Category: Devotional

Devotional thoughts for my benefit and yours from here, there, and everywhere

Get Your Daily e-Bible Reading Plan

~ Bob Hayton ~ 10 Comments

It’s that time of year again. Time to choose your next daily Bible reading plan. But with more and more people turning to e-Bibles on their smart phones or other portable devices, the traditional bookmark style, Bible reading plan’s days may be numbered.

Thankfully, for today’s Bible geeks (a term used for the tech-savvy, Bible aficionado) plenty of digital options are available when it comes to tracking and promoting Bible reading. I have found that having some plan and some tool to track my reading, is a very practical way to encourage me to continue to make Bible reading a priority. I don’t think we have to be slavishly beholden to a Bible reading plan, and not everyone is equally able to read the Bible through in a year. But reading the Bible is one of the best ways to encounter Jesus. So why not do all we can to read as much of the Bible as possible this year?

What follows is a list of some of the e-Bible reading options available. Please jump in and share any tools you are finding helpful that aren’t included here.

YouVersion

YouVersion is a site that uses the appeal of social media to encourage interaction with the Bible. The site lets users submit notes on the Bible, and share Bible verses easily through various social media channels, particularly Twitter and Facebook. The site has a long list of Bible reading plans. I’m interested in trying the Historical plan which goes through the OT according to the order of books in the Hebrew Bible, then goes through the NT books in the order that most scholars believe they were written in.

Youversion lets you track your progress online, or through your mobile phone (or even via RSS). You can share your progress with your social media networks, letting your friends know as you complete each day’s reading plan. This encourages others to be reading the Bible and allows something like Facebook to provide some accountability even, as your friends can see whether or not you are staying current with your reading plan.

Bible Gateway

Bible Gateway seems to be the most popular site for looking up Bible verses online. The site has several Bible reading plans that work with the various versions the site includes. If you’re interested in reading through the new updated NIV 2011 translation, this site is for you. There are also a few additional reading plans somewhat buried in the site. An interesting one is the biographical reading plan focusing on key Bible characters. For a couple plans you can even sign up for email updates with the days’ reading included via email (currently only available for the NIV or KJV).

ESV Online

My version of choice is the ESV, and I love the ESV Study Bible. Now the ESV Online incorporates the Study Bible notes and also includes two different versions of the complete Bible in audio format, easily accessible right from the viewing page. I enjoy reading along as I hear the audio version playing. The ESV Online lets you add your own notes and highlight passages in various colors, too. I just wish the History of Salvation in the OT article was referenced in the SB notes for each OT passage it covers, however.

The ESV Online has several reading plans as well as some devotionals. The Daily Light on the Daily Path devotional seems quite unique, and might be great for family devotions. It’s a classic that I had never heard of.

Bible.Org

Bible.org offers five different reading plans which launch in the new beta version of a Net Bible reader. The Net Bible notes are some of the most comprehensive available, and great for studying. What’s nice about the beta Net Bible reader is that you can instantly see the Hebrew or Greek for the passage and relevant articles from Bible.org regarding that passage. You also have the option of adding your own notes to share with other readers (or store for personal reference). It also includes an audio version of the Bible (but probably not for Greek or Hebrew!).

Olive Tree Bible Software

You may already be an Olive Tree junkie. Olive Tree Bible Software has carved out a niche in the mobile devices market, offering arguably the best Bible software for smart phones and other portable devices. A few reading plans are available for free Olive Tree, as well as additional devotional books.

Blue Letter Bible

You might not be into the whole e-Bible thing, however. You might just want the old-fashioned, tried and true, bookmark Bible reading plan. Don’t despair. Blue Letter Bible can help. They have a wide selection of Bible reading plans available as .pdf downloads, which can then be printed on actual paper and kept as a bookmark in your very own, leather-bound Bible! Chronological, historical, canonical and blended plans are available, as is a 2 year plan to read through the Bible at a slower pace.

Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plans

Finally, I would be remiss not to mention what may be the most popular Bible reading plan around, the Discipleship Journal reading plan from NavPress. This popular plan lets you read through the Bible in four different locations. One reading starts in Genesis, another in Psalms, another in Matthew, and the last one in Acts. It ensures variety and keeps one from being bogged down in the genealogies or Tabernacle details too much. Plus it only has readings for the first 25 days of the month, allowing for extra study, for those who stay on track, or for catch up days, for those who need the extra help (and motivation to stay on the plan). You can see a sample of the plan here (in .PDF), or you can order 25 copies of the plan (in good old bookmark format) from NavPress, and pass the others out at your church. There is also a Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Journal available to complement this plan.

DJ also has a book-at-a-time reading plan (preview here) which provides variety by having two reading tracks and alternating between Old and New Testament books. A simpler plan for those newer to Bible reading is also available (preview here). It covers the New Testament by having 5 minute readings, 5 days a week.

The True Meaning of Christmas

~ Bob Hayton ~ 2 Comments

Reconsider the true meaning of Christmas. That’s the message of this short 10 min. video clip produced by St. Helen’s Bishopgate in London. The clip below is designed for those who aren’t Christians. It’d be a great clip to spread on your Facebook page and other places this Christmas. [HT: Justin Taylor]

That’s Christmas (Short Film) HD from St Helen’s Church on Vimeo.

Quotes to Note 21: Melancthon & Zwingli on the Fruit of Faith

~ Bob Hayton ~ 2 Comments

The following is excerpted from Getting the Reformation Wrong: Correcting Some Misunderstandings by James R. Payton Jr. (IVP, 2010), pg. 124-125.

Today many mistake the Reformation emphasis on “sola fide” (“faith alone”) with an easy-believism where faith is all that matters and works are downplayed to the extreme that some view them as completely optional in the life of the Christian. James Payton in his book, explains that to the Reformers, faith was never so “alone”. Rather, they expected faith to always be accompanied by good works.

I found the following quotes from Philip Melancthon and Ulrich Zwingli quite helpful on this point.

Philip Melancthon [from his 1521 Loci communes theologici in Melancthon and Bucer ed. Wilhelm Pauck, Library of Christian Classics (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1969), pg. 92, 109 and 112] —

Faith is nothing else than trust in the divine mercy promised in Christ…. This trust in the goodwill or mercy of God first calms our hearts and then inflames us to give thanks to God for his mercy so that we keep the law gladly and willingly.

Faith cannot but pour forth from all creatures in most eager service to God as a dutiful son serves a godly father.

For although faith alone justifies, love is also demanded…. A living faith is that efficacious, burning trust in the mercy of God which never fails to bring forth good fruits.

Ulrich Zwingli [from his 1531 An Exposition of the Faith, in Zwingli and Bullinger, ed. and trans. G.W. Bromiley, Library of Christian Classics (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1953), pg. 272] —

But we must add at once that the pious will not cease from good works simply because it is impossible to gain any merit by them. Rather, the greater our faith, the more and greater our works…. For since faith is inspired by the Holy Spirit, how can it be slothful or inactive when the Spirit himself is unceasing in his activity and operation? Where there is true faith, works necessarily result, just as fire necessarily brings with it heat.

You may also be interested in reading my review of Getting the Reformation Wrong by James R. Payton Jr.. See also a previous “quotes to note” post where I shared some good thoughts from Zwingli on the gospel. And

Thanksgiving Benediction

~ Bob Hayton

“Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have for such sacrifices are pleasing to God…. Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” ~ Hebrews 13:7-16, 20-21

What’s Wrong with a Small Church Again?

~ Bob Hayton ~ 16 Comments

Recently I led my family to leave the booming conservative mega-church in our area to help out in the launching of a new church plant in St. Paul. We loved Pastor John Piper’s preaching, and we loved the people we had come to know at Bethlehem Baptist Church but we had come up against some problems.

We found it very hard to make meaningful relationships in such a large body. We had to work at connecting with other believers. With our crew of kids (we have five girls, and the oldest is 7 now), picking up and dropping off our kids from nursery kept us busy enough as it was. We found a way through our small group and an adult Sunday School class to get to know folks and feel that we were truly a part of all that was swirling around us.

As for serving, there weren’t as many places to be involved in adult SS teaching or ministry. And even being involved didn’t allow you to get to know all the pastors and elders like I would have liked. There were ways my wife served in kids classes, and in time we could have found more ways to serve. But it sure felt that we weren’t that needed. With so many bodies around, and with so many who seemed more connected and rooted there than we, it would be easy to just coast rather than serve.

In a small church context now, that’s a whole different story. We came hoping to serve and have been blessed to be a part of numerous ministries at Beacon of Hope church. But even apart from the ministries, just being a member in a small congregation (we have 140 on our best days right now) automatically means we know others and are known by them – intimately. We still have to work at connecting, but we have grown to know many people more closely than we had the chance at the larger church. What’s more, is that we really are needed and missed when we are out of town. We have a great every-member ethic where we depend on everyone. I would say upwards of 75% of our regular attenders are involved in some sort of ministry. And we are intentionally getting in one another’s lives and sharing the Christian life together.

Now our church does have aspirations to grow. And we are growing. But I hope we don’t lose the sense of being a small church. There is a great opportunity in being a small, intimate group of fellow Christ-followers. Erik DiVietro, a friend of mine, has recently launched a blog toting the benefits of an “intimate church”. He pastors a small church of no more than 150 folk in New Hampshire. And he makes some good points when he argues that being big doesn’t necessarily mean that a church is better:

We assume that bigger is a better value. This is true of our thinking when it comes to meals and it is true of our thinking about churches as well. But is it true?

It is true that large churches generally do have more resources, but do those resources really translate into any type of “˜improved’ Christians? This is not a criticism of large churches, but we do need to make a serious evaluation of the thinking that says bigger is better.

Are large churches really any better at bringing people into encounters with Jesus Christ? Are large churches really any better at teaching people the teachings of Christ and the Apostles?

Since both these things are ministries of the Holy Spirit, we must answer those questions with an emphatic NO. Regardless of the size of a congregation, the Spirit of God does the saving and teaching of believers — through other believers. And since Jesus promised he would be present wherever two or three are gathered, we must conclude that being big does not make a church better.

He goes on to argue that small churches are more suitable to developing deep relationships which provide a perfect context for enduring minsitry. I encourage you to give his article a read, and follow his new blog: Intimate Church.