God's Puzzle Box Set -- The Bible

Have you ever tried to put a puzzle together without looking at the picture on the box? It's pretty tough, right? You might get a few pieces to fit with each other, but no matter how much time you spent working on the puzzle, you wouldn’t have the complete picture in mind until you finished - if you ever did.

The Bible is kind of like that. It's a collection of 66 puzzles, each in its own box. These Puzzles (Bible books) present amazing images – stories, poems, and letters – that are best understood when we see the whole picture. The puzzles are designed and illustrated by a variety of authors in their time and place and written for an audience as particular as the author. Guided by the Holy Spirit, the authors of the Bible have created their chapter in the grand narrative of God and His People. These 66 puzzles then fit together in an epic mega puzzle that is the Bible.

Fruit vs Roots

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed this on my Substack: My Sabbath School discussion guides and sermons tend to focus on one large passage of scripture in the context of the book it is written in and then zoom out to explore the emerging themes from that passage in the rest of the Bible. I do this because I am more likely to rightly discern and teach the Bible if I have first understood it in context.

Some people cherry-pick the fruit and never dig around the roots. They pick out their favourite verses from the Bible and make them fit their own worldview rather than understanding the world where those verses were written. This is like only looking at a few puzzle pieces and guessing the whole picture. This leads to confusing and even wrong ideas about what the Bible is trying to teach us.

Imagine you opened the Bible and saw a single sentence: "Go, sell everything you have." If you only read that one sentence, you might think God wants everyone to sell all their stuff. But if you read the whole story, you'd find out that Jesus was talking to a specific rich young man who was struggling to put God first. The point wasn't that everyone had to sell everything, but that we should put God first – before anything and everything else.

Culture and Context

That's why it's so important to study the Bible in context. When we read a passage, we need to look at:

Context: What happened before and after?

Author/Audience: Who was the author, and who were they writing to?

Culture: What was life like at that time?

Writing Style: Is it a story, a poem a letter, or something else?

Think about the story of David and Goliath. If we just read the part where David throws the stone, we might think he just had good luck that day. But if we read the whole story, we see how David trusted God, how he prepared, and how he understood the situation. He wasn't just lucky; he was brave and faithful. By looking at the entire story we see that God uses those who trust in him, even when facing impossible odds.

When we study the Bible this way, we learn so much more! We understand the real meaning of the stories, and we can apply them to our own lives. When we explore the culture and context of the Bible passage we are studying, we will always discover hidden treasures!


Why does this matter?

When we understand the culture and context, we are being honest with the Bible. And when we teach the Bible this way, we represent God and His Word with integrity. We let the Bible speak for itself, instead of trying to make it say what we want it to. We learn to be humble, knowing that we don't know everything and can always learn more.

Slow down and Submerge

When you read the Bible, choose a passage and dive into it. Next time a teacher or preacher jumps around the Bible plucking pieces from random puzzle boxes and cramming them all together, ask them how they know they’re not just making up their own picture!

Bible study is a slow art, like raising children and discipleship. It grows with you and shapes you. Biblical understanding and wisdom happen as you are going through life with God. When you study the Bible, invest the time and dig deep. Try reading a whole chapter or even a whole book! Ask yourself questions like:

• What's happening in this story?  

• Who are the characters?   

• What can I learn from this?

Get into the Bible and the Bible will get into you! By digging deeper and understanding the context, you'll discover the amazing picture of truth revealed in God’s Puzzle-Box Set – The Bible. As you faithfully study the Bible while on life’s journey, a mature relationship with God will blossom within you. When you invest in the box set of the Bible, one puzzle book at a time, you will see more clearly the big picture of God’s purpose, and you’ll see yourself in the picture!

How are you Feeling about your Spiritual Gifts?

It is uncanny how the topic of Spiritual Gifts keeps coming up in conversations I’ve had in the past weeks. Mentoring university small group leaders, talking to people after church, and chatting with kids after speaking for the chapel program at Edinburgh College. “How is God using you and your spiritual gifts?” just keeps popping up again and again.

Something is happening in the world, within me and, perhaps, you. It is a singularity focused on the Spirit and the gifts He releases to grow the Kingdom of God.

This morning, my wife and I enjoyed the view and the delicacies at the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie. As she cut up her waffle, Jenny said, “We’ve been talking about Spiritual Gifts among the teachers at school.” I listened as she shared some thoughts from their conversations.

Then, sawing my way through an impossibly tall Avo Stack, I said, “How do you feel about your spiritual gifts?” She smiled and said, “I know God is using me every day as a teacher. Some days I feel it and other days it’s more in the background. But, as far as ‘gifts’ go, I’m not sure.”

When I was mentoring Lilli in Tasmania (over video chat) last Friday, she said, “I did one of those Spiritual Gift quizzes last year at church. But, I was left wondering afterwards. It just seemed really random.”

After speaking to the High School students at Edinburgh College the previous Friday, four students came from different directions with questions after my talk. A couple were just looking for details about the Bible story I had just shared. But, one said, “You mentioned that your Spiritual Gifts have changed but tend to revolve around communication. How do I know my gifts?”

In all of these chats, I shared the answer I was given decades ago, as a pastor. I was leading a church through a Spiritual Gift inventory and found myself really disillusioned as I planned it. Did God really drop a list from Heaven and say, “Here’s a list of all the ways I might need your involvement. Consult the list and find your purpose! If you are on the list, you are in! If you find the list odd and unlike you, you are not trying hard enough! Read the list again!” It just seemed… shallow, boring and quite unlike the God I see in the Bible. He’s anything but boring!

I spent time in prayer and reading anything I could find on Spiritual Gifts and participation in the Kingdom of God as ambassadors for Christ. I do not remember the first time I said it, but when it came out of my mouth, I knew – Those were not my words. God had just collated everything I’d been studying and praying about and given me an answer simple enough that even I could remember it. Since that day, I’ve been answering the “Spiritual Gift” question with the same answer. This is the answer I gave the student, the mentee and the people at church. (My wife has already heard it at least a thousand times! lol)

There are two questions to ask to know your Spiritual Gifts:

1. What do I take joy in doing for God? (Where do I feel excited, blissful, impassioned and filled with love for God and for people?)

2. What do other people say I do well? (Other people can often see God using you long before you see it yourself.)

With those two questions in mind, you will find your role in the Kingdom of God. Jesus is our bliss. He calls us and then equips us. Don’t look at your skills to know your Spiritual Gifts. Look to Jesus. He doesn’t call the gifted, He gifts the called.

A few Sabbaths ago, while preaching at Warragul Church, a sentence came out of my mouth that wasn’t in my notes or my mind. A lady came up afterwards and said, “I’m so glad I visited Warragul today. When you said, (she looked down at her notes) ‘our energy and our giftedness do not come from the same place — our energy is physical and comes from our fitness. Our Gifts are spiritual and come from the Holy Spirit’ — I really needed to hear that.” I remembered saying it, because I thought, “Hmmm. That’s a good thought. Wish it was mine!”

God is like that. I told you already that my gifts revolve around Communication. If you look at a list of Spiritual Gifts, you will not find the words ‘communication’ or ‘revolve’. But, I know this is where God has gifted me because this is where God peeks and speaks through me into the world.

Sometimes, it’s when I’m writing. Time rushes past and I realise I’ve been lost in the flow of the Spirit for hours.

Sometimes, it’s when I’m mentoring. A kind word or a helpful thought comes out of my mouth and I know that was God meeting needs I hadn’t even seen.

And sometimes, it’s when I’m preaching. Someone will hear something I didn’t say but God wanted them to hear, or God will use my mouth to say something new so I’ll hear it and say it again and again and again in the future.

I tell you all of this to show you, this is my bliss – to share Jesus in my words. And to invite you to explore your bliss. Where is God honoured through you? Where do you find your joy? How have other people affirmed you recently?

God is there. He is gifting you! Lock in on those Spiritual Gifts and use them to serve Jesus with your heart and soul. You’ll never regret those minutes, hours, days and years spent serving in the Kingdom of God.

How do you feel about your Spiritual Gifts?

My Bible Study Secret

Have you ever had the chance to share something you love with someone you respect? I had this opportunity twice on the same day!

This past Tuesday morning I had the opportunity to share my favourite way to study the Bible with two people who are already Bible experts. One is a Life Group leader, a Bible worker and a future church planter (I’m sure of it!). The other is a friend I’ve known since we were both young ministers 30 years ago. Even though both of them are Jesus-loving, Bible-knowing believers - I got to share something new with them!

Writing Bible Studies

I’ve had the honour of mentoring Eve as an AUC Life Group leader. She is a passionate Bible student and a dedicated disciple-maker for Jesus. She runs a Life Group in Canberra. In our monthly mentoring video chat the week before, she said, “I enjoy the Sabbath School discussion guides you post each Thursday but was wondering if you could send them to me earlier in the week?”

I explained, I write them on Thursday mornings. Then I asked why she wanted them earlier. She explained that her Sabbath School started together and then separated into discussion groups and she put a few questions on the screen. She was spending time each week choosing a Bible passage or two and a short question list for each. If you’ve read my studies, there are a lot of questions!

I said, “I’m happy to do next week's SS prep earlier, if you have time. You can join me and I can show you my process for creating a study. Then you will be able to do it yourself.”

Eve thought this was a great idea and we met in a video chat on Tuesday morning at 8 AM. When she arrived, I loaded Logos Bible software and let the magic show begin. The Bible Study Builder in Logos is a gift from God! I love it! At the end of the hour, Eve was thrilled to see how easy developing a well-structured Bible study can be.

Researching and Writing Sermons

At 10 AM, the same morning, I called Mike. He’s old school and I had to call him on his phone. We chatted about life for a while and then we got into the reason for the call.

Mike had emailed me a week before:

Hi Dave

I’m needing help with sermons. I have struggled through preaching and dodgy PowerPoint presentations for years and you are so creative, I thought you might be able to help me.

Blessings

Mike

It had been years since we chatted, so we spent quite a while telling stories on the phone. Then, I said, “Mike, you asked me about creativity in sermon content. Do you have a computer in front of you?”

He said he did and we switched over to a video chat so I could share my screen with him. I showed Mike around the latest version of Logos — The Sermon builder, the Bible study builder and, especially, the new AI-infused search engine. There’s nothing like it! You can limit your question to the Bible, the books you own or the entire Logos library. Then, Logos uses the power of its already powerful search engine and AI intelligence to write a superb summary. Every time. To every question. It’s epic!

Mike said they already have Logos but hadn’t used it for a year or two. He’s keen to do so now that he’s seen what Logos can do!

So, That’s My Secret!

Creativity is about having the right tools. And Logos is my favourite Bible study tool.

You might think I work for Logos. I don’t.

This is not a paid promotion. It’s free in every way. I want you to get the most out of the Bible because God has so much in store for you in those precious pages!

I love showing people how I do what I do. I don’t see any reason to keep my creative process or my favourite tools secrets. The more people who can turn their Biblical questions into solid answers and their creative ideas into blessings for others - the better!

I also love using standard AI (Gemini/ChatGPT) to flesh out ideas. Used intelligently, AI is like having the fastest research assistant on the planet. I love it!

If you haven’t checked out Logos since they added the AI feature, and you love Bible study, I highly recommend it!

If you want a quick introduction to AI, Logos with AI or some other creativity-based question, just ask me! It’s free. Like all the best things in life!

Living Your Bliss!

This week, I started mentoring Small Group leaders online for 2025. I forgot how much I love it! I love hearing the stories of young people who are changing the world for Jesus. I’m writing this Friday afternoon.

This morning, I was chatting with a Life Group leader in Newcastle, NSW. He runs two groups. One at his university and another online for his friends from home in China. He has been running the online group since he came to Australia 4 years ago. It keeps him connected to home while also allowing him to minister to those he loves. In our conversation, He told me what he loves to do the most. I asked him about his giftedness and his passions. “I love leading people to Christ,” he said. Then, with a smile, he said, “My favourite thing to do is cook for my small group. They love Chinese cooking!” Then he laughed and said, “I also really like driving them places.”

“That’s hospitality!” I said. “The places where your passion and spiritual gifts intersect are the primary spot where God shines to others. It’s your spiritual sweet spot! Cooking for friends who are being discipled by you - that’s your bliss!”

He laughed and said he would love it if that’s all he had to do. He’d love to spend his every waking moment talking about Jesus as he drove people around and cooked for them!

It is my joy, as a spiritual mentor, to help people have these aha moments about themselves and their spirituality. There’s nothing more rewarding for me. That’s my bliss!


Disciple-Makers All

Yesterday, I mentored a Life Group leader from Finland who lives in Canberra. She was unable to attend the Mentoring Workshop at Converge in February due to being in Finland for a funeral. Her grandmother lived to 100 years old! She said it was good to see family again and share stories about grandma with everyone.

Then I gave her a nutshell version of the workshop. It revolved around one simple statement. If we can make this statement live in the front of our mind every moment of every day, we will be the most effective Christian leaders in the world. Here it is, “I am a disciple-maker.” That’s it. You are a disciple-maker.

As a follower of Jesus, you are a disciple-maker. Paul said, “Follow me as I follow Christ.” Spot on - we follow and are followed. All. The. Time!

As a small group leader, you are a disciple-maker. At church, you are not running programs; you are making disciples. After every event, conversation, Bible study, and program, our primary question should be: “How did we shape disciples?” When we plan a sermon, study, or worship set, our primary question should be: “How will we intentionally build disciples for Jesus this time?”

After this review, she said, “I’m really enjoying the Sabbath School lesson discussion guides you write. Is there any chance of getting them sooner in the week?” She explained she uses my studies to prepare her own discussion guides to hand out to break-out group leaders in a larger Sabbath School. So, she needed something shorter.

I can see a future writer and curriculum writer in her! So, I said, “Would you like to join me as I prepare next week's study? We can meet online and I’ll share my screen and my process. That might help you in your planning.”

She was very excited, and so we are having a Sabbath School lesson-building session next Tuesday at 8 a.m. I am in my bliss! Seeing a young person who wants to grow spiritually and develop skills to increase the Kingdom of God—yes, yes, yes! This is disciple-making for me!


Cultural Norms

Wednesday, I had two mentoring sessions. One was a meet and greet with a Life Group leader from Wagga Wagga I hadn’t met before. So, I asked questions and told stories so we got to know each other. Then we prayed together.

The next session was with a duo in Ballina, NSW. They are both missionaries from other countries. We talked about the art of running a small group when nearly everyone is from a different country with different cultural norms.

As an example, we went through how each of our cultures engages in conversation, time management, personal space, and group structure. All three of us laughed a lot. We are each living in Australia but from somewhere else. California, Brazil and Norway.

As we opened our cultural suitcases, we realised things about ourselves, each other and our expectations. It was enlightening and enjoyable.

After our conversation, we prayed together and went back to life away from our screens. I went out into the warmth of sunny Melbourne and they went out to fill more sandbags to get ready for Cyclone Alfred! Yikes!


Mental Health

Last Sabbath, I taught the Sabbath School lesson and preached in Wangaratta. After the church service, as I was greeting people at the door, I asked one man, “How have you been?”

“Not well,” he said, “not well at all, really.”

The sermon had been about struggles in life and I had mentioned that I work in mental health. I realised his response was not a complaint, but a request for help.

I put my hand on his shoulder and we stepped outside next to the church door. Then I said, “Tell me more. How have you been unwell?”

“Mentally,” He said. “My mental health has not been good.”

“What does that look like,” I said, “for you?”

“Just so much negative self-talk,” he said. “I just constantly beat myself up.”

We chatted for a while and a group formed around him. I realised, he was loved here. He was in the right place. The head elde,s wife added valuable comments to the conversation. I could see they knew and loved this man. They cared deeply for him., caring

“What is your best advice for someone like me?” He asked.

“Two things,” I said. “First, find people. Being alone isn’t good for mental health.”

“Yeah,” he said, “I walk down to the corner shop and just chat with people.”

“Fantastic,” I said, “Doing something with others, or even better - for others, is very good for mental health.”

“Yeah,” he smiled and pointed at the head elder, “That’s what he says.”

“The second thing,” I said, patting the brickwork of the church, “Is to participate regularly in a community that acts like an extended family. Keep coming to Church. This place is very good for you.”

He looked at the head elder, “Those are the same two things you are always telling me to do!”

The head elder smiled and nodded.

“Smart man,” I said, laughing. “I think you know what to do!”


Spiritual Sweet Spot

I’ve just finished packing the van for our Lildyale church camp which starts tonight. I’ll head out to do the food shopping and then pick up my wife from the school where she teaches and we will drive to Howqua. A weekend getaway with my best friend and social time with our church family!

My mental well-being is on a high. I know why! I’ve been investing in others this week. That’s my spiritual sweet spot and I know it.

What’s yours?