Reagan K Reynolds

Too much has happened since my last post to fully catch you up on the transitions. The short of it is that at the same time that I launched into homeschooling my children, my family sold our beautiful home in Wake Forest and lived in transition for a while in that beautiful small town for a while, and then we packed up and moved to the most oxymoronic city in the South—Austin, Texas.

I grew up in church, but no one taught me *how* to read the Bible until I was an adult. Now, my mind has opened to incredible deep truths in scripture that I would have otherwise missed.

Much of what we get out of the scriptures has to do with how we begin our reading. Most of us in the south have thick, leather-bound study Bibles with tiny little reference notes and scholarly introductions we never read or—if we do—it’s because we are distracted during a sermon that lost us at “hello.”

Being an avid reader and a literary scholar, there is one thing I have learned about myself that is true for not all—but most. We don’t really retain what we read until we have to regurgitate it, and because most of us are not Bible teachers or scholars, this rarely applies to the content in those tiny print introductions inserted into our study Bibles (I feel like I just heard a hundred Bible scholars gasp… sorry guys).

In this article, I share a little about the irony of growing up right down the street from a seminary but not being very Bible-literate myself, and I provide a free resource to help you get started reading any given passage in the Bible with the right context in mind.

Read the full article here: https://reagankathrynreynolds.com/2021/07/20/lets-talk-about-reading-the-bible-in-context-and-why-you-should-stop-being-a-lazy-reader/

Get your free Bible Reading Guide to Establish a Contextual Framework here: https://mcusercontent.com/a433f72b7334ec2a88b25ee11/files/ca89b9ff-e211-2495-e929-e467fbee1e29/Contextual_Framework_1_.pdf

I may be wrong, but I have a nagging suspicion that most Christian individuals living in the bible belt are passive readers of their Bibles. They may read a portion of scripture every day, but––likely––they are under some sort of compulsion to do so (whether real or imagined), and that compulsion starts them off in the direction of passive readership of God’s holy word.

There are a lot of reasons to remain a passive reader––none of them good, in my opinion. But there is one good reason to become active in your reading of the gospel—active readership will fuel a life burning with passion for walking the narrow path with Jesus. What could be more exciting than that?

Read article here: https://reagankathrynreynolds.com/2021/07/15/passive-vs-active-reading-of-scripture-ignite-a-passion-for-the-bible/

Encouragement to seek God through my personal experiences with Him and my observations of His work around me provided me with the confidence to proclaim the presence of a God I knew loved me. Even in my wayward college years, I never questioned the existence of God because I had experienced Him––I heard His voice, I saw His perfection in creation, and I observed His movement in the world in both charismatic and private encounters.

I knew God.

Growing up, it wasn’t God I questioned.

It was Jesus.

As I was taught Christianity, Jesus was kind of this hand-wavy thing over on the side of an all-powerful miraculous God. I knew about Jesus. I believed He was a real person in history––but I was not completely confident in His divinity.

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Read this article here: https://reagankathrynreynolds.com/2021/07/11/scripture-as-authority-my-search-for-a-solid-foundation/

experience with EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy or post-traumatic stress disorder. I am excited–albeit a bit nervous–to share with you my own experiences, as I have already witnessed how my own testimony of healing has poured hope into those who may also be suffering from various mental and emotional trials. I am nervous because in the following testimony I am vulnerable, and who isn't a little nervous when vulnerable?

You can read along here: https://reagankathrynreynolds.com/2021/06/17/jesus-emdr-therapy-a-testimony-of-healing-from-post-traumatic-stress-disorder/

Visit www.reagan-reynolds.com for more

I reflect on the trustworthy character of God when it feels like our prayers are not being answered.

What is it about suffering that causes people to scatter? Many times, when a person walks through a season of suffering, the response is an energetic burst of movement away from that person–a human diaspora initiated by tremors of reality echoing the pain of our universal human condition. Do you need proof? Ask almost anyone who is a member of a church and has experienced a divorce. In this article I suggest five ways you can move in closer to those who suffer.

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://reagankathrynreynolds.wordpress.com/2021/06/23/five-ways-to-mourn-with-those-who-mourn-or-how-to-not-be-a-person-who-scatters/

A reflection on a time when the emphasis on miracles as preached in some local churches disappointed, followed by a prayer for the weary soul today.

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://reagankathrynreynolds.wordpress.com/2021/06/08/when-prayers-for-miracles-disappoint-followed-by-a-prayer-for-the-weary-soul/

I’m going to say something that may feel like a slap in your face at first, but it might save you from one of those theoretical spiders crawling up your cheek.

The Bible is not about you.

I’m not the first one to say it—I know. Brilliant and humble people have been speaking this truth for years. Some preachers yell it from the pulpit, and others just assume you know. But I didn’t. I simply didn’t know.

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://reagankathrynreynolds.wordpress.com/2021/06/02/for-this-girl-from-the-bible-belt-this-one-realization-changed-everything/

A short reflection and praise for how the Lord is building our house.

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://reagankathrynreynolds.wordpress.com/2021/05/31/a-reflection-of-praise-the-lord-builds-the-house/

Providing love and support to a spouse, family member, or close friend of someone living with depression is one way the church can love the body of Christ well and can intentionally minister to those who, like we did, are striving to survive depression without the incredible help of living with the acknowledgement of Christ’s great love and mercy for us.

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://reagankathrynreynolds.wordpress.com/2021/05/29/five-ways-to-love-the-caretaker-of-someone-living-with-depression/

If you have never suffered from depression, it can be a difficult thing to understand. It is understandable for those who have never experienced depression themselves to grow frustrated and weary with their loved ones who may struggle with the condition. In this article, I offer five ways to love someone living with depression. Later this week, I will also share five ways to love their caretakers well.  

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://reagankathrynreynolds.wordpress.com/2021/05/27/five-ways-to-love-someone-living-with-depression/

I grew up in the southern United States right on the fifth notch of the Bible Belt, and there is one thing I know for sure about the place I am from—many have not heard the gospel. I live in a cultural phenomenon where many are raised with Jesus being a common household name (or, common explicative), but they have no or little awareness of the true living God's character and His power to save. So, I would like to start with the gospel, and every once in a while I will come back to it again.

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://reagankathrynreynolds.wordpress.com/2021/05/22/the-gospel-in-five-minutes/

Hopelessness is a sly and quick emotion. It can come like a dark shadow over a long period of grief, or it can slip into the average day—otherwise normal and routine. But Jesus provide hope for us—and a simple look at Jesus provides a resurgence of hope for this life and the next. 

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://reagankathrynreynolds.wordpress.com/2021/05/18/the-powerful-simple-act-of-looking-at-jesus/