Dive Collective

01/09/2025

A note from Anneke:

God’s Word is “the thinnest place to experience glimpses of His bare heart.”

I’m reading Ann Voskamp’s WayMaker, and just a few chapters in it’s already been such a timely reminder of God’s faithfulness during a time in my life when I feel like I’m doing a lot of waiting. (Side note: I did not expect this book to cause me to press deeper into my marriage, but that has been an unexpected plus!) I’ve been pondering this phrase, that God’s Word is “the thinnest place to experience glimpses of His bare heart” (WayMaker, page 32). It echoes in my mind the lyrics from one of my favorite songwriters about his experience in Jerusalem: “And when I touched the wall, the veil, it never felt so thin…”*

Last year, I found myself immersed in a new intimacy with Christ through Scripture that expanded my soul knowledge of Him. I saw, experienced, participated in the process of the Spirit alive in my life through God’s Word (and in the lives of people I love) in a way that I knew was possible but was different, fresher, than anything I had experienced in my lifetime of reading the Bible. The veil was thin. That veil—that not yet part of the already-not yet Kingdom we belong to that is alive and well here on earth—becomes thinner when we read and sit in His Words to us. We get to experience glimpses of His bare heart.

We’re pausing our content for the next few months, so The Recap Podcast will not be returning for 2026. But I wanted to encourage you: Stay in Scripture. Commune with your Father. Abide in Christ. Walk in the Spirit. This is how we get to know the love of the Father—by just being with Him. The Holy Spirit, given fully and freely to us through Christ, has poured out God’s love into our hearts (Romans 5:5)! Lean into and allow that love to captivate you this year.

If you’re looking for a place to start, check out the Dive Studies Podcast for past seasons of The Recap and our Acts study. Link in bio.

Happy 2026, friends!

*Maybe Next Year, song by Andrew Peterson

02/14/2024

We’ve discussed so much this year the importance of Scripture in community. It’s what we seek to model on The Recap, set within the context of this quote from Benjamin Myers: “Theology…is not a private table for one but a rowdy banquet of those who gather, famished and thirsty, around Christ. The lonely work of reading and writing is not yet theology but only its preparation. Theology happens wherever we are drawn together into the congenial and annoying labor of conversing, listening, and disputing—in short, where we are drawn into a collective struggle for truthful speech.”

If you’ve been with Dive Collective from the beginning, you’ll remember that one of the things we started with were Dive Studies—live, online conversations surrounding a book of the Bible. We’re bringing them back! Woven with where we’re currently reading in our Bible Reading Plan, Erin will be hosting Reflection Groups, beginning with the Gospel of John. Join a live, online conversation and see for yourself how the Spirit works in community.

Join the Gospel of John Reflection Group, Tuesday mornings at 6am PST, March 12 through April 2. Head over to our profile and click on Reflection Groups in linktree to sign up!

01/10/2024

A message from Erin:

The Recap Episode 2 is live! If I titled every episode like a Friends episode title, this one would read: The one where Erin admits she wasn’t honest in Episode 1.

At the heart of why we record these discussions is so that you can watch formation happening—in real-time—as we interact with the Bible and one another (with lots of laughter). You’ll see a little bit of how God used Wes to grow and stretch me in this second episode. I'll link the podcast in the comments. Come & See.

Comment on this post to be entered in this week’s ✨GIVEAWAY!✨ Extra entries for a share and a tag.

At Dive Collective we celebrate God's story through Bible study, spiritual direction and formation, and understanding who God created us to be as His image bearers in this world. Our goal is to improve Bible literacy, to lead believers into a more intimate relationship with Christ and to pay attenti

01/03/2024

Here they are! The new voices on The Recap, live on Season 3, Episode 1. We’re VERY excited to introduce them to you! Listen wherever you get your podcasts, link in bio. New episodes released every Wednesday.

✨Giveaway!✨

We’d love to hear your thoughts on The Recap, the Reading Plan, or both! Leave a comment below for a chance to win Dive Collective merch! For extra entries, share this post and tag a friend to read along with you! Winners will be chosen before Episode 2 releases on January 10th.

01/01/2024

Our Bible Reading Plan restarts TODAY! You’re invited to come along with us as we dive back into God’s story of redemption.

This plan is designed to give you a broad perspective of Scripture as it takes you through God’s Word. You’ll be reading passages from three different sections on any given day, which brings the story to life as you make connections from one Scripture passage to another.

Because we’re reading from multiple books, you can jump into the Bible Reading Plan at any point—just dive in wherever you are, and invite the Holy Spirit to join you. He will.

Subscribe to our newsletter for your FREE copy! Link in bio.

12/30/2023

We’re so excited to announce that The Recap Season 3, our podcast discussion based on our Bible Reading Plan, will include our husbands, Jeff and Izaak, as well as our new board member, Wesley Kouba. Our enthusiasm for what this means for our podcast listeners can be set in the context of this quote from Benjamin Myers:

“Theology…is not a private table for one but a rowdy banquet of those who gather, famished and thirsty, around Christ. The lonely work of reading and writing is not yet theology but only its preparation. Theology happens wherever we are drawn together into the congenial and annoying labor of conversing, listening, and disputing—in short, where we are drawn into a collective struggle for truthful speech.”

What some people call deconstruction, we experienced as growing and forming theology in midst of our kitchen preparations and dinner conversations when we were together in Guantanamo Bay. Rowdy? For sure. Annoying? Sometimes. Laborious? In the most delicious way. All of us have shifted our theology in some form by engaging with one another in this way. Often, we see our understanding of God has become more aligned. Sometimes it feels further apart, but in every way, we are more unified in Christ’s love over the years of feasting and fellowshipping together. Being stationed together again and having partnered with Wesley—who brings his own engaging perspectives and humor from way out in Minnesota—allows us to do this together once again. We want to share this formational experience with you this year.

Anneke, Kelly, and I are delighted to invite you to follow along with us as we read through the Bible in a year. Sign up for our newsletter to receive the FREE Bible Reading Plan (link in bio) and listen in on how our theology happens in rowdy and often laughter-infused discussions on the Dive Studies Podcast (link in bio).

12/28/2023

Are you looking for a way to get into Scripture? Do you want to see the big picture of God’s whole story of redemption? We have just a few days left until our Bible Reading Plan starts again for the new year! Sign up to receive your FREE copy and follow along with us! (Link in bio.)

Does daily reading feel overwhelming to you? We’re also bringing back a new season of the Recap with some new voices added—it’s going to be fun! Listen along with one new episode each week where we discuss that week’s reading—we never know exactly where the conversation will go, but you’re invited to come along with us as we chat about what the Spirit is teaching us through Scripture. Follow the Dive Studies Podcast on Apple Podcasts for new episodes of the Recap Season 3.

Read and listen, do one, or do both! God really is the best Storyteller—come dive into His Story with us in 2024!

📷:

12/24/2023

In the last chapters of Exodus, we see a summary of the construction of the tabernacle of God. Moses followed all of God’s very specific instructions in its construction. After each new completed piece, the Word says he completed each task “just as God had commanded Moses.” Over and over Moses did just as God has commanded until it was finished.

The moment Moses finished the work, the Word of God says that the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the Glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34). After Moses finished the work, the moment the curtain was hung that separated the people from the Holy of Holies, the place where God dwelled, God’s glory descended in a cloud and dwelled there in the midst of His people. This is a story of God’s glory bookended on one side.

Here is the other bookend…

In the Gospels, Jesus repeatedly tells us that the only things He does are the things the Father instructs Him. In fact, His food is to do the will of the Father (John 4:34). Everything Jesus did on earth was a reflection of God’s heart and hands. His entire life was a manifestation of the will of the Father. He did everything just as God had commanded, even to the point of the cross: “Not my will but your will be done” (Luke 22:42).

Then…

Jesus drew His last breath and cried out, “It is finished.”

Finally…

With thousands of years of divine story in between, the very curtain that separated mankind from the presence of God in the Holy of Holies tore from top to bottom by the hand of God Himself. The earth shook as the glory of God filled the earth at the finished work of Christ. God would no longer tolerate the separation sin demanded as He made His final move of victory in Jesus’ resurrection and poured out His Spirit on all nations. Now, God’s presence, the same Spirit that knows the very depths of God, lives in us...

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12/18/2023

Four hundred years after God’s voice went silent, a baby cried out—the Word of God was wearing the most vulnerable of flesh. It wasn’t the way anyone expected, but salvation had finally come. 
 
Simeon had been waiting. Though no new prophetic words had been heard from God in hundreds of years, amid the silence, Simeon had been faithfully waiting. As Simeon held onto the hope spoken by the prophets generations before, God granted his heart’s desire, that he would behold the Messiah before he died. Moved by the Spirit, Simeon came to the temple and literally held the Messiah. He reached out his arms and Mary and Joseph handed over the Christ, so Simeon held in his own arms the Word made flesh.

He declared:
 
“…for my eyes have seen Your salvation
that You have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to Your people Israel.” (Luke 2:30-32)
 
“Where the faithfulness of God encounters the [faith] of men, there is manifested His righteousness. There shall the righteous man live.” -Karl Barth
 
I read this quote by Barth recently. Barth says the theme of the epistle to the Romans is wrapped up in this one statement. And as I read this passage of Simeon, I think this is the manifestation of God’s righteousness—Christ, present in this moment of meeting between God’s faithfulness and a man’s faith…

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12/10/2023

This is how we define Advent: waiting with expectation…actively anticipating God’s salvation with obstinate hearts of hope.
 
Advent calls to remembrance one specific time we had completely gone off the deep-end. We lost ourselves to complete depravity: idol worship, child sacrifice, self-mutilation, sexual depravity. Once again, GOD came to us through the prophet Isaiah to say, “Enough is enough.” However, when God speaks, His character is made manifest. He tells them they will be taken into captivity. But even as He’s telling them all that will happen because of the choices they’ve made, He reminds them that He will come to their rescue once again. This is who He is. Faithful to come. Always.

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