it up in conversation
(12:02):
with one another.
We currently in this season donot have a formal, like, hey,
we're I'm doing that, we'redoing the same verse today, and
then we're gonna, you know, doour memory work together on
Friday.
We don't have that sort offormal structure right now
because we're also both doingseparate things.
I do my own individual privatestudy, separate from anything
having to do with abidable.
Uh, and then you also have somestuff that you do with your
(12:24):
accountability partner and yourband of brothers.
So we have a lot of a lot ofthings, different things going
on.
But whenever something reallycool or interesting or exciting
comes up that we see or that welearn, we frequently just talk
about it.
In terms of doing a similarmethod within the abidable
framework, do you want to goahead and answer that second
part about what looks differentfor the two of us?
Jason (12:44):
So part of the question says, does it depend on gender
personality or learning style?
And then, you know, kind ofwhat looks different or similar
for us.
I think it absolutely dependson the person.
So there's gonna be differencesin gender, but then even within
gender, it's gonna lookdifferent too, person to person.
I think one main differencebetween the two of us is you
(13:07):
like to go much deeper andlonger and write more notes.
Whereas I'm fewer words, and soI'll research something, get
something that I think is likethat's really good, and I want
to just sit on that and camp onit.
And there may be five otherthings there, but it's just not
my personality or the way that Istudy or the way that things
(13:29):
connect as much to write downall of those things and to look
at every commentary and write abunch of notes and all those
things.
So I think that's one bigdifference.
Whereas maybe you go wider, Imay potentially go deeper on
certain things, and so thosecomplement each other really
well.
Things that I didn't seebecause I didn't look at every
single word you did, and thenthat helps inform something that
(13:53):
I saw that you didn't see forthat same word.
So ultimately, in in thisquestion, it's gonna look
different for everybody, andthat's that's cool, and that's
that's what I think is gonnacomplement, you know, people,
whether it's couples, whetherit's groups of people.
I mean, like that's that's thebeauty of the body is that God
reveals different things todifferent people, and the word
(14:15):
is living and active.
So even me, I'm gonna readsomething today, get something
out of it tomorrow, completelydifferent, or or maybe not
completely different, butsomething different because I'm
in a different season, and thesame thing with different
people.
Kate (14:29):
I think that season piece is really important too.
Like that we have we have a lotof moms with like lots of kids.
We have moms with like littlekids, so their season looks
different.
We've got, you know, workingprofessionals that are coming
home really exhausted, makingdinner, cleaning the house, and
going to bed to do it all overagain.
So even getting up early in themorning is a challenge.
(14:50):
So finding the time is hard,you know.
So at a biteable, like one ofthe things that I am most
passionate about saying is thatthe idea here is you just know
what the next thing is that youcan do.
And even if that means that youare cross-referencing a single
verse for multiple days, likemaybe you are doing Deuteronomy
(15:12):
6, 4, and you are spendingthree, four days
cross-referencing because you'reenjoying it that much, you are
in the Word.
You're with God and it's abouttime with Him.
It's not a race, it's a placethat you get to be.
And our method, what I loveabout it so much, and why I'm so
passionate about repeating thisto people, is that we just have
in our mind that it has to looka certain way.
We have to check a certainnumber of boxes, we have to feel
(15:34):
like we've accomplished acertain amount of things to have
qualified for, quote, quiettime or Bible study time, when
it's more about being sitting,abiding with the Lord and
letting the Holy Spirit reallyguide that time too, even if
it's 10 minutes, even if it'stwo hours.
And I would say that I thinkit's really important for us to
(15:59):
be gracious, even with theschedule.
And I think that's why Jasonand I have found that it's
difficult for us to go through astudy and stay at the same pace
because he and I approach itdifferently.
So we have enjoyed giving eachother the freedom and
flexibility to one of ussometimes gets ahead of the
other, and then we still shareand talk about the things that
(16:20):
we're learning along the waywithout having to be as
structured.
Now, if this is the first timethat you're studying together in
this way and you want to bemore aligned, then you can do
that.
You can set a schedule and youcan, as each person, you know,
approaches it, and maybe maybethe husband has more time and
can go more in depth, thenthat's how it looks.
And the and the wife in thatseason is doing the same verse
(16:42):
on the same day, but she's doingit her way, that's fine.
Just talk that through.
And probably I would suggesthave clear expectations and
clear communication about it asyou go.
And if you find that it'sworking, keep doing it.
If you find that you need tokind of free each other up to go
at your own pace and do it inyour own way, I think that's
important too to not because weare, we are all different.
(17:03):
Our learning styles aredifferent, and the amount of
time that we want to spend isdifferent.
So I understand that thedesire, though, as a husband and
wife to be like unified in theverses that they're studying
together.
This kind of ties into our nextquestion, which is just
describing your experience as aman related to abidable, in
terms of is this a good methodfor men uh who are in small
(17:24):
groups?
Jason (17:25):
Yeah, I mean, I think it definitely can be.
I uh have not done it um with asmall group, but I know that
you have women who are doing itin small groups, and I think
anybody studying the Bibletogether is gonna be a good
thing.
So I don't think there's anydifference necessarily between
it's gonna work better for womenversus men.
I would say my experience, I'min a band of brothers, we're not
(17:48):
going through the Bible studymethod, but it does come into
play in our conversations.
You know, there are times whenwe're going through a book of
the Bible, and you know, I'llbust out the blue letter Bible
app to look up something becausewe're talking about a verse,
and it's like, well, what doesthat word really mean?
You know, what does that meanfor us as men?
And there have been plenty oftimes when I've been able to
(18:10):
bring that in, or things thatyou and I have studied through
an abidable study um or thatmethod.
I've been able to bring thatknowledge and that wisdom in,
which I wouldn't have been ableto do before, especially if I
just had read through things andoh, this is what that means.
And that was because that'swhat it meant to me at one
(18:30):
point, and that was in my ownwisdom, but I didn't do any sort
of study on commentary orcross-references or anything
like that.
So it's been very cool to seethat that's able I'm able to do
that more often now, where oh,that reminds me of this verse.
And then you say that andsomebody goes, Oh wow, you know,
that's really good.
(18:51):
Like I didn't I didn't knowabout that verse, I didn't see
it that way.
It like that speaks to metoday.
I think it just goes back tothe previous question.
Like, we are meant to live incommunity, and we've got
different experiences, differentknowledge, different
understanding of things,different wisdom.
And when we can get togetherand share what we're learning
(19:11):
and encourage other people, andthen point out things that hey,
maybe you have never, you know,read this first or didn't know
what that meant.
Stuff like that, I think, isjust very cool.
So um absolutely, would it begood for men in small groups?
Definitely.
And even if you're not doing itin a small group, you're doing
it yourself, it's it's going tocome into play in terms of how
(19:33):
you participate in those groupstoo.
Kate (19:35):
As you're talking, it m reminded me of something that I
wanted to circle back on fromlast week.
And I know we'll probably touchon it again in our last episode
on the church, hurt, healing,and hope.
That episode uh will be episodenumber 70, uh, two episodes
from now.
But I wanted to also mention uhthat I've heard different
theories or opinions on this.
(19:55):
I'd be interested to see whatyou think that the most
important thing that you'relooking for in a church is a
strong children's ministry wherethe gospel is preached, you
know, over morality, being agood person, like that that kids
from the beginning are beingshown that they need Jesus, who
Jesus is, why Jesus matters, andthat it's not just a book about
(20:17):
Bible stories, but it's helpingthem to understand what the
Bible is and how to study theBible and all of that.
Okay.
So I've heard children'sministry is most important, but
I've also heard men's, like notnecessarily a formal men's
ministry, but just who the menare in the church.
And I guess, yes, what'savailable to men in terms of
(20:37):
like fellowship, community, likemen's groups, men's leadership
opportunities.
And I would say as a wife, thatwe have been very fortunate to
be in a church for a very longtime that has solid men who have
come alongside you early onwith a very clear mentoring and
(20:58):
coaching program, as well asjust men who have loved you
well, who have modeled what itlooks like.
You know, they they're they'reolder, they've gone before you,
they've been married longer,have modeled what it looks like,
you know, where it is cool tobe a man who loves the Lord
unabashedly, wholeheartedly, whoserves well, who leads well,
who is a humble servant leaderwho, like we talked about last
(21:19):
week, loves his wife as Christloves the church.
And I think that a church,what's most important for a
family is to find a church whereman is going to have other men
to come alongside him in reallyimportant biblical ways.
What would you say?
Jason (21:35):
I think I agree if we're talking about the the different
programs at the church.
Kate (21:42):
It doesn't even have to necessarily be formal programs.
It just means I just mean like,you know, if you're in a life
group, the men in the lifegroup, you can tell, are walking
with Jesus, they're leadingwith, you know, they're they're
they're walking the talk thatthey love God, they love his
word, because then all of thattrickles down into the family.
Like you could have a greatkids' ministry, but if there's
not, you know, if you'rebringing your husband to a
(22:03):
church and he doesn't, there'snothing being modeled for him
and no men who are going to comealongside him and love him
well, serve him well.
Jason (22:10):
I think it comes down to is it a church that's preaching
the Bible?
Of course.
If you strip everything elseaway, if what's coming from the
the pastor, what's coming fromthe pulpit, what's coming from
the stage, what's being taughtthroughout the church is
biblical, then I I don't want tosay it doesn't matter if you
(22:32):
have a good kids' ministry orwomen's ministry or men's
ministry or life groups or youknow, whatever, food bank,
homeless outreach.
But I think if you can onlypick the one, then it's we
faithfully preach the Bible eachand every week in everything
that we do, then that's gonnabear results.
(22:52):
But then yeah, I would say, youknow, if you have a church that
doesn't have men who are livingthat way and who are excited to
demonstrate that and to mentorother people and lead well, lead
their families, that's criticalin a church.
I think there are some churchesjust like you said, there are
some people that say the mostimportant thing is uh a thriving
(23:16):
kids ministry.
And I think that's incrediblyimportant and critical.
But some of those churches thathave the quote unquote best
kids ministry might be the oneswho are a little bit light in
the other areas and so they'vegot a really colorful, great
entrance to the kids, greatprograms, the kids are super
(23:38):
excited, but then where do theygo once they grow up?
And vice versa, you may haveanother church that has no kids
ministry and it just dies outbecause none of the kids want to
be there because it's it's justa terrible culture, there's
nothing for them.
But I think if you'refaithfully preaching the Bible
and there's a authentic hungerfor the word and holding to what
(24:01):
the Bible says and followingthat, then you're going to have
those programs as an outpouring.
You're gonna have the strongmen's groups and men in your
church, you're gonna have youknow, thriving kids' ministry
and women's ministry becausepeople are living out the gospel
in an authentic way.
So I don't know if that answersthe question, but I think it's
a yes to both of those.
Kate (24:22):
We can and we can we're gonna get thankfully, we're
gonna get to talk more about thecriteria for choosing a church,
and you are definitely spot onthat most important is that the
Bible is being preached from thepulpit.
But I just was asking thatquestion for you because the
second part of my question wasjust about how is how for wives
can we encourage our men withoutnagging?
And we touched on that a littlebit last week in terms of like
I don't want to repeat what wealready talked about last week,
(24:44):
but I I brought that up becauseI think that in addition to the
wife walking with Jesus, lovingJesus, abiding in the Word, and
letting God transform her inways that overflow in how she
serves and loves her husband, inaddition to that is the idea of
being in a church where othermen can come alongside him.
Because there have been thingsthat you have heard from other
(25:04):
men in the church that the Lordused differently than had I been
the one to say it.
And that's a beautiful thing.
And it's why we need eachother.
It's why our whole season, whenwe were gone from church,
struggling so deeply, we weremissing that kind of fellowship
and relationship with people.
You know, the idea is aboutknowing and being known, people
(25:25):
who know you and who can comealongside you and say, Hey man,
what are you doing?
Like, or you can come to themand say, I have no clue what I'm
doing.
Okay, let's move on to the nextone.
Jason (25:35):
How can I get more comfortable in my prayer time?
Kate (25:40):
I would say that it's really important to remember
that conversation with God islike talking to a friend.
He is holy and we ought to fearhim in the turn in terms of
respecting him and having awe ofhim.
And the more you abide in theword, the more that flows
naturally because you're gettinga correct picture of who he is.
So the way that you approachhim and the way that you talk to
(26:03):
him will be, you know,appropriately holy and reverent.
But at the same time, he callsus his friend and he loves us
and he tells us to come to himwhen we're weary and burdened
and tired.
And our prayers don't have tobe fancy, though he did teach us
how to pray.
So the Lord's prayer is a greatplace to start, but help is
also a great prayer that heanswers and that he hears uh
(26:24):
when we cry out to him.
The Bible repeatedly says thathe hears when we cry out to him.
And not only does he hear, buthe responds.
It's an active um hearing, it'shearing and responding, hearing
and doing where he comes to ourrescue.
So I would say, you know, abidein the word.
It'll naturally flow out ofyou.
And also go to the Psalms.
If you want models for how topray, or if you just want actual
(26:47):
words to pray, then pray thePsalms.
It will transform your prayertime.
Uh, and then my final tip wouldjust be to maybe get in the
practice of journaling, writingout your prayers.
If you have a hard timefocusing, like I do, I it's hard
for me to sit still.
I lose my train of thought.
So journaling is a great wayfor me to pray.
I'm gonna ask you the next one.
(27:07):
How do you know which resourcesto trust or use?
There's so much out there thatthe process can get
overwhelming.
Jason (27:14):
Yeah, I think it's a great question because it it can
get overwhelming because thereis so much and it's probably
just gonna get more and moreoverwhelming.
Or or not get more and moreoverwhelming, but feel like it
if you're just trying to look ateverything in one shot.
So I think it's just startingsmall.
Finding whether it's peoplethat you trust or seeing what
(27:38):
other people are using that theyreally love, and just trying
that one thing.
Because I think what can happenis okay, so I'm gonna get a you
know, set of commentaries, I'mgonna get a you know,
encyclopedia and a dictionaryand you know, all these books,
and then I'm gonna lay them allout, and then well, I don't have
time.
If I try to do all of thesethings, it's gonna take me three
(27:59):
hours a day, and so then I justdon't do it.
You know, starting small,finding finding something that's
working, get consistent withthat, and then supplement and
then see.
And it just depends what worksfor you.
I mean, I think as as long asuh you're doing your research
and you're you're in communitywith people to be checking to
see like is this accurate?
(28:19):
Is this a good resource?
If it is, if it's biblical andyou like it and your
relationship with Jesus isthriving and the Holy Spirit
speaking to you through it, thenuse that thing.
It doesn't have to it can besomething from the 1600s.
It doesn't have to be a newtool, it doesn't have to be
anything fancy, it doesn't haveto look like anybody else.
So I I would just say, yeah,just what works for you, start
(28:42):
small and then add as it makessense.
Don't try to start with toomuch at the beginning, because I
think that's where it getsreally overwhelming is by the
sheer volume of it.
Kate (28:53):
I think I get overwhelmed hearing this question as like a
teacher because I am like, oh, Idon't want them, you know, to I
worry because I I know there'sa lot of heretical teaching out
there, and there's uh a lot ofpastors who are wolves in
sheep's clothing, who lead theirflocks astray and who, you
know, say things that sound goodand they're leading people
straight off a cliff into hell.
It's it's this is a scaryquestion to me for that reason.
(29:17):
And I I had to remind myselfthat when I started out, you
know, when we first startedcoming to a church where the
Bible was really being preached,I remember hearing friends
talking about resources andwhat's good and what's bad, and
I didn't know those things.
And it took time.
It took time for me beingaround people who were solid in
(29:37):
scripture and being in a churchwhere the Bible was preached and
taught and the gospel wascentral and trial and error and
time with wiser, more maturebelievers than me.
So I think your first point wasso important, which is to ask
somebody that you trust.
And if you if you don't know,then email us at hello at
(30:00):
Abidible.com.
We would like to be thosepeople for you to help sort of
goalkeep some of the resourcesthat are out there.
There are religions that saythat they are Christian
religions, like Mormonism, andit is not a Christian religion.
It's a heretical religion thatteaches things that are
antithetical to the Bible.
Uh, and sometimes the searchesthat you are looking for, the
Church of Jesus Christ ofLatter-day Saints is one of the
(30:21):
top hits on Google, for example.
And so if you don't know, findsomeone you can trust who knows
the Bible, who's solid, or emailus.
We would be happy to help youpoint you in the direction.
The resources in blue letteredBible are generally really good
resources.
Bible Project is a greatresource.
And the Gospel Coalition, thereare certain pastors that are
(30:43):
great and have been solid formany years.
Now that can get into a wholenother conversation about who
thinks who is good and not.
And that's a conversation maybefor a different day.
But I am just gonna pray inJesus' name that he, through the
power of his Holy Spirit, willgive you wisdom and discernment.
And maybe it just starts withthe awareness of knowing not to
(31:03):
trust every single thing thatpops up in a search, that not
every resource is reliable.
And so, like Jason said, startsmall, start with one that you
know you can trust, onecommentary that is biblical, and
um go from there.
So you have the last question.
Jason (31:23):
What is the best way to use the studies and products
you've created to includechildren?
Could they be used as churchcurriculum, especially for
teens?
And then they said examples.
Kate (31:35):
Yeah, I feel like this could be a whole nother podcast
episode.
I do have a podcast episodecalled How to Talk to Your
Children About God.
And so I can link that in thisepisode description.
So go ahead and look for that.
That might be a helpful thing.
But I will say, in terms ofabidable, that on the most basic
level, you doing the studyyourself, you being in the word
(31:57):
yourself, you saying yourscripture out loud, your kids
will hear you and they will takeinterest in what you're doing
and you can talk to them aboutwhat you're learning.
And they will.
Kids are like sponges.
It's so cool that they hearyou.
And plus, not just the factthat they're sponges.
God's word is alive and active,and the Holy Spirit wants to
draw them to himself throughwhat you're learning and what
(32:18):
you're doing.
So the first most basic, simpleexample is that, you know, as
Jason and I were studying, Liamheard, Liam engaged, Liam asked
questions.
And that is an informal,beautiful way to involve your
kids in the study of scripture,in particular in this case, as
it refers to this answer withthe Bible.
That's how you can use a Biblein that way.
(32:38):
You know, think about how Mosestalks about teaching your
children, you know, this is justtelling the stories to your
children and your children'schildren and remembering them to
generations to come.
And there was no formal, mostof them didn't even know how to
read or write at that period oftime, didn't have access to
paper and pens or computers likewe do.
And so if they could do it, wecertainly can do it too.
(32:59):
And some of it is just thenatural overflow.
We do have a God is one kidsstudy.
It has two age groups that youcan check out online to see what
might be a better fit for yourkids than to have them doing
some lettering, somecross-referencing, some of the
same basic skills that we do inAbidible.
That is currently our only kidsstudy that's available.
That's something that we wouldlove to grow in in the future.
(33:21):
But for now, we just have oneavailable.
I do think, in terms of thislast question with teens, that
teens, even, you know, 12 andup, are absolutely capable of
doing the adult studies at theirown pace.
They don't have to do, youknow, 10 cross-references.
Have them do one, have themlook up one commentary quote,
get them in the word, studyingin this way so that when they
(33:44):
leave you, they will know whatto do with their Bibles
themselves.
I think absolutely yourteenagers can use and and your
your youth groups can use theAbidible Studies to um learn how
to abide in God's wordthemselves.
So we're gonna wrap it up therefor today.
I'm super appreciative.
It's kind of late at nighttonight.
We have had a very long weekgetting back to school and me
(34:05):
kind of getting back to lifenormal.
Jason worked all day, and Isuper appreciate you being on
again, and we'll have you backon next week.
Jason (34:13):
Looking forward to it.
Kate (34:15):
And that's it for this episode.
If you know someone who wouldbe blessed by what you just
heard, please share the Abidiblepodcast with them.
Keep spreading the word so wecan make much of the word.
Drop us a review, tell us whatyou love and what you're
learning.
Check out the link to learnmore about partnering with us by
buying us a coffee one time, byjoining our Abidible Plus
(34:37):
women's membership community for$10 a month, or by becoming a
monthly supporter.
In next week's episode, we willbe talking about calling,
waiting, and walking with God.
You've got questions for usabout the heartbreak and
frustration that can come withwaiting, as well as how to know
how to surrender and honor Godthrough different seasons.
(34:59):
It's going to be a specialepisode.
We can't wait to be back withyou next week.
Until then, remember you areable to abide in the Bible.
We'll see you next time.
Until then, let's abide.
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