Explore (January–March 2024)

Every month, The Good Book Company make available digital versions of one of their books at no charge. This month (January 2024) it’s Explore, ninety-one dated and numbered devotions from January to March 2024, featuring Jason Meyer on Mark's Gospel, Tim Chester on Ezekiel, and Carl Laferton on Easter, available in exchange for an email address here.

Bible Reading Plan Generator

This looks interesting –  Bible Reading Plan Generator.

It allows you to choose a start date and the number of days, to select Old Testament and/or New Testament (as well as Deuterocanonical books), tick or un-tick particular days of the week, include a daily Psalm and/or daily chapter of Proverbs, etc.

Read Scripture 2020

The below post is a slightly expanded version of an email sent to people in my church congregation, following a spot in the service yesterday talking about reading the Bible through in a year and interviewing someone who did it this year (and who finished early, in October!).

Last year, several members of the congregation took up the challenge of reading the Bible all the way through in the year. They found the experience beneficial and rewarding in all sorts of ways.

If you’ve never read the Bible all the way through – and even if you have – why not have a go at doing so during 2020? It’s not as difficult or as time-consuming as you might imagine, even for those of us who don’t consider ourselves to be strong readers. Plus, there are great benefits in following a plan that takes us through the entire Bible in a year:

• It enables us to see something of the big picture of the Bible as a whole

• It prevents us from circling back to our favourite passages!

• It allows us to be surprised or puzzled or delighted by passages we’ve not read before or forgotten about

• It forms a good habit of regular engagement with the Bible

• It provides a way for us to hear God’s voice speaking to us every day

There are many different plans available: see here, for example.

During 2019, several of us followed one produced the Bible Project, called ‘ReadScripture’.

There’s a helpful video introduction here.

The ReadScripture plan goes through the whole Bible in roughly chronological order at a pace of about 3-4 chapters a day. The plan also includes a psalm every day, to pray through. In this scheme, every time you come to a new book there’s a short animated video to watch which introduces the structure and main content of the book you’re about to read – though you don’t have to watch the videos if they’re not quite your thing.

There are various ways of accessing the plan:

• If you use a smartphone or a tablet, you can download a free app – ReadScripture – which takes you through the whole year

• Or you can sign up for weekly email reminders: go to this page – scroll all the way to the foot of the page, and use the sign-up box

• Or you can download the reading plan from here and print it out

As a possible alternative to try, the Gospel Coalition have produced a plan based on Murray M’Cheyne’s method (taking the reader through the entire Bible in a year, including the Psalms and New Testament twice).

See here for further information on the plan and to sign up for a daily newsletter (with a devotional reflection from D.A. Carson), a podcast, and online articles).

Whatever scheme you follow, here are a few pointers which might be worth bearing in mind:

1. You’ll probably find it helpful to get into a rhythm. Find a moment in the day that works well for you to do the reading and try to stick to it. Some people find it valuable to schedule it as an appointment in the calendar, just as you would do with anything else important.

2. Consider working through the plan with a friend or friends. Doing a scheme like this with others provides some gentle accountability to one another, is a huge source of encouragement, helps maintain consistency, and may give some great opportunities for conversation.

3. Don’t be too discouraged if you fall behind. The key thing is not to use falling behind as a reason to stop. Depending on what works well with your personality type, try to set aside some time to catch up, or simply rejoin the plan where you currently find yourself. Or make the firm decision to do it over a longer period of time – two years or three years.

For other helpful tips, see the suggestions from ‘Joseph the Dreamer’ in the short video here.

Knowing and Doing (Spring 2019)

The Spring 2019 edition of Knowing & Doing – ‘A Teaching Quarterly for Discipleship of Heart and Mind’ – from the C.S. Lewis Institute is now available online (from here), and contains the following articles:

Joel Woodruff

President’s Letter: It’s About Transformation in Community, not Information in Isolation

Joel Woodruff challenges us to resist the tide of individualism and seek spiritual growth in community. Rather than pursuing “information in isolation,” the C.S. Lewis Institute President urges us to learn from and challenge others as we grow in Christ.

Thomas A. Tarrants, III

Persecution and Suffering for Jesus Christ

Looking at the process of discipleship from the opposite side of most discussions, Tom Tarrants raises the important, albeit disturbing, topic of persecution for the sake of the gospel. Jesus warned many times that his disciples would face specific trials that come from following him. This article helps us prepare for those inevitable trials.

Tom Schwanda

Biblical Foundations for Growing in Intimacy with God

Tom Schwanda steps back from practical considerations about discipleship and begins to explore the Biblical foundations for spiritual growth. This is the first of a three part series that reflects deeply on why we need intimacy with Christ, how scripture sets the platform for it, and then offers suggestions for pursuing that noble goal.

Bill Kynes

How to Read the Bible, Part 1: Introduction and Overview to the Bible

The role of the Bible in spiritual life is often assumed but not as often pursued the way it should be. Bill Kynes begins a four part series that considers how to read, study, and meditate on the Bible. He begins with a reminder that the Bible’s overall storyline must be the context in which we examine any specific passage.

Bryan Hollon

Catechesis and Christian Discipleship

Bryan Hollon points us to a topic that rarely is addressed in contemporary discussions of spiritual growth – the role of catechesis in spiritual formation. Many people don’t even know what that word means. Hollon defines, describes, and encourages systemic training in doctrine and theological reflection.

Joseph Loconte

War, Friendship, and Imagination: How J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Rediscovered Faith, Friendship, and Heroism in the Cataclysm of 1914-1918

Joe Loconte reveals to us some of the ways C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien found faith in some of the most unlikely settings – the battlefields of World War I. While many people lost faith in God because of the carnage they experienced during those dark days, Lewis and Tolkien were transformed for eternal beauty. And their friendship after those days encourages all of us in profound ways.

Aaron Welty

Modern Mythology Matters

Just as C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien looked to mythology and story as ways to experience the storyline of the gospel, Aaron Welty shines a similar light on comic book heroes and the appeal they draw through today’s blockbuster movies. If Lewis could create Narnia and Tolkien could tell of Middle Earth, perhaps Superman and Marvel movies could point people to a better “savior.”

William Cowper (1731-1800)

Love Constraining to Obedience

C.S. Lewis loved poetry and wished he could be remembered most for his poems. They grab us in different ways than stories or prose. In each issue we feature a poem. William Cowper’s offering tilts our hearts toward obedience and joy.

Dwight L. Moody

Sermon – The Christian’s Warfare

The great evangelist and preacher Dwight L. Moody didn’t shy away from weighty topics. This sermon on spiritual warfare is a welcome reminder of the nature of our experience in a fallen world.

From Cover to Cover: Whole Life, Whole Bible

A few years ago, along with friends and colleagues from the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity – Margaret Killingray and Helen Parry – I put together a book called Whole Life, Whole Bible. First published by Bible Reading Fellowship in 2012, it was designed to go through the main contours of the biblical story in 50 short readings.

With the kind permission of BRF, LICC is making the readings available as an email series and a YouVersion reading plan. More information, including a sign-up box for the email service and a link to the YouVersion plan, is available here.

Meanwhile, I wrote the below ‘Word for the Week’ to provide more information about the approach of the book and hopefully some encouragement to ‘take up and read’.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1

He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.

Revelation 22:20-21

‘Tell me a story’ and ‘Once upon a time’ – a four-word request and a four-word opening. Both phrases capture something of the universal human desire for stories. Indeed, our own lives are submerged in several interconnecting ‘stories’ – of living through the Second World War, of being married with grown-up children, of working in finance, of having a passion for collecting stamps, of serving on the PCC, of holidaying in Cornwall – and all these ‘stories’ shape our lives in different ways.

For Christians, of course, the most crucial story for shaping the way we think and live is the biblical story. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible can be seen as an epic narrative: a story which begins with God as Creator, which focuses on Israel as the people who will bring God’s blessing to the nations, which the New Testament declares has come to its promised fulfilment in the redemption brought about through Christ, in whom God’s purposes for the universe will be consummated.

LICC’s Whole Life, Whole Bible is designed to walk through the unfolding story of the Bible in 50 readings and reflections. It’s written with the conviction that God’s word sets the agenda for our lives as followers of Jesus today. And it does so for the whole of life – on Monday to Saturday as well as Sunday, in public and in private, in culture as well as in church, in work as much as in worship. Moreover, this ‘whole-life’ perspective is not limited to a few biblical passages here and there, but is woven through the story as a whole – from cover to cover, from creation to new creation.

The reading plan provides a way of understanding how individual passages relate to each other in the larger picture of the Bible. Beyond that is the reminder that we are a part of this ongoing drama which embraces the entirety of our lives – individually and together – for the sake of the world in which we are called to live.

Whole Life, Whole Bible aims to show how the big story of the Bible forms our minds, fires our imaginations, and fuels our daily existence – as we live in God’s world in the light of God’s word, taking the Lord of life into the whole of life.

Equipped for Every Good Work

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:14-17

In some churches, the reading of the Bible ends with the statement, ‘This is the word of the Lord’, to which the congregation normally replies: ‘Thanks be to God.’ That declaration and response capture something significant about the Christian confession of Scripture – that the Bible is the very word of God, God speaking to us. And it’s to be received with gratitude – ‘thanks be to God’ – which isn’t always easy, perhaps, depending on the passage!

God has spoken in the Bible, and continues to speak through what he has spoken.

Even more than providing a reason to be thankful, that ‘all Scripture is God-breathed’ gives us great confidence as Christians. We read what was said in a biblical passage to God’s people centuries ago, and we discover that the same instruction, encouragement, commission, warning, or promise addresses us. The same Spirit who inspired the text presses it home to us, to our hearts and lives. God speaks to us!

And there is yet more: God not only speaks to us through the Bible, but shapes us in the process of doing so.

So it is that Paul tells Timothy that Scripture makes us ‘wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus’, and is useful for ‘teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness’. For what purpose? So that God’s people ‘may be thoroughly equipped for every good work’. In short, the Bible is the means by which God speaks to his people today and equips us to live out the salvation brought by Jesus.

That salvation, as we know, is all-embracing, reaching into every nook and cranny of life. It’s in every part of daily existence that I need God’s instruction and rebuke, his correction and training. This week, even this day, I may trust that his word will equip me for every good work.

Here, then, is something for us to take into the next year: God speaks through Scripture not to make us relevant or rich, smart or successful, but to bring us to salvation, to enable us to become wise in his ways, and to shape us for the life to which he calls us.

Truly, this is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Bible Society You and Your Bible Survey

Bible Society have posted the results from their ‘You and Your Bible’ survey launched last autumn, in which they invited people to share their Bible reading habits.

They asked questions in the following few areas:

• Books of the Bible: What’s your favourite book of the Bible? And what’s your least favourite?

• The Bible: Select five words or phrases that best describe the Bible for you.

• Bible Reading: Outside of church services, how often do you read (or listen to) the Bible?

• Reading Methods: Which of these do you use most often to read the Bible? (options given)

• Reading locations: In the last month, where did you last read/listen to the Bible?

The results from over 3,700 people who took part are available to view here, and to download as a pdf here.

Glenn R. Pauuw on Saving the Bible from Ourselves

I wrote the following mini review for EG, the quarterly magazine produced by the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity. 

Glenn R. Paauw, Saving the Bible from Ourselves: Learning to Read and Live the Bible Well (Downers Grove: IVP, 2016).

The Bible needs saving, according to Glenn Paauw, not because of any defect in itself, but because our small, fragmentary readings of it neuter it, distort it, minimise it, and individualise it.

His response is this passionate and energetic plea to engage with the Bible on its own terms: to de-clutter it of chapter and verse numbers, section headings, cross references and study notes, and approach it as a book to be read, one which captures the imagination; to stop snacking on ‘Scripture McNuggets’ and instead feast on its totality; to move away from the search for ‘timeless truths’ and read it as immersed in history and as speaking to real people; to read it with others and not just by ourselves and for ourselves; above all, to read whole books of the Bible sensitive to their place in its big story.

Like me, you might not agree with everything said here, but you will come away invigorated by the experience, encouraged to read Scripture again with fresh eyes.

Barna on Millennials and the Bible

A recent survey of Millennials, conducted by Barna in partnership with American Bible Society and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, sought to explore how Millennials perceive and engage with the Bible.

The following three points emerged:

1. Practising Christian Millennials maintain a high view of Scripture.

2. Non-Christian Millennials hold ambivalent and sometimes extremely negative views about the Bible.

3. Millennials still prefer to engage the Bible in print.

See here for infographics and expansion of the points.

The research was conducted in the United States, so – even if it reflects life on the ground – some adjustment would be necessary for other contexts.

Centre for Public Christianity (October 2014)

Among other items of interest, The Centre for Public Christianity has just posted a video interview with John G. Stackhouse Jr on ‘common misconceptions about Christianity and how many of them spring from the failure of “faithful” religious people to live up to what they claim to believe’.

Also posted is an audio interview with John Dickson, Founding Director of CPX, on the Bible as a literary classic, in which he ‘issues a challenge to those who would never dream of opening the Bible: give it 100 pages’.

Q Ideas on Biblical Literacy

This week’s question from Q Ideas is ‘How Can We Become Biblically Literate?’

Several responses are offered here, including:

Ben Irwin

Biblical Literacy Begins with Reading

We buy a lot of Bibles. We just don't read them. Instead, we cherry-pick.

Glen Paauw and Phil Chen

A New Way of Engaging Scriptures (video interview)

What does real ‘Bible engagement’ look like for a thriving Christian life?

Mark Wingfield

Four Types of Bible Study Learners

Learning styles affect the way people read and learn about the Bible.

K.D. Byers

Illiterate People of the Book

Christians are a people of the book – but we’ve grown illiterate.

Glen Paauw

How to Save the Bible

We’re not reading the Bible much these days. Is the way we’re reading it the problem?

The Canadian Bible Engagement Study

Sponsored by the Canadian Bible Forum, together with the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and the Stronger Together Foundation, the Canadian Bible Engagement Study sampled 4,500 Canadians in every province about their use, beliefs about, and attitudes towards the Bible.

Published on 1 May 2014, the report found that ‘about one in seven Canadians, or 14%, read the Bible at least once a week’, and that ‘the majority of Canadians, including those who identify themselves as Christians, read the Bible either seldom or never’. 64% of Canadians – and 60% of those who identified themselves as Christians – agree that the Scriptures of all major religions teach essentially the same things.

As Scripture Engagement reports, ‘the survey showed that Canadians who are engaging most with the Scriptures have three behaviours in common: community (they are involved in a worshipping community), conversation (they discuss and explore the Bible with their friends) and confidence (they are confident it is the way to know God and hear from him).

A summary video, executive summary and full report can be seen here.

The State of the Bible in America 2014

Each year, the Barna Group and American Bible Society partner in a study of Americans’ attitudes towards the Bible. The results of the 2014 study have just been released, looking at the following six areas:

1. Bible Perceptions

2. Bible Penetration

3. Bible Engagement

4. Bible Literacy

5. Moral Decline and Social Impact

6. Giving to Non-Profit Organizations

As reported by Barna, they identify six trends in engagement with the Bible:

• Bible skepticism is now ‘tied’ with Bible engagement – skepticism or agnosticism about the Bible has increased and now stands at 19%, the same as the percentage of those who are Bible engaged

• Despite the declines, most Americans continue to be ‘pro-Bible’ – but ‘being pro-Bible doesn’t necessarily mean Americans use the Bible regularly, however. Only 37% of Americans report reading the Bible once a week or more’.

• Distraction and busyness continue to squeeze out the Bible – ‘Americans say they want to read the Bible – 62% wish they read Scripture more – they just don't know how to make time’.

• The age of screens has come to stay in the Bible market – use of tablets and smartphones for Bible searches has skyrocketed, from 18% in 2011 to 35% in 2014.

• Increasingly, people come to the Bible for answers or comfort – there is an increase in those looking for pragmatic answers to life's problems.

• People are less likely to link moral decline with a lack of Bible reading – they blame decline on other things (movies, music, TV, etc).

The data and analysis is available here; an infographic is available here.

Lyfe

Check out the new Lyfe website, part of the work of Bible Society.

Here’s the blurb:

‘Lyfe provides small group sessions, events and other useful resources to help people discover a deeper life with God. Lyfe helps people to grow holistically and to experience a transforming relationship with God through Scripture and spiritual practices that have inspired and sustained Christians throughout the centuries.’

Scripture Union Canada on the Biblical Story

‘The Story’, from Scripture Union Canada, is an online chronological Bible reading guide ‘emphasizing the biblical narrative and connecting our stories with God’s story’.

It uses the threefold Bible study methodology known as the 3 Rs – reading (Scripture text), reflection (commentary on the text), and response (prayer birthed from the text), ‘seeking to help readers engage, internalize and incarnate the Word of God’.

American Bible Society on the Bible in America, 2013

American Bible Society recently released the findings from its annual ‘State of the Bible’ survey, conducted by the Barna Group.

For those who like infographics, there is a diagram of the results here, and an analysis here.

In summary:

‘As in previous years, the survey found that the Bible remains a highly valued, influential force in America. But beliefs about the Bible and its role in society are becoming increasingly polarized – particularly when the data is examined by age group.

‘The research also uncovered a significant disconnect in belief versus behavior. While 66% of those surveyed agreed that the Bible contains everything a person needs to know to live a meaningful life, 58% say they don’t personally want wisdom and advice from the Bible and about the same amount (57%) read it fewer than five times per year.’

Key findings include:

• 1 in 6 people reported buying a copy of the Bible in the last year

• 80% of Americans identify the Bible as sacred

• Americans have plenty of copies at their fingertips – with an average of 4.4 Bibles per household

• 56% of adults believe the Bible should have a greater role in U.S. society

• But actual Bible reading and perceptions about the Bible have become increasingly polarized, with 6 million new Bible Antagonists in the last year alone

• More than half (57%) of those ages 18-28 report reading the Bible less than three times a year or never

Encounters 44 (March 2013) on Reading the Bible in the Global Church

The latest issue of Encounters from Redcliffe College is now available, this one devoted to ‘Reading the Bible in the Global Church’.

This issue provides the text of the Annual Lecture in Bible and Mission, given at Redcliffe College by Eddie Arthur, Executive Director of Wycliffe Bible Translators UK. The title is: ‘Reading the Bible with the Global Church: Opening Our Eyes to See How God Speaks Worldwide.’

This issue of Encounters also includes several responses to Eddie’s paper – from Malaysia, Uganda, the UK and the United States.

Individual articles are available from here, or the pdf of the full issue is available here.

David Helm on One-to-One Bible Reading

David Helm, One-to-One Bible Reading: A Simple Guide for Every Christian (Kingsford: Matthias Media, 2011), 103pp. ISBN 9781921441981.

Here is a short, helpful, practical book from David Helm, essentially encouraging Christians to read the Bible with others:

‘Reading one-to-one is a variation on that most central Christian activity – reading the Bible – but done in the context of reading with someone. It is something a Christian does with another person, on a regular basis, for a mutually agreed upon length of time, with the intention of reading through an discussing a book or part of a book of the Bible’ – although he also notes that ‘there is no reason it cannot be employed in one-to-two or one-to-three contexts as well’ (11).

Part 1 looks at the ‘what, why and how’ of one-to-one Bible reading (covering the nuts and bolts of getting started, running meetings, etc.), while part 2 explores some ‘frameworks and ideas’.

Two simple frameworks for Bible reading are offered:

• The Swedish method – where the passage is read aloud; each person then reads the passage on their own again, looking for three things – a light bulb (anything that shines out in the passage), a question mark (anything that is hard to understand), an arrow (anything that applies personally); followed by sharing and discussion of each category.

• The COMA method – an acronym for Context, Observation, Meaning, Application, with questions asked about a Bible passage in all four categories.

Helm also offers recommendations of particular Bible passages for different sorts of people (whether non-Christians, new Christians, or established Christians), and suggests appropriate COMA questions to ask about the different biblical genres.

An excerpt of the book is available here, and Helm’s COMA questions on biblical genres are available here.

I read the book a while back, but have just caught sight of a short course connected with the book, available online – One-to-One Bible Reading.

According to the website:

‘This course is a way to share the idea of One-to-One Bible Reading with a group, to encourage others to get started with it. The course consists of four lessons that may be enjoyed by groups of any age or size. It’s for adult Sunday school classes, home groups, youth groups, or just a few friends who want to give themselves to reading the Bible.’

Each of the four lessons consists of a video of David Helm sharing a couple of insights from the book, some suggested discussion questions, and an activity.

All the material is available for convenient download from this page.

Orality Journal

The first edition of Orality Journal, published online by the International Orality Network, is available as a 7.8 MB pdf document here, and includes a number of articles on Bible storying and telling Bible stories in specific contexts.

Here’s the official blurb:

‘Orality Journal is the journal of the International Orality Network. It is published online semi-annually and aims to provide a platform for scholarly discourse on the issues of orality, discoveries of innovations in orality, and praxis of effictiveness across multiple domains in society. This online journal is international and interdisciplinary, serving the interests of the orality movement through research articles, documentation, book reviews, and academic news. Occasionally, print editions will be created. Submission of items that could contribute to the furtherance of the orality movement are welcomed.’

The Taylor University Center for Scripture Engagement

Taylor University has founded the Taylor University Center for Scripture Engagement, citing three reasons for doing so:

1. Because Scripture engagement is the cutting edge of evangelism

2. Because engaging with Scripture is the catalyst for transformational discipleship

3. Because a new vision of the power of Scripture is urgently needed

Those points are expanded here, and the results of a 2011 survey on the role of the Bible in the lives of students are available here.