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9 Things Everyone Should Do When Reading the Bible

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This article at Relevant Magazine lists 9 simple things anyone and everyone should do when reading the Bible.

  1. Read “king” when you see “Christ.”
  2. Read “you” differently (it’s usually plural, not singular).
  3. If you see a “therefore,” find out what it’s there for.
  4. Realize that not all “if” statements are the same.
  5. Recognize that lamenting is OK.
  6. Realize that prophecy is more often FORTH-telling than FORE-telling.
  7. Become familiar with the idioms of your king.
  8. Remember what you learned in English class.
  9. Read to study. But also, read to refresh your heart.

These are great tips. On the first point, I suggest reading “the Chosen One” instead of “King,” but the article’s general point is sound: “Christ” is a title and not just Jesus’ last name.

Check it out!

How Long it Takes to Read the Bible

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Literary agent Steve Laube recently posted an infographic showing how long it takes to read about 60 classic and popular works of literature. The entire Bible takes less than 45 hours to read, less than either the Harry Potter series or the Game of Thrones series.

With just 30 minutes per day of solid Bible reading, you could still complete another read-through before the end of the year!

Check it out!

Four Modern Versions of the Bible that are Ruining the Bible

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Donna (2006), Creative Commons

Donna (2006), Creative Commons

Ben Irwin asks if the modern proliferation of Bibles might be part of the reason we’re reading Scripture less. The Bible is so available to us that we don’t hunger for it. And four kinds of Bibles lead us to devalue the Bible.

  1. The Commodity Bible (teen version, young couple’s version, single white female version, etc.)
  2. The Disposable Bible (planned for obsolescence)
  3. The Accessory Bible (colored to match your shoes)
  4. The “Have it Your Way” Bible (pick a translation—and change translations from verse to verse—so it says what you want it to say)

Irwin’s background in publishing Bibles commercially lends a certain gravity to his musings. And he suggests:

It’s not too late to chart another course. It’s not too late to remember that while the Bible was given for us, that doesn’t make it ours to tailor as we see fit. Scripture, as it turns out, is not that interested in catering to my personal “felt needs.”

It’s not too late to remember that the Bible is not just another commodity — that the whole point of owning and reading the Bible is not so I can fit bits and pieces of it into my life, but so I can fit my life into its story.

This thoughtful article is well worth considering. Check it out!

Hope for the Backsliding Bible Reader

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Recently, the good folks at the Good Book blog posted “Confessions of a Backsliding Bible Reader” by Helen Thorne. Ms. Thorne lists all the great excuses she makes each day that keep her from reading her Bible. Then she shares truth that helps her walk through the excuses.

She writes of how God delights to be known by us:

The reality is that God would much prefer a sleepy attempt to engage with him than no attempt at all. I could quite happily pray on the bus and listen to his word on my mp3. No-one in my office would actually mind if I took a proper lunch-break and went somewhere quiet to read. And it would probably be far healthier for my spiritual life if I did a little less “for God” and spent a little longer “with God” occasionally saying “no” to an activity so I can spend some serious time with my heavenly Father.

In the end, she offers a simple treatment: connect with your church community. None can stand alone, so why not open ourselves to others and ask for help?

Her brief meditation is well worth the look. Check it out!

Regular Bible Study May Keep You from God

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At the Desiring God blog, Marshall Segal recently wrote of “The Danger in Our Daily Devotions“:

If we carve out time to be with God in his book, we’ll be rewarded. But the rewards of our meditation — seeing more of God himself — can be surprisingly dangerous. Knowledge can corrupt and distract if we don’t know what to do with it. “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” (1 Cor 8:1). Paul is clear that we can have “all knowledge” (1 Cor 13:2), but not love. And knowledge without love leaves us with “nothing” (1 Cor 13:2).

So how do we accumulate knowledge about God without ending up far from him? How do we keep our daily devotions from being (spiritually) dangerous?

How to Stay Christian in SeminaryHe then reviews a short book by David Mathis and Jonathan Parnell entitled How to Stay Christian in Seminary. Mathis and Parnell offer the following suggestions:

  1. Stay amazed at grace
  2. Stay dependent on God
  3. Stay focused on Jesus

Though the book’s title appears to focus on seminary students, I agree with Segal that these points are “undeniably relevant to anyone studying their Bible, whether for a focused, four-year degree or just in a regular rhythm of personal devotions.”

As you learn to study the Bible, does your study puff you up and so keep you from the Lord? Or does it help you to know God better?

Check it out!

HT: Ryan Higginbottom

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Have You Forgotten How to Read the Bible?

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Last week, The Gospel Coalition posted an article by professor Dan Doriani entitled “The Danger of Forgetting How to Read the Bible.” In the article, Doriani traces the common path for leaders who become leaders out of excitement for the Scripture, but who then lose this excitement as they focus on technical and academic study of the word.

He writes:

Leaders stumble for many reasons, and while I could argue that a zealous seminarian has little in common with a vain or depressed middle-aged leader, there is at least one common thread: My peers and my students can both stop reading the Bible as we should.

Ultimately, “Students and pastors need, therefore, to become technical, devotional readers. Here every exegetical skill remains, yet we also read like children, letting the word speak to our hearts again.”

These things are not just for pastors. As we learn to study the Bible and teach it to others, let us not stop letting it speak to our own hearts again and again.

Check it out!

Four Perspectives on the Message of Christ

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Because the good news about Jesus Christ is for all nations (Gen 12:3, Is 66:18-20, Matt 28:19-20, Acts 11:17-18), the message has some inherent flexibility. It can be delivered in various ways to various people at various times.

Please don’t misunderstand: I’m not saying there are no false gospels (nor that any message = God’s message). I’m merely saying that the true gospel can’t be oversimplified to a single, universal formula. For example, “Jesus is Lord,” “Jesus is the Christ,” “Jesus died for our sins,” and “The Kingdom of God is among you” are all biblical and have their place, and each formula will resonate differently for different people groups (or even different individuals).

I believe that’s why God didn’t give a single portrait of Jesus in the New Testament. To communicate the breadth of his grace to the nations, God gave four Gospels, which provide four lenses through which we can view the work of Christ.

All four perspectives are true. All four are important. Each speaks truth in a slightly different way, though there’s significant overlap between them.

And each Gospel lens triggers further reflection on the person and work of Christ in the epistles.

As you read the New Testament, consider these subdivisions:

Kathryn Decker (2013), Creative Commons

Kathryn Decker (2013), Creative Commons

  1. Matthew: with James, Hebrews, Jude
  2. Mark: with 1 & 2 Peter
  3. Luke: with Acts, Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon
  4. John: with 1, 2, & 3 John, Revelation

Perspective #1: By Jews, for Jews

These books show Jesus fulfilling the Old Testament; he’s everything the Jews had been waiting for. These books clarify points of continuity and discontinuity between Old and New Testaments, and they preach the gospel to people familiar with the things of God.

Perspective #2: Peter’s Perspective

Mark was Peter’s close associate (1 Peter 5:13), and many scholars have noted Peter’s hand in Mark’s Gospel. Many episodes read like Peter’s memoirs (such as, Mark 1:36, 14:72). Mark’s Gospel and Peter’s epistles have a strong sense of “doing,” with comparatively little emphasis on “teaching.” These books preach the gospel to people who feel out-of-place in their world and who appreciate knowing just the facts.

Perspective #3: Paul’s Perspective

There’s a strong case for identifying Luke-Acts as a trial brief written to aid Paul’s defense in Roman court. Undoubtedly, Luke was Paul’s close associate and one of his only companions to the end (2 Tim 4:11). Thus, Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, influenced Luke’s Gospel, where Jesus gives more attention to Gentiles and marginalized outsiders than he does in any other Gospel. Luke, Acts, and Paul’s epistles preach the gospel to people working through the implications of God’s grace and his “all nations” mission.

Perspective #4: John’s Perspective

John was a Jew through and through, and he had a remarkable tenderness in relationships (John 13:23-25). His Gospel and epistles assume unfathomably profound associations between Old and New Testaments, while simultaneously simplifying the message with such clarity that anyone can understand it. Son of God. Believe. Know. Love. Come, Lord Jesus. These books preach the gospel to people who need to learn (or re-learn) the basics.

Read, Study, Preach

These four subdivisions don’t represent the only way to read the New Testament; they merely provide a framework I’ve found to be helpful. Each perspective is like a set of tracks for shipping the cargo of the gospel to a different group of people. As you read the New Testament, you may find it helpful to stay on one track for a time, or you may find it helpful to maintain balance in all four.

As you teach and share the gospel with others, you may want to consider which track is most likely to connect with your audience. Are they already familiar with God or not? Do they have basic Bible knowledge or not? Do they feel like a minority or majority in their environment? Are they likely to feel excluded, and so need more coaxing? Or are they more likely to feel included, and so need more confrontation?

And with a more diverse audience, we have a greater need to cycle through all four perspectives.

Question: Which perspective resonates the most with you?

The Best Way to Develop Biblical Thinking

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For a few weeks, I’ve linked to articles that seek to persuade you to read the Bible voluminously, like you would read a book. This week I offer more of the same.

Joe Carter writes this brilliant article proposing voluminous and repetitive reading as not only a great idea but the best way to change your thinking and develop a biblical worldview. I find it funny that we’d think there could be any other way.

How many times do we claim to be “biblical” and yet read the Bible more like a collection of inspiring sound bytes than a great work of literature? So we read a few verses and go happily on our way. Carter:

I want to recommend a simple four step process that could transform your life by, quite literally, changing your mind.

After reading the entire post the vast majority of readers will snicker at such a hyperbolic claim and never implement the method I outline. A smaller number will consider the advice intriguing, my assertion only a slight exaggeration, but will also never implement the method. A tiny minority, however, will recognize the genius behind the process and apply it to their own life. This group will later say that my claim was an understatement.

This post is written for those people.

Mr. Carter’s claim is an understatement. Following his process will change far more than your mind.

What’s the process? Choose a book of the Bible and read it 20 times. Move on to another book and repeat. Continue until you’ve read the entire Bible in this way.

Years ago, I took a seminary class where the professor required us to read 1 John five times in a week. He expected us to read in five sittings, one complete read in each siting.

At first I found the assignment onerous. I had read 1 John before, and I knew all the important stuff about confession, love, and not sinning. I wasn’t sure what I’d accomplish by such repetitive reading.

But I’ve always been a good Pharisee (I love rules), so I completed the assignment. The second read-through was the hardest one, as I feared boredom. The third read energized me with a few insights I had never considered before. The fourth read got me really excited, and the fifth read began to alter my thinking about faith and assurance.

The discussion of 1 John in the next class was some of the best I’ve seen. Now, in most Bible studies I lead, I give a similar assignment. Unless we’re studying a long book, I ask people to read the whole thing five times before the first meeting.

There is no better way to understand a book of the Bible.

I have never met someone who tried it and wasn’t convinced. I’ve met plenty who thought it was a dumb idea and refused to try it. What do you think?

Check it out!

HT: Ryan

Read the Bible

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A few weeks ago, I linked to my post at the Gospel Coalition with some advice to readers: Read the Bible. Along the same lines, this terrific article from Jim Elliff recommends heavy saturation in the Scripture:

No plan for Bible reading is a complete waste of time, obviously, but I’ve now come to believe there is a better way of thinking about Bible reading. I’m recommending immersion or saturation in one or two books of the Bible over several months as my preferred method. Frankly, I have never known Bible reading to be so transformative and interesting as with this method, both for me and for many friends who have tried it at my suggestion.

Elliff doesn’t necessarily suggest reading the entire Bible quickly (though he mentions the possibility), but he proposes immersion in a large chunk of text. Such immersion allows us to pickle in the very words of God and avoid three things that distract us from the text:

  1. Devotionalism
  2. Good books
  3. Commentaries and study Bibles

I heartily concur! Devotion to God is important. Good books sharpen our thinking. Commentaries and study Bibles hone our understanding and help provide necessary background.

But too often, we allow such things to replace the Bible altogether. It’s like replacing the vinegar with orange juice and expecting the cucumbers to still taste good on a sandwich.

Elliff’s article is a little long, but it’s quite good. Check it out!

 

The 10 Most Biblical New Year’s Resolutions

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After Friday’s year-end roundup, I’m on a top 10 kick. So here are 10 New Year’s resolutions you might want to try this year. They’re biblical, after all, but I take no responsibility for the outcomes.

Lori Ann of MamaWit (mamawit.com), Creative Commons

Lori Ann of MamaWit (mamawit.com), Creative Commons

10. Drink water and eat vegetables. If and only if, by January 11, you are fatter, prettier, and smarter than the rest of your generation, keep it up (Dan 1:11-16). Otherwise, feel free to ditch the vegetables.

9. Do whatever Jesus would do (Matt 14:28-29, 1 Pet 3:18-20).

8. Husbands, always tell your wives what to do (Esther 1:10-12).

7. Act shrewdly enough that your potential enemies and your real enemies won’t be able to team up against you (Ex 1:10).

6. Wives, do whatever your husbands tell you to do (Acts 5:1-2, 7-10).

5. Dedicate to God whatever he brings your way (Judg 11:30-31).

4. Keep your hands to yourself (1 Cor 7:1).

3. Get more money, so you can answer everything (Eccl 10:19) and eliminate all pain and insecurity from your life (Luke 12:18-19, James 5:1).

2. Obey all the lesser-known, but not less important, commands of God, such as: “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Drink, be drunk, and vomit'” (Jer 25:27).

1. Build something great for yourself (Gen 11:1-4).

Ridiculousness aside—as for me, I’m going to begin my annual blitz through the Bible. The dark winter months can be so discouraging for me, and the most effective treatment is to drown myself in Scripture to draw closer to its Author. Would you like to join me in a speed-read through the Bible this year? If so, check out my recent post at The Gospel Coalition: “A Bible Reading Plan for Readers.”

Reading the Bible in big chunks might help us not to take individual verses out of context.

What other “biblical” resolutions could we add to the list?