Clearly with Jimmy & Kelly Needham

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You can know how to study the Bible and still feel completely stuck when you actually open it. In this episode, we talk about the real obstacles that derail Bible reading—not lack of intelligence, tools, or training, but the everyday realities of confusion, offense, and busyness. These are the moments that quietly convince us to close the Bible and not come back.
We walk through what to do when Scripture doesn’t make sense, when it says something we don’t like, and when life feels too full to slow down and read at all. Along the way, we make the case that confusion isn’t failure, offense isn’t a flaw in the Bible, and boredom doesn’t mean nothing is happening. In fact, these moments are often where the most meaningful formation takes place—if we’re willing to stay.
This conversation is less about Bible study techniques and more about endurance: learning how to keep showing up, how to build tolerance for discomfort, and how to trust that time in God’s Word is doing something even when it doesn’t feel spectacular. If you’ve ever thought, I want to read the Bible, but it’s harder than I expected, this episode is for you.

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In this episode, we tackle what we believe is the single most overlooked skill in Bible study — not better tools, deeper knowledge, or more information, but the simple discipline of slowing down and noticing what the text actually says. It sounds obvious. It isn’t. And it’s the reason many of us miss the richness of Scripture altogether.
We walk through why our instinct to rush to meaning, application, or personal takeaway often short-circuits understanding. Instead, we make the case that careful observation — paying attention to repeated words, contrasts, grammar, structure, and small details — is the foundation of faithful Bible reading. Using examples from Luke 18, Leviticus 4, Romans 8, and Galatians 5, we show how noticing what’s right in front of us unlocks clarity, depth, and theological insight that most of us skim past.
Along the way, we talk about why this practice requires patience, curiosity, and a conviction that every word of Scripture is intentional and inspired. We also explain why familiarity with the Bible can actually become a liability if we don’t approach the text with humility and a healthy suspicion of our first impressions.
If your Bible reading often feels flat, rushed, or confusing, this episode offers a reset. It’s an invitation to linger, observe, and let God’s Word unfold — trusting that real transformation comes not from trying harder, but from seeing more clearly.

Check out our Bible Study that teaches you to ready all of God’s word.
Art of Noticing bookmark
As we kick off a new year, we turn our attention to something many of us want to do more faithfully — reading the Bible — but often struggle to do with joy, clarity, or consistency. In this episode, we reframe what’s actually happening when we open the Scriptures by walking through four metaphors that reshape how we approach God’s Word.
We talk about the Bible as a bridge that leads us into relationship with Jesus, not an end in itself. As vocabulary, giving us language to recognize God’s voice and understand what’s happening in our hearts and in the world. As a library, made up of real books with real authors, purposes, and narrative arcs that deserve to be read as whole works. And finally, as a window, revealing the glory of God and transforming us not by self-inspection, but by beholding Him.
This conversation is about more than reading plans or checking boxes. It’s about recovering wonder, confidence, and joy in Scripture — especially when passages feel confusing, boring, or distant. We also introduce the heart behind our upcoming study See for Yourself, and explain why equipping people with skills for Bible reading has been a central passion of ours for years.
If you’ve ever felt stuck, discouraged, or unsure of what you’re supposed to be doing when you read the Bible, this episode is an invitation to see Scripture differently — and to come to it with renewed expectation, clearly.

Christmas rom-coms, alternative universes, and Nicolas Cage — yes, somehow they all make it into this episode. We walk through Kelly’s Christmas message on Luke 2, exploring why God’s answer to our deepest brokenness wasn’t a strategy, a checklist, or a five-step plan… but a person. A baby. The most unexpected rescue operation of all time.
In this teaching, Kelly shares why the arrival of Jesus is far more than a sweet nativity scene: it’s the moment God sits down at the desk, takes our exam for us, hands us His perfect score, and then delights — truly delights — to give it away. We talk about how salvation is more than debt-forgiveness, how righteousness is a gift earned on our behalf, and why God is far more eager to be with us than to simply fix our circumstances.
Whether you’re in a season that feels heavy, hopeful, confusing, or all of the above, this message is a reminder that God didn’t send us a plan to execute — He sent us Himself. Emmanuel. God with us. And that changes everything.

It’s that time of year when people start panic-Googling “gift ideas that don’t feel like I bought them in the checkout line.” So we decided to help — Clearly style. Which means: we gave ourselves permission to talk about our favorite things, roast each other, confess our competitive board-game issues, and accidentally pitch half a dozen companies who did not ask for our endorsement but probably should.
In this episode, we walk through the books, tools, gadgets, apps, candles, pens, games, and wonderfully analog objects that make our daily lives happier, smoother, or at least less chaotic. From Bibles to board games, from Greek notebooks to Suno AI bangers, from Kelly’s beloved Remarkable to Jimmy’s Micron pen obsession — it’s all here.
If you want gift ideas, want to feel better about your own quirks, or just want to laugh your way through our most unserious episode of the year… welcome. These are a few of our favorite things — clearly.
🎁 Favorite Things — Linked Resources
Bibles & Study Tools
New Inductive Study Bible — Amazon Link
Greek New Testament Notebooks — Amazon Link

Analog & Digital Tools
Analog To-Do List (Uggmonk) — Product Page
Remarkable Tablet — Amazon Link
An Exercise in Proactive Repentance

Lifestyle & Home
Jackson Vaughn Candles — Official Site
Portable Charger — Amazon Link

Music / Creativity
Suno — suno.com

Board Games & Family Fun
House Rules Board Game Shop — Official Site
Ticket to Ride — Amazon Link

Telestrations — Amazon Link