The Hebrews 4:12 Blog

"What are you?!  Chicken?!"  Are you afraid to take on the task of reading the entire Bible in a year?  Have you tried before and failed over and over again?  Have you been stuck in Deuteronomy for the past three months?  If this is you, then I dare you to read the Bible in 2012!

You may think I'm crazy (and that may be true), but I want you to join me in 2012 in reading the entire Bible, cover to cover, in one year!  My goal is to get 50 people to join me in reading this year; 50 people that will keep each other accountable to continue and finish in December 2012.

You may say, "So what?  Why should I join you in reading the Bible?"  Well, I'm glad you asked!  God's Word is living and active; that's what Hebrews 4:12 says.  Being His living, breathing, inspired Word, we have the responsibility to know it and engage with it.  It is His love letter to us!  I read somewhere rescently that when a guy gets a love letter from his girlfriend (or vice versa), he doesn't just pick out a portion to read one day and then another portion the next day.  He reads it all at once, in order, reading every word and every mark.  

Now, we cannot read the Bible straight through in one shot (congratulations if you can); we need to take our time.  That is why one year is a perfect amount of time!  It will take, for speedy readers, about 10-15 minutes, and for not-so-speedy readers (that's me!), maybe around 20-25 minutes each day.  That's it!  Can you afford, at most, 30 minutes of your day to the Lord?  If you say 'no', then I would ask you what is more important than time with God?  I think you get the picture.

So, how are we going to pull this off?  I want to get 50 people (or more) to join in reading the Bible all the way through in a year and be accountable to each other.  I also want to be able to share our insights and our biggest discoveries.  Well, here is the answer: youversion.com.  YouVersion is an online Bible that has hundreds of Bible reading plans.  These plans keep you accountable and include a check list of what you have read.  The best part is that it is also an app!  If you have any web enabled phone or mobile divice, you can get the app absolutely free.  First, what you have to do is go to youversion.com/download from your phone or mobile divice to get the app.  Once you have downloaded it, create an account.  Don't worry, it's completely free!

Now that you've done that, you have to select the plan that you are going to do.  Now, I am doing the Chronological reading plan, which means that I will be reading the books in the order they historically happened or were written.  You can also select from a Canonical reading plan, which is the order they normally appear in your Bible; or you can do a blended plan that takes from different parts of Scripture each day (e.g. - Law, Wisdom, Prophets, Gospel, Letter).  I would recommend either Canonical or Cronological, but it all depends upon your preference.  The way you can select your reading plan is by going to youversion.com/reading-plans or by opening the app and hitting 'Plans' and then 'Browse'.  Make sure you narrow down your search by selecting 'Whole Bible' and also make sure that it is for a duration of '1 Year'.

Now, you don't need to use the Bible app or even the website to read the Bible, you can use your regular print Bible; however, you will want to make sure you mark your progress on the website or app.  The nice thing about YouVersion is that you have many Bible versions at your fingertips, so you can select your favorite translation.

Now that you have selected your plan, you are going to want to hook up with some accountability.  Here is how we are going to do this: click here and fill out the accountability form.  This way, I can add you to my accountability system.  One of the questions on there is if I can make your username public.  This means that, on January 2 at Noon CST, I will be posting, on the Hebrews 4:12 website, a list of usernames that are joining in this program.  Don't worry, no one can hack your account because you will not be giving me or anyone else your password; this is just so people know who you are.  You will be able to use this list to add others to your accountability system and they can add you to theirs.  If you do not want to make your username public, just select 'no' and I will only add you to my accountability group.  I will provide details on how to set up your accountability system at that time.

So, my only question for you is this: are you in?  Are you willing to set aside 2012 as a year for engaging in God's Word?  If so, sign up and join me in reading the Bible in a year.  Remember to tell  your friends, send them to this blog post, and have others join.  Our goal is 50 people reading God's Word together in community.  If you have any questions, let us know.

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You can visit YouVersion's Youtube Page to see tutorials on how to use YouVersion and Reading Plans.

“The message of Christianity is about leaving an illusion and joining a reality.”  This is the central theme of More Lost Than Found.  The Church has become a sanitized, sacred country club in which we can feel safe.  However, the reality is that the word ‘Christian’ has become an adjective about us instead of being a noun of who we are.

This book is an easy to read yet challenging piece.  It makes you think outside of the box (or fishbowl) about Christianity and the Church.  Jared Herd presents a unique, but not new, view of how we are to be Christ-followers.  He touches all topics that may seem to hinder a relationship with Jesus: from failure to doubt; from outer appearances to technology.  Despite where a person may be in their relationship with the Lord, Herd encourages giving faith another try.

Although there were only a few points in which I disagreed with the author, I found this book to be a very uplifting and encouraging read.  I would recommend this book to any teenager, college student, or youth worker.  This book has changed some of the ways I view my relationship with the Church body and my walk with Christ.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

I don’t know about you, but Christmas is one of the craziest seasons of the year for me: finishing up classes, music programs, and Christmas assistance programs.  It almost seems like Christmas is a time for busyness instead of a time to relax.  In fact, I am almost more excited about Christmas being over than the holiday itself.  The truth is, despite all the busyness of the season, I always know when it is getting close; I can always look and see how many days, weeks, or months it is until the stress of Christmas is past!

What if we were anticipating Christmas but didn’t know when it would happen?  That is the situation the ancient Jews were in over 2,000 years ago.  They were anticipating the birth of the Messiah, the Promised One, but they didn’t know when or how it would happen.  Some thought that an Imperial Emperor would rise up and be the Messiah, others thought a raging rebel would overthrow the Roman Empire.  They were waiting for what would happen.  Most expected it to be loud and apparent, but in reality, this great ‘Imperial Emperor’, this ‘raging rebel’, would come softly as a baby born in a stable in Bethlehem.  Was this really who they were waiting for?  This couldn’t be what they were expecting.

We see throughout the entire Bible that God uses abnormal people and abnormal situations to work out his will.  He used David, a shepherd boy, to be the greatest earthly king of Israel.  He used Joseph, the second youngest of his family, to help a nation through a famine and establish the people of Israel.  He used a little baby, born to a poor carpenter, to be the sacrifice for all mankind so that we may be called sons of God.

Here is the issue: we must get over our waiting.  We cannot wait forever.  We must also come to accept that our waiting is over when the One we are waiting for has arrived.  When you're having a friend over or company for a party, you don’t stare out the window waiting for someone when everyone has arrived.  But the Jewish people have done just that: the One they were waiting for, the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God, had come, and they failed to pull themselves away from the window and enjoy the party.

Some of you may still be waiting.  You’re looking out that window, waiting to see what life is about.  You’re waiting for that right opportunity or that right person to walk into your life to make it complete.  You know something is missing, but you are just waiting to see what it is.  You expect some major revelation to come to you and say, “This is it!  This is what you have been waiting for!”  But that’s not how it works.  You see, just like that first Christmas night, the thing that you are waiting for is quiet and gentle.  It is not the Imperial Emperor or the raging rebel, it is the Christ-child who was born over 2,000 years ago.  He is the One you have been waiting for.

On Friday, December 9, Hebrews 4:12 will have its final show for this season.  We'll be talking about new disciplines that you can implament into the New Year.  Many people try to start reading the Bible cover to cover on the New Year and never succeed.  We'll share with you some tips on how to complete your discipline for the year.

We will also be announcing some upcoming changes with Hebrews 4:12 as well as celebrating the season with all Christmas music!