Prepare for a spiritual renaissance with Minister Eugene Howey in our latest podcast, where we discuss his compelling 30-day devotional, "The Awakening." Uncover how challenges like the biblical David facing Goliath can catalyze a personal revelation, showing us the hidden potential within. We're not just talking tales from ancient scripture; we're bridging millennia through the discussion of how technology today can intimately connect us with the divine messages of the past, much like the revolutionary shift from scrolls to printing press transformed the accessibility of the written word.
Laughter and learning go hand-in-hand as we navigate the rich tapestry of the Bible with our esteemed guest. Minister Howie illuminates the intricacies of biblical connections, making sense of perplexing passages and emphasizing the context's key role in interpretation. Ever wondered what "balm in Gilead" truly signifies or how "my yoke is easy" could possibly be humorous? Tune in and journey with us through the historical, poetic, and personal dimensions of scripture to uncover the profound messages waiting to enhance your spiritual understanding and awaken your soul.
First Baptist Church of Glenarden Sunday School (Adult able Study - For information, please email: SundaySchool@fbcglenarden.org
Prepare for a spiritual renaissance with Minister Eugene Howey in our latest podcast, where we discuss his compelling 30-day devotional, "The Awakening." Uncover how challenges like the biblical David facing Goliath can catalyze a personal revelation, showing us the hidden potential within. We're not just talking tales from ancient scripture; we're bridging millennia through the discussion of how technology today can intimately connect us with the divine messages of the past, much like the revolutionary shift from scrolls to printing press transformed the accessibility of the written word.
Laughter and learning go hand-in-hand as we navigate the rich tapestry of the Bible with our esteemed guest. Minister Howie illuminates the intricacies of biblical connections, making sense of perplexing passages and emphasizing the context's key role in interpretation. Ever wondered what "balm in Gilead" truly signifies or how "my yoke is easy" could possibly be humorous? Tune in and journey with us through the historical, poetic, and personal dimensions of scripture to uncover the profound messages waiting to enhance your spiritual understanding and awaken your soul.
First Baptist Church of Glenarden Sunday School (Adult able Study - For information, please email: SundaySchool@fbcglenarden.org
Note: All scripture references are from the NIV translation unless otherwise indicated.
Jacqui:
Greetings listeners. Welcome to our first-time listeners and welcome back to everyone else, everyone else. Today, the Bible Basics podcast is sharing part two of my interview with the preacher, teacher, author and motivational speaker, Minister Eugene Howie. If you didn't hear part one of this interview, please be sure to check that out. The link is in the show notes. You will be blessed, so let's get right into it. Well, welcome everyone. I'm your host, Jacqui Adewole, and this is the Bible Basics Podcast, where, weekly, we break down the Bible into understandable, bite-sized chunks bite-sized chunks. Listeners, I did mention that Minister Howie is an author and he has he's written a devotional, a 30-day devotional, called The Awakening. As I understand it, part of his focus there is helping us, helping the readers, challenging readers to become their best self.
Min. Howie:
Yeah, and that's, and that's, that's, that is it, that's that's it. On on its on. It hits the nail on the head because God created you as your best self, no matter, no matter where you find yourself, no matter what you end up where you end up, God created you as your best self, and so that devotion was designed to strip away things that we've picked up along the way in life. We've picked up things that really did not belong to us, that God didn't give to us right, and so some of the things that you look through, some of the days you'll see like day one might be the plan and that will talk about we picked up there's don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with planning, but we've picked up this idea that if we can lay out all these plans, and when our plans don't go according to plan, it's a problem, because I had this laid out like this and laid out like this.
Min. Howie:
But we go through this thing and never consider that in the plan that you've laid out, long before you join this thing called life, god had a plan already in motion. So you're not creating a plan, you're joining one that's in motion. So that's why that prayer and study and all that becomes important so you might get yourself in right alignment, so that you fall right into what God plans for you, that you may awaken to the fact that wait a minute when things don't go according to my plan, they very well may be going according to God's plan, awakening to that idea of what God has created for you and all that you are.
Jacqui:
So how do we?
Min. Howie:
get this book. If you do not have this book, it is on Amazon. You can find it under Amazon under The Awakening or under my name, E ugene Howie, Minister Eugene Howie, and you can find it there. And it's a small book and the goal of it is, with each day you get, there is a narrative, there is a thought for the day and it is really for you to take into serious thought about whatever the thought is for the day, taking, carrying that thought into the day, and even it ends in prayer. So you start your day out with this narrative so that you can get your mind adjusted right. A thought for the day so you can carry that and then you pray.
Min. Howie:
One of the biggest things in the book that the book is, the premise of it, is that there was a thing that happened with David and Goliath and while everyone always looks at there was this seem to be, this made out to be an epic battle, but at the end of the day, that's not what happened. That was never what was happening. That was never what was happening. What was happening with David and Goliath was not a battle, but an awakening. Goliath's whole purpose was to awaken the king and the giant that was lying in David, so that all could see. That's all that was happening and that's what happens for us. Sometimes we have to peel off the layers of the things that we've experienced so the giant that God had created in us can awaken. Your greatest challenges in life are calling you to wake up. Amen, wake up, okay.
Jacqui:
So now you see why he's motivational, and the author he's also I didn't mention this he's also a techie. Even before this episode started, he and I were having a conversation about technology, and so, on that note, I'd like to ask you about the role of technology when it comes to reading and studying God's Word. There are apps, there's social media. There's all these tools that we can use now in addition to our paper Bibles. What do you think about that?
Min. Howie:
So that's the perfect word for them. They're tools, and tools are meant to make work easier. And so when you go around and you look and you walk through Home Depot, you'll walk through Home Depot and you wonder, like, why do they have so many hammers? I mean, wouldn't one hammer do no For a particular task? There's a particular hammer for that particular task. And so, and there are different lengths, there are different sizes, because some people prefer ones that are longer, some people prefer ones that's shorter, even for the same task. And so technology creates that opportunity for us to find a tool that is comfortable for us and how it works for us, and that fits and tailors our life so that we don't have any, we don't have the excuse of oh well, you know, I just can't seem to find it. No, that's the beauty of technology, that's the beauty of tools. When we look at where the word first started and we're looking at people having to scribe and people sitting in rooms and they're literally writing, that was their technology. We look at Paul sending letters that was his technology of his day, right? But then we go fast forward many years later to the Gutenberg Press, and so now you have the Bible printed. That was the technology of that day, right, and so all we're doing is living in a different day, and technology is moving with the day that we are in, and what that does is with each passage. It allowed the medium to be able to move and flow more freely, and so it's like any tool.
Min. Howie:
Any tool can be misused. Any tool that's handled by a novice or someone with ill intent can be misused, but this tool is very, very different because of what it contains. I would not want to be the one to mishandle this word and have to give an account for it. Now, you may not have to give an account for how you misuse the hammer, you may not have to give an account for how you use the screwdriver, but certainly on how you misuse this word, you will have to stand and give an account, and so, no, I think the tools are beautiful and that it creates this opportunity, for in the place where people may have been disconnected, it does now create.
Min. Howie:
I love what happened just prior to this, last Sunday, where the young lady was able to tell us that Zoomland is a community, that they are part, that it is a real place, and so that's yeah, it is where we connect, and it's a place where we can share ideas and thoughts and so, and it's a tool that allows us to do it. Oh, I believe the tools and technology are beautiful yeah.
Jacqui:
I'm a techie. I'm proud of it, right, absolutely, that's awesome. That's awesome. Let's talk about now getting into that process. I mean, you talked about P. R. O. W. E. S. S. and all the steps that you go through. So you're going through that process and you come across something that made no sense whatsoever. You read it out loud. You looked at it from other people's shoes. You went online and typed in something in one of your Bible commentary apps still not getting it. What do you do when you come to things like?
Min. Howie:
that. What do you do when you come to things like that? For me, that's one of those things I don't know like mysteries. So I grew up like doing puzzles and things. My mother, we did puzzles and things and so I would have to solve it. I have to, like, what is this all about?
Min. Howie:
And one of the first places I look to see, like, what is this connected to? I mean, because and that's the beautiful thing about the Bible Nothing is disjointed. It is connected in some way shape, form or fashion, whether it is connected to history, whether it is connected to the writer of poetry, or so it is connected in some way. And one of those things and so one of the things you were talking about in the very beginning was about context. And so in trying to look at the literary context or whether what, what is this connected to? And that becomes the search to see, ok, what is this connected to? But what does it mean? Why is this here? Okay, oh, and then when you get to the place and you discover like, okay, so this might not be necessarily connected to something that's in the history or the future, but it might be connected to the writer. So if we look at things like, you know, solomon, oh, it's something from the writer, so this.
Min. Howie:
And so now, if I say, if I look at something from Solomon and I read his words and I said, well, I can't really find where this goes history, or where it goes, you know, in the future, now let me look at the writer, okay, so now, maybe this may be something like when we look at the Psalms, we look at things that happen in Psalms. We can see where there may not be things that's happening 100% in the history. We don't know, but we know that these are things that are happening, or some of the things that's happening with David. Because, david, you know, david's writing created me in a clean heart and you're like, wait, what, what's going on? And when you start to dig into David's life, you start to see David had some filthy things in his heart. And so when he writes, you know, creating me a clean heart, renew a right spirit within me, oh, this is connected to his life, you know, and so that's what?
Min. Howie:
so those are the things that start to you know. That kind of helps you, and that's a tapestry. It helps you to weave your way into the text because as you start to understand, okay, psalms talks a little bit about this, proverbs is about this, and oh, this is who wrote that. And so it becomes this journey into understanding. And so whenever you come to a place that's a conundrum for you ask those questions what is it connected to? And if it's not connected to a what, then ask who, who is it connected to? And so you might find it's not the what it's connected to, but it's the who. And then, when you get to the who, then you can find out well, what's their what? Oh, and it opens up the whole understanding of what's happening. So that's generally how I look at things.
Jacqui:
When I get to something that may be a bit confusing, like doing detective work, yeah, Minister Howie, on a lighter note, tell us about maybe the funniest thing that you may have read or misunderstood about the Bible or in the Bible.
Min. Howie:
So the thing that I found to be the most interesting thing, that happened because it wasn't—now, I didn't know anything about context or anything about this at this time right, and so the older preachers, they would preach there's a bomb in Gilead and I was there's a bomb.
Min. Howie:
They had bombs back then. Oh, that's something I was like well, I mean, I don't know why people were so upset that they got bombs now because they had bombs back then. So, being out of context, you go looking for the text that says I want to Google bomb in Gilead, google bomb in Gilead. And it's like oh, you're in Jeremiah 5. And it is a question. And so the preacher is preaching and not giving people context, which sometimes that's why you have to study, that's why this is important, so that you get for yourself, because sometimes people can say something that's not in context or it's in response, because what he was saying was that there was a bomb. Now, again his pronunciation.
Min. Howie:
I am a big stickler for words. Had he said there's a balm in Gilead, I would have been okay. But when he says a bomb in Gilead and I'm like, okay, a bomb, okay. And so when you start to read it and it's like is there? It's a question, it's not a statement. But his response in preaching was preaching a statement that there is a balm in Gilead, there is a physician there. But the question in Jeremiah 5 is like is there no balm in Gilead there? But the question in Jeremiah 5 is like is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? You see, and so that was one of the things that you know. That's because words you know, and because words and reference and frame of reference right. Right. So when Christ says, when Christ says my yoke is easy, my burden is light, right. So if you're not from Bible basics, the yoke that you know is egg yolk and that's like that don't make sense.
Min. Howie:
So his yolk is easy, so over easy. What does that got to do with the egg in a burden? That's interesting, right and and so, and and again. If you're not, if you're not from a farm now, I grew up in the city, so so let me let me preface that I grew up in the city, so I had no frame of reference for what a yoke was other than other than an egg yolk. I had no frame of reference. So when you hear that it's like that don't make sense, because a lot of times when preachers are preaching and they're teaching, they give it to you. They don't say well, it says right here and so.
Min. Howie:
and so he said well, my burden is easy, my yoke is easy and my burden is light. My burden is easy, my yoke is easy and my burden is light. So Jesus took his eggs over easy, all right. So, anyway. So that's sometimes some of the things that I thought. That was funny, because when you don't have a frame of reference, the frame of reference that you know, that's what you go to, and so bombs and yolks, they're in the Bible, everybody.
Min. Howie:
I am never, going to hear those words with a straight face again. Yeah, those are the ones that I man.
Jacqui:
That's so important. You know I'm a sign language interpreter and one of the most important things is really understanding the meaning of words, and so the next time someone goes there's a bolm in Gilead, I'm going to have to control myself from not putting out the sign for a bomb that's exploding.
Min. Howie:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I bet if you query some people, there are a lot of people who, if you have not read the passage, but you have heard the reference, you know you like yeah, there's things blowing up in Gilead, yeah you know, that's absolutely right.
Jacqui:
So, yeah, thank you for sharing yo u're quite welcome. Min Howie, . So let's wrap this up, ok, With some final words. Would you like to share some final words with the audience? Your presence here has truly been a blessing and we really appreciate it, and we know we could go on and on. We definitely could, so thank you.
Min. Howie:
I thank you, and so in closing I'll say this it's something I've mentioned before that bring the Bible to light.
Min. Howie:
It is okay for the Bible to have levity and for, in your study, for you to really look at the people and really see, not just the people of the Bible but the people of your own life.
Min. Howie:
You know, because every one of these circumstances, everything that happens, some of the greatest lessons I've learned were lessons as I'm reading the Bible or I'm preparing a study, and something strikes me in such a way, you know, and one particular instance is there's a little girl, and I want to say it's in 2 Kings, and she's been captured by a general, or a well-to-do general named Naaman, and she is in his house and Naaman, she discovers, is a leper.
Min. Howie:
Now she is held in captivity, and so she is serving as his wife's mistress, and so she sees him and says I know a guy in Israel that can heal him. And I'm thinking, and I'm struck by that, and I'm struck by it because I'm like no way, no way am I a for the people who held me in captivity, to the people that mistreated me. That's what your study can open up ways to challenge the way that you live the way that you think, and that became a great challenge for me to say hey look, if somebody can be a captive in someone's home and still have compassion on them even though they're their captor, you can have compassion on people that's not your captor
Min. Howie:
, so your Bible opens you up to all of those things. So study your Word, grow in it, put it into practice live it, bring it to life in your own life and watch your life and the lives of others transform. Amen. Thank you very much, Minister Howie. Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate the opportunity to come before your audience and such a great podcast.
Jacqui:
If you found this episode helpful, informative or inspirational in any way, would you please share with someone you know who needs to hear it? You can do that by sharing the podcast website bible-basics. org, or you can click on the share button right where you're listening now. For those of you listening on YouTube, go ahead and like, subscribe and leave us a comment. In closing, may the grace and peace of God be with you now and always.