What I’ve Learned This Year

It’s safe to say we’ve all been ushered into a learning season, possibly the biggest one of our lifetime.  I remember when this virus turned from a slight worry in the back of our minds to a world-wide pandemic in a matter of days.  Flights started getting canceled, school suddenly stopped for the rest of the semester, churches closed their doors to meetings.  Those beginning days when the world suddenly turned upside-down, I was traveling home for my grandmother’s funeral.  Giant road signs all through New York and Pennsylvania read, “Stay Home Save Lives” and “Flatten the Curve.”  I took pictures of those signs throughout my drive because I remember thinking, I’m witnessing history.  It’ll be something we remember for the rest of our lives.

We’ll remember the tragedy, the thousands and thousands of lives lost, the months we shut ourselves up in our homes, the loneliness, the countless video calls.  But I also think we have a chance to learn things in this season that we shouldn’t quickly forget.  So here’s what I’ve been learning as it relates to God, my relationship with Him, and ministry:

During the first week of attending services online, my church took communion.  They encouraged us to use whatever we had as the bread and the wine (mine was a salt and vinegar chip and a cup of kombucha).  When I was gathering the elements, I felt silly and like maybe it was a waste of time.  It didn’t feel like it could possibly hold the same value as if I took it in service with a congregation, with a little cup of grape juice and that tasteless wafer.  But I did it anyway.  When Pastor Mark prayed over the “bread” and “cup,” I suddenly felt overwhelmed.  I can honestly say I’ve never had a communion experience like it.  I’ve been taking communion my entire life, and for the first time I was completely overcome with emotion.  It was like Jesus Himself was standing right there in my studio apartment.  I had dinner cooking behind me, I was in my exercise clothes, and I was eating a potato chip, and I felt the presence of the Lord so tangibly.  Standing there with my computer in front of me, I began to sob.  Not from sadness or even joy but just from a real awareness of the presence of God. 

I’m realizing in this season that God’s presence isn’t limited to a time or a place.  Of course I’ve always said that and known it in my head and even in my heart, but I’m learning it in a brand new way these months.  I’ve never before been forced to experience it this way.  I wonder if this is what the apostles felt in the upper room that day; they had no prior understanding of how the Holy Spirit would move, so they didn’t limit their expectations.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m so grateful for church buildings and gatherings and can’t wait until we can meet together again in person, but I didn’t realize how much I needed this kind of time with the Holy Spirit.

It’s easy in the routine of ministry and church life to get used to a certain way of interacting with God.  I began to realize my worship was becoming stale.  I’d attend at least three different worship services a week, I’d lead and teach in many of them, and in the routine of it all, it lost a lot of its life.  God is using this time to deepen my personal worship life and my relationship between just Him and me.  And I’m realizing this is my job with students.

My job is to disciple students so they can have a deep, rich relationship with the Father so that when they leave college, when they move away, when church services aren’t available, when community isn’t around, when the world shuts down, when tragedy strikes they can still have intimacy with Jesus.  My job isn’t to be Jesus for them; my job isn’t to create a perfect environment so they can feel the Holy Spirit thanks to me and the staff; my job is to mentor in a way for them to experience Him on their own, no matter what the environment.

I tell you what, I’m going to remember that moment of communion my whole life.  I’m committed to it.  Because even after 29 years of following Jesus, He revealed Himself to me in a fresh way.  Just like this time in our world is historic, I believe our moments with the Lord during it can be historic.  Will we choose to be aware of His presence and remember what He speaks.

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30 Tips for Engaging the Old Testament

A helpful list of tips and tricks to bring life, depth, and entertainment to your study of the Old Testament:

1. Pray before you start! Ask the Holy Spirit to read the text with you and show you things that you might not have seen yourself.

2. Get a journal or notebook for your study - not everyone's the same, but the majority of us will remember things better if we write them down.

3. Start in Genesis — reading chronologically is fun, but my personal recommendation is starting from Genesis and ending in Malachi. You could also keep going and just read the entire Bible!

4. If you have a reference Bible (the type with little letters everywhere directing you to other verses in the Bible) use them! This will make your study sooo much more full and entertaining.

5. Use an Old Testament (OT) Bible reading plan to help keep you on track if you need the extra encouragement — check out The Bible App for some plans!

6. Pray for a passion for The Word. There will always be seasons where we feel like we aren’t getting anything out of what we’re studying, and I’ve found this true usually when I’m reading the OT — there’s nothing wrong with praying for more passion in the pursuit.

7. Supplement your OT study with music — pull from songs or hymns written after the psalms, or other OT stories. 

8. Finish each book by watching the Bible Project video about it - challenge yourself to read the book for your own understanding, but follow it up with a nice visual summary. 

9. Speaking of visuals, maybe take some time to look up what people during OT times looked like, dressed like, and some other cultural norms of the day. This can help us remember these were real stories and real people. 

10. If you get stuck in a book that just isn’t speaking to you — no pressure, just supplement it or take a break by reading another one! (thank you Esther, Ruth, and Daniel).

11. Read the text slowly and multiple times over to gain a good idea of the context of what you’re trying to study.

12. Observe what you’re reading. Copy down the verses you feel God is speaking to you. Is He affirming you? Convicting you? Saying something you don’t understand? What is it saying about God? About me? (XA PROAPT TOOL) 

13. Interpret the material you’re reading:

    1. What did it mean to “them, then”, the original recipients

    2. Paraphrase it

    3. Lis comparisons and contrasts

    4. List all warnings, advice, and promises

    5. note any “if, then” statements (XA PROAPT)

14. Apply the material and ask yourself — what does this mean to us, now? What truth should I believe, and what am I to do about it now? (XA PROAPT)

15. While studying the Old Testament especially, ask yourself “How or what can I do about what I just learned and now understand in the next 48hrs”?

16. Ask the Lord to point out specific people to tell what you’re reading about.

17. After you’ve done your own study, and only after, take some time to see what others are preaching/teaching/writing about that book you read or research questions you may have.

18. Take some time to sit in silence, and meditate on the Word you’re reading. Leave space for God to speak.

19. If you have a text that speaks about women (Naomi and Ruth, Deborah, Solomon’s wife, Bathsheba etc.) take into account the role of gender, race, and other intersections of identity, and sometimes, pain. You can read thought-provoking commentaries and analysis at The Junia Project and The Center for Biblical Equality.

20. When reading the Old Testament, it helps to break it down by time periods or an event. For instance, Exodus through Deuteronomy chronicles Israel’s “Early Years” and helps us to understand that context of the story better.

21. Take excerpts of scripture that stick out to you, and practice memorizing! This will help you dwell on the passage longer, and start building up your supply of spiritual tools.

22. Copy down OT scripture, and don’t be afraid to change the gendered pronouns — we know that the Bible was not written just for men, and it has brought me so much life to see those promises and encouragement written out for me too!

23. It’s helpful to understand the context of each OT book in the larger context of the whole OT, and then the even larger context of the entire Bible story. For instance, Esther is an amazing story on it’s own, but even stronger when we know that it takes place in between the two returns of the Jewish exiles back to Jerusalem. It also speaks to the broader theme of God’s promise for restoration, provision, and protection of His people.  

24. As you learn new information, poll your close friends or family about things you never saw before — you might blow their minds too!

25. I recommend taking time to really dive into the who/what/why of books in the OT that you might not be as familiar with. Did you know that Nehemiah is about the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem? Or that Ecclesiastes reads like a professor’s research paper? 

26. When reading about some of the wild, joy-filled antics of David, or the dramatic acts of Ezekiel, try to view it as if someone you knew did the same thing — the more I visualize these “characters” as people, the more I see how even the strangest of OT stories are still relatable today. 

27. If you need more historical context, feel free to look up some of the words/phrases in the original Greek/Hebrew/Aramaic to gain a deeper understanding of what is being communicated.

28. Take some time to unpack the Minor Prophets! (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi) All of these books share a lot of wisdom that we don’t often focus on in the Church, and they absolutely add to the bigness of God.

29. Keep a blog or Google document with your notes/links/prayers. You never know — they could come in handy in the future for you.

30. In the books that feel never-ending, go over what you’re studying/gaining from them with a friend. We were made to do life in community, and a deep study can be so beautifully lived out with others!

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