ChurchHacks.com

It’s January 1 and typically the time of year when people try to start new things or change old habits. To help you in your endeavor to read through the Bible, the ESV Bible Blog has posted some graphs on different reading plans “so you can see visually how they differ from one another.” The graphs won’t help you read the Scriptures - you need motivation, discipline, and a hunger for the Word of God for that - but they show you visually how you’ll be moving through the Bible based on which plan you choose. Since it’s January 1, pick a plan and start reading.

Visualizing One-Year Bible Reading Plans

Right now many of you are working on closing out the year as 2006 comes to an end. You’re throwing your Harvest Party (Holy Ghost Weiner Roast), gathering testimonies for the Thanksgiving service, taking up your yearly missionary offering, and preparing the hotest Christmas cantata from the late John W. Peterson to draw people in for Christmas. After it’s all said and done you’ll probably retreat to your office, sit back in your chair, and let out a big sigh of relief. News flash: 2007 is coming (unless the good Lord returns, that is). If you fail to plan, you plan to fail and if you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time and all those clichés that communicate the truth that nothing will get accomplished if you don’t set goals.

Take some time over the next month, sit down with your leadership, and lay out a plan for what ideas you want to communicate in your worship services over the fifty-two weekends in 2007. Set aside the other plans you have to make, like your church softball league, the Easter program, and your all-church picnic, and think of Bible passages you want to teach from and the topics you want to cover. Here are some ideas to get you started in planning out the 52 sermons for 2007.

(more…)

How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.
With my whole heart I seek you; let me know wander from you commandments!
I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes!
With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth.
In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches.
I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.
I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.
Psalm 119:9-16 ESV

Follwers of Christ value and encourage the regular reading of God’s Word. How can we seek God, keep our way pure, and avoid sin? We do this by reading the Word of God, meditating on it, delighting in it, and remembering it. I don’t think any of us would say, “I don’t really think reading the Bible has anything to do with pursuing God and becoming more like Jesus Christ. I can do just fine without it.” Most of the time when I find myself making wrong choices or doing and saying things that aren’t representative of Christ and His followers it’s because I’m not spending time seeking the heart of God. My spirit desperately needs to be tied to God’s Spirit or else I’ll go my own selfish way. So far, my way hasn’t given me anything but trouble and a persistent red handprint on my forehead.

That’s why we encourage each other to read the Bible. Our toddlers learn the song, “Read your Bible, pray everyday,” and “The B I B L E, yes, that’s the book for me,” because we want them to understand the importance of Scripture at an early age. Regular Bible reading is often mistaken as a formula to prmote a successful Christian life. We create year-long checklists and daily reading journals not because checking a box each day and spending n minutes in prayer fills up God’s divine scorecard, but because we understand that a young man can keep his way pure by guarding it according to God’s Word.

With that in mind, I’ve compiled a list of sites that provide various scorecards lists and resources you can use to read through the Bible in a year. As 2006 comes to a close and you start to make plans for the coming year, get a head start on ordering and offering these resources to those in your congregation.

Personally, I’m a bigger fan of reading the Bible in larger chunks than just 3-4 chapters per day. I’d encourage you, if your goal is to read through the entire Bible over a period of time, to read it in 30, 60, or 90 days. It might take you a little bit of time each day but you’ll get the advantage of seeing a broader context by consuming larger portions in one sitting. Imagine watching all eleven or so hours of the LOTR Extended Editions in 15 minute segments over a period of a month and a half. You wouldn’t get a good grasp of the storyline and the flow, would you? Put down Tom Clancy or those romance novels for a couple months and spend that time reading through the Bible.

(more…)