A brief summary of some of the info from Welcome to the Story I came across at the Crossway blog:

Tactics for Reading the Bible

Someone once said that a journalist has five friends: the questions of Who? What? When? Where? and Why?. These questions not only help journalists get the story, they can also help us
“get” a passage of Scripture. When reading God’s Word, it is essential that we pay close attention to the broader ideas and themes at work in a particular chapter or verse.

Who?: Getting the Characters. Who are the characters in the story? What roles do they play? Do they experience transformation or do they remain stagnant? How do they demonstrate the plot line of creation, fall, redemption, restoration? How is God divinely at work in these lives? What does this passage teach us about Christ?

What?: Getting the Point. What is the big idea of the passage? How does the passage develop this idea?

When? and Where?: Getting the Setting. Where is it set geographically? When did it occur? Does the timeline provide any context? Where does this text take place in light of the canon of Scripture? Where in the plot line of creation, fall, redemption, restoration does this passage fit? How does this passage relate to the grand narrative of Scripture?

Why?: Getting the Point for Life (Application).
What does the passage teach us about God and his glory? What does the passage teach us about Christ? What does this passage teach us about serving others? What does it teach us about the gospel? Based on this passage, is there anything that I am doing that would turn others off to the gospel? What does the passage reveal about me, my thinking, my values, my beliefs, and my actions? What should I change?

All of these questions boil down to paying attention. As we read Scripture, we must pay close attention to the big picture, the triune God, and the power of Christ to transform us to his likeness.

From Welcome to the Story by Stephen Nichols.

Instead or through?

We can look at this emphasis on God and his glory in one way, the instead of way. Or, we can look at this emphasis on God and his glory in another way, the through way. In the instead of way, we end up seeing God and his glory instead of our interests, our pursuits, our work, our relationships, our lives. That's not Christianity. That's monasticism. If we take the approach to emphasizing God and his glory in the through way, we see how our interests, our pursuits, our work, our relationships, our lives fit. This approach allows us to see how all that we do becomes not a distraction from God's glory, but the means by which we live for and reflect God's glory. (Nichols, Stephen J. Welcome to the Story: Reading, Loving, Living God's Word. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2011. Print. 114)

This concept helps us dramatically when we think about those things that do not SEEM to fall directly under the category 'spiritual'. Whether it is work or play, or anything else, it is all spiritual and we must look at all things through the lens of God's glory. We can find our lives by losing them!

Parasitic Sin

Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said that not only is this a fallen world, but it is a falling-fallen world. By that he meant that sin has a life of its own. Like a parasite, it grows and grows, greedily feeding of its host. (Nichols, Stephen J. Welcome to the Story: Reading, Loving, Living God's Word. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2011. Print. 47)

Boredom = Ingratitude

Boredom begets a loss of a sense of wonder. Our loss of a sense of wonder begets a loss of appreciation. And our loss of appreciation begets a loss of gratitude-quite a downward spiral ... Embracing the doctrine of creation is the antidote to boredom. When we realize that God made us, that God made everything, life is set in a whole new light. How can we yawn at what God made? When we acknowledge God as Creator of all things, we regain our sense of wonder, we regain our sense of appreciation, and we regain our sense of gratitude. ( Nichols, Stephen J. Welcome to the Story: Reading, Loving, Living God's Word. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2011. Print. 37 & 39)

Welcome to the Story - A Book Review

I consider myself a child of the 80s. Though I was born in 1972, the decade beginning in 1980 would take me from the age of 8 to the age of 18. These were formative years. So it should be no surprise that what first came to mind when I considered the title Welcome to the Story, sent to me from Crossway for review, was nothing other than the Guns N Roses hit Welcome to the Jungle. This hard rock anthem parades the sins and sinners prevalent in Los Angeles before the hearers. The song points to the evil and depraved practices of citizens of the Californian city. Evil and sin are part of the story; but they are not the whole story. Stephen J. Nichols wants to introduce us to the whole story in all its completeness and wonder. Yes there is sin, but there is much more besides. Welcome to the Story – Reading, Loving, & Living God's Word is a book that attempts to encourage people, primarily believers but non-believers too, to engage their minds with the Bible, enlist their hearts to enjoy God's Word, and encounter life with Scripture's principles. In his own words, Nichols' book “invites you to enter in, to participate in, the story of the Bible” (17). Analysis of The Story, as well as practical advice, are the enticements the author uses to entice the reader to 'enter in' and 'participate in' the story of the Bible.

The Story

Nichols introduces and initiates the reader to The Story, the big-picture biblical narrative, by way of literary analysis. As an English teacher, one of the ways in which I teach students to understand stories is through consideration of the elements of fiction. The elements of fiction are exactly what the name indicates. They are the building blocks of a story. The elements we consider in class are plot, conflict, setting, theme, characters and characterization, symbols, and point of view. In diagramming and detailing the big story of God's Word, Nichols focuses on plot, theme and characters.

The Plot

“The story of the Bible has not just any plot, but the best plot line of them all.” (25) With this in mind, Nichols welcomes the reader to the story through a consideration of the plot of the Bible as a whole. Nichols believes that one of the keys to understanding, appreciating, and applying the Bible is a good grounding in the Bible's storyline. In English classes we teach students that a typical plot has 5 components: an introduction, rising action, a climax, falling action and a conclusion. Nichols mirrors these components through his 4-word synopsis of the Bible's plot; creation, fall, redemption, restoration. Nichols does a thorough job of this plot analysis and this 'big picture' explanation serves the book well in giving it a solid foundation to build on but also serves the reader well in providing a crucial idea for understanding the Bible and ultimately for understanding life. If after having read the book, readers possess this concept alone it would justify the cost of buying it and the time spent reading it.

The Theme

The theme of a work of fiction is its main point or controlling idea. This is the cohesive concept of the story, the central concept of the author's narrative. Nichols introduces us to this element by writing, “the story is about God. God's ultimate end in creating and redeeming the world is his own glory. God's story is ultimately about God's glory.” (111) The author identifies the importance of understanding this theme with the title of the chapter in which he deals with it; “God's Story, God's Glory; Adventures in not Missing the Point.” If we don't realize that the quadratic plotline of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration are ultimately about God and his glory, we miss the point of life, of the Bible, of everything. We tend, the author purports, to make ourselves the point of the story which results in a minimalistic and misdirected life. “With God at the center, we live broadly and expansively. With ourselves at the center we live narrowly.” (115) Armed with the plot and the theme of the Bible, and thus life, we find ourselves a true compass bearing for life. These two elements of the biblical story dramatically affect how we read the verses, paragraphs, chapters and books of the bible. And thus they affect how we live our lives. This is a significant idea and Nichols elucidates it well.

The Characters

Any great work of literature requires characters and the development of those characters. We call this characterization. Nichols draws the reader's attention not only to the story's plot and theme, but also to its characters. Characters in general, and biblical characters in particular, can help us make sense of the world says Nichols. They make the storyline come alive and hold our interest. The characters of the Bible, according to Nichols, have their own stories that “tell the grand movement from creation to fall to redemption to restoration.” (94) The characters in the Bible point towards our own life. We see a little bit, or a lot, of ourselves in them. We see how Scripture's plot encompasses and embraces their lives and we understand that we too are enfolded in this grandest of tales that shines forth God's glory. It is this chapter where Nichols brings out a crucial point; we are also characters in the story of God's work. This directs our attention to the fact that the Bible is not a work of fiction, but a real story. “We need to read the Bible in light of the people, real people, we find in its pages.” (101) Those characters, Moses, David, Jesus, are real people and theirs was a real story. And this is significant if we are to be maximally impacted by the biblical narrative. This is the real deal. Nichols examination of the Bible's characters and their characterization reinforces the work of Christ in redeeming and restoring the creation from the fall. This was a powerful chapter.

The Gospel

Throughout the book Nichols often refers to the story within The Story; the gospel. Nichols draws our attention throughout the pages of this book to the central player in the redemption of humankind; Jesus Christ. There is a main character in The Story. It is Christ. The birth, life, death, and resurrection of the Son of God is the climax of this story and the author regularly brings that to our attention.

The Application

“We don't passively watch the story of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration play itself out. We're not off in the gallery peering down on the stage. We are part of the story.” (132) Nichols wants to help the reader with applying the Bible to our lives. He follows the head-heart-hand paradigm by encouraging readers to understand and love the Word which should be followed by participation. The author exhorts the readers in a moving chapter to both proclaim The Story and be ministers of The Story. “We are to speak and we are to minister” (139). We must propagate The Story and we must serve God in The Story. Nichols' explanation of how one might apply his teaching and the teaching of the Word is both easy to understand and encouraging to encounter.

What Next?

To answer the 'What next' question, Nichols provides some tips, tactics, and techniques for reading the Bible. He briefly summarizes some pitfalls that exist when we enter into reading God's Word. He then directs readers to pay attention to a few things:

1. pay attention to the big picture

2. pay attention to context

3. pay attention to your life

Finally, Nichols presents the reader with some resource suggestions as well as some of his own resources. This is an excellent way to complete the book as it gives the reader something tangible to work on.

This book seemed to start slowly but by the end of the second chapter I was intrigued and interested to keep reading. Nichols is easy to understand and writes plainly but not without a bit of flourish. His thoughts and ideas are laid out creatively as is evidenced by the fact that, despite this topic being a popular one for centuries, he brings some freshness to it. I recommend this book for believers who are unfamiliar with these ideas, for believers who need a spark of encouragement in loving the Word, or even for non-believers who want to know what The Story is all about. Anyone who is involved and interested in literature would find this book valuable.

This was up at the Crossway Blog a few days ago:

Don’t Miss the Point: Questions to Ask While Reading Scripture

From Welcome to the Story by Stephen Nichols

The purpose of reading the Bible is not to find self-fulfillment, although sometimes that’s an easy trap to fall into. There are some questions we can ask ourselves as we read Scripture to make sure we are reading for the right reasons:

• What does this passage teach about God?


• What attributes are on display?


• What work is God doing?


• How does the biblical author point us to God in this text?


• Even though God may not be explicitly mentioned in this text, how is he at work in what is happening? How is he directing “behind the scenes?”


• How does this passage either reveal or reflect the glory of God?

In addition to these information-gathering questions, we can also ask some application-oriented questions:

• Does this passage offer any models of those who miss the point by not seeing God at work and by not focusing on his glory?


• Does this passage offer any models of those who get the point?


• What can I learn from these negative and positive models?


• What does this text teach me about my own pursuits and agendas?


• What selfish ambitions and pursuits do I need to repent of in light of what I just read in God’s Word?


• What have I learned from this text that helps me keep God and his glory at the center of my life?

In short, we need to read the Bible with it’s grand mission in mind: God and his glory. It is only by living for his glory that we find what is best for us.

Learn more about Welcome to the Story or read a sample chapter.