Hey.

Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee, and I'm your host for The Bible Recap.

Have you ever watched the first round of the show American idol? There are always a handful of contests who are trying their best, but it's clear that they are on the wrong career path. If only they had someone in their life who'd be honest with them. Unfortunately, they have to make some big mistakes and in front of loads of people, no less. Only then will they hear the truth for the first time. I've made mistakes like this, too. Just last month, a friend sought me out for some advice, and I made a few suggestions which she thought were great. Then I said, Before you act on my advice, would you mind if I ask someone else I know who's a professional and has actually dealt with this a few times before? She agreed, so I called the professional. I shared my friend's situation and my brilliant proposed solution. Without pause, the professional replied by saying something along the lines of, That is terrible advice. Never do that. I had to laugh at myself. The counsel I thought was so great that my friend also appreciated. The pro just dumped cold water all over it, and the suggestion she offered instead was brilliant.

Suddenly, the gaps in my advice were glaringly obvious. Her wisdom was not only helpful to my friend, but to me as well. Sometimes that's what it's like to read or study the Bible on your own. I'm not saying God can't speak to us directly through his word. He can and does all the time. But even in scripture itself, we see examples of other seasoned believers helping people understand his word. The Leviites explains the law to the people. Philip unpacked prophecy for the Ethiopian Unic. Paul's letters are basically him teaching through Old Testament texts like a sermon outline. Especially if you're new to reading scripture, it's tempting to draw quick conclusions like we talked about in episode five. One of the best ways to help yourself avoid this pitfall is to make sure you read or study the Bible alongside others. In some ways, this podcast can help with that, but it has its limitations. It's a one way street. You can hear from me, but you can't talk to me about where you're struggling or the things you're learning about God and his character, I'm going to try to preemptively answer any questions you have, but I'm going to miss some of them.

While I'd love to actually sit down with you and hear your thoughts on all of this, even a one time coffee date won't do the trick because we're going to be doing this daily and hopefully for the rest of our lives. Here are a few things I'd suggest to help you with this. First, find another actual human to do this reading plan with you. Surely you know someone else who's been a long term passenger on the Bible reading struggle bus? Ask that friend to join in this with you. Maybe you can both read the plan and listen to the Bible recap daily, then get together once a week to talk about it. You can share your questions and discoveries and even the things you think I'm wrong about. Maybe you're a Christ follower and the person you want to do this plan with is someone who wouldn't consider themselves a Christian. That works, too. There are lots of people who aren't Christians who listen to this podcast regularly. This could be a great way for them to lean in and learn about the God you love and why you find him so lovable. If you have a friend you want to do this plan with, screenshot this podcast, share it on social media, tag that friend or friends, plural, because it can be more than one person, and tag us in your post too.

We're on Instagram and Twitter @thebiblerecap. We also have a Facebook page called thebiblerecap podcast that you can like and tag. If you don't know anyone who would want to do this plan with you, I suggest joining our patron family. It's just three dollars a month for the basic plan, which gets you into our Facebook discussion group. We have great conversations there and would love for you to be a part of them. We've linked all our social media and our patron in the show notes, or you can find it at thebiblerecap. Com. Second, find or start a D group near you. D Group is a ministry I started in 2009 with a handful of women in a living room. It has grown to more than 200 groups around the world. Women's D groups, men's D groups, military D groups, Spanish speaking D groups. We even partnered with churches to be one of their options for home groups. We've touched every populated continent, though I'm not sure exactly how many were on right now, but we'd love to be in your home. Creepy, right? I know. I should tell you, D Group stands for Discipleship Group. We aren't focused exclusively on reading through the Bible in a year with the Bible recap, though lots of our members are doing this plan.

We have lots of other spiritual disciplines that we put into practice when our communities meet each week. Bible studies, scripture, memory, accountability, prayer, service. If you want to hear more about this, I'll link to a podcast in the show notes where I talk more about D-group. We'll also include a short trailer video to give you a basic idea of what we're about. There will also be a link to our Worldwide Map so you can find or start a D Group near you. If you like what you see in the trailer video and here in the podcast, just click the link to the map to show you options in your area. If you're intrigued but you're not entirely sure it's for you, just join for a session and see how that six weeks goes. There's no pressure to commit long term, but I think you'll want to stick around. We have members who were in that very first meeting in 2009, and they've stuck around the entire time because they see such beautiful fruit in their lives and the lives of others. At the risk of losing a few of you or even perhaps a lot of you, I feel like this third point is the most important.

Find a church. If you're not a member of a local church, let me encourage you to do the work to find a place and plug in there. But just a heads up, you won't find a perfect one. More and more lately, I've been meeting people who love God but who have been so wounded by the church that they've stepped away but still long for God and His Word. Don't give up on the church. God hasn't. And he hasn't given up on you either. He's walking with you in your pain and your questions. When you've been truly hurt, he's angry at the wounds that have been cast away, even if they've been done by others who love him or maybe just claim to. If that's you, I'd encourage you to look for a church with a gentle pastor, someone patient and kind. That kind church home has been a bomb to the soul of so many of my wounded friends. For those of you who prefer to watch a service from the comfort of your bed, I get it. That can be a necessary transition at times, but in the long term, it's not going to serve you well, and you can't really serve it well either.

Your laptop can't visit you in the hospital. Your laptop can't mourn when you suffer loss and you can't learn to die to self by serving your laptop. In the end, laptop church will probably just make you a little more self-focused. I think we probably all need a little less of that. I know I do anyway. I need real people who love Jesus and who love me, real community, not a screen for an hour on Sunday morning. Listen, you can do this plan alone. You totally can, and many will, and many will succeed at it. But it's going to be so much easier to stick to if you have at least one other human person alongside you in this. This will help you understand the scriptures and even God himself more if you do it alongside a community of believers and especially as someone who is an active member and regular attender of a local church. If you don't even know where to start on your church search, we've linked to some helpful tools in today's show notes. Hopefully, those will get the ball rolling for you. Maybe that's more than you signed up for. Maybe you want to get there, but you're not there yet.

God is with you in that space. Or maybe you're here because you don't even know if you believe in God and here I am asking you to join a church. Just like everything else I share, take the tools that are helpful to you. I'm not your spiritual authority. I'm just a woman who loves the Bible and has benefited richly from reading it alongside others, so I can't help but want the same for you. Can you blame me? Even if you can't start out reading in community, go ahead and start anyway by yourself because your enthusiasm will be contagious and someone will be drawn in by what you're experiencing. Also, ask God to bring you some real opportunities for biblical community. Ask him to lead the way and make the path smooth. In the meantime, take advantage of our digital community where you can meet others who are like-minded and maybe even meet someone who lives in your area. Congratulations on finishing all our prep episodes. I am so excited to start this journey with you. If you haven't subscribed to the Bible Recap Podcast and the Bible Recap Reading Plan on the Bible app, please do that now.

We'd love to see you be all in, so check out our website, follow us on social media. I'd even love for you to follow me on social media. It's not creepy. We are the Bible Recap, and I am Tara Lee Cobble. I'll spell that for you. T-a-r-a L-E-I-G-H C-O-B-B-B-L-E. This is going to be your best year yet. I can't wait to jump into scripture with you because he's in there and he's where the joy is. The Bible Recap is brought to you by D Group, discipleship and Bible study groups that meet in homes and churches around the world each week. For more information on D Group, visit mydgroup. Org.