Last year, I decided to try a one-year Bible-reading plan because I’m one of those people who lives in cycles of near-coma transitioning into frenzy and back again. (Don’t ask me to do ANYTHING before noon.) 
That served me well until about age forty, but now I can’t seem to handle the mania like I once did.
So rather than the feast or famine approach I took to Bible reading in 2005 (not my normal pattern, either), I decided to try something highly structured and methodical. As someone who loves Scottish preachers, I threw my allegiance to the Robert Murray M’Cheyne Bible-reading plan.
That lasted four months before I threw in the towel.
Plenty of Bible-reading systems exist, with M’Cheyne’s one of the most popular. No doubt M’Cheyne and I will not cross paths in heaven given that he’ll be next to the throne of God, while I’ll be resigned to a distant spot on the outer edge of things, but this doesn’t change the fact that his Bible-reading program’s not all that good.
What’s Wrong with One Year Bible-Reading Plans?
The problem, as I see it, is that all such programs miss the point. While reading through the Bible in a year is a worthy endeavor, it’s an artificial one. God’s not so much interested in us making it through all 66 books in 365.25 days. What He desires of us is that we understand what we read in His word, ruminate on it, and then do something with what we’ve read. With some of the plans out there, I could spend an entire year reading the Bible and not remember one whit of it, nor put into practice even one of its commands.
Sadly, that seems to be what a lot of Christians do. Don’t believe me? Just take a look at the state of the world, and especially the biblical ignorance rampant in the Church in America.
Beyond the artifice behind them, most Bible-reading plans suffer from an imposed superficiality and disjointedness. This latter problem drove me off the M’Cheyne plan. It included an OT reading, a Psalm, a Gospel, and an Epistle all in one day. The next day, move up a chapter in each. Is it any wonder that the unity of the Scriptures begins to fall apart when read that way? Yes, I’m reading the Bible! But I’m not putting it all together into a whole that transforms my life.
One of the posts I featured in my “The Best of Cerulean Sanctum 2006” is entitled “Chapter, Verse, Blog” (it’s a good read; make certain to follow the link to the Viola piece). The main idea in that post concerns the artificial chapter and verse system we’ve imposed on God’s word. It may come as a shock to some people, but the chaptering system we’re so familiar with did not exist until eleven centuries after the New Testament came to be. The verse system came three hundred years after that. In other words, when the greatest saints of the Church read the Scriptures, they thought of them solely as uniform books. Today, we think of them more as chapters and verses. Most reading plans slavishly obey chapter delineation for no good reason other than convenience. But God never intended His word to be “convenient.”
How to Read the Bible for Life, Not Just a Year
The World’s Best Bible-Reading Program, as I see it, moves beyond this piecemeal approach to reading the Scriptures. It has nothing to do with the proud announcement that “I read through the entire Bible this year!” Instead, it has everything to do with knowing the word of God and putting it into practice. It’s not a one-year reading program, but a “rest of your life until they bury you in a pine box” program. The first way of thinking is marketing; the other is transforming.
Here’s how The World’s Best Bible-Reading Program works:
- 1. Find a quiet, undisturbed place to read. Start in the New Testament since the New Covenant is necessary for perspective on the Old Testament. Might as well begin with Matthew.
2. Read through one entire book in a single sitting. Obviously, the first five books of the NT are going to require some time. But do it. (You’re eternal. Live like it!) These books are whole units and are meant to be read as such. We need to experience their coherence. Trust me; the Holy Spirit will bring the entirety of the book to your mind in the future in a way you’ve never experienced before.
3. When you’ve read the book once, don’t move on! Read through it again. For the first five books, if you must break them into chunks, go with five or six chapters—whatever maintains the arc of the narrative.
4. Re-read that one book. Note the way the narrative and themes flow. Commit those stories and themes to memory. Note where they exist in the book.
5. Re-read that one book. Pay special attention to the way the Lord is portrayed.
6. Re-read that one book. Examine the relational aspects of the book, God to Man, Man to Man, Man to God.
7. Re-read that one book. Note the Lord’s redeeming and salvific acts within the greater arc of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration. (This first pass through the NT assumes you have a modicum of OT understanding. After reading the OT through, the second pass through the NT will clarify things further.)
8. Re-read that one book. This time around, note all the Lord’s commands and how we’re told to practice them. Consider how they might work practically in your daily activities.
(By this point, you’ve read the same book seven times. Depending on the length of the book, it may have taken seven days or seven weeks. It doesn’t matter. This is about changing your life and relationship with Christ. This is about sixty years of discipleship. It’s not about getting through the Bible in a certain length of time.)
Now comes the hard (and controversial) part…
9. Take everything you’ve learned in this book and put it into practice. Take a month (*see comments below) to do nothing but concertedly meditate on what you’ve just read by making it real in your own life. It might mean that the only Bible you read this month are the parts of this one book that you still aren’t getting and must re-read. Doesn’t matter—do it. (If you absolutely have to read something every day that isn’t part of this program, consider a few Psalms or a cycle of Proverbs. They’re the most suited to broken-up reading patterns since they are collections of wisdom and less unified than a book like Romans.)
10. After your month, take stock of all that you’ve learned by reading and practice. Make a mental assessment of the themes of the book and how they apply to your discipleship. If you’re confident you’ve read and practiced this book, move on to the next one. Once the NT is finished, move onto the OT. (I realize some of the OT books are daunting in length for a single read-through. Make a concerted effort to read them in one sitting. Failing this, some of the OT books are narrative, which allows for breaks in the story. Psalms and Proverbs are easily segmented, as noted above. All prophets must be read in one sitting the first time through. A book as enormous as Isaiah is hard to partition, so consider reading it on a weekend day.)
Repeat these ten steps for the rest of your life.
George Barna’s dire poll warnings about Biblical ignorance today in Evangelical churches largely reflect the piecemeal approach we take to reading the Scriptures. Too much of our reading and teaching are topical, destroying the uniformity of the revelation. That so few churches preach through the entirety of the Scriptures in the way outlined in this reading programs explains our ignorance, too. Bible reading programs that reduce the Bible to tatters only compound the problem. So does the lack of digesting what we read.
I can’t guarantee many of the things I write here at Cerulean Sanctum, but I guarantee this: If you make The World’s Best Bible-Reading Program your lifetime plan for reading the Scriptures, you’ll be transformed.
And you can take that with you to eternity.
***
A final note: If you are looking to find out more about Christianity and its core beliefs, please visit this link: “How to Become a Christian.”
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43 Comments
I’ve never posted here, but I’ve seen this blog referenced on many others. This post caught my attention. A few months ago, I was talking to a friend and brother about studying the Bible. On a whim, I made an off-the-cuff remark, “When are going to stop studying the Bible, and start living it.” He reminds me of that comment from time to time. You point #9 reminded me of that comment as well.
Reading, re-rereading, re-reading, etc. entire books is one of the only ways to truly know what Scripture says. Thank you for this post and the reminder.
-Alan
Alan,
Thanks for posting! As 2 Tim 3:16-17 tells us, the whole point of knowing the Scriptures so well is that we live it out in such a way that our lives are equipped to do good works. Knowing the Bible solely for knowing it is a noble idea, but it’s not really the point. Yet too often that’s what gets drummed into our heads by people who want us to know it.
Hey Dan!
I’m a young teen who is trying to delve deeper into God’s word instead of just skimming it’s surface. I’ve been trying to look for Bible Reading Plans and I think yours is absolutely amazing! My goal is to understand the bible not just have a bunch of head knowledge. Thank you sooo much for sharing this with others. I can’t wait to see the benefits of this plan!
God Bless,
Cheyanne
Blessed that you are benefiting from the plan, Cheyanne. Thanks for sharing what God is doing in your life. Keep the Faith!
Thanks for this post. I found it very helpful and encouraging. I enjoy spending extended times on one book or going back and forth between a few short books in the NT (such as Galatians, Romans, 1 John) to help me understand certain topics better, such as law/grace. Strangely I have often felt guilty for reading too much of the Bible at a time, since we’re usually taught that it’s better to read a small portion and meditate on it. I have often wondered why I don’t devour Scripture the way I devour other books, reading my favorites over and over again. I think this post has hit the nail on the head: I enjoy the narrative more as a whole and it makes more sense that way. I love this plan!
Julie,
I think the plan will also help people know where certain passages are. I’m on my fifth day of reading Titus and already I have a better idea of its themes. As someone who’s been a Christian for thirty years, I’ve read every book of the Bible through dozens of times, but a lot of it didn’t sink in because my reading approach was “one shot and out” instead of constantly re-reading the same book. That’s why this “plan” is unique.
Great post. Your recommendations are spot-on.
Thanks, Mike!
“Too much of our reading and teaching are topical, destroying the uniformity of the revelation. That so few churches preach through the entirety of the Scriptures in the way outlined in this reading programs explains our ignorance, too. Bible reading programs that reduce the Bible to tatters only compound the problem. So does the lack of digesting what we read.”
You are spot on with this one! Thanks for the encouragement. I have found expository reading, studying, teaching and preaching to be transforming in my life. And since it has only been a couple of years since I started using this approach, I know the other side as well.
Don,
I’m not against topical. I think someone has to have a grounding in the overall arc of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration before one can grasp the topical, though.
I’m also not anti-topical. Some doctrines can only be dealt with topically, so there is a place for the topical. But I believe the main thrust must be expositional.
My take: Reading plan or no reading plan is not really the issue. I have tried both. Personally I need the structure of a task to keep me in the Word. I wish I was spiritual enough to not need a structure imposed upon me, but unfortunately I’m not. I require some auxiliary motivation. Call me a sinner if you will and I’ll say “Amen”. This is just how I am motivated best. For others, I can see how the “check the box on my Bible Reading Plan sheet” approach would seem rather mechanical and counter to good devotional thought. Either way, we agree that the goal is transformation by the Holy Spirit through his Word, rather than just intake of information.
Zach,
I’m reading through Titus right now. I’ll read it for seven straight days. Then I’ll put it into practice and meditate on it for a month (you can do it for less if a month seems too long.) If you wish to read out of the Psalms and Proverbs during your time spent on Titus, that’s fine. It’s still a disciplined way to approach Scripture.
The problem with just about all reading plans is that they fail to inculcate the reality that the Word is progressive revelation. In Genesis we have a “germ” of Adam’s transgression, but in Romans Paul elucidates the “mystery of Christ” which is concomitant to the fuller exegesis of Adam. Richard Hays in his book, The Art of Reading Scripture, nails it when he says that the Bible should be read from back to front. Concentration should center on the epistles for that is where Paul lays out the “mystery.” See Eph. 3:4.
Peter,
That’s why I try to do the back to front with this, too.
COMMENT on post above:
Obviously, you’re going to need a month to think about and practice a book like John, Daniel, or Romans. You won’t need that amount of time for a book like 3rd John. Use sense about this, gauging what God is doing inside you during your meditation and practice time.
I appreciate all of the comments posted here and I agree that this is a terrific reading plan that would benefit any follower of Christ. However, I would not discredit reading the Bible front to back so quickly. I read the Bible front to back last year, and in doing so I feel that I have a MUCH greater understanding of God’s love and his sovereignty, culminating in Christ coming into the world for us. I’ve been in Sunday School, Church, and have done daily devotions since I was 12 (I’m now 24), and it wasn’t until last year after reading straight through the Bible that I felt I had a decent understanding of the whole picture. I agree with all of you that reading and re-reading a book with specific focuses is a great way of growing closer to the Lord, but I would also encourage anyone to read straight through the Bible in a year if you’re having trouble putting the pieces together. This comes from personal experience.
There are positives and negatives to both approaches. If you have been too microscopic in your reading and studying (pulling apart one verse or even one phrase at a time) than a “big picture” approach would be very helpful. This is one thing I’ve loved about Walk Tru The Bible Ministries. They help you see the big picture of the entire Bible, which I found to be very helpful.
Bible reading has never been a difficult thing to me since reading is already one of my passions, and Scripture itself is another. After years of tweaking this is my plan:
1. I have a one year chronological Bible so, I do get through it every year. My kids each have one too, and it’s part of their school work (I homeschool).
2. I read 5 psalms and one chater of Proverbs every day.
3. I also have a selected book that I read repeatedly (20 times). Right now I’m on 2 Peter.
4. I try to always be involved in some kind of Bible study with other people. So I work on whatever the group is working on (Isaiah currently).
However it’s read I think the Bible rewards zeal and diligence. Desultory reading is really the least productive. I too, as well, want to put in a word for cover-to-cover reading. It really is the foundation. And none of this talk of a year. I’ve done in in less than three months, though I’m not saying speed is necessary. Other kinds of Bible reading shouldn’t be seen as better or more useful than the complete, cover-to-cover readings because all the other types of reading benefit from the cover-to-cover readings. The complete reading efforts really are the best – perhaps only? – foundation for the other types of readings. It’s a hard book to get through, but don’t allow justifications for quitting to be turned into “here’s something better.” Trek across the continent (even through the death valleys) complete. One foot in front of the other, one page – chapter (1,189) – at a time.
My experience is reading single books several times in a row (I did it with the minor prophets) can even be a ‘go in one ear, out the other’ experience. The Bible seems to defeat most plans, for reasons the Holy Spirit knows. It does though reward complete readings. I think the very effort involved – and day by day dedication – is something the Holy Spirit rewards.
I wonder if there would be a market big enough to sustain a ministry that printed up one book of the Bible a month with large margins for taking notes and maybe without verse notation and chapters marked in such a way that they wouldn’t disturb the flow of the reading.
Then, with this subscription service, a new book would be shipped to your house each month for your perusal. Maybe a blog could be put up for all the people meditating on a certain book to make comments and share their meditation results in posts. Perhaps the blogs could be setup so that church groups could do this together.
I have found over the last several years that the fourfold approach to Bible Study used by is a great way to study God’s Word and apply it to one’s life.
Had some trouble with the link to BSF International… Here’s it is, hopefully.
BSFI
I have been reading the Bible for seven years, each year I read the whole Bible, first times I started with Genesis and ended with Apocalypse, then I followed a method… But after the seventh year, I discovered that I was doing a mere exercise… So I observed one year of full stop, trying to practice what I learnt. My 2006 has been a year of revolution for my life (two girlfriends, three churches…), but I discovered that God doesn’t want from me an exercise of reading, but an exercise of life. So I wanted to start again reading the Bible, and I wanted to use this new method
Very happy to read that I’m not alone 
Thanks Dan, that looks like a very good plan. I’ve been realising lately just how superficial my Bible reading is. I’ve got daily notes that have a small chunk of Bible to read each day, and then notes and ideas for prayer. It’s OK, but I find myself just trying to get it done each morning and though it helps to get me praying, I’m not really learning much. Setting aside time to read whole books at once is hard, but thinking back, the times when I have sat down and done that are ones I remember. The history books of the OT particularly are even more amazing if you can see the whole sweep of the timespan they cover in one go and how God acts through the history of his people.
Dear Dan E.,
It’s interesting to know another 43-year old who has a Christian favorites book list as eclectic as mine! (You probably should add George Grant’s The Micah Mandate to the list.)
I sympathize with the “world’s best Bible reading program” in its premise that the spiritual discipline of reading the Word is for the purpose of knowing it and walking in it. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that your particular method is the “world’s best” (I would suggest Hebrews as a introduction to the OT rather than reading the NT before the OT), but any method the the ends you propose is better than reading for the sake of checking off the task on my to-do list.
For the King,
-RD
Correction:
I should not have tried to rush a response to such a great post before I had to leave for a meeting.
-RD
Your post is great, it shows up lots of the ways we go wrong! It also tells us how to do it right
except, reading a whole book at one sitting (at least for the longer books – think Genesis or Isaiah at 50+ chapters – is too much… For an approach that can have some of the benefits of hearing the context and the whole try downloading and listening to chapters successively. I put them on my mp3 and play them as I’m going to work, Genesis takes several days depending on the traffic 
One source is http://podbible.com/podcast
I can’t believe you would suggest that we actually DO what the bible says!
I’m no going to listen to some ‘do as I say, not as I do’ God.
When He comes down and lives a day in my shoes so He knows what it’s like to be human, then I might start doing what He says….
Oh….
Um……
Well, I guess you’ll find me out taking the good news to the poor, and making disciples of all nations then.
Jesus didn’t just sit and talk about doing what’s right – He did it. So who am I to do any different?
i want a bible reading programme of old testoment and ney testoment.
EXCELLENT!
Excellent post. I could not agree with you more repetition is the key to memorization. With your plan though it is more than just memorizing words, it is memorizing intent, context, etc.
Thanks for this!
Great post, I hadn’t seen it until today.
It’s interesting that at different times in life different things are right for different people.
I tried a system somewhat similar to what you suggest and I got a lot out of it.
Right now though, I have the bible on my phone and it comes with a 1-year reading plan.
I am getting so much out of reading from 4 different books every day. It is really helping me see how themes are tied together throughout the bible and throughout history.
I am also hearing God speak through it in a new way, it’s like every day He can say the same thing through 3 or 4 very different passages.
I would recommend your biblereading program to anyone though, they will get SOOOO much out of it!
Cool idea – I’ve been looking for a methodical way to spend more time in the Word outside of the usual “one-year reading plan” box. I’ll definitely give this a try!
I’ve recently started doing this. The baby is sleeping better at night, and I can get up early enough now to be able to do it. It’s not that easy for a homeschool mom of 5, including infant, to get large chunks of time to herself. It’s been wonderful though. I’ve always tried to live the Word, but I love how looking at the Scriptures from different aspects creates such a picture for me of what’s happening. The first book I did was Amos and it made it easy to then share with my kids what the book was saying as a story. Thanks for the inspiration.
Hi,
I’d be interested to know some four years on if you’re still using this approach to the Bible and how you’ve found it?
Simon,
In short, yes.
One of the outcomes is that this way of reading permits one to better grasp the themes of the Bible. The BIG PICTURE finally comes through, and in doing so, it better influences all the micro-level reading that we more often do in our churches. Frankly, I think this method yields better, smarter, humbler disciples.
Thanks for your reply Dan,
I’ve varied my Bible reading plan over the years, but find that I hear God most through meditating on the Bible. However, meditation requires slow unhurried pondering of the text, which essentially means you’re not going to read a great amount. Obviously, it’s not one or the other but both. But it does require quite some time investment to read the longer books.
As I go for walks every day as part of my exercies regime, how effective do you think it would be in listening to the text read rather than reading it?
Simon,
I’m all for a variety of ways for getting the Scriptures into us. Audio versions are fine.
I’m NOT against meditation—see step #9 above! I just think we have to have the overview picture before we can meditate on the details. Otherwise, we see the tree and miss the forest.
“The World’s Best Bible-Reading Program”? That’s quite the claim, so I’m not sure if he’s just trying to be funny or if he is serious. Does he go to the world’s best church and have the world’s best apple pie? It’s this kind of “here’s the answer” approach that makes me believe it’s not the answer and gets me upset at him. I’m hyped this approach works for this guy, but I just don’t buy that other programs don’t work better for other people in his own culture or in other cultures for that matter. What about reading the Bible straight through, from start to finish, like one of my great friends is doing (and loving)? Talk about a story line…
He upset me when he said this:
“What [God] desires of us is that we understand what we read in His word, ruminate on it, and then do something with what we’ve read. With some of the plans out there, I could spend an entire year reading the Bible and not remember one whit of it, nor put into practice even one of its commands.”
You can do that with a reading plan of 1 verse a day for the rest of your life. Here’s a week’s worth of single verses off the top of my head to change your life: John 3:16, Romans 12:9, Matthew 6:21, Matthew 22:27, Proverbs 3:5, Matthew 28:19. That might be the only thing someone knows in rural Ethiopia, yet they can be flowin’. I’m just saying there are other ways to do what he just proposed. It’s on you to “remember it” and “put it into practice,” so if that’s how he does it, cool, I’m on board… for him. I’d love to consider it, but he makes me feel like an idiot for considering any other way to read the Bible.
Just re-read this. The state of the world is a result of Christians “not remembering a whit of the Bible nor putting it into practice”? That’s why the world is messed up? Really? Yeah? The world is messed up because Christians don’t know or practice the Bible? The world is absolutely burning to the ground in imperfection no matter how many Christians there are practicing the Bible to the T, and that’s biblical. Blame Christians for the world’s problems. Stupid and unproductive. Except for his argument.
“Rampant biblical ignorance in the American Church”? Really? He mentions George Barna, by far the most famous Christian trends/feelings/etc research group in the world, but doesn’t mention the study. But I’ll believe it – fine, Americans are reading the Bible less for about 100 different reasons probably… so his solution is to just tell them to read it an hour every day? I have a hard time believing Jesus would look at a Christian with “biblical ignorance” (me being one of them depending on how you define “biblical ignorance,” something he does not qualify) and tell them to read the Bible 7 times. I would love to know the Bible better, and I’m truly convicted and want to put my money where my mouth is, but I also enjoy questioning absolutes like this, such as whether or not the point of our faith is to be full of “knowledge ([which] puffs up)” – 1 Corinthians 8:1.
I’m taking an extreme stance on this because I think this guy does, too (“the prophets must be read straight through the first time”). My Church back home (including my parents who are loving it) is doing a 1-year Bible reading plan as a Church, and it’s apparently really great. Riverwest has 5 or 6 pastors, each who know the Scriptures really well in my opinion, especially the main guy, and they chose to have their congregation do this. Then they can talk about it in church, in small groups, and on an online posting-board. When I read the Bible in 1 year, I got a ton out of it, including some things his plan undoubtedly does not cover – such as the connection of different books and the total story on a gross, gross scale.
This guy’s idea is great, but I don’t buy it’s the World’s Best Bible-Reading Plan nor that obeying “chapter delineation” is a matter of pure convenience. His quip about us having made God’s word convenient by delineating verses and chapters is only convenient for his argument (why is he arguing again? Instead of just explaining how he does it and what it does for him?). Let’s say there weren’t verses and chapters. Have fun getting a non-believer to look up a passage in a 66 “chapter” 1500 page book without verses. It worked 2000 years ago because that’s mainly what Jews learned in school, but it doesn’t work anymore sadly. We didn’t make God’s word “convenient” by adding those verses. I cannot believe they made the dictionary alphabetical. What lazy human beings.
I get his point that we can stop reading passages arbitrarily and not take in the whole meaning. So say that. Encourage, don’t call the other system lazy or second-best when there’s no way in heck my non-lazy, walking-the-walk Dad is going to muster up a “concerted effort” and read Isaiah in a single sitting. He could argue that the ultimate approach is a combination of the two approaches. The fact that he doesn’t at least say that upsets me because he clearly doesn’t get it. I don’t think we quench the Spirit one bit when we just read a few verses at a time.
“If you absolutely have to read something every day that isn’t part of this program, consider a few Psalms or a cycle of Proverbs. They’re the most suited to broken-up reading patterns since they are collections of wisdom and less unified than a book like Romans.”
Haha if I absolutely have to? Romans? The book that arguably has the most teaching in the New Testament? That’s his example of a letter to never take verse by verse? I absolutely think people should read Romans on a gross scale, too, and he should just say that, but what this guy’s insinuating is crap.
Haha I just laughed when he said, “A book as large as Isaiah is hard to partition, so be sure to read it on a weekend.” Les Miserables is just so dang long – be sure to make 7 gallons of coffee and take off 4 days of work, because it’s too difficult to mentally keep track of where you are if you stop.
I started using your method of study this year and have found it rewarding. I began with the book of Matthew and am now on my fifth reading. It seems like for years I have had nothing but pieces of the bible. Common stories or topical messages taught over and over. Numerous verses cited to support a specific topic, but this method allows me to recognize things I would not otherwise have seen. For example, on the 3rd time through Matthew, it became obvious to me that it was really important to Matthew to establish the fact that Jesus was the fulfillment of much prophecy. I also noticed that the message to “repent for the kingdom of God is at hand” was not just spoken by John the Baptist but also by Jesus as he began his ministry and as he instructed the disciples. Right now I am thinking that if a person were to read the gospels until they had thorough knowledge of Christ’s time on this earth, that in itself would be a valuable accomplishment.
Thank you, Roger. Your post blessed my day. I am thrilled that this method is working for you and is yielding lasting results. Keep it up, and please share this with your friends. Have a blessed day!
Very interesting post!
I have been searching for a new method of Scripture reading that would allow me to go deeper than the typical once a year plans would.
For several about 5 years I followed a 90 day through the New Testament/ once a year Old Testament plan that served me well then but this seems to allow a more deep internalization of individual books rather than the broad overview that has been my style till now.
I think I will give it a try. Are you still following this plan and does it indeed yield fruit for you? What is your Old Testament plan?
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[...] “Read the Bible in a year!” makes for good marketing, but Cerulean Sanctum tells of a method of reading the Bible that goes well beyond marketing into the realm of making the reading effectual in your own life. It’s heavy on the reading, but that’s what a proper understanding and putting-into-practice of the Scripture requires. I think I might just try it out. [...]
[...] With this in mind a post at Cerulean Sanctum caught my eye. I have to say that Dan Edelen has most likely hit the nail on the head, and if his proposed plan is followed, I can’t see how we as Christians could come away with greater knowledge. [...]
[...] The World’s Best Bible-Reading Program by Dan Edelen in Cerulean Sanctum. I dare you to try it! Comments(0)Switched to the ESV Bible Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church writes about Why I Am Nowhis reasons from switching from the NIV to the ESV translation. [sighted on Between Two Worlds] Comments(0)Dating Jesus? Christianity Today has an article about the weird theology of some who think that theybasis for turning this into an individualized romantic relationship with Jesus. (HT: Justin Taylor) Comments(0)The Importance of Ritual Dan Edelen in Cerulean Sanctum has a good article on Regulation, Ritual,of Pilgrim’s Progress from Christian Audio during the month of December. (HT: Justin Taylor) Comments(0)View more News andNotes… [...]
[...] Reading through the entire Bible is a pretty common New Year’s resolution for many Christians, I think. It’s certainly been on my list of doomed-to-failure resolutions more than once. Dan Edelen has a great post on why most Bible reading plans just don’t work, and what a truly good Bible reading plan looks like. From his post: [...]
[...] Update: I still think it’s a good idea to read the Bible according to some kind of plan (as long as you don’t get legalistic about it). At the same time, check out Dan Edelen’s World’s Best Bible-reading Program. Fact is, there are lots of reasons to read the Bible and lots of methods to use. I’d listen to what Dan has to say. D. P. posted this entry on Tuesday, January 9th, 2007 at 4:50 pm. Posted in the category APOSTLES’ TEACHING, THE PRAYERS, Bible You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. [...]
reading scripture…
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[...] Dan of Cerulean Sanctum offers an alternative to all of the one-year bible reading programs that we are inundated with this time of year. The World’s Best Bible-Reading Program, as I see it, moves beyond this piecemeal approach to reading the Scriptures. It has nothing to do with the proud announcement that “I read through the entire Bible this year!” Instead, it has everything to do with knowing the word of God and putting it into practice. It’s not a one-year reading program, but a “rest of your life until they bury you in a pine box” program. The first way of thinking is marketing; the other is transforming. [...]
[...] Cerulean Sanctum » The World’s Best Bible-Reading Program (tags: Faith bible Plan reading) Posted by Brandon { article rss } Trackbacks [...]
[...] 1. The World’s Best Bible-Reading Program [...]
[...] Cerulean Sanctum » The World’s Best Bible-Reading Program: [...]
Thirty Three Things (v. 3)…
1. Five things about blogs that no one ever needs to say again °°°°°° 2. A Periodic Table of Visualization Methods °°°°°° 3. Enthymeme of the Day: “It is an infinite sin to prefer anything to the infinit…
[...] First, Dan Edelen wrote about an interesting Bible reading plan. It’s not like we don’t have enough, but this is a different approach that truly immerses you in the narrative, and we all know narrative is good, right? The plan isn’t to get through some amount in scripture in a year. [...]
Man with a plan…
An intriguing suggestion for a Bible-reading programme from Ceruleam Sanctum, involving reading entire books at a single sitting and spending a month reading only that book. I think I’ll pass, myself, but it’s still an interesting approach….
[...] And while we’re on the subject, this post, titled “The World’s Best Bible Reading Program, was recommended by the good doctor. [...]
My Two Cents (01/23)…
Jesus Coming When? – Gary DeMar muses about books that have predicted the date of Jesus’ return. KJV Onlyism – John MacArthur et al. have a nice 4 part series debunking those who take a King James Only position. Nice…
[...] intriguing suggestion for a Bible-reading programme from Cerulean Sanctum, involving reading entire books at a single sitting and spending a month reading only that book. I [...]
[...] post by Dan Edelen [...]
[...] morning, I planned on going back to reading Philippians as part of the Bible reading plan I talked about earlier this year, when the Lord redirected me elsewhere: to Haggai of all [...]
[...] been doing my Bible study plan through Philippians, and the above passage stands out time and again. Not the more recognized [...]
[...] The World’s Best Bible-Reading Program [...]
[...] After all, reading the Bible is really not the ultimate goal. Really! On this thought, check out a great post by my friend Dan Edelen: The World’s Best Bible-Reading Program [...]
Do We Need to be Taught How to Understand Scripture?…
In my last post I mentioned that I hope to follow my friend Glenn Lucke’s advice to do some blogging on biblical interpretation. So I begin today with the question “do w need to be taught how to understand Scripture?”…
[...] Check it out and be sure to scroll down to see how the program works [...]
[...] the Bible intently. I recommend this plan. We should be reading for deeper discipleship and understanding, not just to tick “Read the [...]
[...] I’ll tell you straight up. I’m not gonna read the whole bible this year. In fact, I may only read 10 or 20 “chapters” from a couple of books. But as I completely immerse myself in a few books, they will be as much a [...]
[...] far, the most read post on Cerulean Sanctum is this one. It’s also the most Googled post. Every day of the year I get about a dozen search engine [...]
[...] God said everything in under 2,000 pages The World’s Best Bible-Reading Program Preaching Notes: Tim Keller Youth Ministry Social Events Does God answer the prayers of [...]
[...] The World’s Best Bible-Reading Program | Cerulean Sanctum [...]
[...] different Bible-reading plans. Some were successful; some were not. Right now I’m using Dan Edelen’s plan, which so far has been transforming. I’m still in the read-through-a-book seven times part (I [...]
[...] Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Bible, Jesus, Matthew, sin A couple weeks ago I started using this Bible reading plan. So far I’m only on my third read-through of Matthew, because I haven’t read more than [...]
[...] under: The Christian Life | Tags: Bible, Jesus, Matthew, sin A couple weeks ago I started using this Bible reading plan. So far I’m only on my third read-through of Matthew, because I haven’t read more than [...]
[...] The World’s Best Bible Reading Program [...]
[...] things to all people” religious site, because they want to syndicate one of my posts (”The World’s Best Bible-Reading Program“). That post is the number one post on Cerulean Sanctum, with nearly 10,000 unique hits from [...]
[...] always had issues about bible reading plans and was glad to see others agreed with me, first Dad Edelen: Beyond the artifice behind them, most Bible-reading plans suffer from an imposed superficiality [...]
[...] Read Ann Voskamp’s lectio divina as oatmeal here, and her fabulous link to Dan Edelen’s World’s Best Bible Reading Program. [...]
[...] [With due credit to Dan Edelen, the creator of The World’s Best Bible Reading Program.] [...]
[...] This is a fine Bible for most people and includes a host of helps for those who have never read through the Bible before. I would also recommend this Bible-reading plan. [...]
[...] year, as part of the Bible reading plan I champion here at Cerulean Sanctum, I read through the entire book of Galatians each day for a [...]
[...] read the whole book in one sitting – despite having recently read that as a recommendation as the best way to read the Bible. But I wasn’t planning to stop quite as soon as I did. I started by skipping the first two [...]
[...] of wisdom never come easy. I pray each person that reads this post can take away a few nuggets.The World’s Best Bible-Reading Program I never thought this post would be the phenomenon that it’s become, but I’m glad for [...]
[...] no idea how it fits together. We have no vision for the wholeness of the Scriptures. It’s why the Bible-reading plan I advocate reinforces repetitive reading of entire books. Simply put, most Christians have never read the New Testament books as they were meant to be [...]
[...] by Back Street Boy turned evangelical Brian Littrell. Too bad their site is not working.Best Bible Reading Plan Ever – Cerulean Sanctum has what I think is the best bible reading plan ever – way better [...]