You know, I've realized I'm kind of picky when it comes to Bible translations. Yeah, you are, because you're the guy that underlines half the page and then argues with the footnotes. And I'm a good arguer. But, you know, I care about two things, faithfulness to the original text and just being able to read it without feeling like I'm reading a dictionary. Which is why we're grateful for the support of the Christian Standard Bible.
The CSB was created to be accurate and readable, helping people engage God's word with confidence and clarity. And it's sponsors like the CSB that help make this podcast possible. To learn more, visit csbible.com. Hi. I lived growing up, and then even into my college years in this.
like seesaw of on good days When I I didn't cuss or do anything. Oh, I am going to heaven. And then on bad days, I'm going to bust hell wide open, which is crazy. Welcome to Family Life Today, where we want to help you pursue the relationships that matter most. I'm Dave Wilson.
And I'm Ann Wilson, and you can find us at FamilyLifetoday.com. This is Family Life today.
Well, this is fun today. I'm pretty excited to have it. Because we're on a couch. That's what it is. Yeah, that's different and fun.
But we have Portia Collins with us and just. I know that today is going to be a great day. Because Portia, you're here. I am so excited to be here. And I love the setup.
This is beautiful. It is, right? I feel really comfortable. I know. And it looks like you were made to be in this setup with your colors.
It's perfect. What is it? Providence? That's what we say. It's Providence.
Well, you know, as we are studying you, we found out some unique things about you. Two, I want to ask you about gamer Marvel movies. Yeah. You pick. Start.
No way. Start with the gamer. Because you also say that you're a Bible nerd. I am.
So the gamer, the Bible nerd, do those go together? What do you think?
Sometimes, yeah, because if I'm playing solo, sometimes I will be listening to the Bible while I'm playing. Where did that start? How old were you when you started gaming? I started gaming. I probably was maybe seven or eight.
My mom introduced me to gaming. What? My mom is a gamer. Still, today, my mom is still a gamer. Come on, like she's at home at my house now, holding down the fort with my husband, and she is likely going to be playing my PlayStation at some point.
Okay, that's better. Who wins between? Who's your favorite Marvel character, superhero?
Okay, so this is like a tricky answer because I really, really like Thor. But like that I feel like that's the default Answer, everybody's like, yes, Odin's son, Thor, but actually, it's Doctor Strange. Oh, see that too. There's a lot of power there, though. Yeah, I like Doctor Strange is so cool.
And then, like, his origin story and all of that. You really kind of see him go from being like super arrogant to like way more humble and relatable.
So, yeah, Doctor Strange. You know, sore? Thor can be a little more self-centered at the beginning. But you know, who was the most self-centered was Iron Man? Yeah.
I think I'd pick Iron Man.
Okay, that's a good way. Because you can't. That's my way. Because he's a genius. You can't pick up a man.
He's not like one of the gods, but he's like a genius. I like his humor. You like his humor, yeah. But I and he and he wants to help, he's always saving people. He was selfish at first, but at the end, it changed right.
We, yep, we sacrificed. He did. Is this what we're going to talk about all day? Maybe I could. I love Marlon.
Okay, I've seen all of them.
So have I. Of course, I thought. All right.
So, talk about Bible Nerd. We're going to talk about your book about the book of Galatians. Yeah. How did this start? Were you always.
A Bible nerd? Yeah. No, I was not.
So I grew up going to church. My grandmother was the pianist, and my mother was the organist of my childhood church. And so, church culture, particularly like black church culture, was something that I was very familiar with. We were always at church because if the musicians are there, then you're there. You know, exactly.
And so I was always there. I grew up with an understanding of like parts of who Christ was, but not a full understanding of that. And so my understanding of the gospel was that Jesus had cleared the plate. And it was like, in my mind, it was like, okay, now it's time for me to put something back on the plate.
So I lived growing up, and then even into my college years in this. like seesaw of on good days When I didn't cuss or do anything. Oh, I am going to heaven. And then on bad days, I'm going to bust tail wide open, like, which is crazy. Like, even like we know in scripture, it talks about a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.
And that's exactly what I was. I was so, I had such a warped understanding. And probably fearful. Yes, 100% fearful. I mean, that's a lot.
I think a lot of American majority. Maybe it's true everywhere in the world, but I know here I felt the same way. But the book of Galatians is where my life changed. And so I grew up, like I said, had this understanding. I knew of God.
I knew of Jesus, but I didn't really understand what Christ, like what the work of salvation was. And so when I got to college, I was a religious girl, but it's like, as soon as you get from under the thumb of your mama and your grandmama, you just start doing whatever you think you're big and bad enough to do. And that was me. And so I got to college. And the crazy thing was, outwardly, I had this outward persona of I was a president scholar.
I graduated, you know, Suna Cum Laude, Student Government Association, all these outward things. It's like, oh, she's great. Yeah. And she's got it all together. Yeah, and she's got it all together.
But you pull the curtain back a little bit, and I was a hot miss. I was a hot miss. And God. What did a hot mess look like? Oh my god.
I want the dirt. You want the dirt. Seriously. And I'm real about. Keeping that.
I mean, let's just be honest: like fornicating, like just living by the beat of my own drum, you know, in relationships that I had no business being in. I was the God of my life, you know? And there were times when I felt justified in that because I had this outward persona of like, I'm checking the boxes. But inwardly, I was struggling because I still knew that.
Something in the water ain't clean. And it was really breaking me down. What did you feel? I think. What God allowed me to go Really come to a place where I had to grapple with my sin, and it was brokenness, despair.
Because here's the thing. The point that we end up in with sin is never where we start, and we can't see just how big, bad, and deep it goes. And it always takes you further than yes.
So, you had probably guilt and shame a lot 100%. That's what I, yes, 100%. And so, once I got to that point where I was, there was so much guilt, so much shame, it felt like my good stuff was no longer outweighing my bad stuff. I lost it. I was so broken.
I remember honestly. Billing Like my life was not worth living anymore. Wow. Was this your freshman year? No.
So this was after I graduated.
So I went all the way through college. Which is hardy and hard.
So, yes. And still making good grades, doing all these things. And after I graduated, I hit the real world. And so the same school that I graduated from, I actually, my first big girl job was there. I was an admissions counselor.
And that's when it's like life hit me in the face. Like, I'm paying bills. I got an apartment.
Now, all my friends, all of us are scattered across the country. All of the things that I felt like I was using to hide or even not let my mind go to the reality of what my life was, it was gone. And like, I had stripped. Yes. And I felt lonely.
100%. Lonely, broken. What is my life? Confused, all of these things. And so I went back.
to a fundamental principle that I learned as a church girl. Read your Bible. Pray. I'm desperate. Lord, I'm broken.
I'm just going to read my Bible and pray. Your kids are fighting again.
Somebody spilled something sticky. The coffee's cold. And suddenly, you're angry before 9 a.m. If you've ever wondered, why do I keep reacting this way? You're not alone.
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Yes. It's like everything else that we look to is like it's empty. It's not fulfilling me. There's got to be something else. And there you go back to your roots.
Yes. And I didn't even know what I was doing.
So this just shows the sovereignty of God and how He works through things because I was just going back to it. It was like I needed hope. And I was like, okay, this is the only place that I know because ain't nothing else giving it to me. My job is not giving it to me. My relationship, none of that.
And so I go back and I just started every night when I would get off work for my big girl job. I would read scripture. Yes, I would pray. Had you been to a point of repentance at that point, or were you just kind of praying? I definitely think I was at a point of repentance because I had already started cutting off things that I was like, I don't want this.
Yeah. Lord, whatever you don't want from me, I don't want from myself. And so I had reached that point. It was like almost like finally coming out of the hole, out of that sunken place. And so, like I said, I'm reading scripture.
I remember being so hungry, and even things that I didn't understand. Like, I remember during the work hours, I would, as I'm working, I would be listening to sermons like from John Piper and Tim Keller. I feel like I cut my teeth on the new living translation because I grew up in the King James Version and couldn't understand who speaks old English, none of us. And I remember seeing some YouTuber or somebody talking about, you know, get a Bible that you understand. And so I got a life application study Bible.
I love that Bible. Yeah, but NLT, and I would read every evening, and the notes in it were so good. And so this particular evening, I decided to read Galatians for no other reason. Other than it was six chapters, and I knew that I could finish it in one city. That's what I was wondering.
Why, Galatians? That's the only thing. But this was, I'm telling you, this is the providence of God. Yes. Because I picked this just like I had been hearing people say: read scripture in context, you know, start from the beginning.
I was like, oh, this is six chapters. I can definitely read this one tonight in one city. I tell you. Hand up. When I finished, My face was to the floor.
I was like. Laying on the floor weeping because for the first time ever, I truly understood the gospel. It was as if a weight had been lifted. from me because I finally understood that Jesus doesn't just clear the plate. He is the plate.
He puts it all on the plate. You got all that in one reading. And one Galatians. That is God. Because I was like, how'd she get it?
Like, Galatians. How's she on the floor? It's Galatians. That's it. 100%.
And then from there, I just kept drilling in. Like the book gripped me so much. that I feel like I spent the next 10 years of all the books in scripture. I know I would reread Galatians over and over and study it more, and it became more profound. But that very first reading, was like I saw it so clearly.
Like, I am not justified. By all this stuff, like Jesus justifies me, period. Like, and if you really read the book of Galatians, Paul is making that so clear. His whole the first half is just like a case study. On This work is Christ.
There's nothing that you can add to it or take away.
Well, I mean, he keeps us, you know, better than anybody. You wrote a book on it. Yeah. But I mean, again, as we were getting ready to interview you, I'm like, I got to read Galatians again. I was in seminary.
I studied it. I studied it in Greek, but it's been a long time. And I'm reading it yesterday. And Paul, from the first verse, is hammering these hammering, like what are you doing? You've added so.
Is that something that really got your attention? It was like he was talking to me. And maybe because I was reading the New Living Translation, that it felt more clearer. Because prior to that, I'd been reading, like I said, King James Verge, but it was as if he was talking, fresh too. Like it was like he was talking to me, like, girl, you are out here and you are trying to add, you're vacillating from legalism to lawlessness.
Either you're living in a way where you feel like you're just justifying yourself through your good grades and your job and who your mama name is. And you are not doing anymore. Yeah. Read that in the Bible. Like when you, like parts of it, like just take us to the scriptures of what you read.
Look at your beat-up little Bible. I know. Isn't it? It is. It is an NLT version.
This one is an ESV.
So as I grew into being more of a Bible nerd, I started exploring. Translations more and getting closer to the original text. Yep, that's what I like. Word-for-word translations. I like some that are what I consider an optimal balance, like CSB.
Yeah. But ESV is CSB. Bruce, CSB. Yeah, CSB. They're our sponsor.
I love Mr. CSB. They know it, too. We just got five points for that one. Yeah.
Yeah, you can find out more about that at csbible.com. There you go. There we go, Bruce. CSBible.com. Perfect.
Or is that always CSBBible.com? CSBible.com. Well, I've got an ESB here as well. All right.
Perfect. Hey, by the way, there's some listeners and viewers saying. What's the difference? Should I do an ESV? Should I do an NIV?
I love to talk about this. Yes. So, first and foremost, God's Word is God's Word. And also, there aren't many of us out here reading Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic as the original manuscript. Like I always do.
Yeah. Oh, I know. You're fancy.
So I always tell you. If you're not, you know, there's no reason to feel like, well, I got to read the King James Version because that's how it was written. Actually, no, it was written in Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic.
So if you're reading anything other than those things, then you're not reading in the original languages.
So that kind of gives us a little bit of humility to start with in picking our translations. And then from there, my advice is always, if you are new to Bible study. I personally think that you need to get the easiest translation that you can understand to start. And then from there, you can move to. Word for word translation.
But Portia, I will say, I remember I was 16 when I surrendered my life to Jesus. And I didn't grow up in a church. I had tried to read it. Like, this thing doesn't even make sense before I was a believer. And when I was a believer.
When I had first started reading it, I'm like, are you kidding me? This is unbelievable. Oh, 100%. That's exactly how I felt. I was like, I've been in church all these years and just could not see it.
You know, and I knew I had such a disjointed View of scripture. And so I could cherry pick and I could quote John 3:16. If somebody asked me, Well, you know, what is the gospel? And I'm quoting John 3:16. But when God really showed me like the fullness of his word, and even now, like at the big age or little age of 38 now.
I know I still don't have all of it, but there's so much there now that was not there before.
So rich. And it is, and I never get tired of it. Me neither. It never gets old. I'm on year 20 of reading the Bible through every year.
And every year, I'm like, are you kidding me? I never saw this before. It just keeps getting better and richer. You know, and I'll add this because I want you to jump into it. But think about this.
If you want a great marriage, this is your foundation. 100%. What would happen if you and your wife, you and your husband, and if they won't, you do it. But it's like, what if we build our life on the word of God? It's going to change your marriage, going to change your legacy.
All right, enough of that. Where do you want to go? This is going to be very interesting, but this is. Probably. Everybody expects you to go to Galatians 2:20.
No, I'm going to Galatians 3. I'm going to Galatians 3 when. Paul is 100% not pulling his punches, and he says, Oh, foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? Which is interesting because as I've Initially, I didn't. know this, but as I've studied more and more, This word bewitched.
You don't see it mentioned anywhere else. Yeah, I can't remember. It is not. It's not mentioned anywhere else. I know, specifically in the New Testament, but I definitely don't think anywhere else.
So he's using some language where he's like, Y'all are crazy.
Okay. Who has bewitched you? You should do your own version. I know. People say this all the time: the Porsche Bible.
Porsche version. But he's saying, Yeah, oh, foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish?
Having begun by the spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Like I wish I have an NLT because it sounds even plainer in the NLT. But it's like he's saying it: Are you crazy? Did you actually work or make yourself have the spirit, the work that? Like, did you do this?
Are you now trying to like perfect? And I think that word perfected hit me too because I am a, hi, I'm Portia, and I'm a recovering perfectionist. And so when I read this, I'm like, oh. This is me. He is talking to me, and I am foolish, and I have been bewitched.
I mean, here's the NLT. Yeah, read it, read it. Foolish Galatians, who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ's death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross. Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses?
Of course not. You receive the Spirit because you believe the message you heard about Christ. Yes. That word believe, it was like.
Okay, and then I start reconciling things that I knew, like John 3:16. Like, we don't see anything else in there. It says, Whosoever believes, and so I'm thinking, and like, you got to take all this, the totality of this book in, because as I'm reading this, it's almost as if Paul is anticipating what questions are arising as he says.
So, even as I was reading this at the time, I'm saying, Okay, so all it is I believe in Christ, what he has done, his work on the cross is sufficient. And I am saved. Then it's like, now what? And then Paul says, I got your now what?
Now, this is how you live in light of that. Not because you're doing anything to save yourself, it's because of your salvation that you now live in a way. That pleases God, that glorifies God, that really was the way that He intended. I mean, the amazing thing about what Paul is writing to the Galatians is. You can say the exact same thing to us today.
Absolutely. 100%. We are bewitched. We do it today. In church.
Yes, in ministry. Even now. I recently just wrote a blog on my sub stack, and the title of it is: I'm Not That Great. And the reason why I wrote it because I realized how much I still, even now, struggle. With perfectionism, and how particularly that is exposed when there are areas where I realize I'm not that great.
That I can be forgetful, that I can miss, that I'm not always operating in this sense of excellence, even though I want to. There are moments when I mean, my humanness. Yes, my humanness is exposed. And in those moments, it has been such a hit that I've even struggled like. Did I really hear you clearly, God?
And God is constantly showing me. Girl. You're not putting anything on this plate. Yeah, you missed the mark on this. Yeah.
But guess what? I'm Jesus. That's a good reminder, too. Every, and I need it because, like I said, especially when you have a type A personality, you are like high-functioning, overachiever. Always want to make love it when people are like, great job, Porsche, you came through for us.
And when you have a moment when somebody's like, you didn't come through for us this time. You missed it this time. I cannot take that and then begin to let that inform my identity. Yes. Christ informs my identity.
I mean, so much of Galatians is about identity in Christ. We'll get into that tomorrow. In fact, teaser for tomorrow. Yeah. Give us one thought on you're a mom, you're a wife.
Is there a thought based on everything you've just talked about that informs you as a woman of God and as a wife or as a mom? Don't answer it. No, no, no. Just ju just tease us. Tease us.
Like now you know I'm a I'm not a lady of few words. See, I think that's the teaser as a freedom. I would say freedom.
Okay. That would be the teaser. Freedom In my role as a wife, freedom in my role as a mom, freedom. Like All right, that's enough. All right, because that's a good one.
Because we don't always associate freedom with being a mom or a wife. Or a dad or a woman. Yeah, that's really good.
So we're going to hit that tomorrow. And by the way, her eight-week Bible study is called Finding Freedom. And you can get it at familylifetoday.com. Just click on the link in the show notes. But tomorrow, we're going to take that concept, this book of Galatians, and say, okay, how's it impact marriage, family, legacy?
It's going to be a good day. All right, let me just say this. We know life is full of challenges, and families today need biblical truth more than ever. Isn't that true? That is true.
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