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Reading The Bible In 2018

Developing A Daily Habit Of Bible Reading

One of the most critical disciples that you can develop for your spiritual growth is the discipline of daily Bible reading. This isn’t the only habit that will facilitate spiritual growth, but it is one of the most foundational. And it’s not as difficult as most people imagine.

Reading the Bible in 2018

As a minister, I spent a lot of years reading the Bible as I was studying for lessons or messages, and assuming that was enough to fill me personally as well. It wasn’t. But I wasn’t mature enough to realize it at the time. And then, I joined in with a couple of other guys to read the Bible daily, and complete it within a year. A whole new level of spiritual growth opened up to me during that year.

I was blown away! I had no idea that I was missing out on some significant growth by not spending time daily with God’s Word, just for my own personal relationship with him. That year opened up my eyes to the realization that I needed to make sure this habit was a non-negotiable part of my life. And while it took some time to get it rooted that deeply, it was well worth every bit of the effort.

Those first years after that realization hit, I managed to read daily most of the time, but not really consistently. So I decided to develop a plan. The Bible Reading Plans that I offer to subscribers here is the culmination of that plan. I created a booklet that contains three different plans to successfully read the entire Bible in a year’s time. Why three? Because I wanted to share this with the teens in my youth ministry, and I knew that not all of them would want to read the Bible the same way I would, or that someone else would. So I incorporated three different plans.

One was simply straightforward, from Genesis to Revelation, throughout the year. The second was a mix, some Old Testament, some New, some of the Gospels, and some from Psalms. The third was more coordinated. It placed passages together that needed to be understood together, or at specific times of the year. For example, when you read of David’s sin with Bathsheba, you would also read Psalm 51 that week, because that is David’s repentance of that sin. Or you would read the Resurrection passages around Easter. And for several years, I renewed this booklet, dating it for that specific year.

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Resource Review – Life Ki-do Parenting by Jonathan & Lisa Hewitt

Godly Men: Being Deliberate With Our Wives and Kids

Life Ki-do Parenting by Jonathan & Lisa HewittNot too long ago, I received a copy of Life Ki-do Parenting by Jonathan and Lana Hewitt from the Time with Tracy blog. It contains an interesting approach to parenting. Much of what he says makes sense, and seems very practical. While not written from a Christian point of view, Life Ki-do Parenting conveys a very positive, others-centric strategy to parenting that is crucial to raising our children. Here’s a brief synopsis of the book.

My first question was what the title meant. In the middle of the first chapter, Hewitt explains it: ki means “inner strength or spirit,” and do means “the way.” So, Life Ki-do means “the way of living from your own inner strength and spirit and honoring the same in others.” Hewitt teaches martial arts, which provides a little more insight as to where his teachings and methods come from. This background lends itself to strong discipline as well.

While good, I think his approach stops short. In order to effectively communicate these principles, we cannot approach this on our own strength; we need God as the foundation.

That said, the Hewitts give some solid principles that go a long way to establishing some good parenting habits.

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One Word 365 – 2018 Edition

Forget The New Year’s Resolutions - Just Choose One Word

I decided a long time ago to forego making New Year’s Resolutions. I was never any good at keeping them, and the harder I tried, the worse it got. I finally made one resolution that I have managed to not break: to not make any more resolutions!

One Word 365: Unhurried

What I have done instead is select a word that I intend to focus my life around for the next twelve months, one word to live by for the year. This practice has had the effect of helping me to keep my focus on a specific area I need to grow in, and it helps me become more who I believe that God wants me to be.

Over the years, I have selected several different words, such as the word “passion” in 2011. As I look back over the years, it seems as if many of them have a common underlying theme, such as my choice of “commit” in 2012, or “intentional” in 2013, or even the words “wait” and “prudence” in 2015 and 2016. And last year, my word to live by was “present.” It seems as if God is teaching me through these years to slow down and allow myself to be led by him, to be intentional, to wait on his leading, and not be so eager to do things my own way.

It seems that my learning in this area is not yet complete.

For the past couple of months, as I have reviewed my Life Plan, striving to be a complete man in every area of my life, I felt like God was leading me to choose another similar word to live by in 2018. As I reviewed every area of my life, one word seemed to crop up over and over.

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Coffee Break – 01.08.2018

Your Monday Dose Of Inspiration

On this day in history: In 1790, the first US President, George Washington, delivers the first state of the union address. In 1806, Lewis and Clark find the skeleton of 105 foot blue whale in Oregon. And in 1870, the US mint at Carson City, Nevada, begins issuing coins.

Coffee Break

Today Is National Argyle Day!
So go put on those socks you know you have hidden in a drawer!

The Alkani Cold Brew Coffee Maker – Cold brew coffee is incredible! But what many people do not realize is that cold brew coffee does not mean cold coffee. You can drink it hot, and it is wonderful! Here is a review and a tutorial on the Alkani cold brewer, and it looks like a great piece of coffee equipment. But the principles apply to other cold brew methods as well. Here’s the one I like to use.

6 More Reasons Why You Should Write With A Fountain Pen – I love to write with vintage tools. I occasionally write letters on an old, old typewriter. And I love writing in my journal with a vintage fountain pen. Here are some excellent reasons why you should use one, and the article starts off with a link to another post with several more.

The Legendary Rifle That Fought Wold War II – I found this article about the M1 Garand to be utterly fascinating, both as a history nut and a gun aficionado. The role this particular weapon played on the world stage is pretty incredible.

Seasons Of Norway – This is one more place on my travel bucket list. This video shows the stunning beauty of the place.

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Book Review – Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald

Ordering Your Private WorldOne of the first books I was assigned to read during my freshman year at Bible college was Ordering Your Private World, by Gordon MacDonald. Being a green, new student, fresh out of high school and into the big world for the first time, I had no idea what to expect, or any indication of just how much this book would impact my world.

It was phenomenal! I think I read it multiple times that year, and a few times after that as well. The impact that it had on my personal life was indescribable. After college, I kept that copy of the book, but didn’t read it much, although its principles continued to form a solid base for much of my personal life structure. And it has always been one of the most impactful books on my life.

Last fall, I decided to pull it out and add it to my list to read over the winter, and then I found that it had been updated and revised, so I grabbed a new copy to read instead. And once again, it holds a tremendous influence on my life and how I seek to order my inner world.

Gordon MacDonald presents some of the most practical input and advice into how to order the private world within, so that the public world can remain as effective as it can be. Looking at such topics as rest and leisure, time management, and reading, MacDonald presents several excellent principles to help make the inner life as stable as it can be. Is this exhaustive? Of course not. There are other things one can do to help maintain balance and order in the inner life. But this is an excellent place to start.

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4 Steps To Resolving A Crisis

Being Deliberate With Our Wives and Kids

Earlier this week, I had a conversation with a hurting dad. He had taken his family on vacation. They had big plans, and were planning on enjoying a few days away from the routine. But the very first night, his oldest daughter ran away. All of a sudden, vacation turned into crisis.

4 Steps To Resolving A Crisis

The family returned home, the police started searching, the next day, the girl was found and brought home. She did it again later that week. Only this time, her parents knew where she went, and were in communication with the parents of the friend she was staying with.

I don’t know all the specifics of this family’s home situation. I don’t have any idea why this happened. Nor do I need to know. What I do know is this: this dad was hurting. His daughter was making some poor choices and it was very painful for the rest of the family.

I had the opportunity to visit with this dad a few evenings ago. I’m not sure anything I said helped him very much. But it was obvious that his daughter’s decisions were hurting him. And he was facing some tough decisions: How should he respond… harshly? or with love? What sort of punishment was necessary? What changes needed to be made to prevent this from happening again?

I don’t know if he was actually thinking all those things. I know I would have been. And I would have been questioning my role as a father. Could I have done anything to prevent this? Did I fail somehow?