One of my 2011 goals was to read through the Bible in a year.  This is something I’ve never done before – and was actually something I never gave much credit to.  After all, how much comprehension can you really retain reading so much in such a little time?  Most Bible reading plans are anywhere between 3-10 years.  This line of thought was even confirmed by a few friends early in 2011 when I shared my reading goal with them.  However, after completing the goal, I have a great appreciation for it – and strongly urge you to consider doing it sometime as well.

I didn’t follow a scripted reading plan, didn’t read from Genesis to Revelation, didn’t read in any chronological order – my friend Brandon printed a list of the books of the Bible, and I (for the most part) would read one book, strike it out on the print out page, and randomly choose to read another.  The exception was reading Genesis through Joshua and also reading the four Gospels back to back to back to back.  I would read for comprehension, but if I came across a passage that tricked me up, I’d simply write a “?” in the margin and move on instead of spending time researching it.  I read from an ESV Compact Thinline Bible with no commentary and few cross references.

I finished up Habakkuk (as it happened to be) on December 30th, and began dwelling on what I learned.  So here are a few lessons, principles, or themes that I picked up in my 12 month blitz.

A command to be courageous.  Over and over and over again throughout the Old Testament was the command and plea for leaders to be strong and courageous.  I didn’t take the time to count the number of commands, but it blew my mind how dominant that theme is.

Revelation can be summed up in two words.  The book of Revelation confuses me greatly – I have a Bible degree and still really don’t know how to read it.  It actually frightens me, and I avoid reading it at all cost if I’m honest.  I’m skeptical each time a sermon refers to a Revelation passage.  However, I noticed two words churn to the surface as I read it straight through: Jesus (or a term referring to him) and victorious.  Again, I didn’t do a word count to see if these are indeed the most common two words, but I’d be surprised if they’re not.  Jesus.  Victorious.  If I understand nothing else of Revelation, I’m good with understanding that.

God’s sovereignty.  Our free will and God’s sovereignty have always been a relationship I’ve felt less than comfortable articulating.  I just don’t know how it works most times.  But when reading throughout the Bible, and taking it at face value truth,  it’s almost inarguable that God is indeed all powerful and all capable.  He did pretty much anything we could dream of in asking for signs of His might.  From creation to nations to conceptions to destructions to resurrections, God demonstrated his power in all realms.

The Spirit was moving in Old Testament characters.  Could have been sheer ignorance on my part, but other than the case with Saul, I never took notice how often the OT mentions the Spirit of God moving in someone’s heart or dwelling upon them … and sometimes leaving them.  What an amazing gift that we all have this Spirit in our own hearts now, instead of a select handful of individuals over the span of thousands of years.

Reaping and sowing is a fundamental truth.  This agricultural concept is used frequently in Christian teaching, but I never realized how saturated the Word of God is with its usage.  It leads to some admitted confusion stemming from my lack of understanding in free will/God’s sovereignty, but I can’t get away from the truth that we will truly reap what we sow (yet also that God is sovereign).

My PBU undergrad is of help.  I’ve often discredited my Bible degree since I have so many questions about the Bible and Christianity as a whole – but I realized in reading the Bible that a lot of knowledge has penetrated my subconscious mind that I didn’t realize was there.  From trivial things (such as the city Jerusalem being synonymous to the kingdom of Judah, as was Samaria synonymous to Israel) to bigger things (the concept of the Trinity), my reading was greatly helped by a somewhat firm understanding of context.

The Bible is complex, not simple.  I’ve always known this – but it was definitely drilled down last year.  There are certain parts of the Bible that I really can’t explain – and if a skeptic were to press me on it, I certainly couldn’t defend them (these were marked by a lot of the ?’s mentioned above in my margins).  It’s not that all of these passage are not understandable, it’s just that I’m going to have to rely on good teachers to learn from.  It’s actually more mesmerizing to read something, not comprehend it, do some historical research, learn more about the context, and then see how delicately structured in truth the passage truly is.  There’s also great freedom in admitting to ourselves and others “I don’t know.”  Faith is built on top of that.

That’s my case, Jack.  Sure, I didn’t learn a whole ton about specific passages or certain ideas, but I believe I improved my overall faith through this goal.  I’d strongly urge you to consider your own 12 month blitz of the Bible – as I’m sure you’ll glean (or reap) lessons, principles, or themes of your own.  Till next time, Jack.

Sincerely,
J.

Something I’ve noticed in our culture is our hidden obsessiveness with being busy.  We take pride in hectic schedules that drain us of margin, joy, and fulfillment.  Whether it’s work, church, kids, community involvement, board meetings, or family gatherings, we all seem to have a lot going on.

How many times do you hear someone ask a friend “How are you doing?”

“Good – really busy with work right now.  I’m usually not home till 7 or 8 each night.  Can’t complain!”

“Great – little Jimmy’s on two traveling soccer teams, Suzy’s taking clarinet and ballet lessons, and the hubby decided to go back to school to get another degree while working!”

“Oh man, busy – but good.  So many church projects going on right now I can barely keep them straight, but God doesn’t smile on the lazy ant!”

True, God probably doesn’t smile at laziness, but I don’t think he takes great pride when we suffocate in our calendars either.

It almost seems shameful if we answer the question with

“I’m doing well – keeping my hours at work under control so I have more free time.”

or

“Great – I decided to keep little Jimmy out of sports this season so we’re not doing as much running around.”

And let me say this – I’m guilty.  Ask anyone who knows me in this season of life – I’ve got a lot going on.

Wait.

Did you catch that?  Did you catch that slim glimmer of pride woven in the words of mine you just read?  It’s because I have the disease – I somehow want to be a martyr sacrificing myself on the alter of busyness, even though a voice inside me is urging me to free myself, to jump down off the alter that I’ve tied my own heart to.

I have an inclination that the disease was born out of a reaction against the laziness that also prevails in our culture – I’d rather be too busy than too lazy.  But that’s the deadly trap – the area between the two is murky, and I’m relatively sure I haven’t found the path that walks steadily between the reclining sloth and the passed-out carpenter bee.

Sure, I suffer a bit from this.  But you know who really suffers, Jack?  You.  And Lydia.  Those closest to me are those that suffer the most when I allow too much stuff to fill my calendar.  The same goes for everyone – those who are closest to you will suffer at a proportional level to your busyness.  They seem to get our leftovers, our margin.

This Christmas and New Year’s time is a good opportunity to audit ourselves – which is as easy as looking at our calendars, or just honestly examining our stress levels.  Both of mine are at uneasy marks right now.

I’m not offering any suggestions to cure the busyness disease at this point, but I am making an attempt to increase awareness of it.  Too many of us are killing ourselves between our jobs, our roles at church, our roles in the community, and our roles as family members.  We need to learn to say no to more things.  But more importantly, we need to learn to be okay with not being overly busy – and not expecting those around us to be overly busy as well.

I want to be able to answer that question sometime with “I’m great – I’m at home way more than I have ever been in my life.”  It sounds so …  un-American, so un-Lancaster County, so un-Protestant work ethic.  But is that really such a bad thing?  Till next time, Jack.

Sincerely,
J.

Several months ago – I’m actually not certain exactly when – I started using the hashtag #GratefulDaily in my Twitter feed with the intention to post something each day that I was thankful for.  [Crash course on what a hashtag is here.]  The idea originated from my devotional time in the morning, when I physically record something I’m grateful for (a practice adopted after reading Tim Sanders‘ Today We Are Rich).

I can’t say that #GratefulDaily has caught on and spread throughout the Twitter world, but it has gained a bit of traction here and there.  And even if it doesn’t do anything else other than discipline me to express thanks publicly, then it’s still a win.

However, in the past few days, a few friends (Ray and Ryan) have encouraged the intentional spread of using the #GratefulDaily hashtag during this Christmas season, and I think it’s a good idea.  So as we do so, I wanted to write why I believe that expressing gratefulness is a good thing.

Gratefulness is a bedrock of contentment, and contentment is a bedrock of stewardship.  Meaning that if we increase our awareness of things we are grateful for, we can become more content, and as we’re more content we can become better and better stewards.

Gratefulness forces us to focus on what we have, and when we do this, we’re less inclined to focus on what we are lacking.  In fact, I’ve found that when I focus more on what I do have, I not only think less of what I’m lacking, but I also look for ways I can use what I do have to help others who are in need.

Gratefulness is contagious in both real life and in Social Media.  When you’re around someone who is grateful and full of life and happiness, it’s difficult not to share in that joy.  Conversely, it’s also difficult to remain grateful and happy when you surround yourself with those who are envious and miserable.  Being intentional on Twitter to be happy and thankful is a good thing – and that power is multiplied by using a hashtag so that in one click you can see what others are grateful for.

Gratefulness helps combat consumerism, which is exactly what a lot of us need right now.  We live in an extremely materialistic society, and this time of year makes that materialism all the more obvious.  By focusing on what we do have and expressing gratitude for it, I believe we’re able to desire less things and focus on giving to those who really do have true needs.

Gratefulness is most powerful in daily doses as compared to spontaneous binges.  I think this is true of most things, especially good habits and mindsets.  It’s counter-cultural to be content and grateful, and it’s an uphill battle.  It’s going to be difficult to defeat a struggle if we only work at it spontaneously.  It’s the daily discipline that will win the war.

Gratefulness build perspective into our lives.  Similar to what I previously mentioned about the focus on what we do have, reflecting on our blessings can be a true perspective builder.  For example, being grateful for a warm house (others, even in my city, don’t have heat – or a roof); being grateful for literacy (a lot of the world can’t read); being grateful for the ability to think about what I’m thinking about (called metacognition, and it’s unique to humans); being grateful for clean water (a lot of the world dies from dirty water).

So here’s to spreading #GratefulDaily in the world, Jack.  I hope to model to you, not just through Twitter, but in all aspects of life, what a grateful life looks like.  I can’t say I have it all figured out and am perfectly modeling it, but I’m trying my best and attempting to encourage others to do the same.  Till next time, Jack.

Sincerely,
J.