What God is saying to me is more important than what I have to say about it.
<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/brain-tree-and-cave-concept-idea-of-mind-nature-and-spiritual-surreal-art-landscape-painting-fantasy-artwork-conceptual-illustration-Mb118JJnaPg" target="_blank"><div class="image2-inset"><source type="image/webp" /><img alt="" class="sizing-normal" height="849" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!J3gB!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8b37e508-19e2-4c4e-bd4d-9fb2bc77363b_6000x3500.jpeg" width="1456" /><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image" tabindex="0" type="button"><svg fill="none" height="20" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="1.5" viewBox="0 0 20 20" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image" tabindex="0" type="button"><svg class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2" fill="none" height="20" stroke="currentColor" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" viewBox="0 0 24 24" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><div class="pullquote"><p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>The views and opinions expressed here are solely my own and do not represent those of my employer, any affiliated organization, or any institution with which I am associated.</strong></em></p></div><p class="button-wrapper"><a class="button primary" href="https://bit.ly/Crux-Community"><span>JOIN THIS COMMUNITY FOR $8/YEAR</span></a></p><p>I sat in a Bible Study this morning and I learned more about myself than God. I realized I wasn’t there to meet Him. I was more interested in what I had to say. </p><p>I chose to ask myself why?</p><div class="callout-block"><p>What God’s word has to say to me is more important than what I have to say to others about it.</p></div><blockquote><p><em>Times are changing! If you value my work and desire for it to continue and even GROW, please become a paid subscriber!</em></p><p class="button-wrapper"><a class="button primary" href="https://thecrux.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p></blockquote><p>I am not saying my thoughts or feelings don’t matter. I am not saying I shouldn’t have opinions or minimize or dismiss my own perspective and never be excited to share that with others. I am saying my time and priorities are out of alignment. </p><div><hr /></div><blockquote><div class="digest-post-embed"></div><p><em><strong>A NOTE ABOUT MY WORK</strong><span>: I started at </span><a href="https://bit.ly/Support-CBR-ArochaUSA">AROCHA USA // Center for Beauty and Resistance</a><span> on July 1. Caring for God’s creation, teaching others to do likewise and nourishing whole people and fruitful communities is aim, goal and calling. If you </span><a href="https://bit.ly/Support-CBR-ArochaUSA">DONATE</a><span> you will be made a founding member. And if you’d like to learn, grow and serve alongside us, click </span><a href="https://bit.ly/Lets-WorkTogether">here</a><span>!</span></em></p></blockquote><div><hr /></div><h3><strong>What does my reaction say about me?</strong> </h3><p>Something about my formation and how I’ve chosen to show up has shifted my focus to being solely on what can be shared with others – how to post, share, clip and communicate a concept or application with different audiences. </p><div class="callout-block"><p>I’m afraid that scripture and my relationship with God has moved from the cultivation of intimacy with a God who loves me to, “this insight is great content”. </p></div><p>My concern is that I am approaching scripture like another piece of content, as opposed to the means of cultivating an intimate relationship. This has to change. Inductive Bible Study can help but not inductive study alone. An EASE Bible study is helping me reconnect with Our Father, not just work for Him. </p><p class="button-wrapper"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.jonathan-walton.com/ease-bible-study"><span>EASE BIBLE STUDY</span></a></p><h3><strong><span>What is Inductive Bible Study?</span></strong></h3><p>Inductive Bible study is a way of studying Scripture by starting with the text itself and moving from observation to interpretation to application. In simple terms: <em>What does it say? What does it mean? And how should I live in light of it?</em></p><p><strong>The three steps are:</strong></p><ul><li><p><em>Observation</em>: Notice repeated words, connections, context, and who is speaking to whom.</p></li><li><p><em>Interpretation</em>: Figure out the author’s intended meaning for the original audience.</p></li><li><p><em>Application</em>: Ask how that truth should shape your beliefs, decisions, and habits today.</p></li></ul><h2><strong>What is EASE? Why is it important?</strong></h2><p><strong>Emotionally Aware and Systemically Engaged</strong> or <em>EASE </em>means reading the passage in a way that pays attention to both the inner lives of those in the passage and the social context they inhabit. In practice, it asks:</p><ul><li><p>How do people in the passage feel, respond, and change emotionally, and what larger relationships, power dynamics, or community systems are shaping the situation?</p></li></ul><p>This is important because the dominant course of discipleship minimizes and dismisses the emotional realities of those in scripture and us today. Moreover, systemic injustices are often overlooked, unexamined and not taken seriously leading to an irrelevant, shallow, disembodied faith.</p><p><em>EASE</em> Bible Studies help me to cultivate a living relationship with God that takes context, audience, and impact into account and necessitates an embodied, liberative response.</p><p class="button-wrapper"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.jonathan-walton.com/ease-bible-study"><span>LEARN MORE ABOUT EASE</span></a></p><p>I am going back into Ephesians 2 this week with these things in mind. God wants to talk me because He loves me; and I’m going to listen not just because I can’t bear witness to a reality I haven’t experienced or testify to a freedom I don’t know anything about. I’m going to listen because I want to talk with Our Father and be in deeper communion with Him, others and creation. </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" href="https://bit.ly/IVPBeautyandResistance" target="_blank"><div class="image2-inset"><source type="image/webp" /><img alt="" class="sizing-normal" height="312" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!f05o!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5cf7ee60-aa22-4d35-a957-e5cc57cb8ca8_820x312.jpeg" title="" width="820" /><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image" tabindex="0" type="button"><svg fill="none" height="20" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="1.5" viewBox="0 0 20 20" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image" tabindex="0" type="button"><svg class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2" fill="none" height="20" stroke="currentColor" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" viewBox="0 0 24 24" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><strong>Let me know what you think! I look forward to the conversation and comments because our screens make us into lonely consumers but God made us to be a vibrant, liberative community.</strong></p><p>In Christ and for His Glory,</p><p>jonathan</p>