The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - Parents, Write in Your Bible

Episode Date: June 7, 2019

If you are a parent, grandparent, godparent, or spiritual parent, one of the best gifts you can give is a Bible. But not just any Bible, your Bible. The one where you’ve underlined verses, written notes in the margins, and added your prayers in the open spaces. Start writing in your Bible with the specific intention of giving it to your son or daughter. It’s a beautiful way to share your spiritual life with your children and they will cherish it for life. Jeff goes over some practical tips on how to mark up your Bible - check out this episode for more. Snippet from the Show “How will we pass on the Faith to the next generation? … Get a brand new Bible and take notes in it with your son, daughter, grandson, or niece in mind and give it to them as a record of your prayers, intentions, and hopes for them.” SHOWNOTES 2 Peter 1:12-15 - “Therefore I intend always to remind you of these things, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to arouse you by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. And I will see to it that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.” John 14:27 - “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” Color Coding * Yellow - wisdom passages * Green - encouraging passages * Red - What to do in a crisis * Blue - Promises in the Bible Resources in this Episode The Great Adventure Catholic Bible (https://shop.ascensionpress.com/collections/featured/products/the-great-adventure-catholic-bible) Kergyma Card (https://ascensionpress.com/products/kerygma-cards) Activated Disciple (https://ascensionpress.com/products/activated-disciple-bundle) Jeff Cavins Pilgrimages (http://www.jeffcavins.com/)

You're listening to the Jeff Kaven Show, episode 119, Parents, right in your Bible. Hey, I'm Jeff Kavins. How do you simplify your life? How do you study the Bible? All the way from motorcycle trips to raising kids, we're going to talk about the faith and life in general. It's the Jeff Kaven show.

And I want to welcome you back again this week, and thank you for joining me to spend just a few minutes talking about things that pertain to being an activated disciple, a modern disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, and about growing in holiness, Bible reading, learning how to share Christ with other people. And I hope that you're getting something out of it on a weekly basis. You know, we can give you some input on how to share the Lord with people that you're just meeting at a coffee shop. And this last week, by the way, I had an opportunity to talk to a young lady at an airport, sat down next to her and was able to share the Lord with her in a really powerful way.

And just to go by the chrygma. Remember, we talk about this. We've talked about it on earlier shows on brewing a cup of curigma, the charygma, the basic proclamation that, number one, God loves you and has a plan for your life. Number two, sin has interrupted the plan. Number three, Jesus has come to save us and to give us life. Number four, he asks us to respond to this good news with a total reorientation of our life toward him. That's called repentance.

The catechism calls it a radical reorientation. Those are the first few steps of the charygma. And I had an opportunity to share the good news with a lady at the airport and just looked her right in the eye and told her while she was ordering dinner that God loves you and has a plan. for your life. And her eyes kind of watered up. And she said, why did that hit me so emotionally? And I said, because God is talking to you right now. He loves you. And this is the message. And pray for her. I'm not going to mention names on the show, but pray for her. A lovely lady, and God loves her. Just one opportunity that I had this last week. And I hope that you have opportunities to share Christ with other people. Again, thank you for your email. I'm getting a lot.

of email from people with not only comments about the show and how the show has made a difference in their life, but I'm also getting some really good suggestions on shows that people want to hear in the future. And you can write me at The Jeff Kaven Show at ascensionpress.com and give me your input. Again, I encourage you to go to iTunes and Google and SoundCloud and the rest of them and give comments and rate the show. It helps in the algorithm with people who are searching as our friend Ruth says, she writes in. Ruth writes in and says, A wonderful Christ-filled day to you. And to you, too, Ruth. She said, I got to know you from the Catholic mom's life on YouTube. I didn't know that you had a podcast. Just stumbled upon it

when I typed the Catholic, the word Catholic, to search for a Catholic podcast. I was listening to your podcast on how I read minds, and that's how I read minds. And that's how I read minds. And she said that I have something to ask you, how do we read minds of people who continually hurt us, especially family members? We expect good from them as we have treated them well, but they keep hurting us through their words and actions. And that's a good, good question, Ruth. And Ruth is, she's talking about a prior show that I did on how I read minds. Go ahead and listen to it. It's not what you think, but it's good. And that I do know what people are thinking most of the time, and I think you do too, and we can respond accordingly. But when loved ones continually

hurt us, and that's a very common thing, Ruth, you have to know that they're searching for something, they're reaching out for something, they're lashing out for something, and that's typically love and acceptance and affirmation. And you just simply can't take it personally. You can't walk through life, always thinking that people are, you know, attacking you and hurting you. You got to be kind of like a duck, you know, the water off of a duck's back and the feathers. And that, in that, yeah, they are lashing out, but they're lashing out because they're wounded. They're lashing out because they're hurt. And you need to take the high road and not let that sink in and determine, you know, the narrative between you and them, but you got to love them and do what Jesus would do. You know,

he was on the cross, dying for the sins of the world, and he said, Father, he said, forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing. And I'd say to you, Ruth, your relatives don't know what they're doing, but you need to forgive them and continue to walk in love. Matt writes me and says, thank you so much for your words and wisdom and service to the church. As a former focus missionary, now turn stay-at-home dad and full-time student, I find your show to be great, to bring great life to my long days, whether it's while running errands or doing the dishes. Just pause there for a moment, Matt. Hey, kudos to you. That's great that you're doing that. And it's a privilege to be a part of your life. And by the way, for people who don't know the focus missionaries, check them out. This is one of the most

powerful ministries in the church today. And they are on campuses around the United States, and they are bringing the gospel to people, just really impressed with focus missionaries. Well, anyway, Matt says, I wanted to ask if you'd do an episode on a few different things. Now, here's what I was telling you earlier, that people write me all the time and say, here's what I'd like to hear. Now, let me share with you what Matt is suggesting. He says, number one, leading our families in prayer as the spiritual head. I have two young daughters under three, and things are relatively simple thus far.

However, I want to ensure I continue guiding and encouraging them to seek the Lord in all things. Matt, you are not going to believe this, but I have a show planned right now. It's called, Why Does Daddy Sit at the End of the Table or the Head of the Table? And that's exactly what you are talking about. That's in the mix right now. Number two, Matt says, you've mentioned on your morning, you mentioned your morning Lexio-Devena time with your wife, Emily. I love the idea, and would love to do that with my wife. I'm not sure how she'd feel about it, considering how difficult prayer has been for her since having children.

Let me just say something real quick about that, Matt, and that is, you know, as Daddy sits at the head of the table, daddy leads his family, and his wife, his children in prayer, the husband protects the family, he provides for the family, he leads the family, and it's something that you can simply lead and do with a gentle spirit. And I have found that most women love it when their husband leads spiritually. In fact, years ago, we did a poll in the church that I was involved in. This is prior to coming back to the Catholic Church. I was a Protestant pastor. And we asked women every year, what are you interested in as far as your husband?

And number one, they said, and this was every year. Number one, I wish my husband would act as the spiritual leader of our home. Number two, I wish my husband would pray with me. Number three, I wish my husband would lead our children. That was consistent year after year after year. So as a husband, as a father, just do that and do it in a gentle and loving way. And I know you can. You've got focused missionary background. I know you can do it. Number three, you ask, would you also be able to do a show on prayer in the midst of work and what that looks like? Not a bad idea, Matt. I think I might just might. do that. All right, today we're talking about parents right in your Bibles, and this is going to be a little bit different than you probably thought you were going to get. But the goal of this is I really am interested in how we pass on the faith to the next generation, to your children, to your grandchildren. You might say, but I don't have any children. I don't have any grandchildren. Well, you might have nieces. You might have nephews. You have somebody down the chain that you can

influence in the faith by writing in your Bible. Let me explain what I'm talking about here. I have before me right now. In fact, I'm going to take a picture of them, and I'm going to put it in the show notes. If you want show notes, just send us an email, The Jeff Kaven Show at ascensionpress.com and put in the subject line, show notes, you'll be in. You're good forever, and we'll send you the show notes. And in the show notes for this show, I have a picture of my last three years. Bibles, and I'm going to talk to you on the show of what I'm planning on doing with those and my plans for future Bibles, okay? Now, in my Bible, three Bibles that I have in front of me right now, there they are, I have notes written in them, and I have so many verses

underline, cross-references, dates where things happen. My Bibles are a mess. Not quite as messy as Andrew, Dr. Andrew Swofford or Scott Hahn, my two friends who have really messy Bibles, okay? But mine's pretty messy with notes throughout my life. And I've written in them for years. Now, my goal in writing in my Bibles is not only to keep a record for myself of what the Lord has been saying in my life and doing in my life. But my hope is that when I'm not only to keep a record for myself of what the Lord has been saying in my life, and doing in my life. But my hope is that when it's all said and done, and I'm pushing daisies, also known as dead, but I'm hoping that my family, those who are still here, would be able to look in the Bible and see my heart and see where the Lord has led me as part of our heritage,

in our family, right? It's part of our background and our family heritage. So my goal is to give them way to my family when I am gone. Now, I've got three Bibles, I've got three daughters, but I also have three grandchildren right now. And I'm asking myself, how can I have an impact on my grandchildren? You know, I pray for them, and Emily and I pray for them all the time, but is there more that I can do to influence their lives? They're only one year, four years, and eight years old right now. And the answer is, yes. Now, you might have children or grandchildren or nieces and nephews, you can influence them in a powerful way as well. Now, one of the things that I'm suggesting here, which is really, really, I think a cool idea, is getting a brand-new Bible. Let's say you have a

grandson, or let's say you have a new daughter, a brand-new daughter. If you get a brand-new Bible, one of the things that I'm encouraging you to do is to take that Bible and to periodically, meaning maybe a couple times a week or three or four times a month, that you would go to that Bible and underline and take notes in that Bible, and it would be with your grandson or your son or daughter or your niece in mind, in that one day you will give them this Bible after two, three, five, ten years of writing in it. You'll give it to them as literally a record. of your prayers, your intentions, and your hopes for them. This is actually a very cool idea. It kind of came out of something that happened to me. It must have been, I think it was four years ago. I went to a

wedding, and at the wedding, this couple had a brilliant idea. What they did is they set out at the reception a brand new Bible, and they asked everybody who came to the wedding to underline a favorite verse of theirs that they were praying for this new couple with. They were hoping that the results of that particular verse would be theirs. And so at the end of the reception, they would have a Bible with maybe, you know, 150 different verses underlined by all of their family and loved ones. That's a pretty cool idea. And you can do that. But what I'm talking about here is taking a Bible. And let's say that I have three grandkids, which I do. I have three Bibles that I want to buy brand new, and I want to begin to underline certain verses and pray those verses for my three

grandkids. And after 10, 15 years, they'll receive the Bible with grandpa's heart and prayers for them in that Bible. Is that cool or what? You see, we read Bible. We read Bible. We read Bible. We read Bibles for more than ourselves. We read Bibles for ourselves, yes, but also for our families, for our extended family, because we hope that this gospel that has influenced our life, this relationship with Jesus, which has influenced our life, would be passed on to the next generation. Now, what if you started to create a Bible with the intention of giving it to your children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, so forth one day? The idea is, is that you would get this brand new Bible write in it, and one day they would see your heart

in a record of your prayers. Now, one guy who kind of does this is St. Peter. The super apostles in the book of Acts are Peter and Paul, and in Peter's second epistle, chapter 1, verses 12, and 13, 14, 15, He talks about his impact on other people. Listen to this, because I think this is kind of what I'm getting at here as far as influencing the next generation. Listen to what he says. He says, therefore, now this is 2 Peter 1, 12 through 15. I'll put it in the show notes for you. He says, therefore, I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon. In other words, he knows he's going to die, right? As our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure, you may be able at any time to

recall these things. So let's break that down for a moment. What Peter's saying is, is he's saying that I know I'm going to die, but I want to get some things across to you. And so what I'm going to do is I'm going to write some things down so that after I die, you have a way of coming back after my departure, and you're able at any time to recall these things that I think are really, really important, which ended up being, by the way, the Word of God, inspired. Wow. So the pattern there that St. Peter sets up for us is that I'm going to write some things down so that after I die, you can recall these things because they're so important. And what I am encouraging you to do, which I'm going to be doing this, by the way, I've got plenty of relatives to do this with,

is you're going to be writing down in a brand-new Bible, some things that you want after you die, you want your grandson to go back and recall these things. That's incredible. That's an incredible opportunity for you. Just think. Think about this. In 25 years from now, I don't know how old you are. Maybe you're 18.

Maybe you're 30. Maybe you're 50. Maybe you're 64. Whatever. In 25 years from now, if you are gone and your children are struggling, and they're struggling with depression, they're struggling with anxiety, they're struggling financially, they're struggling in their marriage, they're struggling in their job, suddenly they open up this Bible that you have been writing

in for 15 years, 20 years, to have something from your heart to their heart right there in the Bible, that's gold. That's gold. And you've got an opportunity to do it. But it's going to cost you a Bible. It's going to cost you some time to invest in the next generation. You know, a lot of men will say to me, you know, I'm not a theologian, Jeff. I don't know the Bible that well. I haven't gone through the catechism, but I want my grandchildren to remain Catholic and have access to the sacraments. Well, listen, now's the time to start preparing for that. You can do something on a daily basis. We're going to take a break here when I come back. I'm going to give you the practical aspects of this and how I would go about it as far as picking a Bible, what to do in the

Bible. And I think this could be a real tool that could change your family's life. I love to hear. I'd love to hear from you on how you're going to do this. All right, you were listening to the Jeff Kaven Show. Reading the Bible is something we as Catholics know we should do, but Let's be honest, it can be kind of complicated. Even though it's a complete story, the Bible isn't really one book. It's more like a library, with dozens of books and dozens of genres. There's poetry, prophecy, and prose. There are apocalypses and revelations, historical accounts, and allegories.

No wonder it's difficult to keep a finger on the story of God's love and plan of salvation for his people, the thread that keeps all of it together. If you're wishing there was a simple guide to help you tie all of this together, then you're just like Jeff Kavins and Tim Gray. That's why they wrote the book, Walking with God. Walking with God is a single book that traces the story that ties the Bible together. It helps you to understand the big picture of the Bible. If you're looking to read more of the Bible,

walking with God will help you do it with confidence, peace, and clarity. You can find out more and order Walking with God on ascensionpress.com or on Amazon. And you're back, and I'm back, and I want to thank you for sticking with me here today. Kind of an interesting show idea, isn't it? Parents, write in your Bible. I've got three Bibles in front of me, and I also have some brand new, great adventure Bibles, which I would highly recommend, obviously. and I want to share with you on the second half of this show how I would go about writing in a Bible for the next generation as a gift to them at some point, kind of paying it forward in a way,

or writing it forward, we should have said. All right, so number one, I would encourage you to get a Bible, get a good Bible, get a Bible, it has some room to write in it. The New Great Adventure Bible has a kind of a larger margin. and that was by design to help you to write some things in the margin. So get a Bible. If you've got a couple grandkids, maybe get a couple of Bibles with the idea that this is going to be something you're going to go to every week for the next 15 years or so. Just to underline some things, and I'll get to those in a moment.

But first of all, get a good Bible, get a Catholic Bible. I obviously recommend the Great Adventure Bible, which you can get at ascensionpress.com. Number two is decide on what you are going to highlight with colors. For example, you can get colored pencils, which is what I use in my Bibles to highlight. The reason that I use colored pencils is they don't bleed through the India paper, that thin paper that most Bibles are made out of. If you get some kind of wet marker, it's going to bleed through, and you're going to be upset about that. So get colored pencils, and I have several colors that I use. Now, I'm not saying you have to use these colors, but I'm just,

giving you an idea. You can do what you want to create this spiritual masterpiece for the next generation. But for example, you might want to highlight yellow, with yellow, you might want to highlight scriptures with wisdom. Wisdom attached to it. Don't you want your kids to walk in wisdom? Don't you want your niece or your nephew, your grandson to walk in wisdom? We'll highlight those verses, you know, on a weekly basis, monthly basis that you come across and highlight them with yellow, right? How about green? What about green for scriptures that are encouraging? In 20 years from now, when your grandson picks up that Bible and opens it up and he's going through a tough time, wouldn't it be nice to know that grandpa or grandma spent years highlighting this

Bible for my encouragement? Wow. Man, I don't know about you. That just, well, that trips my trigger. Red for what to do in a crisis. Maybe red for what to do in a crisis. Maybe red for what to do in a crisis. Blue for promises in the Bible, right? Blue for promises. Now, you don't have to use those colors. You can come up with your own scheme, but if you come up with a scheme to highlight those verses, put that schematic in the front, you know, that this is what yellow stands for and green stands for, and red stands for, and blue stands for, or purple, whatever color you come up with. But be creative, be creative, and be personal. Be personal. What do I mean by that? To be personal, I mean, for example, say to my second daughter, Jackie, I may say, I pray that God's peace, that God's peace will be a reality

in your family and in your life. And I might have highlighted John 1427. Let's say that in Jackie's Bible, I highlight John 1427 or Tony's Bible or Carly's Bible, my three daughters. John 1427, what does it say? Peace, I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives, do I give to you, let not your hearts be troubled. Neither let them be afraid. In the column to the side, Jackie, I love you, and I pray that God's peace will be yours all your life. You don't know when she's going to look at it. She might not look at it for a year or two, ten years. I don't know. But when she does, she's going to hear my heart. She's going to hear my heart. And that's one way that I can keep the teaching moving on. I do encourage you to use pens.

that have a very fine print on them, like the zebra pens I use or colored pencils, those are important. I encourage you to visit the Bible or the Bibles you have a few times a week. If you hear something, for example, in a homily, or a teaching on a CD, or you read an article, keep it in mind, make a note of it on your smartphone. And then when you get back to that Bible or Bibles, make an entry. Make an entry about that. verse and what your prayer is and your hope for your loved one. In the front or the back of that Bible that you choose, get this, here's what I would do. I would write at the front a general letter to who it's intended for, your niece, your son, your granddaughter, whatever, and I would write a

letter at the beginning of it stating what this Bible is all about and how you have spent over a decade reading the Bible and thinking of and praying for them. Do you know that if I'm blessed at this point, both of my parents are alive, Emily's parents both now have deceased, and if my father had gone on to be with the Lord, and I found this Bible that I realized that for 10, 15 years, he was underlining it thinking of me. I'm telling you. I'm telling you, what, that would overpower me, especially in a time of need in my adult life. So another thing you can do is you can use the verses that you choose on a weekly basis, monthly basis, whatever it might be. You can use those verses as a way to pray for your children, your niece, your son, your family.

It becomes a launching pad on which to pray correctly for your kids. If you say to them at the introduction at the beginning of that Bible, honey, I've been praying for you. That's going to mean an awful lot. I think they're going to take it more seriously when they are older than, say, 12 years old. Most 10, 11, 12 years old, you know, old kids are not going to take it that seriously. Most likely, that's kind of a rare bird. But when they get older and they're in need and they're facing life's challenges, I think they're going to be more apt to take it. Seriously. And there, you've put in all the work throughout those years. Another thing that I would really encourage you to do is to put the date or, you know, put the date in the column. It might be March 20th, 2020. I prayed this for you, my dear son. That puts this into real life, doesn't put a date in the column or below a verse, or an event, an event like your first steps. You took your first steps today. And I want you to know that God's word is a light into your path. And I hope that

every step you take after today, my dear daughter, I hope that God will illuminate your path. Get a little emotional even talking about that. Something you do, do it together, like a fishing trip, fishing opener, or a vacation, right? You might even put it in there. We went to the Black Hills this year. I prayed this for you while we were camping. But yeah, that's powerful. Or I know that you just broke up, it's your first breakup with a boyfriend, and I know it hurts, but I want you to know, this is what the Lord says to you. I'll never leave you.

I'll never forsake you. That could be very, very powerful. Or you could cite a verse that you can say, this reminds me of you. You're tenacious. You're loving. You're patient. And I see that in you, my dear nephew. I see that in you.

Very, very powerful. And some of these verses will be anchors. They will be anchors for their lives. And they might even be a life verse. Like, for example, mine is Galatians 2.20. I have been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me in the life, which I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and delivered himself up for me. It's a life verse. Maybe your nephew. Maybe your son, your little baby boy right now in 25 years from now might choose a life verse based on what you wrote in that Bible and passed on. Okay, so there's the idea. And, you know, some people will ask me, where do your ideas come from for the shows that you do? And my answer is, I do not know.

They just come, you know, it's life. And I want to pass it on to you. But taking all of this in, I want to ask you a favor. If you choose to do this, will you write me? Will you write me an email at The Jeff Kaven Show at ascensionpress.com? I would love to not only hear about this, I would love to get a picture of your Bible, I would love to have your ideas on this, because this can be a big thing if we all do it. It can be a big thing. And you can be Padre Piel.

You know, he bilocated. You can write now and influence them later. Great idea. You know what I'm going to do too? I have my three Bibles. And next to those, I'm going to put my Grandpa Caven's Bible. I want you to see a picture of what I'm talking about here. My Grandpa Cavens lived in scripture. He prayed for me. And I have that copy of that Bible. And that Bible, when I look at it, brings hope to me. And I guess you could say, I know what I'm talking about here. I really do. So would you do that? Would you do that? Would you write me? Please? And let me know if this is something you would like to do to influence the next generation. Get a great adventure Bible, a couple of them, two, three of

maybe. Start on this. You don't have to be a slave to it. Just do it when you want to. And you can have some kind of projection date as to when you're going to pass this on. But now's the time to begin. Hey, I want to remind you again, big, big trips coming up January of 2020. I have two trips to Israel and go to my website, jeffcavens.com, under pilgrimages. We have a few places left on those trips if you want to join me. And then the Kamea, Kamea, the big, big one is in June of 2020. Father Mike Schmitz and I will be leading a young adult trip to the Holy Land. If you are not a young adult, but you know of young adults, pass it on to them. That also is at my website, jeffcavens.com. And it's going to be the trip of a lifetime with three major Catholic

artists, Taylor Tripote, Ali Aliah, Brother Isaiah, major concerts in Galilee, major concerts in Jerusalem. And we are going to have mass at all these places, tremendous teaching. And it's going to be a theme of really discerning what is God doing in your life. It's a time of decision. That's coming up on June, in June, I should say, of 2020, and all the information is on my website. Wow, so much happening, so many opportunities. And again, sometimes I wonder if I get more out of this than the people who listen, because I get myself wound up and excited about the things of God. I hope you do too. Can I pray for you? In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Lord, I lift up to you right now, my friend. My friend, Lord, who wants to have an impact on the world. And like me so often,

we wonder how can we do that? Lord, I pray that you would give them insight, courage, vision on how to do perhaps this, and that is right in a Bible for somebody else to pass it on, to give the good things that you have revealed to us, to others, to others who will take it and run with it. I thank you, for helping us in this way. And also pray for the intercession of our dear mother, Mary, Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. I love you and ask you to pray for me and I will pray for you. God bless. Thank you.