WHOA That's Good Podcast - Can ChatGPT Help Us Study the Bible Better? | Sadie & Christian | David Platt

Episode Date: May 7, 2025

Every believer needs time in God’s Word — but where do we start? Sadie and Christian are joined by pastor and author David Platt who just released "How to Read the Bible," a guide to building a deeper relationship with God through Scripture. He challenges us not just to read, but to memorize and meditate on it. Sadie gets honest and shares that re-reading the Bible isn’t easy for her. She’s not one to revisit books or shows—but every time, God reveals something new. Then she asks the big question: Is AI like ChatGPT changing how we study the Bible? Should it? https://helixsleep.com/sadie — Get 27% Off Sitewide + Free Bedding Bundle with any Luxe or Elite Mattress Order! https://drinkag1.com/whoa — Get a FREE bottle of AG D3K2, an AG1 Welcome Kit, AND 5 of the upgraded AG1 travel packs with your first order. https://covenanteyes.com/sadie — Visit the website to earn more and start your journey toward a healthier, stronger marriage today. - Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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that's helixsleep.com slash Sadie for 27% off site-wide and a free bedding bundle with any Lux or Elite mattress order. Again, that's helixsleep.com slash Sadie. What's up everybody? What's up everybody? Happy Well That's Good Wednesday. I hope you're having a great week, but per usual, it is about to get so much better. Y'all, we have one of my favorite guests back on the podcast today.

I know you're thinking I'm going to say you, but it's actually David Platt. I knew who you were going to say. We have David Platt back on the podcast with a brand new book called How to Read the Bible, which don't we all need to know how to read the Bible more. So David, thank you so much for coming back on the podcast. This is like pure joy. It's pure joy just to be hanging out with you guys. So it's been a little too long for that. And so yes, hopefully in a way that would benefit others is even better. Yes. It's been a little too long for that. And so yes, hopefully in a way that would benefit others is even better. Yes.

It has been way too long. It's been way too long. I was thinking about Heather today. I love your wife. She is one of the most fun. Just like every time I'm at Passion or If Gathering or anything like, if I see her in the room, I'm going to her.

Like she's always having fun. She's just confident in who she is and I love her. I miss her. So you'll have to tell her that we gotta hang. I will definitely tell her that. And yes, when she's in the room, I'm going right toward her as well. So.

That was awesome. Well, Christian wanted to be on today because one, he loves you and two, he's your greatest hype guy. I wish people could hear what he was saying to David before we started recording. Well, I was just complimenting David's bulging biceps. You're smuggling so many Bibles, you're just...

I know there are four more valuable things we can talk about than my biceps, but man, I really appreciate that, bro. It means a lot. See, it's so funny because one of the things I fell in love with Christian for, which was like, it made me feel so awkward, but I still loved, is that when we would get around people like you, David, who I respect so much, sometimes I tend to go more quiet

and like be a little bit more reserved. Christian does not. He never changes who he is, no matter who he's in front of. And it makes it so much more fun and life-giving. And so, thanks for taking the bicep compliment on the podcast. He knows it too. Not that he would say that about my biceps,

but it's one of the things I love about a Christian too, is yes, I love being backstage at an event with Christian. It's the best. In all seriousness, like, yes, just because there's joy and laughter in that, but there's also just humility and authenticity. And I really appreciate that about Christian. Thank you for saying that.

That means a lot. That's so sweet. I love that. Okay, well, Christian mentioned that you've been smuggling Bibles. You have been on some epic adventures lately that we've been following along on Instagram. So update us. Like, tell the people where you've been and what you've been up to.

That's the thing. He can't. He starts every video by saying, I can't say where I'm at. Okay. Well, I can say... I can say different trips are different, but yeah, I'd rarely say where I'm at at the time. But looking back, the most recent one, I was in Bangladesh. And so, man, so this gathering, they said, so Bengali-speaking Muslims are like the largest unreached people group in the world. Just millions and millions of people with little to no access to the

gospel. But there are followers of Jesus in Bangladesh. I mean, a very tiny percentage, and it's costly. My first morning there, I was asking this sister in Christ, it was my first conversation that morning, like, tell me about the cost of following Jesus here. And she immediately started talking about martyrs she knows. And she said we have money set aside like in our ministry budget for hospital bills when people get beaten by sometimes by family members or yeah for either becoming a follower of Jesus or for sharing the gospel. And then they have money set aside for funerals

to help with funeral costs. So it was just sobering from the very beginning. But so then, okay, that's a sobering picture. But then we get to this place where we're having this gathering and they say there's going to be 500 people in this room. And I'm like, there's no chance you can get 500 people in here. And indeed, they just crammed in this room, 500 people, and sitting on the floor, but pure joy, just worshiping Jesus, sitting under His word all day long, praying, studying the word, and the whole few days we were there, it was all focused on how do we keep spreading the gospel in hard places here in Bangladesh and then wherever God might lead us, no matter what it costs.

And so, yeah, this is what life is about. It's about a word, a God who's worthy of our life and spending our lives making them known no matter what it costs. So yeah, that was Bangladesh. That's powerful. So for those who don't know your story in your background, David wrote a book called Radicals,

one of my favorite books. Krishna, both were very, very impacted by your book. And you've been on the podcast before, but it was years ago, talking about that and just your story and different things. But I want to catch people up and speed. We have a lot of new listeners and not and just your story and different things, but I wanna catch people up and speak, we have a lot of new listeners and everyone knows your story.

So when was it for you that you went from, and I hate to say it like this, but like a Christian, like you go to church to like a radical believer, to even say this is life, where a lot of people, they're like, yeah, that should be my life, but that's not even how I think about life, even as a believer.

Yeah, I would say, I would point to two particular moments. So one was in college when, so I'd grown up by God's grace, like hearing the gospel and a great home church that, yeah, pointed me to Jesus. And so I, yeah, pointed me to Jesus. And so I, yeah, was following Jesus, but this one moment in college,

I remember a brother sat down with me, just opened God's Word, and from cover to cover, just walked about 45 minutes from Genesis to Revelation, and showed God's passion for His glory in all the nations. And like, this is where, this is where the whole book is headed. Like all of history is headed, God's passion for his glory in all the nations. And like, this is where the whole book is headed. Like all of history is headed to Jesus being praised by people from every nation, tribe, tongue, language in the world.

And so if that's where all history is headed, then this is what we need to live for. And it was just like a jaw on the ground moment for me. Like, whoa, like this should be like my purpose. And this is all of our prayer. Everybody who's got the spirit of God in us should be living for that day, like spending our lives for that day. So that was a that trajectory changing moment in my life in college. But then fast forward a few

years, I ended up going to seminary, ended up starting pastoring this church in Birmingham, Alabama. And yeah, I all of a sudden found myself pastoring a pretty good-sized church, living a pretty comfortable life as a pastor, kind of living out this American church dream. And it was literally just reading the Bible and just saying, wait a second, if there are billions of people who have no knowledge of the gospel, and if heaven and hell are at stake,

and I'm following a king, savior, Lord, who says, I deny yourself, take up a cross, die to yourself and follow me. My life, like just comfortable, casual Christianity makes no sense. And so it was like a crisis of belief, like, do I really believe what I'm preaching here? And so that led down a journey where Heather and I made some significant changes in our life, just selling the house we were living in, just making major adjustments in our life, and then walking our church family through that. And then that's, the radical was just the overflow of that.

It wasn't written like to be this book that a bunch of people read. It was just, the idea was we're just going to self-publish it so that people who came to our church would realize why we're doing some things a little different than just why we're really pushing back. I say a little different, a lot different, pushing back on just casual cultural Christianity because we don't believe it's actually Christianity. But then that book out of the hands of some others ended up being published. So anyway, those two moments were pretty defining moments, just a conviction of my own life that led to changes in my life and then the way that flowed out in my family and then leadership in the church and writing some of those things.

Wow. That's awesome. That's so good. Do you feel like, you know, because the book is called How to Read the Bible, how do you feel like that moment, like how did that moment change for you, like how you were reading the Bible before that moment versus after the moment? Because you talk about, you know, praying through the text

and these different kinds of things that you do when you study. Yeah, that is an interesting question. Like you were a pastor at the time, so you had clearly read your Bible a lot. What was it about you reading your Bible in that moment that was like, man, I'm off? Yeah, that's so good.

And this is part of why I start this book with how not to read the Bible, because I think it's actually possible to read the Bible, well, I would say it's possible to read the Bible in ways that are dangerous and deceptive for us and ways that are actually harmful for us. Because if we're not careful, we can read the Bible and twist it to say things we want it to say, or kind of ignore the things we don't really want to hear. And really, when you think about it, that's exactly what But when you think about it, that's exactly what I was doing. I would argue that's like what casual cultural Christianity is doing.

It's like taking the Jesus of the Bible and when he says, go sell all you have, give to the poor or deny yourself, take up a cross, follow me, or love me in a way that makes your closest relationships in the world look like hate in comparison. We kind of take those passages and we're like, well, what Jesus really meant was, and we start twisting him into like this nice

middle-class American Jesus that looks like us and thinks like us and doesn't really call us to any extremes and is fine with us kind of coasting through till we get to heaven and all of a sudden, like we've actually taken Bible reading, we've created Jesus, God, in our own image, which totally distorts our worship. Now when we gather together in our churches, we sing our songs and lift up our hands, we're

actually not singing to Jesus, we're singing, worshiping ourselves, but in the name of Jesus. So we've got to be really careful then to read the Bible and really soak it in. I mean, that's where I mentioned it was like crisis of faith moment. Like, do I really believe what I'm reading? Like this book says that people who don't know Jesus, like aren't forgiven of their sin through faith in Jesus, will spend an eternity in never-ending judgment. Like if I really believe that then okay there

needs to be some urgency in my life to make this good news known. Like I can't just like coast through here. So that's why, but it all comes back to like reading the Bible truly, like being careful not to read it in unhelpful ways, but then really soaking it in for what it says and then living according to it. Like that's foundational, because I wouldn't want to call anybody

to like do anything radical or extreme, just because David Platt says it, or this teacher, you know, say to your Christian, say it like, no, like what, but if Jesus said it, if this is the way Jesus said is actually life, then yes. Yeah, let's give our everything in our lives to this. Like this word is worth our lives in that way. But I do think it all comes back to really, truly reading,

meditating on the Bible, understanding what it says, and then live according to what it says. And I think kind of a casual cultural Christianity is not game changer. It's still the same once-a-day habit that we know and love, but now it's been upgraded with even better vitamins, minerals, and probiotics. Plus, it's clinically backed after years of development

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What do you feel like a dangerous caveat can be, you know, obviously just coming from Bangladesh to where there's not an excess of access to information compared to something like the West, to where there's commentaries on everything and all these excess of stuff that you can study and nuances of scripture and stuff like that. What do you think a dangerous caveat can be to have so much information compared to someone like Bangladesh that is just specifically just reading the Bible? Yeah, man, the first thing that comes to my mind is, so this would be another

danger that God himself in his word tells us. Like Matthew 7 and James 1, both. Jesus says, everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand, rain came, wind blew, beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. So just hearing God's word and even like understanding what it says using all these resources, like just hearing it actually leads to total disaster. And James 1, don't merely listen to the word and deceive yourselves and do what it says. So just listen to the word, like just getting information, just hearing sermons on Sunday and reading the Bible during the week.

Just hearing actually leads to deception and destruction. Like that's what Matthew 7 and James 1 are saying. Just hearing actually leads to deception and destruction. That's what Matthew 7 and James 1 are saying. So application, what are we doing with what we have? And so I think about these brothers and sisters in Bangladesh that I was with, they know to live according to this word and specifically to speak this word,

to share this word with others. They know it's gonna be costly. And, but they're saying yes. That's what this whole few days were about. Like these brothers and sisters saying, yes, this is worth giving our lives to make known. So what about us? So are we, and that's just, yeah,

for all of us, wherever we live in the world, are we listening to the word, and this is one of the things I try to dive into in the book, like putting into practice in our lives, and not just putting into practice, like living according to it, but actually speaking it, actually sharing it with others.

Because if we're not doing that, then we're still like missing the whole point in ways that can be really deceptive. But that's where, wow, Bible reading, Bible intake can be deceptive and destructive if we're not careful. That is so good. And like something I've honestly never heard anybody say, which is funny because you just told me two places in the Bible that it says that. So that's on me. That's me missing it right there in the word.

But it goes totally against just the cultural norm of like checking a box of Bible reading, which I know is not, like I'm always like, that's not helpful. It's not just, oh yeah, just get in your time, check the box. Like if you're not actually learning, if you're not actually applying, if it's not changing you.

Because sometimes, you know, you meet people and they are like the most disciplined every single morning, they read for 30 minutes and it's like, you don't see any fruit coming from that. It's like, you're hearing it, but it has not changed you. It hasn't like pierced your heart. You know, this is so amazing that we're having this conversation

because we get asked on this podcast, Bible reading questions all the time. People sending questions, how to read my Bible, how to get started, where do I start? We actually had someone on, Tara Lee Cobble, who does, you know, and she taught, that like was so good for our listeners. It led so many people to go in and doing her thing,

which has been so awesome, reading the Bible, learning the Bible. But yeah, that's just a common question. And you address this in your book, like all the different reasons why people might be not reading their Bible. So let's talk about those for a little bit. What are some of the most common things you hear

when it comes to people being hesitant or struggling with Bible reading? Well, I think a lot of them come back to just not knowing. Psalm 119, 162, I rejoice at your word, one who finds great spoil. Spoil, like there's treasure in this book, waiting for us every morning. But I think most people are like, how do I get the treasure?

How do I experience the spoil? And so that's where it's going to take some time. You don't discover treasure by just stumbling on it. It's going to involve more than a verse for the day. I'm not saying verse for the day is bad, but you're not going to get to the treasure without the time to dive into it. But that's where I think a lot of people's misconception, I mean, you talked about checking off a box, is we disconnect Bible reading from the beauty of intimacy in a relationship with God.

Like I, we were talking about Heather earlier, my wife, I just, I try to couch some of the examples in this book We were talking about Heather earlier, my wife. I just, I try to couch some of the examples in this book in the context of like when Heather and I started dating and like she would send me, so this is before texting or anything like that, she would send me a letter and she's the first girl I ever dated, which sounds noble but it was just totally socially awkward. And praise God, he provided someone who was attracted to my

social awkwardness. And so she would start writing letters. And I remember I'd get a letter from her and it'd be like, Dear David, and I'm like, Dear, that's a good start. And then she would say like, I'm praying for you. And I'd be like, what does she mean by that? Like, just praying for me like she prays for anybody? Or like, when she prays for her future husband, she prays for me. And then she put like a smiley face. I'd be like, why does she put a smiley face right there?

And I would just obsess over every word. And you'd be like, well, you were clearly obsessed. And yeah, that's kind of the point. Like, I was in love and I was just devouring her every word. Like how much more so with like God, like I'm just thinking about, I'm just thinking about my time with God this morning. Like this morning I was meeting with God,

like the God who spoke and the whole world was created, and he was listening to me and like amidst everything else he's got going on, and he was talking to me. He was speaking to me. Like I was in conversation with him like this and showing me treasure that, oh man, Psalm 112 this morning, he is not afraid, I think it was verse seven, he is not afraid of bad news. His heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. Like it was so good.

Like I just had like a nightmare last night about something family related. It's like, and it just kind of exposed one of my biggest fears. And, uh, and the Lord just spoke to me like, and that just happened to be my, the chapter I was reading in Psalms today, but his heart is not afraid. He's not afraid of God bad news. His heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. It was so like that's, that's treasure. And I'm not saying every morning is like

revival, but like God wants intimacy with you. Like that's amazing. And so sorry, I'm getting off from your question. Keep going. The fact that we have this available to us on a daily basis, like why would we spend however many hours we spend every day like scrolling through stuff on the phone? And I'm not saying it's all bad, but like, oh, we have like life, the word of God, God speaking directly to us, like this is amazing. So I just think most Christians,

when they think Bible reading, don't think intimate love relationship with the God of the universe. And that's what I want people to, not only think, I want, I'm zealous for people to experience that. It's great. I love that you were like, I don't even know the question was, I'm sorry. I'm like, no, keep going because it's so fun

to see someone so in love with God. Like it's fun to see someone in love period. Whenever like your best friend is falling in love and you're getting all the updates and you're hearing all the things, it's so fun. And you're like so locked in and you're so happy for them and you're like so excited for them to hear all of that, how their relationship is progressing.

And it's so rare you ever see someone get that fired up about their love for God. It's just, you don't see that that fired up about their love for God. It's just, you don't see that. And maybe that's because we're not experiencing that. And not because God isn't offering it, not because God's love letter isn't there, not because he isn't extending that every single day,

but because we are not diving in, we're not showing up, we're not going on the date, you know? And so I just, I actually just love that whole moment because I'm like, yes, this is so good and so beautiful. And I think for me, like, when it comes to Bible reading, this is just an honest confession. This is not, this is just where I tend to fall is that I have always been like this.

Like if I watch a movie, like I don't really have to see the movie again. If I read a book and I don't really want to read the book again, I've never watched, rewatched a TV show. I was like, I saw that TV show. Why would I rewatch that TV show, you know? And so for me sometimes I'm like, oh, I know that chapter. Oh, I know that.

But then it's like crazy because every time I read it, I'm like, oh, I didn't know that, or I forgot that, or God reveals himself in a new way for that. But it's like my mind or in my flesh, it gets like lackadaisical, like, oh, you know, I've read Psalms before, but then like to hear you be like Psalms 112, and I'm like, I didn't know it said that, you know?

And so I have to like remind myself that this is new every day. This word is not just a book that you've read and you're rereading or a movie that you're rewatching because it's active and alive. It's a new mercies every day, and if I'm experiencing something today I wasn't experiencing three years ago, I can read the same verse

and it's awakening my soul in a new way. And I don't know if you hear that from people when it comes to struggling reading the Bible or what different people struggle with. I think a lot of people ask me the question like, where do you start? And so just practically, where do you tell people to start whenever they're starting to want to know more about God and start this love relationship with Him and reading. Friends, I want to talk to you all about something that is very important to me, and that is marriage. Marriage is one of the sweetest gifts God gives us, but that doesn't mean it is always easy. And today, with so much technology at our fingertips,

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each and every day. Christian and I have talked so much on this podcast even about accountability, about confession, about the power of it. And I really do think that that is where freedom comes. I think that when the Bible says, confess your sins to one another, you will be healed. And so I think this is so important.

If you're married, engaged, or even just dreaming about the future, I can't recommend Covenant Eyes enough. Go to covenanteyes.com slash Sadie to learn more and start your journey towards a healthier, stronger marriage today. That's covenanteyes.com slash Sadie. That's what I love about, like Bible reading truly is a supernatural experience. Like this book is unlike any other book. It's breathed out by God. His Spirit has inspired this book.

And not just inspired it, like over centuries through the human authors who wrote it, but His Spirit is actively opening our eyes in this moment that we're reading it. That's even different from yesterday when I was reading it. So, and, or last year when I read it. So it's, and again, it's one of the many things that separates the Bible apart from any other books. So it's not even just for, cause I totally get exactly what you're saying. Like, yeah, but it's not even just for,

that's why we can read the same stuff year after year after year, if you read the Bible through, like every year. You could read the same stuff year after year after year, if you read the Bible through, like every year. You could read the same stuff every year, but you're walking through this today, the Holy Spirit of God is speaking through this word in a fresh way to you in this moment, because you're in relationship with Him,

and He's applying that word in your life in a way, like He was doing that with Psalm 112 in light of a nightmare I'd had the night before, things that just come to the surface that I'm afraid of or I get worried or anxious about that are different now than they were five years ago or 10 years ago. But it's just interactive supernatural experience with God.

So where do you start? My encouragement would be for anybody just to have some kind of intentional plan for reading through the Bible. So I walked through one Bible reading plan that Heather and I have used together for years by a guy named Robert Murray McShane that some people could just search online. But there's tons of Bible reading plans. There would be at least a chapter or two chapters a day. I should add real kind of a quick side note. One of the things Heather and I have loved for years

about reading the same, so we don't like sit down and read the Bible together. We're both having our time with the Lord just separately alone, but not that it would be bad to read it together, but it is so good every day to be in the same word. So when we get up, so when we have that time with Lord in the morning,

then we're going to like do our CrossFit workout or whatever, like we're talking about, man, was Isaiah 11 not amazing? Or was Psalm 112 not so encouraging? Or this or that, like it just, or convicting in this way, like it just provides. And then we invite our kids in on the journey too, so they're doing the same Bible reading we actually do as our church family reads through

a Bible reading plan together. So, I would just encourage doing that in community as well. But start with some kind of intentional plan for reading through the Bible, and ideally, yeah, do it with some others, and just wait and see how. And again, not every day is like, wow, that was perfect for this day. But on so many days, the word that you just so happened to be reading that day, the Spirit just takes it and applies it to what's going on in your life in that day in a beautiful way.

Yeah, that's awesome. Because I even think about it too, we talked about earlier, like the practicality of it. And I'm going to give you a moment in a minute to flex, not your biceps. But this is not supposed to be like an additional flex. But it's just cool because you're not necessarily, there's so many applications to reading.

Like, yes, there's things that in the moment, like this morning, for the Lord to speak to you in that way, but also the way Paul talks about a shield and armor, to where throughout your day, you're able to recite texts back. That's Jesus when He's tipped in the wilderness. He recites texts back to the enemy. And there's so many things in our life that you're gonna be tempted with certain things. And if you don't know a rebuttal or if you don't know how to take every thought captive, if you don't know how to... If you don't know the word, then you're gonna be so much more susceptible. And I was gonna say for you, it's cool hearing you on the podcast and for someone listening, you have so much validity to what you're speaking to. And I was gonna ask you, because I know that you can recite so much of the Bible.

Like at Passion, you quoted Romans one through chapter eight. That's eight chapters of Romans. So just to kind of give yourself some credibility, which you don't really need it, but what all can you like just from memory recite from the Bible? Oh man. Because it just shows you the work that you've put in and like, yes, like, you know, you don't necessarily always have to pull out your Bible

when you need to think of something or say something. Like it's truly written on your heart. Oh bro, there's so much there. Well, and I'll tell you guys this, last night I was hanging out with a brother in Christ who has, he's memorized the whole New Testament. And I can't remember how many books in the Old Testament, but a number of books in the Old Testament.

So yeah, I just, so I don't have all that. So that's flex, that's total. But this- That is so cool. He is so humble. He loves the Lord. He walks with God. Actually has a resource,

pardon me, it was hesitant to say his name because he's so humble, but he has a great resource that people could look up just on Bible memorizations. If you just look up Bible memorization by Andy Davis, it's so good, it is so good. And this brother just walks with God. But that's where early on, like in my journey with Jesus,

I had a brother just look at me in the eye and say, David, you look at men and women who have been used mightily by God, the word was hidden in their hearts and it just flowed through them. They spoke it, they knew it. And so he just challenged me to memorize scripture. And that's when I was in high school and this guy who was actually leading musical worship at a camp I was at, he just put down the guitar at one point and he quoted Philippians 2, just a chapter of the Bible. And I'd never heard anybody quote a chapter of the Bible. And I was like, Whoa, that was amazing. And so, yeah, that's

when I started like, okay, I want to try to try to do this and try to start memorizing like chapters or, or books in the Bible, which I know as soon as I say that, there's so many people who might think, well, yeah, I can't do that. And that's one of the things I walk through in this book, because with rare exceptions, most of us, different people have different abilities to memorize, but most of us can memorize scripture. The example I use is if I said I'd give you a thousand dollars for every verse you can memorize over the next 24 hours, I think you'd like figure it out. Like Jesus wept. Like that was pretty easy. Just you figure

out how to memorize just for the next day. Like so but Psalm 119 says God's Word is worth more than thousands of gold and silver pieces. So that's really the question. Like what's more valuable to us, like money or God's word itself. And so just to start, I think about one brother in our church family, we were like walking through First John as a church, and we challenged the church to memorize First John, chapter one, just the first chapter.

And this guy, just think, just ordinary Joe, like he just, and he's like, okay, I'm going to try this. I don't think he'd really done Bible memorization at all. He starts doing it, there's nine, 10 verses, and he invites his teenage son to do it with him. And so they start doing it on their drive to school in the morning. And they did it, like over the course of a few months, memorized the whole chapter. And he was like, pastor, this is amazing.

I've memorized a chapter of the Bible. But then his son looked at him and was like, we're not stopping now, are we? And so they kept going. His son was like, let's do the whole book. They memorized the whole book together. And like, how much, what more valuable thing can you do? Like one in your life than hide the word that brings

life in your mind and heart. And then to do it with somebody else, like do it with your teenage son, like this is so valuable. To do it with a friend, whatever it is. Like, oh, so I would just, I would just encourage, Bible memorization will transform your life. It will totally transform your prayer life. It'll transform your relationships. The way you're able to encourage other brothers and sisters in Christ with just a word, it'll transform, like you talked about, you're facing temptation to have the sort of the Spirit,

the Word of God in the middle of that temptation. It'll transform your ability to share the gospel. Like, this is, like all the things we'll talk about with people today, that we actually have words that can bring people from everlasting death to everlasting life. Like I said, have some of those memorized would be really good. Instead of just weather and sports and politics or whatever else, like be able to speak that which brings people from death to life.

So yeah, it'll transform your life and others lives. That's great. And it really is so true. It's a matter of like time and where you're investing your time. Because when you say like you can do it, the truth is you have done it just with so many other things. Like when you bring up sports or different statistics or the news or like for me, I am very like I have a very visual memory. So I are like audible to. So if I hear sermons, I can reenact what that person said and I remember it so clearly.

But then I had a little bit harder time of reading and memorizing. So I've tried now to listen to the Bible too, just ways that I understand it a little bit better, or maybe it might stick with me a little bit more. Or even worship music is a huge thing for me because obviously that's not, I'm not saying that's to replace Bible reading, but so many worship songs have like our scripture. And so if there are songs or

old hymns that you can learn that are literally quoting the scripture, like I grew up in a very traditional church and we just sang hymns. And I didn't realize how many of the hymns were complete scripture. So I started reading the scripture and realizing, oh, I know this whole part because I've seen this, because I've seen this over myself. And so I think whenever you tap into the ways that are more natural for you to learn, it's so helpful to really getting it into your heart and in a natural way.

One thing I want to ask you about is just Bible literacy and just understanding kind of what we're reading, because we talked earlier about how this book is so different than any other book. And one of the things that really made me start to realize that is when I started understanding like the prophecies that were spoken about Jesus, because you like hear that growing up in church and you're kind of learning it. But it wasn't until I later grew up and understood like, oh, like 500 years before someone said this

and then Jesus fulfilled that exact same thing that they said was gonna happen. Or even like, I was, this week I was studying something on whenever, you know, Judas, like betrayed Jesus. And I didn't realize like in Psalms, there's a verse that talks about how my closest friend will betray me and all this stuff. And just reading stuff like that, I'm like,

this is crazy, because this is hundreds of years before that actually happened. And then you just realize this is a story that God narrated in the craziest way possible. And it gets really exciting when you start understanding what that means. What is a good sleep? Well, a good sleep is just life changing.

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Exclusive for our podcast listeners, that's helixsleep.com slash Sadie for 27% off site-wide and a free bedding bundle with any Lux or Elite mattress. Go order at helixsleep.com slash Sadie. How do you recommend to people who are not in seminary, have never even been to church? how do you recommend people starting to? Not just like read a passage, but understanding more of the context or there's certain commentaries you lead people to

Is it finding a mentor like what does that look like? Yeah, that's really good I love that question because yes like getting to that treasure like there's a sense in which the beauty of the Bible is word Like getting to that treasure, like there's a sense in which the beauty of the Bible is Word, Holy Spirit, you, like this is really all you need. At the same time, by God's grace, like we're part of the body of Christ throughout history, and even today, they can help us understand what we're reading, which we need. We need, all of us need pastors who teach the Word to us to help us understand it, so people who are teaching the Bible to us. And then, yeah, resources, which we have and we talked about earlier, in abundance. So I encourage people to get like a good

study Bible. So like the one we encourage our church family to get is the ESV study Bible, because we use the ESV translation. But just a good study Bible, because what a study Bible has is it's got the word and then it's got just different notes along the way that'll help you clue help clue you into Particular things in this passage the context and that's part of what I talked about this book because you really need to like get In the shoes of the people who are hearing this at that time and and the person who's writing this and how it all fits together so and the person who's writing this and how it all fits together, which you can't just get if you just kind of open, read, and then close it. So to have some of that information, and then, I mean, something as simple as, like, all those little verses, which are called cross-references,

as people open their Bibles and you see these little letters next to verses that point you to different places in Scripture. Like, just try. Sometimes when you read the Bible, when you read through a chapter, turn to some of those different places, and what you'll start to see is how all these different parts of the Bible do relate to each other. Like, yes, clearly, like these different prophecies. But then even just, oh, I'm studying right now Ephesians 6, 10 through 20, which is the armor of God, and it's so good. So verse 10, be strong in the Lord in the strength of his might. There's actually three words there, so this is gonna nerd out a little bit because it's three different words in the Greek that are

there. But a good study Bible might show you this. Those three words come together one other time in Ephesians, and it's back in Ephesians chapter 1, in the same verse back in Ephesians chapter 1, when it's talking about Jesus has risen from the dead and has all authority over all cosmic powers and has all authority in all the universe. And so the beauty is, like when we're fighting battles against temptation, doubt, discouragement, the one who has all authority over all powers, that's who is in us, and we're in him.

That's what Paul's saying here, be strong in the Lord, who's the Lord? He's the one who has all authority in heaven and earth, and to make that connection with Ephesians chapter one is just like, oh, this is so good and that there but the beauty is when that happens and it's not just in Ephesians but it's like this and yeah what you said how it ties back to Isaiah seven centuries before like this book the more you dive into it the more you see see, like, this is a supernatural book. It is unlike any other book

in the world. It's the Word of God, one author over all this time. And we have it available to us. Like, there's nothing more valuable that we could pour into our minds than this for our good. So, yeah. Yeah, I've been listening to a podcast lately and it's, Yeah. Yeah, I've been listening to a podcast lately and it's, it's, it's, it's too, it's like, you know, reading the Bible from the, from the standpoint of, of like an Eastern reader verse, like a Western listener or Western reader, whatever. But even like, you know, in Genesis, throughout the whole Bible, this idea of chiasms and how God uses literary tools to, to speak to people and even things like, you know, that

idea that Jesus was a Jewish rabbi. And so everything that Jesus pretty much said in the New Testament was calling back to something in the Old Testament, like when he feeds the 5,000 and he sets people in groups of 50, like what Moses did. And then two with the two tablets and then five with the Torah. And like all these things numerically

that an Eastern reader would pick up on. To us, it's just like, oh, he's separate them into groups of 50. But no, it's like there's everything he did was schematically, like he had a plan for everything he did. And there were so many callbacks to literally so many things he did in the Old Testament. And yeah, like if you just read it

versus truly studying it and learning it and asking for wisdom, it's so cool. Yes, in my mind, it's just been blown lately of just trying to learn things that Jesus did that wasn't like, you know, like these things, like my yoke is easing, my burden is light. Like at the time, every rabbi had something and that was, you know, like it wasn't like Jesus

was the first rabbi to ever talk about a yoke, but the fact that his was actually, you know, truth and just all these different, you know, Eastern Jewish things that it's been below my mind lately of just learning, just, yeah, that Jesus had a true purpose in everything he did. And just, there's so true purpose in everything he did. And there's so many nuances to things he taught.

So good. You know, as you're talking, I'm thinking about, my favorite quotes I heard a long time ago is, God does not reveal the intimate things of his heart to those who casually come and go. And I just, like, it takes time to like, yeah, to study, to get some of those things. And, but, like, we have, we have time.

And I know we, we are like, think we're, and we are, we're busy people, and we got a lot going on in life. But at the same time, like, it's one of the things I talk about in the book, like, can, like, I think a lot of people are like, I just don't have that much time to really read and study the Bible or meditate on the Bible like that. And it's like, well, yeah, I mean, I guess people think, I mean, to wake up in the morning, look at something, spend time thinking about it all day long, nonstop,

all the way to go to bed. Like, well, actually that's what we do, like with this device. We wake up, we look at it all day long, like hours, hours every day. And then this up, we look at it all day long, like hours, hours every day. And then this is what we look at it, then we go to bed, like what if we just spent some of that time like feeding on, feeding ourselves with like that which truly brings life instead of so much drivel in this world. So it's before us, like God

is giving it to us. Let's experience and not because we feel like we have to or like we're supposed to, but because we want life. Like I saw one happy, like blessed is the one whose delight is in the law of the Lord on his law. He meditates day and night. He will be like a tree planted by streams of water. Its leaf will not wither and all that he does, he prospers. Who is listening to this right now that doesn't want all that? Like true prosperity, not even just worldly prosperity,

like true eternal prosperity, your leaf not wither, like fruitful life and happiness, like true happiness. Everybody wants that. So meditate on this word day and night. That's so good. Okay, I'm gonna ask you a very new age question that maybe you've gotten before, maybe you haven't, maybe you thought about, maybe you haven't.

I'm just genuinely curious about this. What do you think about using chat GPT to help study the Bible? Have you tapped into that or have you even been asked that? I don't know if anybody's asked me that and I don't think I've done that. I just think that the challenge would be, there are so many, yeah, I want to make sure both personally and that I would encourage others to make sure

that the sources you're going to that are helping you understand God's word are good sources. So I just think about walking through the airport yesterday and seeing these brochures about Jesus from people who are with a cult. And I'm like, okay, like that. I just don't know at what level chat GPT

is pulling from that instead of. So I just would wanna make sure that, but I would say to like a larger point, man, praise God for the accessibility we do have to a lot of good sources that just at our fingertips on our phone that we can use. And so let's just be wise in the way we go about using those. I think that's good, because I think so many people are obviously using chat right now,

and it is such a helpful tool. And one thing that I have found helpful, because I use it sometimes whenever I'm studying for a specific thing, and like I have found helpful, because I use it sometimes whenever I'm studying for a specific thing, and I was studying Judas, so I asked Chad, tell me all the times in the book of John that Judas is mentioned. Well, that's really helpful, because it's helping get me all that information.

But I'm not gonna be like, what's your commentary on this, necessarily, because that's not, I can't trust it. I don't know where it's pulling from, what its source is. But when it comes for like informational things where it's like, how many pieces of silver was used to solve for? Okay, then I can look that up and back them

and make sure I'm studying it with an open Bible, studying it, where are these passages found so I can flip through. So I think it can be a helpful tool to assist you in Bible reading, but I don't think you should get all of your information from there because it might not be a trusted source. There are so many commentaries that are.

Enduring Word is one that Christian and I love to read and point people to. It's been very helpful for us in understanding some context, like the study Bible you said. And I just wonder how many people out there are wondering about chat when it comes to Bible reading. And that's something that I myself have been like,

okay, I don't use chat for things to replace, I think it's an important conversation. No, I just like, I'm just laughing how you keep abbreviating chat to be cheated, just calling it chat. Like, you know it's like, oh hey chat. People talk about it casually. It just makes me laugh.

Like I'm never gonna, I would never use it to ever write a sermon for me. I would never use it to write a chapter. Like that's wrong, but I'm gonna use it to assist me in learning or in writing to get, as I study, you know? So I think the important thing when it comes to like something like chat GPT, is that if the whole world is like using it and we as believers are using it,

then we do need to have conversations about like the wisdom and the way we use things like that and tap into things like that. And I do think there is a part of it that is helpful and I do think there is a part of it that could get dangerous for sure. Like most things when it goes to the internet, a lot of good stuff, a lot of really bad stuff.

Okay, on a different note, I'll get past my chat talk, but I do wanna ask you this as we kinda begin to close. One of the main points in your book is that you have to share the Bible. You're sharing the words you're reading. And I think a lot of times people read for themselves, you know? They don't really think of that as being a part of it. So talk to me about the importance of what's coming in being something

that's not just for you and your benefit, but for the blessing and proclaiming to other people. Yeah, like, I mean, bottom line, this word is too good to keep to ourselves. for the blessing and proclaiming to other people. Yeah, like, I mean, bottom line, this word is too good to keep to ourselves. Like, if it truly has supernatural power to bring happiness, blessing, prosperity, like fruit in people's lives,

then we certainly, we cannot keep that to ourselves. And I just think about the conversation we've been having, like Psalm 112, I hope that's been encouraging to you guys with any fear, worry, anxiety you might have. I needed that, Christian knows I need that. He's trying not to out me, that was really good. But it's just like the simple overflow of like my quiet time this morning.

And that can be for all of us, like God's not just, yes, praise God, He's speaking to us, but in ways that can lead to, and that's encouragement to others, other brothers and sisters in Christ. When you think about Deuteronomy 6, and it's talking about, talk about the word when you walk on the road, and when you lie down,

when you sit, when you rise. Well, how can you do that if you don't, haven't spent time receiving the word, and then you're sharing it with others? And then, with unbelievers, not that you have to like tell everybody is not a follower of Jesus around you today, like what you learn in your quiet time,

but at the same time, like you're gonna talk about, yeah, sports, politics, news, weather, whatever, like at some point, fill that conversation with something that actually has power to bring people to life. And then the beauty is, not just for others' sake, what this does for your own heart. Because, I mean, as I'm talking about Psalm 112 with you guys, it's just encouraging me in a fresh way,

just reminding me, it helps me keep from just hearing that word from God in the morning and kind of moving on with the rest of my life today. I know, I only encourage others with that. So to be intentional about sharing the word, knowing, it's the only way that others can have life as well. So don't just receive it, reproduce it. It's so good, David.

And you and I are an example right now of someone who did it this morning and someone who did not do it this morning because last night I also had a bad night and had a lot of nightmares and it was not a good night. Did not sleep good at all. And this morning I was like, I know I need to get up. I know I need to be my word

because I know I need like a fresh start. And I just didn't do it because I was so tired from the night that I just had. So I was like, I'm just gonna sleep. Then I wake up and my daughter woke up in our bed and I was like, okay, maybe I'll just kind of get on my phone and read some. And I turned to Psalms and I'm like trying to read

and she's like, why are you reading so slow? She starts like scrolling my phone and I'm like, I'm trying to read the Bible. Just let me just read this one thing. And she's like, mommy, you read so slow. And the whole time she was just talking about how slow I read so that I'm not getting anything out of it. And then I'm like, okay, I'll go make your breakfast,

made her breakfast, listened to a sermon on the way here, but it was like, I didn't even have time to finish it. You know, I like get here, go straight into my day. It's been so busy. Christian Lurie calls me right before this, like, how are you doing from last night? And I was like, honestly, I was just really tired. I'm still just like struggling with it

because I didn't replace it with truth. And then this is me being vulnerable. And then you come on and you're like, I had a bad night, I had nightmares. I woke up this morning, I read Psalms 12, it talks about like God not being afraid of the bad or not being afraid of the bad news and all that stuff. And I'm like, wow, like this is so encouraging to me

because I one needed to hear that verse, but two, it's just a reminder of like really what it looks like to get in the Word, and how it really does refresh your spirit. And it really does, it really is new mercies every day. And I can just tell the effect my dreams had on my day, not having the space to get, not that I didn't have it,

that I didn't intentionally pursue it this morning. That could have changed the way that I pursued and went about the day. And so I feel like that I just had to say that to help our listeners even with like, this is the fruit of what we're talking about. Like you're sitting here jumping for joy, hands in the air, like rejoicing in the Lord

after having a night of nightmares. And I am so encouraged by that and so inspired by that. And so this whole conversation to Christian's point, you don't just say it, you don't just preach it, you live it, you practice it, you breathe it, you believe it with everything in you. And every time you're on this podcast or anytime Christian and I get to be around you, I personally am so challenged and so moved and wanna go love God more.

And I hope to be a person like that in my life. So thank you, David, for coming back on the podcast. Thank you for writing a book that's gonna be so helpful to so many people. It's just greatly appreciated. So we adore you guys and are thankful for you all. So true. We love you guys. Well, we love you guys, like really. And I really appreciate you sharing that, Sadie.

And there's so much that we could even dive into there. But I just want to, I love that all of us have days like that. And that's why, yeah, well, one, I hope it's why seeing by reading the context of love relationship with God is helpful. Because yeah, when that happens, like, praise God, we're still in love relationship with Him. He's not like disappointed in us, or He's just, He's, but that's where Christian community, like being around brothers and sisters in Christ to pick us up on days like that. We all need that so yeah all that to say I'm thankful for you two and

Yeah, the encouragement God's used You two to be in mine and Heather's life and just the mutual identification that happens every time we're around you So yeah, and praise God all of it happens every time we're around you. So yeah and praise God all of it crowned in his name. Amen, amen. Well we love you guys. Thank you so much. This is great.