RESOURCES
COVID-19: Bible Reading Plan of Assurance
https://www.biblegateway.com/blog/2020/03/covid-19-bible-reading-plan-of-assurance/
Let’s join together in reading “Coronavirus: Do Not Fear!”
This is a 14-day Bible reading plan.
#YEAROFTHEBIBLE
Bible Reading Plans
The stage is set for a Bible reading movement. To know God better, we need to saturate our hearts and minds with his Word. Here are ways to get started:
- Bible Gateway has a variety of reading plans to choose from that will help you read through, understand properly and apply effectively the Word of God.
- https://www.bible.com/reading-plans - over 10,000 reading plans including: one year and chronological, topical plans, daily devotions for women, kids, teenagers, men, and more.
- http://www.thebiblerecap.com/ - one-year Bible reading plan within youversion, with accompanying daily recap podcasts and more. (Also can go under blogs section).
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Immerse: The Bible Reading Experience is a simplified “book club” discussion model that encourages groups to read large portions of the Bible and simply talk about what they read. When you sign up, your group would be able to read through the Bible together in three years. - 30-Day Scripture Reading Plan from Taylor University Center for Scripture Engagement
- theStory Book Studies from Scripture Union Canada.
- Útjelző (Signpost) is a Bible reading guide in Hungarian for teenagers and young adults.
- RaamattuStartti is a Bible reading guide in Finnish for youth and adults.
- Skripta yearly Bible reading guide in Serbian language.
Apps
Download the Bible Gate app and take the Bible wherever you go. Access a library of free Bible study resources, share any Scripture verse via social media, and set a daily reminder to keep you on track with your personal Bible reading goals.
https://www.youversion.com/the-bible-app/ - 410 million downloads to date, providing 2,041 Bible versions in 1,367 languages for free.
Created in partnership with YouVersion, the Bible App for Kids is a revolutionary digital tool that is bringing the Bible to life in a whole new way for kids. The app features 40 of the major stories of the Bible, taking kids on a journey through the meta-narrative of Scripture to help them experience the story, then closes with the story titled God's Good News. This final story walks them through the Gospel and invites them to be a part of God's big story. Available in 49 languages.
Bible 2020 offers a year of opportunity for the global church to be united together through a digital Bible advocacy project encouraging Christians to read the same short passage of the Bible aloud in their own language as a blessing over all the earth. The app will also allow people to video their contribution and join the global community, recreating Pentecost everyday of the year.
To register your interest and receive a notification when the App is ready to download please visit the website of the project www.bible2020.org. If you are interested in Bible 2020 in your country as a local partner please contact Emma Galloway emma.galloway@scottishbiblesociety.org.
Listen to a variety of Bible translations and choose from multiple audio narration styles, at your own pace.
Articles
Tim Keller provides insight on whether divergent interpretations of Scripture undermine its authority.
All the evidence is there that God’s people are ready for a renewed Bible reading movement. Accommodating the late-modern cultural trend away from at-length and in-depth reading is not an option for the church. Loyalty to Jesus must include loyalty to the Scriptures that tell us who he is and what he’s done. That story in all its fullness is contained in one place only: the strange and powerful collection of books that has been handed down to us by those who’ve walked this path before.
The only way the Bible’s power will be released in the church is if the church gets reacquainted with it. We can gather once again around the texts. We can understand what kind of writings they are so we read them well. We can learn context. We can make the connections between the books and see how the story unfolds. We can read with Jesus himself at the center. And then we can enter into that very same story ourselves.
We can indeed be people of the Book again.
Bible teachers, especially from the early church to the Reformation, demonstrated such depth of knowledge of the Word of God. This is true, according to Leithart, because they immersed themselves with Scripture. He shares four axioms that, when grasped and practiced, will help us to approximate such knowledge of the Word.
In this article, Hunter points out that the apostle Paul’s ministry was—first and foremost—a ministry of the Word. We must never assume the centrality of the Word of God. Instead, we must intentionally keep the Bible central in our churches, especially in our church planting projects.
Training
Children’s Ministry 101 (CM 101) is an original training course developed by OneHope that is enriching the level of children’s ministry around the world. The CM 101 training communicates the importance of ministering to children from a young age and equips teachers and children’s workers with the knowledge and practical strategies to do so. This training incorporates current research along with best practices and equips Sunday School teachers, children’s ministry workers, and others who minister to the next generation. Available in English and Spanish.
Youth Ministry 101 (YM 101) is OneHope’s response to the Church’s expressed need for better training resources for ministry to teens. YM 101 walks participants through the importance of engaging youth with their faith during this critical life stage and how to do so effectively. The training is based on current research and incorporates the best of OneHope’s learnings and our passion for seeing the lives of teens transformed by God’s Word. Available in English and Spanish.
In these podcasts, Nancy Guthrie talks to some of the best teachers and preachers of our day to equip all kinds of Bible teachers to creatively teach through specific books of the Bible.
Watch Tim Keller speak in a workshop on preaching at 2015 National Conference of The Gospel Coalition.
This training module is intended to equip college students to lead groups in inductive Bible studies. Older adults will find this training on how to observe, interpret and apply a Scripture passage very useful.
Blogs
Features news about the Bible, interviews with authors about their Bible-focused books, and the latest announcements from Bible Gateway. It’s the best place to stay current with Bible-related developments.
The EFCA joins WEA and NAE in Bible-reading focus for new year
by Greg Strand
Books
ECPA 2017 Christian Book Award Finalist
Does the Bible need to be saved?
Over the course of the centuries, Bible scholars and publishers have increasingly added "helps"—chapter divisions, verses, subheads, notes—to the Bible in an effort to make it easier to study and understand. In the process, however, these have led to sampling Scripture rather than reading deeply.
According to author Glenn R. Paauw, the text has become divorced from the Bible's literary and historical context, leading to misinterpretation and a "narrow, individualistic and escapist view of salvation." Rather than being a culture-shaping force, the Bible has become a database of quick and easy answers to life's troubling questions. But these deficiencies can be corrected by engaging in what the author calls "big readings.”
In these pages Paauw introduces us to seven new (to us) understandings of the Bible as steps on the path to recovering one deeply engaged Bible. With each "new" Bible presented, deficiencies in how we currently interact with the Bible are explored, followed by recommendations for a new practice. The Bible's transformative power is recovered when we remove the chains Christians have applied to it over the centuries.
- Bible Engagement Basics by Lawson Murray, Published 2017 by Scripture Union
- Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading by Eugene Peterson, Published 2009 by Wm.B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
- Bible 360°: Total Engagement with the Word of God by Daniel Lim, Published 2016 by Forerunner Publishing
- The Bible Study Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to an Essential Practice by Lindsay Olesberg, Published 2012 by InterVarsity Press
- Reading the Bible Missionally by Michael w. Goheen, editor, Published 2016 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
- Reading the Bible for the Love of God by Alan Reynolds, Published 2003 by Brazos Press
- Life with God: Reading the Bible for Spiritual Transformation by Richard J. Foster, Published 2010 by HarperOne
- Reading the Bible with Heart & Mind by Tremper Longman III, Published 1997 by NavPress
- One to One Bible Reading: A Simple Guide for Every Christian by David Helm, Published 2011 by Matthias Media
- Meditating on the Word by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Published 1986 by Cowley Publications
- The Forgotten Bible Reading Method: How to Read and Understand the Bible in 5 Easy Steps by Wayne Davis, Published 2015 by Good Messengers Ministries
- How to Read the Bible Book by Book by Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, Published 2002 by Zondervan
- How to Read the Bible for All its Worth by Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, Published 2003 by Zondervan
- Devote Yourself to the Public Reading of Scripture by Jeffrey d. Arthurs, Published 2012 by Kregel Publications
- Unleashing the Word: Rediscovering the Public Reading of Scripture by Max McLean and Warren Bird, Published 2009 by Zondervan
- The Seed and the Soil: Engaging with the Word of God by Pauline Hoggarth, Published 2011 by Langham Global Library
- The Fire and the Word: Meeting God on Holy Ground by Chris Webb, Published 2011 by InterVarsity Press
- All They Want is the Truth: Fulfilling the Great Commission through the Power of God’s Word by Bob Hoskins, Published 2018 by OneHope
- How to Understand the Bible: A Simple Guide by Mel Lawrenz, Published 2014 by WordWay
- How to Study the Bible: A Simple Guide by Mel Lawrenz, Published 2019 by WordWay
- The Theme of the Bible by Norman L. Geisler, Published 2012 by Bastion Books
- Shaped by the Word: The Power of Scripture in Spiritual Formation by Robert M. Mulholland, Published 2008 by Upper Room Books
- Truth and Power: The Place of Scripture in the Christian Life by J.I. Packer, Published 1996 by Harold Shaw Publishers
- The Doctrine of the Word of God by John M. Frame, Published 2010 by P&R Publishing Company