Sabbatical

Merry Christmas!

The word sabbatical comes from the word sabbath, which means to stop. I'll be stopping as a pastor from December 25, 2008 to February 25, 2008 to refocus, renew, revive, rest, review, revise ... and probably a few dozen more words that start with "re." So, I won't be adding articles to this blog until afterwards. Feel free to leave comments, as long as you are OK with the possibility that I won't be able to post them until after the sabbatical. For any help on Bible reading or Bible study during my sabbatical contact Pastors Jay or Dave at Goodwill. 

Use the new year to set up a new Bible reading plan for yourself. I hope that you find the articles and comments on this blog a helpful resource for doing this. 

May God richly bless you in 2009!

The "Buffet" Bible Reading Plan

Is it named after Warren Buffet, billionaire investor or Jimmy Buffet, millionaire "party" songwriter who is also an investor? Maybe both. The idea with this plan is to leave behind the idea of accomplishing something with your Bible reading. If you go on a date, eat a bowl of ice cream, watch a movie you've already seen 20 times, or watch a sunset, you're not into achieving anything, just taking it in and enjoying it. The secret to this approach to Scripture is that it actually does accomplish quite a bit. Just like Jimmy Buffet can write a song about "wasting away ... " and turn its profits into a stealthy entertainment empire, so "pleasure-driven" Bible study can render the Christian hedonist (read John Piper please, if you don't understand) into someone growing in his or her knowledge of the Scriptures.

Ingredients of the "Buffet" plan are: 

1) A Bible you like in every way. You like the font, the cover, the style, the translation ... everything. Just the look of the Bible and feel of it in your hand ought to bring pleasure and satisfaction as well as evoke a sense of God's Presence.

2) A favorite Scripture: a "life verse" if you will. All you need is one, but having more than one is OK too. 

3) The best possible place or set of places where you will do your Bible reading.

4) The best possible time or set of times during a week when you will do your Bible reading.

5) Music that fits your encounter with God through Scripture.

6) Candles or something else you can smell that will further "tune" your environment.

7) A carefully chosen beverage, in other words, not just coffee, but your favorite coffee.

8) Anything else that fits the pattern you see here like ...

9) An overpriced "journal" covered with leather or artwork -  the kind you buy at Barnes and Noble, for recording your thoughts and prayers throughout the year. 

Pleasure drives this plan, but time and space frame it. The key and challenge here is not the content you cover, but the daily/regular meeting with God and His Word. The places and times should be planned, set, and seen as holy. Flexibility is fine, as long as it doesn't take on the feel of "fitting it in." The other ingredients, such as music, candles, and coffee are an important part of the process. They may seem extraneous, but they aren't. They set up the sense of expectation required for this plan. You'll see. It's like you're setting up a little, specialized worship service for yourself.

In terms of the actual study, the ESV Study Bible (I don't work for its publisher, really) is a good resource. Take your favorite Scripture. Read it out loud. Read the notes about it. Pray it. Enter every word in the ESV Study Bible online search engine and begin exploring the verses that come up. You can use any concordance for this as well. Repeat the process with each new verse you discover that you really like or are really interested in. Continue this every day for a year! Keep track of your progress and verses in your new "foofy" journal. If this is the plan for you, you will be amazed at how fun and edifying this approach is. Also, you may read quite a bit of Scripture over the year, but let's not focus on this; you're a hedonist after all. Enjoy how the Holy Spirit takes you on a journey you could never have predicted. Again, if you have any questions, feel free to ask. God bless you as you enjoy Him and His Word in 2009!

  

A Prayer Before Reading Scripture

"Lord, help me today to read and understand Your written Word. I acknowledge that without the help of Your Holy Spirit, all my efforts to study the Bible are in vain. I further understand that any agendas or prejudices I bring to the study of Scripture will only interfere, so I ask that You cleanse my mind of all distractions and anything spiritually toxic. My time with the Bible is also time with You. If it is not, it is time wasted. Beyond this, my time with the Bible is Your time with me. So, I ask and invite You to have Your way with me and in my life. Help yourself to my heart, soul, spirit, mind, and body, so that I may serve and represent You well. All honor and glory be to Your Holy Name: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen."  

The "Sherlock" Bible Reading Plan

Where the "Einstein" is about covering ground in reading through the Bible in a year, the "Sherlock" is about gaining ground in answering questions. Questions are the key to this plan. It can also feature a good amount of Bible reading, if you want it to. This plan starts with choosing a theme that you are passionate about exploring, that you NEED to learn about. Here are a few to choose from:

1) God's Love

2) God's Sovereignty

3) Mankind's Need for God

4) Christ Throughout the Scriptures

5) Hope

6) Healing

7) The Holy Spirit

You can choose another one. Whatever theme you choose you then apply to the following three questions: 

1) "What is the context of this verse or set of verses that speaks to my theme?"

2) "What did this verse or set of verse mean when it was written?"

3) "What does it say to me now?" 

Never ask, "What does it mean to me?" This distorts Scripture and reduces the impact of studying it. The Bible can only mean what it meant when it was written. This is the meaning it has and this is the meaning it keeps. We don't decide what it means; we discover what it means. We don't come up with our own answers; we learn the answers through hard work and God's help. 

Use a concordance to research where the verses in Scripture are that speak to your theme. This is important and takes a little work. The plan itself requires a commitment especially because it is less driven by boxes you can check and more driven by a passion you have to learn something about what matters to you. The ESV Study Bible would be a good resource for this plan too. There is a search feature organized by theme online. Of course, a notebook would be required for this one, I think. It also might be helpful to pick a daily devotional or two to fill out this plan and give it some daily structure. You can use the Daily Bread for this. Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest is always a good choice. There are countless others and new ones every year. Again, ask questions about any of this if you like. Also, see the other entries. May God richly bless your search for answers! 

The "Einstein" Bible Reading Plan

This Bible reading plan asks the most work and time. The core of it is that you read through the Bible in a year: a great and worthwhile accomplishment. You don't need a special plan for this, really. You can follow the plan laid out in the Daily Bread, the RBC devotional we hand out at Goodwill Church every season. The 2009 plan it has features readings through both the Old (3 chapters) and New (1 chapter) Testaments every day. My suggestion here builds on this. Specifically, the "Einstein" plan:

1) Uses the Daily Bread "Through the Bible in a Year" reading plan

2) Uses the new ESV Study Bible (with the online helps it comes with)

3) Uses the online personal notes feature

4) Incorporates ALL the study notes

Of course, you're free to adapt this plan any way you want. I've read through the Bible 14 times in the last 15 years using 5 different English translations. 3 times I've read all Study Bible notes with the Scriptures. It takes time, but it's worth it, if you can pull it off. Please don't feel bad or guilty if you can't. The whole idea behind all Bible reading plans is that you read and enjoy the Scriptures. You weave them into your daily life and God weaves you into His. This plan isn't for everybody. There are two others I'll be writing about here as well.

So, in summary, the "Einstein" plan follows the Daily Bread reading plan (also available online) using the ESV Study Bible. You read the text (with or without the audio online), you read all the study notes, you record any observations, questions, insights, etc. in the online personal notes or in a notebook. For those who want an extra layer of accountability, you may email me a copy of your notes every quarter, editing out anything too personal to share. 

This is the plan I'm using in 2009. Ask any questions you like. Keep in mind that this web site will be silent and questions/comments may remain unanswered in January and February 2009 due to my sabbatical. Pastors Dave and Jay can help you in my absence. May God richly bless you through the reading of His Word!

    

2009 Bible Reading Plans Overview

For 2009, I've come up with three unique Bible reading plans. I've limited the offerings to three this year in order to invest more quality thought into each offering. I can come up with 100 Bible reading plans in 2 hours, but most will never be tried. I want to be like any good company or store and limit my offerings. No store sells everything and stays in business, so the Goodwill Church (free) Bible Reading Plan Store plans to stay focused, especially in light of the recession - the Bible reading recession that is. 

Let me unveil the plans first. I'll write separate articles about each plan shortly. As you read this you should hum a theme such as "Rocky" or the theme for the 4th movement of Beethoven 9th or the 1st movement of his 5th.  

Here they are (briefly introduced in outline form):

  

THE SHERLOCK

- The namesake for this plan is: Sherlock Holmes

- It features a yearlong plan for theme-focused Bible study and devotions

THE EINSTEIN

- The namesake for this plan is: Albert Einstein 

- This is a plan for reading through the Bible in a year using the new ESV Study Bible. This is the hard plan.

THE BUFFET

The namesake for this plan can be: Jimmy Buffet or Warren Buffet :)

- This is the "easy" plan, so to speak. It features "indulgence" (or investment) of a spiritual nature like pastor-theologian John Piper writes about: Christian Hedonism

In reading these, I hope you are intrigued. Stay tuned for details and explanations. Kick off for the plans is January 1, 2009. Also. I'm looking for representatives for each plan: people who will be willing to journal their year working the plan they chose. 

Begin to pray now about how God wants to spend precious time with you in His Word this next year. Keep in mind that this is very important to Him. What a blessing this is.