Love Where You Are
May 16, 2022
Ep. 53 : Equipping Busy Parents to Teach Their Kids the Bible with The Red Haired Archaeologist,Amanda Hope Haley
In today’s conversation Author and Biblical archaeologist, Amanda Hope Haley, shares her passion for God’s Word and teaching others to fall in love with the Bible for what it is and what it says.
Most of us form our Christian worldview based on what we learned from stories in Sunday school, but today Amanda reminds us of the importance of proper context and accurate translation. She also reminds us that we as parents don’t have to be scholars to read and understand the Bible and then teach it to our kids.
In today’s conversation Amanda and I discuss:
- How to see the Bible beyond the stories and understand the context and background
- How busy parents can teach their children proper Biblical context
- Modeling self care with God for your kids
- Eliminating time constraints when it comes to Scripture
- Let your kids see the Bible bring you to life that they might emulate the same
- How to choose a good Bible translation
And so much more!
Amanda had so many amazing insights to share that we have decided to come back with more topics this fall so stay tuned!
In the meantime, I hope you enjoy today’s conversation and walk away feeling inspired and encouraged to dive deep into God’s Word in a whole new way!
Connect with Amanda on Instagram and check out her resources at redhairedarchaeologist.com
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FAVORITE TAKEAWAYS:
“When we talk about a bible story, then it’s one short little clip that by definition has been extracted from the scripture around it, its taken out of context. And no matter how big that bit of the story is, once you’ve made a clip you’re losing something on either side of it. I think maybe that is where a lot of…in the places where we have wrong interpretations of scripture comes from the ways that we clip them.”
“So when you clip out stories, you miss the greater point, often times.”
The preparation. God prepares men and women through their entire life for the role He needs them to fill, like David and like Amanda.
“Everything that seems to be out there in the marketplace [for understanding the Bible] right now seems to be quick and easy. And the thing is, all of that completely undercuts scripture. I look at the Bible and its 66 separate books written by dozens of different authors over hundreds of years, and it’s a very strange way, on its face, for God to have chosen to reveal himself to us. Scripture is the primary, first point of contact with God, and we see throughout scripture that God is a God of relationship. And you cannot have a relationship with anyone in your life if it’s only five minutes a day or seventy seconds in the morning. We can’t shortcut relationships.”
Learn how your Bible was translated, where it came from, adjust your perspective. It’s not just one book, it’s 66 distinct writings. “Your Bible has everything you need to get started.”
The best Bible you can have is the one you know the best, and that means getting to know your Bible: who translated it, was it one person or a committee, who was on that committee, do they all come from a specific denomination, what would be the leanings of that denomination. Make sure it has excellent footnotes. The really boring ones. Make sure your Bible is being transparent about the decisions they make about the words they’re choosing.
You must be responsible as a believer and as a reader of God’s scripture that you have the best translation, the more transparent and accurate.
Understanding the Bible through the proper lens and context, like the teachings of Paul that have become hot button issues.
Things on the surface seem contradictory. Old Testament: God killing entire civilizations, hard parts of the Bible, hard for our western minds to reconcile, and we have to be willing to pursue answers and be curious.
Relationships come with question and answer and time.
Humility to say “I don’t know” with all the things in the Bible.
“Maybe we as a society of Christians have been so eager to get our children into scripture early, that we try to make soft fluffy cartoon versions of God’s scripture and I don’t think that’s a good idea ultimately.”
Instead of sanitizing God’s word, be more discerning in how one approaches it and sharing it with children.
Traditions are good and fine, but they should not replace the foundation which is Scripture.
Honesty from parents, Sunday school teachers, and church leaders to say “I don’t know” when asked a question about the Bible instead of fudging something or making biased biblical assumptions.
We can approach the Bible in our own language today, unlike people hundreds of years ago. We have been given this gift to approach the Bible.
You just have to start and the Holy Spirit will be there.
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About Love Where You Are
Equipping Christian Moms to embrace their season, live life on mission and share Jesus right where they are!
Like a weekly coffee date with the girls, Somer and her guests come together to ask the hard questions, have honest conversations and dive deep into God’s Word. Her heart is to equip and encourage Moms who are seeking to model an authentic Christian walk for their families while also making an impact for the kingdom through love in action wherever God has them in their current season of life. Following the Deuteronomy 6 model, Somer encourages listeners to identify their gifts, talents and current season of life as opportunities to impact the lives of others and bring their children along in the journey reminding us there are opportunities everywhere and every day to love right where you are!
About Somer Colbert
Somer Colbert is a writer, speaker and host of the Love Where You Are podcast. She is the Director of Adoption and Foster Care Ministry at Crosschurch and Connected Champion with the Arkansas Baptist Children and Family Ministries where she creates support, awareness and advocacy for families seeking to serve in the areas of adoption and foster care. She creates weekly podcast episodes and resources to equip and empower Christian families to identify their influence for the gospel in every season, live life on mission and share Jesus right where they are. Somer is passionate about equipping spiritually healthy families and seeing a movement of God's people step into confidence in their ability to change the world around them through the way they love!
She resides in Arkansas with her husband, three kids and three dogs. She's obsessed with British docudramas and cooking shows and can always be found with a cup of hot tea in hand. Her life has been forever changed by the love of Jesus, marriage to her favorite person, parenting her crazy crew and walking multiple adoption journeys.
Connect with Somer on Facebook and Instagram
Sign up to receive weekly emails and resources from Somer HERE!
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