Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 58:11 — 53.3MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Android | RSS | More
We have our finale for our Bible study series today! Last, but not least, we have my own Pastor, Kyle Fox, on the show talking about why it is important to study the Scriptures for yourself, but also why you need a godly community for support. He gives us his own acronym that helps you remember the basic guidelines for Scripture interpretation. Lots of valuable tools to help you in your personal study!
Bio:
Kyle Fox, Lead Pastor & Elder
Hey! My name is Kyle Fox and I am the lead pastor of Red Mountain Community Church in Mesa, AZ. I’ve been in this role since 2016, but have grown up at this church. I graduated from Biola University in 2009 and Phoenix Seminary in 2017. I am passionate about people knowing the Bible more and about missions both locally and all over the world. My wife Sarah and I have three kids (plus one foster son). We love to be outside hiking or biking or whatever else sounds fun!
transcript below!
Website: https://dswministries.org
Email: diana@dswministries.org
Social media links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DSW-Ministries-230135337033879
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DswMinistries
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxgIpWVQCmjqog0PMK4khDw/playlists
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dswministries/
https://dswministries.orgsubscribe-to-podcast/
Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Google Podcasts, Pandora, Stitcher, Listen Notes
Keep in touch with me! Email subscribe to get my handpicked list of the best resources for abuse survivors! https://thoughtful-composer-4268.ck.page #abuse #trauma
Mentoring https://youtu.be/WWgkERpkIoY
An easy way to help my ministry:
https://dswministries.orgproduct/buy-me-a-cup-of-tea/
A donation link:
https://dswministries.orgdonate/
Affiliate links:
Can’t travel to The Holy Land right now? The next best thing is Walking The Bible Lands! Get a free video sample of the Bible lands here!
https://www.walkingthebiblelands.com/a/18410/hN8u6LQP
Get one free month of Blubrry podcast hosting with the promotional code: FAITHFUL
http://create.blubrry.com/resources/podcast-media-hosting/?code=FAITHFUL
Get quality podcast guests and interviews from PodMatch! Get paid to be a host! Sign up below:
https://podmatch.com/signup/faithful
Visit my friends at the Heal Thrive Dream Boutique for some cool T-shirts, jewelry and other merch! Simply share the discount code we created just for you and receive a 10% discount on your order!
DIANA98825
Bible Study Notebook From Karen Robinson! Check it out!
Kyle Fox Transcript
[00:00:00] Brian Winkler: Welcome to the Wounds of the Faithful Podcast. Brought to you by DSW Ministries. Your host is singer songwriter, speaker and domestic violence advocate, Diana Winkler. She is passionate about helping survivors in the church heal from domestic violence and abuse and trauma. This podcast is not a substitute for professional counseling or qualified medical help. [00:00:25] Now here is Diana. [00:00:27] Diana Winkler: Hi there. Welcome everybody to the podcast and I’d like to welcome our Amazon music, Amazon Podcast listeners. I am now on Amazon. So, another platform that the podcast is available on. And you can also use Alexa to bring up the podcast now, which is kind of cool. So you can say, Alexa, play the Wounds of the Faithful podcast and it will play. [00:00:57] So welcome. How [00:01:00] are things going for you? Any prayer request? I will have to give you a praise this week on the Winkler household. If you remember back when I lost my job, and it was a bunch of episodes ago, I mentioned that they denied my unemployment, which was pretty devastating. And so I had to appeal, and I met with the judge last week and the judge ruled in my favor. So that is good news. [00:01:30] Yeah, that’s a mortgage payment. And so, the lesson here is that if you are challenged on your unemployment claim and that’s here in the United States, the reason why I won is not only because I was innocent cuz I was, that I kept very good records. I mentioned that I had recorded my one-on-ones, my reviews. That is legal in my state. It might not be legal in yours, but that is something to consider. [00:01:59] [00:02:00] I also kept copies of all the paperwork and my stats, my performance metrics that was all very helpful in winning my case. If I didn’t have all of that, it was just my word against my former employer, I would not have won. So, That’s just a reminder, folks something that would help you. If that’s something that you’re facing right now, go back and listen to that episode on dealing with unemployment. [00:02:23] If you haven’t heard it already. Now, this week is my final week with our series on Bible study. I have been wanting to have my pastor on the podcast for a while now, and finally our schedule’s aligned, and so we are going to have him today. Really excited. He’s been on the show before. If you remember, that was episode 20, so go back and listen to that episode. [00:02:50] If you have not heard it before. The subject we talked about before was: how to choose a healthy church. So there was a lot of valuable information in there [00:03:00] that I think would be helpful. So a little bit about Kyle, if you don’t know him. He is the pastor of Red Mountain Community Church in Mesa, Arizona. And his wife Sarah, and he has three children and he is fostering a little boy right now. Definitely pray for Kyle because it’s a rollercoaster ride if you’ve ever fostered children, which I have not, but my friends have, and we’ve had guests on the show that have fostered children. So Kyle has been a pastor of the church, I think five years now. He grew up in the church. [00:03:39] His father, Bob, was the pastor for 30 years, and Kyle has pastored over in Uganda, Africa. They ministered to the folks over there. And so he has a lot of real world experience. He actually conducted Mending the Soul groups over there in Uganda, [00:04:00] and so he is no stranger to suffering and abuse and being compassionate and so I know that you’re gonna love this episode. [00:04:11] Oh, I wanted to add that due to our schedules the only time that he had free was one o’clock in the afternoon, and so I’m at work of course. So we did this interview while I was at work in a conference room, and so I have my phone and I have my blue Bluetooth. So it was a great interview, but just keep in mind, I don’t have my Fancy Schmanzy podcast microphone and I don’t have my good camera, so, But you are gonna be so blessed by this episode. [00:04:44] I’ll try and fix most of the sound post production for you. So would that being said, here is my conversation with Pastor Kyle Fox. [00:04:56] All right everybody. I’ve saved the best [00:05:00] for last folks. I have my pastor Kyle Fox back on the show with us. Thanks so much for squeezing us into your crazy schedule. [00:05:11] Kyle Fox: Absolutely. My privilege to be here. [00:05:14] Diana Winkler: People were starting to ask me I invited all these other Bible teachers on the show and I didn’t have my own pastor on. [00:05:22] And folks, I promise you, I asked Kyle first. I asked my own pastor first. [00:05:29] Kyle Fox: It’s been a long time coming. [00:05:31] Diana Winkler: It was just hard to get our schedule’s aligned, but it’s great to have you here. It’s been a year, I can’t believe it. Episode 20. That was so long ago. Oh, wow. So I’m, encourage everybody to go back and listen to that because you were talking about how do you find a healthy church? [00:05:52] And I tell you what I’m so thankful that I have the church because of what [00:06:00] Brian and I have been going through and, you guys have been such a spiritual support to us as well as financially and emotionally. All I did was, I called the church and asked them to put me on the prayer list and everybody just stepped in. Hey, you need Fry’s grocery cards, you need gas cards, just filling in the blanks. How can I pray for you? And somebody paid for me to go to the women’s retreat this year. Wow. I have not been to a women’s retreat since 1998. Wow. And there’s reasons for that. [00:06:38] But so I wanted to thank you for, having a church that is, is so helpful to folks when we’re going through trials. [00:06:46] Kyle Fox: Yeah, I, it’s a privilege for me to be at Red Mountain too. I it’s a neat place. Not without its problems, but it’s a neat place. [00:06:53] Diana Winkler: Yeah. Yeah, we talked about that before, that it’s not a perfect church and there’s no such thing, right. But but [00:07:00] we deal with the issues and don’t sweep ’em under the rug. And we’re a family. And I will have to give a shout out to your wife, Sarah, because. I don’t know if she told you this, but we had a fundraiser for Latvia while we were at the retreat. If somebody could stand up and name every lady’s name. [00:07:21] And of course your wife Sarah stood up and she named all 75 of us. I couldn’t believe it. [00:07:28] Kyle Fox: That’s impressive. [00:07:29] Diana Winkler: That’s a lot of people and she said, I would not wanna be part of a church that the pastor’s wife did not know my name. [00:07:37] Did she tell you that? [00:07:39] Kyle Fox: Yes, she did. And it was totally not surprising. She’s so good names and so, so good at caring for people. I mean, she’s just driven by her theology of an image of people being made in God’s image and so knowing names becomes important, knowing stories, people’s stories and keeping [00:08:00] track of all that is very important to her. [00:08:02] And that’s, it’s amazing to, to be by her side while she does that. So it’s not surprising that she was able to do it, but it’s awesome. [00:08:11] Diana Winkler: Right. I wasn’t surprised either. I know she was probably one of the three people that stood up there. Yeah. And there’s a lot going on in the church right now. We’ve been reading through the Bible, literally together as a church, and it has been so incredible. [00:08:27] I have learned so much and it has encouraged me in so many ways, and thank you for doing that. Absolutely. I think some really great things have happened. We were, I think we were in First Kings, was it Easter? We were in First Kings and I was on the edge of my seat, wondering how are you gonna tie First Kings in with the resurrection? [00:08:51] Kyle Fox: We did it. [00:08:52] Diana Winkler: You did good. [00:08:54] Kyle Fox: We did it. Yeah. [00:08:56] Diana Winkler: So I think one of the reasons why I [00:09:00] wanted to do this series on studying the Bible was because, I found that a lot of my Mending the Soul people and my listeners either don’t know how to study the Bible or they’ve been traumatized by the Bible and they either don’t know where to start or they recoil at the thought of reading the Bible. [00:09:21] And so, With being part of Red Mount, I trust you. I’ve been a part of the church for probably, what, eight years now. And I know you’re doing all the right things, and so, why can’t I just trust you and just come to church with my Bible on Sunday and just listen to you preach and then go home and go on with my life? [00:09:45] Why should I study the Bible instead of just trusting our preacher? [00:09:52] Kyle Fox: Yeah. I mean, you’re not the only one asking the question and, that’s been a question for a long time. It’s why we have bibles in [00:10:00] various languages to begin with is because of the answer to that question of, you shouldn’t just go with what a teacher is telling you and take his word for it. [00:10:13] At the same time, there are still several contexts in the world where that is the reality and people either can’t read or just don’t have access to a particular version of the Bible in their language. So in those situations, you have a community of believers that you’re relying upon, and that’s great. [00:10:30] But even in those contexts, my understanding with limited interaction of those situations is it’s never a reliance upon one teacher. It’s always a reliance upon a community. And that community is responsible for understanding God’s word. And that’s always been important. So, I think in the answer to that question, never should you just depend upon one preacher you should be dependent upon a local church and be a part of a community that is full of people who are [00:11:00] studying and reading, making legitimate observations from the scriptures. And so, that’s what I think is very important for spiritual growth and for connecting the Holy Spirit is to be a part of a group that does that. [00:11:11] And when you’re a part of a group that is valuing the scriptures in that way, I don’t think you, I, you can’t help but wanna read it yourself. And so I think understand that context of saying it’s not just about listening to a preacher or me going home and studying, it’s about being a part of a group of people that are, that actually desire to know God’s word more. [00:11:31] And then once you’re in that kind of group. And as you’re living your lives together, you can’t help but search the scriptures and try and dig into scriptures because you’ve got challenges in life or you’ve got tension in life, or you’re just trying to figure out how to talk to your friend about the challenge they’re going through. [00:11:49] The Bible has all those answers, and as you live your life you’re gonna want to dig through it. And be able to help people with it. It’s just a helpful book, . So you [00:12:00] don’t wanna just take your pastor’s word for it because he is speaking maybe on a particular text that week or a particular issue. [00:12:06] But then when you go and be a part of your friend group and someone else is struggling something different you can’t just go off of what you just heard on a sermon or what you heard last month. You’ve gotta be able to a sit with someone and articulate here’s what God says about this situation. [00:12:22] Whether you’re visiting someone who’s sick, or whether you’re visiting someone who’s going through a particular crisis in their life or just challenge, or whether someone’s just feeling down and they don’t, they wonder if God even sees ’em or, there’s so many things. [00:12:37] The Bible is a tool that’s why Hebrews calls it a sword. The word of God is a sword and it’s meant to be used. So it’s not just about reading it, it’s about using it for the sake of connecting people with God. So that’s, I think, a great reason that’s always helped me. Of why I read and study my Bible. It’s not just for personal [00:13:00] edification, it’s an outworking of me being a part of a group and being a minister of Christ in our world. People need the scriptures and a lot of times the most effective thing we can do is give a verse to people that is the right verse. To the best of our knowledge, . Right? And based upon what it’s actually, what God actually meant to say with those words and how God desires his word to be used. [00:13:25] Diana Winkler: . Now you mentioned about Bible translations and I noticed myself. I switched and bought a new Bible when I came back from Israel and I could not believe how much I noticed that I didn’t notice before. But when somebody goes to a bookstore or goes online and looks at Bible translations, it’s just a endless amount of them. [00:13:53] I mean, somebody new, how in the world would you pick [00:14:00] from all of those choices, how do you narrow that down? [00:14:03] Kyle Fox: Yeah, that’s a common question and I really do think that should be determined by the community that you’re a part of. So, I just am so convinced that Christians are never in isolation, that they need to be a part of a group. And so whatever Christians you’re around, you should try to use the same version. [00:14:26] That being said there are bad versions out there and various cults. Think Jehovah’s Witnesses and cults like that call their Bible’s translations. So someone who’s new can get confused because all of a sudden they’re reading not an actual version of God’s word, but they’re reading a cult version. But it calls itself a Bible and it calls itself, the New World translation or the King James version as translated by Joseph Smith. Whatever system there is, there are some of those groups out there that have their versions of the Bible, which isn’t [00:15:00] new. That was around during Jesus’ day. [00:15:02] There were various groups that had their own versions of the Old Testament with various books and things included. So it’s definitely not a new issue. However, there is a huge prevalence of English versions out there, so I would wanna just tell people there’s no fully right or fully wrong translation among the group of acceptable translations, which isn’t really determined by anybody. But there are the more common ones within Christianity. And again, that’s what you’re gonna find when you’re part of a community. Some people are gonna have a revised standard version, RSV, Some people are gonna have an ESV, some people are gonna have an NIV, some people are gonna have an NASB. Some people are gonna have a CSB. There’s all these acronyms. They’re all good. And so you can’t really go wrong with them. I think what’s most helpful, again, is to pick a version. [00:15:53] That the main preacher you’re listening to or the main church that you’re listening to, what do they use? Okay, let me just use that version. [00:16:00] But some people don’t even like to do that. It’s not like we use ESV at our church just because that’s what a lot of people have and we appreciate their philosophy that they’re trying to be, they’re really trying to strike a balance between going word for word and thought for thought. [00:16:13] That’s always the issue. Do we do word for word or do we do thought for thought? And anybody that has any experience of translation, that’s always the issue. What do you do? It depends upon your audience and, depends upon, what the goal is and those sorts of things. [00:16:24] So the four main ones out there, NASB, the New American Standard Version is a good version. The English Standard Version is a good version. The NIV bible is a good version, and the ESV is also a good version. That’s a newer one but still good. So if anybody’s looking for recommendations, that’s your list. That I could say off the top of my head. [00:16:45] But there’s also the New Living Translation. A lot of churches use that just because it’s very thought for thought and really trying to use updated language that is very current, which I applaud that effort. . It’s a little bit too thought for my individual [00:17:00] liking but doesn’t mean it’s not a good version. There’s the Gideon’s Bible, that’s fine. There’s the Good News Version that I know of, anyway. [00:17:09] Diana Winkler: You’re gonna get emails for leaving out one specific version. [00:17:14] Kyle Fox: King James. I personally, my recommendation is always to help people stay away from that version just because the language is so archaic and we don’t talk like that anymore. And it be, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for kids to understand. But if that’s the version that you like, and if that’s the one you grew up with and you feel most comfortable with, go for it. And just understand that when it translates a word, I can’t remember where it is. There’s a word that the King James version translates as unicorn. But really the word is probably rhinoceros or cow, but as some sort of one-horn creature. That either is extinct, some sort of big rhinoceros. It’s definitely not a unicorn as we would understand it now. A horse with a horn on it, [00:18:00] King James in the end, it’s fine. It just is more of a linguistic thing of what you feel comfortable with. [00:18:07] Diana Winkler: Sure now, I’ve been going to Dave Lindstrom’s Romans class. Romans is my favorite book of the Bible, so I was so excited to join his class. And what I love about Dave is that he shows the meaning of the Greek words. [00:18:23] And I don’t know very much Greek at all. They did not teach me that and Bible college. But do we really need to know the Greek or have an advanced degree to study the Bible? [00:18:35] Kyle Fox: No no, you don’t. If, I think it’s good for teachers and pastors to know that stuff, I think it’s helpful for people to know the Greek and Hebrew, but you’re still able to arrive at the meaning. You’re still able to ultimately accomplish Psalm one, which is to meditate on the law of the Lord day and night. You’re still able to do that [00:19:00] even no matter what language it’s in, you’re still able to accomplish Joshua 1:8 and 9 to not let the book of law depart from your mouth, but meditate on it. [00:19:11] You don’t need to meditate on the Greek or Hebrew to meditate on God’s word. So the basic answer there is no, you don’t need to know Greek or Hebrew. [00:19:20] I would say how it’s worked in my life is, this is a little bit extreme, but it’s the best I can come up with, and maybe your listeners have heard of this analogy before. When you read the Bible in English, it’s like watching a movie in black and white. And when you read it in Greek and Hebrew, it’s like watching it in color. So you can still see the movie, it’s still, you still understand it. You can still get the point. You don’t really miss anything. But when you know the Greek and Hebrew, it’s almost like it’s adding color, helping you see more detail and enhancing the picture a little bit and maybe creating a deeper sense of connection with what you’re watching and seeing, it becomes [00:20:00] more real. [00:20:01] When you’re watching a movie in color, it tends to become more real. I don’t know if the Bible becomes more real, but I think you can you get more of, I think the specific example is that is you can begin to see different authors’ personalities and their use of language and how that contributes to what they’re trying to get across. [00:20:22] So that’s the way I would say it. You don’t need to know it. You can. Read the Bible just fine. You can still obey God’s desire to meditate on his word day and night. But it is helpful, I’ve found, especially for teaching and preaching. It’s helpful to, and gives me a sense of confidence that I’ve got the meaning here and I’m gonna be able to deliver this to the people I’m teaching with some degree of confidence. [00:20:47] Diana Winkler: Yeah, I think Dave explained something in class that when you learn Greek you read an entire passage, the word structure is different in the verb, and [00:21:00] the nuances are completely different than when you’re reading it in English and yeah it’s a different experience. I like your analogy of color TV. [00:21:10] Kyle Fox: I was just gonna say maybe that version of black and white versus color is a little bit extreme. Maybe it’s like watching TV in the eighties, like when it was, four by three and standard definition. Now we’ve got 4k, like big, old, wide screen TVs. [00:21:26] Maybe that’s the difference. But the point is that you’re able to see the point no matter what. [00:21:31] Diana Winkler: I like that. I know this is a huge question, but. What are like the basic rules for Bible interpretation? Like we’re gonna sit down and we wanna do it correctly. What are some basic rules that we should have approaching scripture? [00:21:51] Kyle Fox: Yeah, so I have a little acronym that I teach people and I’ve been teaching people of all ages for [00:22:00] about 16 years and a couple of different contexts and a couple of different cultures even how to read the Bible. It’s one of the most basic things that I think a disciple can do. I love to teach people how to read the Bible for themselves. [00:22:14] It’s so valuable. It’s so helpful, like we talked about earlier. So I use an acronym that makes no sense, but it’s the best I got. It’s called PCOIA each of those letters stands for a thing. So it starts with P. And these aren’t in any necessarily like a straight order. This is more like a circle of things that you do as you’re reading the Bible, so that the P stands for prayer. You have to be, you have to be praying as you read. God will help you understand his word. He just will, That’s the promise he’s given. He wrote it. He wants you to understand it. so talking with him as you read is really important. It helps drive home what he’s saying and what you’re learning. So that’s the P. [00:22:59] [00:23:00] The next one is a C, which stands for context. You have to know the context. It is so helpful to understand the context in which the words come. I tell people all the time, we should not be verse people. We should be passage people. There are a lot of people that are verse people. But what ends up happening is you start using a verse out of its context and then that starts causing damage in your life or in the lives of people. [00:23:26] I’ve seen it in a lot of ways, in many different places that I’ve been to and had the opportunity to minister. And so context is really important, just like a normal communication. We’re always looking at the news and people are always saying that statement, this politician said this. Then if you go back and look at what they actually said, that one little phrase was taken out of context because the opponents want to, tarnish or whatever. So people do the same thing in scripture. They’re taking things way out of context. So you have to know the context. So prayer context. [00:23:55] And then the next one is an O which stands for observations. you [00:24:00] have to be making observations. And when you read something, anything that we do, we’re always making observations. And the important thing with observations is you have to slow down and realize that you’re making them. When I sit down in a chair I have made observations and I’ve act on those observations, but I’m so used to seeing chairs, that I don’t ever slow down and go, Okay, there is something with four legs and on top of those four legs is a flat area, and then coming up from that flat area is a back. Okay, that’s what I’m observing. It’s this kind of color. It seems strong. Looking at the construction looks like an hold, more than 15 pounds. I think I should sit down in that. That’s what our brains are doing, but we go so fast through that, that we just arrive at that’s a chair. I’m gonna sit down. Which is more of later on in, in scripture interpretation. [00:24:56] We’ll get to, but observations, you need to slow it down and go, [00:25:00] Okay, it has four legs. Okay. There’s a flat spot, Okay, this word’s repeated. It is in this section of the Bible. These who wrote this, who’s talking? Have these ideas been said elsewhere in scripture? Observations is very broad. Very far reaching, but it’s one of the most important steps in reading Bible. [00:25:18] You have to sit there and not just read it, but you need to be noticing what your brain is observing as you read and noticing word repetition especially, but also trying to find other places in scripture, letting those dots connect. Knowing who wrote it, knowing which characters are involved the basic stuff of communication that we often just like go right over, you can’t just quickly go over that. You gotta slow down and go, okay, otherwise, if you don’t make careful observations of a chair when you go to sit down, it could break if you’re not careful. [00:25:50] With scripture. It’s very powerful. So we have to be careful to make our observations and practice at making observations. [00:25:57] I try to make it a habit. Anytime I read the Bible I make [00:26:00] at least five observations before I even get to what does it mean.. and sometimes those are questions, sometimes are statements. It just totally depends. So, sorry, that’s a, this is a long answer. PCOIA, prayer context, observations, then interpretation. [00:26:15] That’s where you figure out what it means where you say it’s a chair and then application. Okay, how do I live this out? What do I do in light of this? That’s where you sit down in a chair or whatever. So, that’s the basic rules, the basic guidelines, I think, for how to read the Bible. What you should do every time you sit down. [00:26:33] And just remember PCOIA. [00:26:34] Diana Winkler: I’ll definitely have to write that down and remember that . Yeah. Now while we were, we’ve been reading through the Bible as a church, we have definitely, especially in the Old Testament, have come across a passage of scripture that is either difficult to understand or is very hard to [00:27:00] process, like the genocide or Abraham sacrificing his son and that, those sort of things. What do we do when we encounter a passage of scripture like that? Oh, I’m just gonna shut the Bible and I’m not gonna read it no more. [00:27:17] Kyle Fox: You can quit. I mean, that’s an option. I wouldn’t recommend it. [00:27:20] It kind of depends on the nature of your questions and the nature of the passage and what you’re struggling with, of what you should do. I think the best thing in those situations, again, it comes back to being connected to some other Christians. You’ve gotta, you gotta talk to your people. You gotta talk to your little group that you’re a part of and see if anybody has any thoughts. [00:27:41] And talk to your pastor and see if he has any thoughts. I can’t imagine any pastor turning down an email or a phone call that says, Hey, I was struggling in reading My Bible. Came across this difficult passage where it says, Christ went and [00:28:00] preached to the spirits, proclaim or proclaim to the spirits in prison. [00:28:04] Here in, in 1st Peter. Can you help me understand what that means? I’m struggling to understand what it means. Would you be able to meet with me? I can’t imagine a pastor saying no, especially church that you yeah. So , find pastors that you can get those kind of responses from and be a part of a group. That can be a, that can give some insight there. There’s people that know these things. Obviously there’s the internet. The internet’s scary when it comes to Bible interpretation, so you have to be careful and I can’t outline what’s good and what’s bad because there’s so many. But the Bible Project is a great place to start in terms of getting questions answered and maybe begin to understand some difficult passages. [00:28:43] But there’s plenty of other resources out there that are really good. I like their videos. Yeah, the videos. It’s an amazing resource. [00:28:53] Diana Winkler: So you mentioned this scary internet world. There are, passages in the [00:29:00] Bible that are commonly misinterpreted. What’s one that would drive you nuts every time that people misinterpret it or take it out of context? Something besides Jeremiah 29:11, please. everybody’s been doing that. [00:29:17] Kyle Fox: Yeah. I’ll go with Philippians four 13. Okay. I don’t know if someone’s done that one. That’s a common one. That’s a tattoo. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And people are getting that tattoo as a way of saying like, I don’t know. I can beat cancer through Christ who strengthens me. [00:29:33] They take that phrase all things to mean all things and. I mean, you could take that to the extreme and say, I guess I can jump off this building and survive through Christ who strengthens me. And I would not recommend going to jump off a building while claiming that verse cuz I don’t think he’ll save you. [00:29:49] So then it’s like, does he strengthen you? So what does Paul mean by all things there in Philippians four, He’s talking about contentment and he’s talking about being in situations of need and situations of plenty and can [00:30:00] in each of those situations can we find contentment in Christ? And he’s saying, Yes, I can do all of that, all those things through Christ who strengthens me. [00:30:08] So Christ is the center of our contentment. And yet we can rip that verse out of context and say that Christ is center of our ability to do things and that’s not how that verse is talking about. It’s talking about how Christ is the center of our contentment. And that’s where we find our settling and our okayness. [00:30:28] So Phillipians 4:13 drives me nuts when people get that a tattoo or they put it on their car or they make that their basketball team name or their biking team name, whatever it is that one always like, ah. Yeah, makes me mad. [00:30:42] Diana Winkler: Everybody who I’ve had on the show would pick a verse that is like everybody’s favorite and stomp on it. [00:30:49] So, yeah. But you bring up a good point that isolating passages is not a good idea. So we want [00:31:00] to talk a little bit about red flags for a false teacher. Not everybody has a wonderful Bible teacher such as myself or a healthy church or a pastor like yourself. Yeah. What some red flags that we should look out for, Like, Hey this teacher is doing false doctrine or heretical teaching. Is there anything we should look out for? [00:31:30] You don’t wanna, go down the wrong path here? [00:31:33] Kyle Fox: Yeah I would say three three quick things. There’s many things to watch out for, but the three big ones are, if they do not preach that our salvation is by faith alone and if they begin to teach that you need other things for salvation they’re a false teacher. That is a central thing. If they’re not focused in on faith alone, I think that’s [00:32:00] false teaching. And they will misinterpret many other passages in scripture. But unfortunately many churches add to salvation. You have to be baptized by the Holy Spirit, or you have to be baptized or you have to give or if you start sending, then you can lose your salvation so you’ll get back. [00:32:18] So there’s all kinds of ways you can go astray on salvation. By the grace of God through faith alone, that one you have really hold onto. And there’s other doctrines. So the second one would be the trinity. If people are, if you’re, if the teacher is not validating, one being with three distinct persons, then they’re gonna be a false teacher. [00:32:43] That is very central. And if they’re not able to articulate that they, a teacher needs to be solid on salvation and on the Trinity. If they’re not, they’re a wolf in sheep’s clothing. They don’t know what they’re talking about. And you should be very careful and actually I think you should stop listening to them because the [00:33:00] way that they’re gonna be teaching. [00:33:02] The third one maybe is where you need to exercise caution. I wouldn’t call the people a false teacher, but I would say be caution. Be full of caution. And that’s preachers that only give you one verse at a time. And consistently in their sermons or in their teachings, they’re just staying in one verse and then they’ll leave that verse and go to this verse and then this verse and then this verse, I would, that person isn’t necessarily a false teacher. [00:33:34] That’s not that good. They’re just not taking you through the actual words of scripture in a more, in a way of how it’s meant to be read and meant to be taught. So those three things, Salvation Trinity, and then be careful of verse preachers and not passage preachers. [00:33:48] Diana Winkler: That’s very helpful. Yeah. I know you probably have some favorite Bible study tools that you use either to prepare sermons or just in your personal Bible [00:34:00] study. What can you recommend? [00:34:02] Kyle Fox: So I would recommend. Yeah, I don’t know. You probably can’t see it, but in, in this bible you’ve got two texts and then there’s a center or sometimes the columns in the very inside of binding. That’s a really helpful resource because that will tell you where that phrase or that word is used elsewhere in scripture and that will really help you understand. [00:34:21] I use those cross, they’re called cross references. I use those almost every time I read the Bible. It’s one of my favorite things is to cross reference scriptures and ideas. So I would say that’s a really, one of the most important resources to me is that cross reference. I would say get a Bible with cross references. [00:34:42] That’s really important. The other I, so I use Bible software. There’s some Bible software online, and I’m not up to date on what those are. I think there’s blue letter Bible. That’s a good one. There’s Logos Online. , you can get a free version. I [00:35:00] mean, Logos can be expensive, but there’s free versions. [00:35:03] I personally use this app called Accordance. They have various prices. But I like their app . That’s the one I use. It gives me access to the Greek and Hebrew and other resources. And I have Apple products and they’re very Apple friendly, so it works out. So Accordance is the Bible software I typically use. [00:35:24] Then there’s two other resources that I’ll say quickly. I’m very wordy today, Diana. [00:35:29] Diana Winkler: Oh, I’m loving it. [00:35:31] Kyle Fox: Holman’s Bible dictionary. Holman’s Bible Dictionary is very good, and you can never underestimate the importance of Bible dictionaries. There’s a couple other publishers that make a Bible dictionary that are good as well. [00:35:44] But the one on top of my head, the one that I, I use is Holman’s Bible Dictionary. It’s great because you can look up words, And it will tell you it’s very good. And you get really legitimate scholars writing articles on what the words mean. So Bible dictionaries are really good. And then [00:36:00] commentaries are can be helpful. And the Gospel Coalition, I believe DA Carson has a list. Like they have this running list of the best commentaries on each book of the Bible. That’s a great, that’s a great resource where you get a bunch of good scholars that you and I would agree with saying, Here’s the best commentaries and here’s why those sorts of things. [00:36:22] Diana Winkler: That’s a great list and everybody that I’ve had on the show has given me different lists. So this is great. Something interesting. . Yeah. In fact, I’ve had everybody give me different ways of saying the same thing, like context and a lot of the things that you said, other people have said the same way, just in a different manner, which is good. Yeah that means everybody’s on the same path. Yeah. I know we talked about a lot of stuff today. Was there anything that we didn’t mention that you wanted to bring up about bible [00:37:00] study? [00:37:00] Kyle Fox: I Maybe the final thing is you just keep at it. Just keep going, keep trying. My dad taught me that, taught me the importance of a personal habit,. [00:37:11] It needs to be daily. I don’t know how else to obey Psalm one to meditate on God’s law day and night, but we’ve gotta be daily reading the scriptures and memorizing it. Memorization is helpful. It’s hard. Memorization is hard for a lot of people. But if I could just say one other thing, it would be that to keep at it, keep trying, keep developing, because you’re not just building for your, you’re not just reading the Bible for now. [00:37:38] You’re reading the Bible for 20 years from now, and what kind of bible reader do you wanna be? So I’m 36. What type of Bible do reader do I wanna be when I’m 56? I’m laying the foundation for that now. And the more you read your Bible, the better off you’re gonna be later on in life. [00:37:53] And if you’re 76, you’re reading the Bible for when you’re 86 and. You know how, what kind of [00:38:00] growth do you wanna see? That’s why it’s like, keep at it. This is a long term. This is a long game. It’s not a sprint. And it’s not even a marathon. It’s much longer . Yeah. So just keep at it. [00:38:10] Just keep at it. [00:38:11] Diana Winkler: I know your father always said master the restart. [00:38:17] Kyle Fox: Yep. It’s a key phrase. [00:38:19] Diana Winkler: That is a great phrase. I sir, appreciate you coming on the show today. It’s been a wonderful time and I learned so much just from what you had said. I don’t think that I had you pray last time you were on the show. [00:38:36] If you don’t mind praying for our listeners who are searching and that they would have success in their Bible study. [00:38:45] Kyle Fox: Yeah, I’d be happy to. Thanks for asking. Let me pray. Lord I’m thankful for this time. [00:38:50] To talk about your word, and it’s a bunch of people right now that are listening to this. I have no idea who they are, and [00:39:00] I probably won’t know who they are. But you see them and you know them, and you’re wanting to care for them, and you’re wanting to speak the truth to them. So many times in our life. [00:39:10] We’re off track because of lies that we’re believing or agreements that we’ve made that just aren’t true. And we’re off in the deep darkness of bitterness or of anger, or of apathy. So many different things we can find ourselves entangled in. And God, I know that there’s people longing to be set free from those things. [00:39:36] Pray that you would just speak your word to them and help them to see your word for what it really is. A gracious and loving word, a word that brings truth and light into our lives. I pray that all of us would receive your word or intentionally. I pray that we’d see it, receive it legitimately, and that we would [00:40:00] receive it with gratitude. [00:40:02] Thanks for being a God who has stayed with us. You. You’re not a God who created and walked away. You’re not a God who created, But then when we messed up, you walked away. You remain present and you remain faithful to seek us. And so just pray that you continue to seek out these listeners and bless them with your word. [00:40:20] Bless them with the comfort that your word brings. Bless them with the rebuke that your word brings. Bless them with the training that it brings. Help us to. Be trained in our desires to follow you more closely, to want your presence more closely. And we pray all this in Jesus’s name. Amen. [00:40:39] Diana Winkler: Amen. God bless you. [00:40:41] Thank you for listening to the Wounds of the Faithful Podcast. If this episode has been helpful to you, please hit the subscribe button and tell a friend. You could connect with us at DSWministries.Org where you’ll find our blog, along with our Facebook, Twitter, [00:41:00] and our YouTube channel links. Hope to see you next week.