Journal

I've always been a journaler. I've kept a diary or journal since I was about 8 years old. Thankfully, the topic has changed from which boys I think are cute (all of them) to what I'm reading during my personal devotions.  I'm an advocate of journaling in some fashion or another regardless of whether or not you're a Christian, but journaling is especially important for Christians. Not only does it help you process your thoughts and experiences but it also records them for future reference.

Think of it as writing your own history book.

There are many ways to approach journaling. Often I will simply write out thoughts as they come to me, as if I'm having a conversation, or I will make bullet outlines to help organize my thoughts (yes, I really do this). But, when I'm journaling on scripture, I find it most helpful to use an inductive bible study.

I was introduced to the idea of an inductive bible study during bible college. This is just a systematic way of breaking down a passage and gathering something meaningful out of it. Like any good pastor, my professor taught us with an acronym: OICA, or Observe, Interpret, Correlate and Apply.

Later, my own church adopted Wayne Cordeiro's SOAP journaling method: Scripture, Observation, Application and Prayer. You can read more about SOAP here.

In addition to Wayne Cordeiro's material, there are many resources available to learn how to study scripture inductively. I personally learned using Roy Zuck's Basic Bible Interpretation but I've also heard good things about How to Study the Bible and Enjoy It by Skip Heitzig and How to Read the Bible for all its Worth by Gordon Fee.

During 2012, I am going through the Life Journal (also by Wayne Cordeiro, he's a journaling fiend!). You can follow the Life Journal online lifejournal.cc, by purchasing a journal or a bookmark, or even by following @LifeJournal on Twitter. Personally, I read the Life Journal on my Bible App and record my SOAP entries in Evernote.

Feel free to probe my deepest darkest secrets below!