Your New Year's Resolution?

We are beginning our sixth year helping people read their Bibles cover-to-cover in one year. All you need is a Bible, a cell phone that receives text messages, and a desire to read your Bible.

Here’s how it works: you phone me using the phone where you want the texts sent, and beginning January first, I will send you a text specifying what Bible passage to read that day along with points to notice in that passage.

It’s free, and you can start or stop anytime you choose.

Some people have started this just within the last few months, so they will continue receiving daily texts until they have their year completed, or notify me that they no longer wish to receive them. Many have chosen to continue in this since it started.

I began this years ago, just sending out a daily reminder to read a particular passage with a view toward helping friends fulfill their New Year’s resolution to read the entire Bible. That lasted less than a week before I was being asked to include a brief commentary on the passages. I’ve been doing that ever since.

It now goes out to several countries around the world. Missionaries translate them into the language of the land, then forward them on to their church members who may forward them yet again. The receiving missionary may then forward them to other missionaries I don’t even know about. They use them in their Bible studies and sermon outlines, I’m told. So when folk ask how many people this ministry reaches, I really have no idea.

The response has been dramatic and gratifying.

Should say that you will cover The Book in a year, but not in order. Recently, for instance, in looking at Second Chronicles it was very helpful to interrupt it at certain chapters to read some of the minor prophets who were recording similar events, which greatly aids one’s understanding of the Bible.

Another example would be that between the end of the sixth chapter of Ezra and the beginning of the seventh chapter is where the book of Esther fits. Wouldn’t it be wise to read Esther right then and there, then go back to Ezra so the reader better understands what’s going on? Sure it would! Does no injury to the text and increases our grasp of what was happening.

On day one, whenever you want that to be, I will forward a companion text citing the abbreviations that will be employed. Other than that, what you’ll get is Bible.

So if you’ve ever promised yourself that you’d read all of God’s word, here is something that will help. Or, even if you are a critic of the Bible but have never actually read it, this will be relatively painless.

Contact me at (406) 580-3007 and leave a message (I don’t answer unknown numbers any more than you do, yeh?).

May God bless your day today. Play nice.