Reading the Bible Aloud
The role of Bible reading in worship. Reading the Bible aloud has been a Bible engagement practice since the Old Testament (e.g. 2 Kings 23:2) and New Testament times (e.g. 1 Timothy 4:13) and continues today as a spiritual practice in every faith community. But sadly, while reading the Bible aloud happens in most churches […]
How Are You Reading the Bible?
It’s not about gathering facts. Bible engagement isn’t about gathering facts, getting guidance, or learning how to be good. Satan loves it when people read the Bible for these reasons because as long as we’re only reading it to grow in knowledge, figure out what to do, or develop our morality, we’re not engaging with […]
You Can’t Worship Jesus If You Don’t Read the Bible!
You can’t worship Jesus if you don’t read the Bible! Now, hear me out … If you don’t read (i.e., hear, connect, engage, study, contemplate, reflect, act on) the Bible, you don’t know who Jesus is. If you don’t know who Jesus is, you can’t worship Him. And if you can’t worship Jesus, then how […]
Why We Should Read The Bible
Why we should read the Bible … There’s a story about a youngster who found a Bible on the bookshelf. “What’s this dusty book, Mom?” he asked. “That’s God’s book,” said his Mom. “Well, why don’t we send it back to God? We don’t use it here, do we?” asked the boy. The story raises […]
Bible Engagement in Small Groups
Bible engagement in small groups … Ways to strengthen Bible engagement in small groups: Getting together with a micro-community of believers to read/hear God’s Word is an effective way to get to know God and understand how to live in a vibrant relationship with Him. Here are ten ways to strengthen Bible engagement in small […]
The Death of Reading
The death of reading … How the death of reading harms Bible engagement. I recently read Philip Yancey’s article in The Washington Post titled “The Death of Reading is Threatening the Soul.” While Yancey’s article isn’t specifically focused on reading the Bible, it got me thinking about how the death of reading harms Bible engagement. […]
State of the Bible 2017
State of the Bible 2017 … Since 2011, the Barna Group has conducted an annual survey concerning the state of the Bible in the USA. The survey is commissioned by the American Bible Society and aims to gather insights into the multifaceted relationship that Americans have with God’s Word. This year’s findings revealed the following: […]
Reading the Bible Publicly
Reading the Bible publicly … If you sit in an average church service on an average Sunday, you’ll probably hear an average reading of God’s Word. That’s heartbreaking. Lacklustre public reading of the Scriptures is a discredit to God’s people and a slight to God! An average reading of God’s Word isn’t good enough. When […]
Bored With The Bible? How to Reignite Your Passion for God’s Word
Bored with the Bible. Why are some Christians bored with the Bible? While doing Bible engagement polling, I asked a woman in her fifties if she read the Bible. She said, “Yes, from cover to cover many years ago.” “Do you still read it?” I asked. “No”, she said, “I much prefer a good novel […]
Reading the Bible in Context
Reading the Bible in context … How context shapes our understanding of Scripture. When I was learning to read, I was taught to open the first page of a book and read from the beginning to the end. I didn’t start in the middle, skip to the end, or just read the juicy bits. That […]