Your Questions, Answered | Bible Study 101 Q&A
You sent in questions during the Bible Study 101 series, and this episode is Rachael working through a handful of them. Where does a brand new believer start reading? Which Bible should you buy when you're standing in the store with no idea what NIV or NLT even means? Is the SOAP method the same thing as looking for God first? Can women be pastors?
Listen in to get Rachael's answers to these questions and more!
Links
Speakpipe: Leave a voice message or prayer request
Join the newsletter
Chapters
0:00 Why we're doing a Q&A episode
0:39 How SpeakPipe works and why some messages didn't get a reply
2:03 What SpeakPipe is for, and what it isn't for
4:27 Where should someone brand new to faith start reading?
7:22 Which Bible should I buy, and does translation matter?
10:11 Is the SOAP method the same as looking for God first?
12:35 Can you tell us the chapters ahead of time?
13:57 The Hearing Jesus for Kids show, and a question from a kid
17:53 The rescue of 136 children, and what Rachael is praying about now
27:22 Can women be pastors?
33:01 How to send in your question
33:38 Prayer
Where should a new Christian start reading the Bible?
Start with a Gospel or with Genesis, and don't overthink it. Rachael points new believers toward John, since it focuses on who Jesus is, or Genesis, which sets the stage for the rest of Scripture and lays out our spiritual DNA. She also makes the case that the Bible Study 101 series itself is a good starting place, because learning how to read is what makes everything after it stick. Luke and Acts are coming this fall, and those two books were written as part one and part two of the same work, so that's another natural entry point.
The honest answer underneath all of it is that no part of God's word comes back empty. He can use any of it in any season. If you're stuck choosing, pray about it and pick one.
What Bible should I buy, and does the translation matter?
Get a study Bible, whatever translation you land on. That's the part that matters most. A study Bible gives you notes on the verses, plus an introduction before each book that tells you who wrote it, when, and who was originally reading it. When you're new, that context does more for your understanding than the translation choice does.
For translation, the New Living Translation and the NIV tend to be the easiest to read. But Rachael's real advice is to go into a local Christian bookstore, open several of them, look up a verse you already know like John 3:16, and see which one sounds like language you can follow. It's a personal decision, and holding them in your hands tells you more than a review will.
Is the SOAP method the same as looking for God first?
Close, and the instinct behind the question is right. SOAP stands for Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer, and yes, observation comes before application in that method. So the order is the same idea.
The distinction Rachael draws is what you're observing. Looking for God first means the observation step isn't just noticing details in the text, it's specifically asking who God is in this passage, what He's doing, and what His character looks like, before you ask what it means for you. Rachael teaches the color method rather than SOAP, which she wrote about in She Hears, and she walks through it in the episodes right after this one.
Can women be pastors?
Rachael's answer is yes, and she grounds it in the text rather than in tradition or denomination. Jesus called, equipped, and sent women. Paul called women co-laborers. God has been doing this since the beginning of the story, which means the women we point to in Scripture weren't exceptions to a rule, they were part of the rule.
Her concern is with how a handful of verses get pulled out of context and used to define what leadership can look like. She names it directly: convincing people that half the warriors aren't equipped for war is one of the enemy's most effective moves. She's written three books that walk through the scriptural case, including Never Unseen, releasing March 2027, which looks at the female leaders working alongside Paul in the early church.
If this is something you're wrestling with, the invitation is to read the word yourself and see what it actually says.
What is the Hearing Jesus for Kids podcast?
It's a companion show for children, with around a hundred episodes covering three of the Gospels. When the adult show starts Luke this fall, the kids' show will run a Luke series alongside it, so families can be in the same material at the same time and talk about it at dinner or at bedtime. One of the questions answered in this episode came from a child listener asking how Jesus knew which side of the boat the fish were on.
How did Rachael help rescue trafficked children?
Rachael and her husband pursued an international adoption for about five years before their son was trafficked out of the country. What followed was a fight alongside that nation's government and Interpol that brought home somewhere around 136 children, most of whom were not orphans but had been taken. They were never able to recover their own little guy.
There was no organization behind it. It was the two of them, working out of relationships built through missions trips Rachael had led. She's currently praying about launching a nonprofit arm of She Hears for missions trips, scholarships, and missionary support, and she asks listeners to pray about the timing. For anyone looking to give now, she points to Metro World Child, which she has worked with for around 25 years.
FAQ
How do I send in a question? Use the SpeakPipe link in the show notes. Click the button and leave a voice message.
Can I stay anonymous? Yes. You can also ask for your question to be kept off the show entirely if you'd rather it not air. Note that anonymous messages can't receive a private reply, since there's no contact to reply to.
I sent one and didn't hear back. Why? A batch of messages landed in the wrong folder and were only recently found. Otherwise, check your spam folder, since replies have gone out to every message with a working contact and clear audio.
What is SpeakPipe not for? It isn't a place for coaching requests, confession, or arguments about the validity of Scripture. Questions about the Bible, the current series, or something you're wrestling with are all welcome, and feedback is welcome too.
When does the Luke series start? At the end of the Bible Study 101 series, this fall. Acts follows it.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
