This week at our XA MAIN Meeting I introduced a Bible reading plan that we are going to implement within the group. The plan is pretty simple in that it gets past the piecemeal approach to Bible reading and brings us into an intimate relationship with the Scriptures, cycling through the scriptures seven days at a time. It also requires weekly accountability with other believers. The following is the notes from this week’s MAIN Meeting.
WEEKLY BIBLE READING AND ACCOUNTABILITY
Day 1. Find a quiet, undisturbed place to read and read the prescribed reading (usually about 5 chapters) in one sitting. Read through the chapters like a story or letter, recognizing that they were not originally divided into chapters. This may take a little 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 so that the Holy Spirit can bring the entirety of the passage to your mind in the future in a way you’ve never experienced before.
Day 2. When you’ve read the prescribed reading once, don’t move on! Read through it again. Have faith and don’t allow yourself to get board with it. Let it begin to simmer inside you.
Day 3. Re-read that same prescribed reading. Note the way the narrative and themes flow. Commit those stories and themes to memory. Note where they exist in the book.
Day 4. Re-read that same prescribed reading. Pay special attention to the way the Lord is portrayed within it.
Day 5. Re-read that same prescribed reading. Examine the relational aspects of the passages, God to Man, Man to Man, Man to God.
Day 6. Re-read that same prescribed reading. Note the Lord’s redeeming and salvational acts within the greater arc of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration. Note all the Lord’s commands and how we’re told to practice them. Consider how they might work practically in your daily activities.
Day 7. Re-read that same prescribed reading. Now comes the hard (and controversial) part… Write a list of everything you’ve learned in this book and put it into practice for the next seven days while you read another prescribed reading. Concertedly meditate on what you’ve just read by making it real in your own life. Repeat these steps for the rest of your life.
Accountability Questions
1. Is there any issue which is unresolved between you and God or you and your fellow man since last meeting?
2. Have you kept up your Bible reading and memorization since last meeting? If not how do you plan to make up for it?
3. Have you have testified to the greatness of Jesus Christ in either action or with words since last meeting? If not, why? If so, how?
4. Have you given God every detail of every day as His to control (money, diet, attitude, rest, habits etc.) since last meeting?
5. Is there any unresolved sin in your life since last meeting?
6. Are you lying about any of the previous questions?
We at XA have made a commitment to try this for at least four weeks before scrapping it if it doesn't work for us. We've started in the Book of Acts chapters 1-5(the Genesis of the church) and will have a new prescribed passage each week. For an even more intense reading plan check out Cerulean Sanctum 's Blog. I confess that I blatantly stole ideas from their site in order to form the weekly plan because I thought this concept of Bible reading was amazing! Stick with it. I'll see you on the journey!
WEEKLY BIBLE READING AND ACCOUNTABILITY
Day 1. Find a quiet, undisturbed place to read and read the prescribed reading (usually about 5 chapters) in one sitting. Read through the chapters like a story or letter, recognizing that they were not originally divided into chapters. This may take a little 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 so that the Holy Spirit can bring the entirety of the passage to your mind in the future in a way you’ve never experienced before.
Day 2. When you’ve read the prescribed reading once, don’t move on! Read through it again. Have faith and don’t allow yourself to get board with it. Let it begin to simmer inside you.
Day 3. Re-read that same prescribed reading. Note the way the narrative and themes flow. Commit those stories and themes to memory. Note where they exist in the book.
Day 4. Re-read that same prescribed reading. Pay special attention to the way the Lord is portrayed within it.
Day 5. Re-read that same prescribed reading. Examine the relational aspects of the passages, God to Man, Man to Man, Man to God.
Day 6. Re-read that same prescribed reading. Note the Lord’s redeeming and salvational acts within the greater arc of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration. Note all the Lord’s commands and how we’re told to practice them. Consider how they might work practically in your daily activities.
Day 7. Re-read that same prescribed reading. Now comes the hard (and controversial) part… Write a list of everything you’ve learned in this book and put it into practice for the next seven days while you read another prescribed reading. Concertedly meditate on what you’ve just read by making it real in your own life. Repeat these steps for the rest of your life.
Accountability Questions
1. Is there any issue which is unresolved between you and God or you and your fellow man since last meeting?
2. Have you kept up your Bible reading and memorization since last meeting? If not how do you plan to make up for it?
3. Have you have testified to the greatness of Jesus Christ in either action or with words since last meeting? If not, why? If so, how?
4. Have you given God every detail of every day as His to control (money, diet, attitude, rest, habits etc.) since last meeting?
5. Is there any unresolved sin in your life since last meeting?
6. Are you lying about any of the previous questions?
We at XA have made a commitment to try this for at least four weeks before scrapping it if it doesn't work for us. We've started in the Book of Acts chapters 1-5(the Genesis of the church) and will have a new prescribed passage each week. For an even more intense reading plan check out Cerulean Sanctum 's Blog. I confess that I blatantly stole ideas from their site in order to form the weekly plan because I thought this concept of Bible reading was amazing! Stick with it. I'll see you on the journey!
