Jesus was the master of parables, which were fictional stories he created in order to teach a deep moral truth to the thousands that would gather to hear him speak. These stories had a way of holding up a mirror to the listener that allowed them to see themselves in the story, connect with the emotional wrestle of the made-up characters, and then be prompted to respond with wisdom in their own lives.

In this episode, I’ll explore the following:

• The key traits of a parable
• The difference between fables, allegories, and parables
• How to read biblical parable (and where to find it)
• How to read biblical satire (and where to find it)
• A Confetti Recipe that invites you into an imaginative story this week to discover how it connects to your own life

Enjoy!
Darcie

Connect with me on Instagram: @carryconfetti

Sign up to Cup of Confetti, my monthly newsletter: https://carryconfetti.kit.com/b58e8ac914

If you'd like to support the podcast or say thank you for a particular episode, you're welcome to buy me a coffee or purchase a poetry print here: https://buymeacoffee.com/carryconfetti

Y'all, there truly is nothing new under the sun. Ancient principles still apply to life today. Sure, times have changed and the world now looks drastically different from the biblical world. However, biblical wisdom is timeless, my friends.

And we all need more of it.

Now, most people think of Proverbs as the wisdom book within the Bible, but there's two more books that are packed with ancient principles too. Let's look at all 3.

In this episode, I'll explore the following:

• The difference between Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job
  • One offers short, poignant nuggets of truth
  • One wrestles with the philosophical questions about meaning
  • One leans into life's suffering and finding the noble path in the midst of deep loss and trial
• The impact of wisdom literature on the brain
• A Confetti Recipe that invites you to engage with 1 of those 3 books mentioned

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Book Mentioned:

• Living By the Book by Howard G. Hendricks and William D. Hendricks

Connect with me on Instagram: @carryconfetti

Sign up to Cup of Confetti, my monthly newsletter: https://carryconfetti.kit.com/b58e8ac914

If you'd like to support the podcast or say thank you for a particular episode, you're welcome to buy me a coffee or purchase a poetry print here: https://buymeacoffee.com/carryconfetti

30% of the Bible is ancient poetry, and it's the type of writing that every human can connect with on an emotional level.

Narrative is a recording of external events — the who, what, when and where…

Poetry explores the why — by revealing the inner dialogue at play between people and God. By igniting the imagination. By asking questions. By making comparisons. By deepening understanding. By emotionally expressing. By honestly venting.

Reading biblical poetry can sometimes feel like you're reading the writer's personal diary with the authentic and emotive prayers that came from the depths of their soul.

In today's episode, I'll explore the following:

• Where we find poetry in the Bible
• How poetry is meant to be read
• The impact of poetry on our brains
• How poetry gives language to our prayers
• Questions to ask while you read it
• A Confetti Recipe that will invite you into an ancient Psalm

Enjoy my lovely listeners!
Darcie

Connect with me on Instagram: @carryconfetti

Sign up to Cup of Confetti, my monthly newsletter: https://carryconfetti.kit.com/b58e8ac914

If you'd like to support the podcast or say thank you for a particular episode, you're welcome to buy me a coffee or purchase a poetry print here: https://buymeacoffee.com/carryconfetti

You might have heard the Bible been called "an instruction manual for life" or something along those lines. Now, that is true... but I also think that phrase can paint the wrong image of the Bible – meaning an image of God's book being all about the do's and don'ts of life rather than the story of God's people and his redemptive plan for humanity.

The Bible contains law, but it isn't all law. If we only see the Bible as law, then we might start to only see God as a distant judge in the heavens disconnected from (yet ruling over) humanity.

Jesus said he didn't come to abolish the law; he came to fulfil it. Let's talk through what that means in today's episode.

I'll talk you through the following:

• Types of biblical law (and what still applies today)
• The difference between God's written law and the added oral law of the Jewish people (based on teachings of the prophets and traditions)
• The intention of the law and how Jesus ultimately fulfilled it
• Why we shouldn't ignore Old Testament principles, even if we live under the new covenant law of grace
• A Confetti Recipe with questions to ask, as you read some biblical law this coming week

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Book Mentioned:

• Five Wealth Secrets 96% of Us Don’t Know by Craig Hill

Connect with me on Instagram: @carryconfetti

Sign up to Cup of Confetti, my monthly newsletter: https://carryconfetti.kit.com/b58e8ac914

If you'd like to support the podcast or say thank you for a particular episode, you're welcome to buy me a coffee or purchase a poetry print here: https://buymeacoffee.com/carryconfetti

Your brain loves a good story. In fact, a really clear narrative has the ability to cut through every other distraction in your life (of which there are many).

A captivating story has the power to make you pay attention, focus, and sync up with the words and emotions of the storyteller. A story can also change you, move you, and motivate you to live differently.

And the Bible is filled with stories about real people who faced real struggles and overcame real obstacles. It's the narrative found within scripture that invites us to step into the biblical world, to meet the characters, and to understand how history has a way of repeating itself.

In this episode, I'll unpack the following:

• Why stories captivate our minds
• The types of narrative you'll find in the Bible, including biography and tragedy
• Questions to ask yourself as you read biblical narrative
• The difference between exegesis and eisegesis
• A Confetti Recipe to explore a narrative heavy book this coming week

Enjoy, my lovely listeners!
Darcie

Connect with me on Instagram: @carryconfetti

Sign up to Cup of Confetti, my monthly newsletter: https://carryconfetti.kit.com/b58e8ac914

If you'd like to support the podcast or say thank you for a particular episode, you're welcome to buy me a coffee or purchase a poetry print here: https://buymeacoffee.com/carryconfetti

If the aim in analytical reading is to fully understand a book as a singular book written by one author conveying their point of view, then the aim of syntopical reading is much different. In Level 4 of reading, we now have to ask: How do all of these books individually form one bigger picture and present one key over-arching storyline? How do the authors present the same message in various ways, at various times, to various groups of people? Do all of these books together verify the story of Jesus Christ or are there any disagreements since the books were written by 40+ different authors across 1,500 years?

Let's level up, y'all! This is the highest form of reading, so it requires the most out of you. Now, you're actively trying to put puzzle pieces together to form a clear message. It requires intentional engagement, yet it also brings the most rewarding revelation.

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In this episode, I'll cover the following:

• Why we should rely on a core hermeneutical principle that believes "scripture interprets scripture"
• An in-depth look at the art of "Syntopical Reading"
  • 5 clear steps, as defined by Adler and Van Doren
  • 1 bonus step, as the Bible asks more of you than any other book
• An example of how to walk through those steps
• A Confetti Recipe to do a synoptical read based on a question you're wrestling with
• A free worksheet outlining the steps for synoptical reading if you subscribe to my newsletter Cup of Confetti: https://carryconfetti.kit.com/b58e8ac914

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Sermon Mentioned:

• Signed, Sealed, Delivered (preached at Replenish Women's Conference 2026): https://youtu.be/7EzWGlc3RFo?si=1dDpSdwmo4-38HlC

Book Mentioned:

• How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren

Connect with me on Instagram: @carryconfetti

Sign up to Cup of Confetti, my monthly newsletter: https://carryconfetti.kit.com/b58e8ac914

If you'd like to support the podcast or say thank you for a particular episode, you're welcome to buy me a coffee or purchase a poetry print here: https://buymeacoffee.com/carryconfetti

Don't let the Bible simply be a verbal memory that you recite emptily. Don't fall victim to verbalism where you can quote the Bible but not explain the very words you just quoted.

Our aim in reading the Bible is not about gathering information (although it's packed with it). It's not about being entertained (although parts are VERY entertaining). Our ultimate goal is transformation and the renewing of our minds, because that will change our lives for the better. THAT will lead us to becoming more and more like Jesus.

So, today, we dive into Level 3 of reading any book: Analytical Reading. This is a stage of reading that starts to impact you on a heart level, because you'll start to see how the story arc of the Bible is playing out in your own story with God.

The more you read the Bible, the more it starts to read you.

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In this episode, I'll cover the following:

• Why quoting scripture is not the same as understanding and explaining scripture
• An in-depth look at the art of "Analytical Reading"
  • Rules for finding what a book is about
  • Rules for interpreting a book's contents
  • Rules for criticising a book as a communication of knowledge (intellectual etiquette)
• When to pick up a commentary (intrinsic vs. extrinsic reading)
• A Confetti Recipe to do an analytical read of a book within the Bible
• Free worksheets outlining the steps for analytical reading and a worksheet outlining the major themes in the Bible if you subscribe to my newsletter Cup of Confetti: https://carryconfetti.kit.com/b58e8ac914

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Books Mentioned:

• Living By the Book by Howard G. Hendricks and William D. Hendricks
• How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren

Connect with me on Instagram: @carryconfetti

Sign up to Cup of Confetti, my monthly newsletter: https://carryconfetti.kit.com/b58e8ac914

If you'd like to support the podcast or say thank you for a particular episode, you're welcome to buy me a coffee or purchase a poetry print here: https://buymeacoffee.com/carryconfetti

Have you ever started a Bible reading plan that just felt so disconnected, so you were left feeling lost and confused? Have you ever set a goal to read the Bible in a year, but then you fell behind and got discouraged... so you started to speed-read to catch up but started to miss what God was trying to show you, because you were aiming for quantity of pages read instead of quality of time spent in his Word?

Yeah, me too, my friend.

Everything used to feel so disconnected until I understood the unity of the whole book. It took time to discover how to read the Bible well, including a lot of trial and error on my part.

In the words of Mortimer Adler and Charles van Doren, “When we speak of someone as 'well-read,' we should have this ideal in mind. Too often, we use that phrase to mean the quantity rather than the quality of reading. A person who has read widely but not well deserves to be pitied rather than praised. As Thomas Hobbes said, 'If I read as many books as most men do, I would be as dull-witted as they are.'"

With that said, let's learn how to read well.

In this episode, I'll cover the following:

• Why not every Bible reading plan sets you up for a win
• The 4 Levels of Reading, as defined by Adler and Van Doren
• An in-depth look at the art of "Inspectional Reading"
• A Confetti Recipe to do an inspectional read of your Bible, with a free worksheet if you subscribe to my newsletter Cup of Confetti: https://carryconfetti.kit.com/b58e8ac914

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Books Mentioned:

• Living By the Book by Howard G. Hendricks and William D. Hendricks
• How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren

Connect with me on Instagram: @carryconfetti

Sign up to Cup of Confetti, my monthly newsletter: https://carryconfetti.kit.com/b58e8ac914

If you'd like to support the podcast or say thank you for a particular episode, you're welcome to buy me a coffee or purchase a poetry print here: https://buymeacoffee.com/carryconfetti