What Do Christian Creators Wish They Knew About The Bible? (Behind the Scenes at YouVersion)

Allen C. Paul - God and Gigs (00:00)
Hello, my friends. Welcome to another episode of the God and Gigs Show, but definitely not the same kind of God and gigs episode you might be used to. I'm actually recording this the day before it comes out and it's released into the world. And I'm in Oklahoma City as I'm recording, having just attended the first day of this year's You Version Partner Summit. Now, if any of those words

Seem foreign to you or don't know what I'm talking about. Let me just give you the quick kind of you know glossary of what this is all about. YouVersion is the organization, the ministry built up by Life Church here in Oklahoma City that is behind the Bible app. And the Bible app, if you are using the Bible on your phone, there's a pretty good chance you're using the You Version Bible app. It's the most popular Bible app in the world.

I think I've lost count of how many languages it's been translated in as far as Bibles that are available. I think it's over 3,000 languages, over a billion installs. And for the last two years, God and Gigs has been blessed to be a content partner on YouVersion And we have six Bible reading plans on the app as I'm recording right now. And we're getting ready to release three more, hopefully in the next couple of weeks, depending on when we get them done. And that's why we're honestly at this content.

Partner Summit, because this is where the people that Life Church, the people at YouVersion have been able to pour into us and let us know the kind of impact we're having and why reading the Bible is so central to our faith as believers. And obviously, now I get to share with you in a little bit, kind of behind the scenes, why this is so important to God and gigs. Why do we even make Bible plans? Maybe you didn't even know.

That we had Bible plans on the YouVersion app. And you're like, wait, this was new to me. Well, last year we released six plans, as I mentioned, starting with actually two years ago, we created the creator's craft and then followed that with the creator's purpose. And then we did, I think, four last year: the creator's authority, the creator's legacy, the creator's timing. And I believe I'm missing out on one, which is proves this is live because I should have reviewed that. and the creator's battle. So

All six of those plans revolve around how creators deal with daily life and apply scripture to some of those common issues that we deal with. Now, in the next few weeks, as I mentioned, we're going to start dealing with identity and habits. And we are actually looking at taking my most, I guess you could say, most popular devotional, Your Art, God's Heart, and actually putting it on the Bible app so that everybody can get it for free.

Slightly different, but also updated for the Bible lab. And so that people can go through it and see how to connect the dots between your spiritual life and your creative life. But I also wanted to kind of tell you a little bit about what we're learning, what I'm learning as a content creator, being surrounded by so many amazing people who love the Bible, but who also want to share the gospel and share what they have in all these unique ways. We have people.

Who are sharing the Bible from urban areas in hip hop, in theologically deep areas, in relationships, in marriage, in parenting, in 365-day plans that you can join and you can read every single day of the year. Five day plans, seven-day plans, so many different varieties of creators and people who love the Bible who are sharing, and all of us fit under this one umbrella.

And so as a creator myself, it is so heartwarming to realize I don't have to be like everybody else. And yes, even among creators who love God and who are creating Bible plans and trying to help people read scripture and connect them with our podcasts and with our YouTubes, there's a little bit of imposter syndrome. There's a little bit of comparison, not because we feel like we're better or worse than anybody, but there's just this natural feeling of, am I doing this right?

And so many times in this conference, I've been hearing, again, just a couple of days, being able to connect with Jackie Bledsoe, who we've had on the podcast. I gotta make sure there's a link in the show notes for the actual episode so you can follow it. I get to work with him now on a weekly basis, on a bi-weekly basis, in a mastermind where I'm learning even more about making sure that our unique message in God and gigs is getting to the right people, which includes you.

So, first of all, this is an invitation. If you haven't been listening to our Bible plans, when I say listening, you can listen to audio, but you also can obviously read it. I would love to get your opinion and get your feedback on those plans to see how we can improve it before we release these new ones that we're going to be putting out in the next few weeks. And I want to know your relationship with the Bible, whether or not this is something you need more of. Should we do more?

Bible studies in terms of group studies. Should I be doing more devotionals that connect with other things in your creative life that would help you if you just had the resources and the connection in a certain topic that relates to your creative life? Because there may be things I'm missing. And that's really once again why I'm so glad I'm here for these two days in Oklahoma City and why I said, you know what? I'm going to drop all the pretense, drop all the, you know, production and the theme music and everything and just talk to you directly.

What do you need from God and Gigs when it comes to scripture and Bible teaching and access that connects with creative work? Because whatever you share with me, either in the comments, either by DMing me in the comments of the YouTube or the Spotify, or sending me a message, Alan Paul at Godandgigs.com, or you can just use Alan at godandgigs.com book for those work. If you let me know what you are

looking for in terms of how the Bible applies to your creative work, how your Bible applies to your creative life. Or maybe you're one of those people that I don't even know how it applies yet, but I just need more in terms of something specific, where it becomes whether how you are able to handle the pressures, whether you're not sure what their next step is, whether you should use it in church, whether you should use it outside the church, whether you even have a creative gift.

Like all of these areas are things that I need to hear from you. So I know how to use this information that I'm getting directly from the You version team on how to bless you. So this whole episode was really once again just my way of checking in with you to let you know that hey, I'm here learning. I'm trying to grow, I'm trying to be a better content creator. And if you are also trying to grow in your knowledge of God and your knowledge of what He's called to you to do, and your knowledge of how to be the creator that God created you to be.

But you're really looking for that extra oomph in terms of what you read on a daily basis in the Bible. Well, this is your chance. So I'm not gonna put a time limit on this, but obviously in the next couple of weeks as you're listening to this, if you're listening as it comes out and watching it, let me know right away. Because if it's not in the next couple of weeks that I'll be releasing new materials, it'll definitely be in twenty twenty seven.

And as I'm recording, we're right at the edge of the last quarter of the year. I actually started the last quarter of the year. So I would love to know from you via DM, via email, via comment, what do you need in terms of the support and knowledge and study from the Bible that you've been struggling with when especially comes to your creative life? If you let me know in the comments, if you let me know in connecting with me, that'll bless me. That'll help me serve you better.

And most of all, it'll help us to connect the dots for all of us as a community in God and gig. So that's all I wanted to share with you today. I hope you've been blessed. I hope that this podcast is continuing to bless you. And once again, thank you for letting me come in a little bit on the non-production side, a little bit just to share what's on my heart and how I'm being blessed by this YouVersion partner conference. And by the way,

Shout out to you, Version and everybody on the team. You guys are amazing. You've been doing an amazing job. I got some swag in the back over here on the hotel bed that I can't show you right now, but maybe I'll take some pictures in it. They have been nothing but incredible hosts, and it's such a privilege to be a member of the team as a content partner in such an incredible ministry. So God bless. Thank you guys for listening and watching. And I look forward to hearing your comments on how we can bless you with our Bible content.