Before reading the book, I researched it a bit, more than I would normally research a book before I read it. Still, going into it, I didn’t expect to learn what I did from the book: to listen.

Each time I put down the book, between sections, between chapters, and then when I finally finished it, I always came away thinking, Wow, so the key is to listen.

And throughout the book, Josh was able to use what he’d heard to share why listening is so crucial.

[Note: I'm probably not that great of a reviewer. This is totally opinionated - I'm not even trying for objectivity. This is just what I learned, what I took away from the book... and what I hope to share with you.]

Listening to relate

Josh hooked me with his “Prelude” because he jumped right into relating to me and Gen Y in general. I think this is on the back cover too:

“We are the generation of tattoos, extreme sports, and Starbucks; the generation of video games, the Internet, cell phones, social networking, and iPods. We are the generation of authenticity, social justice, a new kind of church, racial diversity, professional flexibility, tightly knit communities, and overnight sensations. We are dreamers, hopers, innovators, idealists, peacemakers, and imaginaries.”

The thing that struck me as I read descriptions like this was that we’re not that different from previous generations. While I think the circumstances that surround each generation might be slightly different because of changing technologies, styles, and so on, I don’t think people are fundamentally different from generation to generation.

Isn’t every generation full of dreamers, hopers, innovators, idealists, peacemakers, and imaginaries?

You can argue that with me later, my point is this: Gen Y people as individuals are different, just like people from every other generation. And it takes an attentive listener to start to understand anyone in any meaningful way.

Assumptions and stereotypes are everywhere, and many of them are useful for understanding on a general level. But when it comes to following Jesus, it’s no longer about the general level. It’s about each specific person in our lives.

So I’m trying to listen more individually and more attentively.

It was odd – as much as I wanted mY Generation to be a page-turner, it really wasn’t for me. I set it down for days at a time on multiple occasions. But each time I returned to it, I wondered why I’d left for so long because I did enjoy the read.

That experience itself was similar to how I often relate to people. I love it when I do sit down and have deep conversations and really listen, but for some reason, I go through seasons where I forget that amazingness.

Personally, I need to force myself to listen, just like I sometimes need to force myself to jog. Because once I get started I remember, “Man, I love this stuff.”

How to be relevant

Josh called one of the chapters “He came from London.” When I finished that chapter, I flipped back to the title and wrote next to it, “How to be relevant.”

Relevancy is really what we all want… or at least that’s what so many of us say we want. We want to connect pious info to real life. And in this chapter, Josh shares how to do it.

He’s not a how-to guy, though – remember that. Instead, he shares how through the stories he tells…

• Like the one about the n0t-so-relevant, plaza evangelist
• Like the one about Josh’s mother defending him in spite of his yet-to-be-licensed driving skills
• Like the one about the conversations with Eddie, the friend Josh thought he had figured out

But here’s a spoiler: humility creates relevancy.

• The plaza evangelist showed what humility didn’t look like
• Josh’s mother showed what humility did look like
• And Eddie provided Josh an opportunity to practice it

That’s a spoiler because it means that for all this talk about relevancy, what we’re really lacking is humility.

(To be fair, the chapter subtitle was, “Finding relevance while destroying an evil empire.” I like that too.)

Listening to God is listening too

I enjoyed a lot of the quirkiness in Josh’s writing. In many areas, he seemed to drift off topic or change perspectives. He also seemed to use certain details in odd ways. In some cases, I specifically stopped to think, “Wow, what a cool way of saying that – I’d not thought of it like that before.”

But even though I liked these sections individually, I felt that many of them also made the overall reading choppy. The twists were smart, but they didn’t seem natural to me for some reason. They seemed like something an author would write after thinking for hours about a certain sentence or paragraph… but not something that author would actually say in real life.

I’d say that was a downside.

So, the takeaway from that for me… share in your own voice, Marshall. <<Dang… that’s way hard.

All that to say, the chapter titled “Wetlands” seemed like one of these sections. I was like, “Okay, I got this – listening is the key. Now what’s this chapter doing in here? Why’s it written from my soul’s perspective? And now that we’ve finished with that weird perspective, why is Josh talking about Christian Bale man-crushes?”

Ah, but then I realized, this final piece… this chapter’s still about listening. It’s about listening to God.

Weaving through various personal stories again, Josh relates his struggle to be still and listen to God in the midst of all the “ministry.” One particularly painful example for me was the email he shares… the email I’d already read… and needed to send…

On page 203, Josh shares an email he says he’s received in some form multiple times. It’s one of those emails that basically says, “I feel like you’ve been an idiot because you cared about ministering more than you cared about me, but I’ve been an idiot too because I’ve not said anything to you about it, and I’ve never tried to reconcile the situation… until now.”

Bonus aside:

As I read that email, one person in particular came to my mind. After I read it, I typed up the exact email from the book, changed the names and then a bunch of the words, and sent it to a friend… one who’s not really been a friend lately because we’ve [ahem] “grown apart.”

Yes, Josh, I totally plagiarized your work – I guess you could say I’m citing it now, though… is that cool?

I don’t know yet what’s going to come as a result of that email, but overall I’d say the book is worth it just to get that template.

And yeah, I’m like you, Josh: I need to slow down the ministry side and start to rest in what God really wants for me. And you and I aren’t alone.

So… a summery

(…The one Josh might not like because it reduces years of work into two bullet points)

• Listen to individual people… humbly
• Listen to God… slowly

It’s putting that into practice that takes years and work.

Serving Suggestions:

(1) Listen. Really try to understand people. You won’t actually be able to understand them (and that’s a good thing to keep in mind), but you can get closer to understanding them.

(2) You can start by checking out more of Josh Riebock. And his book, mY Generation: A Real Journey of Change and Hope, is available now at Amazon.coms everywhere.

• The 4 healthy habits of highly effective Christians
• 22 retweetables and a ton of tweeple to follow
• Are you ignoring this high impact tool for capturing friendships?
• Unleashing the newsletter… again (PLUS: 7 ways to serve your world)
• Convo-Tip #5: Own a conversation starter

(Photo: db*Photography)

“Quiet time,” the Christian kind, not the nursery kind, gets a lot of press. We usually consider it a time to connect with Jesus through prayer and study and as a time to pause and reflect on how we’re growing in Him. I think most agree it helps us rejuvenate from our work with others.

The other day, Brett wrote about distractions that steal quiet time. In the comments, Danny said he doesn’t even try for personal quiet time but instead focuses on time fellowshipping with others.

I’m in the middle. I’m all about serving others, so I try to approach quiet time through an others-oriented perspective. Instead of focusing quiet time on me getting closer to God, I try to focus it on what God wants and how He wants me to serve others.

Also, I try to avoid taking quiet time at the expense of others – it’s always for the profit of others.

And – almost as though it was designed this way – an others-oriented quiet time indirectly does boost my personal relationship with Christ. The difference is my attitude going into it. It’s not about getting what I need – it’s about getting what I need to give others.

The Jesus model of quiet time

I try to go with an others-oriented quiet time because it’s the model Jesus seemed to promote with His life.

Quiet time was on His time

Jesus’s made quiet time from personal time.

We read of Jesus “withdrawing from the multitude” many times, but He didn’t interrupt His ministry for it.

“[Jesus] departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him. . . And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.” -Matthew 14:13-14

I don’t want to take an isolated passage out of context, but I think a general rule applies: serving others is default mode.

There’s always a temptation to put personal time with God above social time with others. How often have we heard, “My relationship with God is more important than my relationship with others”? That statement by itself is sound, but it implies that spending time with others is not part of our relationship with God. And that’s not accurate.

Jesus told us what God would say,

“Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” -Matthew 25:40

And while we can’t take this too far (for example, we can’t worship people), I think it’s clear that serving others adds to our relationship with God, not subtracts.

So, for example, what’s up with the three hour lunch break for quiet time? How does breaking a promise to an employer to “draw closer to God” fit with Jesus’s example? I think Jesus would agree with the employer on this one: “do it on your own time. Wake up a little earlier – stay up a little later.”

Quiet time focused on serving others

As I already said, the Bible record quite a few cases where Jesus retreats from directly ministering to the crowd to spend time alone. But let’s look at what Jesus did during His quiet time. Two specific examples come to mind for me:

• Jesus praying all night before choosing His disciples
• Jesus praying in the garden before His crucifixion

Here’s the first example:

“[Jesus] went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles…” -Luke 6:12

That’s some intense quiet time. What do you suppose He prayed about? Pretty others-oriented if you ask me.

In the second example, we have a record of what Jesus prayed because the disciples where close by (though they eventually fell asleep).

• Jesus prays briefly for Himself, but it’s really all about how God will use Jesus to minister to others and glorify the Father through Jesus’s death on the cross.
• Jesus prays for His disciples, that God would empower them to share the gospel with the world.
• Jesus prays for the unity of all believers in Him, that we would realize God’s intense love for us as a group.

[Check out the whole prayer in John 17.]

That’s also intense, and the whole thing is others-oriented. It’s all about how the Father can use Jesus to serve others or how the Father can directly help others.

In each of these cases, Jesus’s “personal quiet time” focused on serving others. Sure, this might not always have been the case since the Bible doesn’t record everything, but I think it’s enough of an example to start following it.

Reworking quiet time

As much as preachers like the phrase, “your personal relationship with Jesus Christ” is NOT what it’s all about.

Jesus loves you personally and all, but you’re not the only one He loves. When we say, “Personal relationship,” we often mean, “Exclusive relationship.” And by exclusive, I mean isolated.

Praying, studying the Bible, and meditating take time. It’s not always practical to do them with others. So I do think quiet time is important and biblical.

But I want to spend more time fellowshipping with others than time isolated in study. And when I am alone with God, I try to focus on how I can share with others what God teaches me. That’s the model Jesus gave.

Jesus prayed in the garden…

“And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one…” -John 17:22

That sounds like a more productive and enriching quiet time, both for me and for others.

Serving Suggestions:

(1) Spend more time with others. Unlock your quiet time.

(2) Shift the focus of quiet time. When you are alone, consider how God can teach and work through you to benefit others.

• Learning from mY Generation: Stories on the art of listening
• The 4 healthy habits of highly effective Christians
• Touching Godliness Through Submission – “Free” book
• Unleashing the newsletter… again (PLUS: 7 ways to serve your world)
• Renee Johnson interview and blog tour

And I’ll still repeat it in my posts. I’ll still repeat it in my conversations. I’ll still repeat it in a box, with a fox, riding a train, hanging from a crane (read: everywhere)…

…because it’s pretty much my best, standard issue advice for ANYONE.

So once again, here are the four healthy habits of highly effective Christians (if you don’t believe me, read the book of Acts):

“And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” -Acts 2:42

1. Apostles’ doctrine

The Word of God. The Bible. Even sermons about the Bible.

Read. Study. Meditate on it. And don’t stop there.

Life it up. Information alone is useless. Application is where it’s at.

2. Fellowship

Hanging out. Together.

Think Ultimate Frisbee or rockin’ some card games.

Discussing problems, plans, joys, sorrows… jokes (puns included). Getting to know one another even when it seems pointless.

In one word, churchiness.

3. Breaking of bread

Communion. Remembering what Christ has done for us. Reconciling with one another.

And straight up… eating together (there’s a future post(s) coming on this one ’cause it’s muy importante).

4. Prayers

Talking with God. Talking to God. Listening to God (do you remember that when you pray?)

Thanking, requesting, praising… it’s all part of prayer. Make it a habit.

And don’t forget corporate prayer.

Serving Suggestions:

(1) Four – that’s it. Memorize and live them. If you ever ask me for guidance, I’ll almost always (remind me if I don’t) ask you if you’re reading the Word, fellowshipping, communing, and praying. ‘Tis a fantastic place to start.

(2) But let’s not get all self-oriented. This isn’t about you. This is about others, right? So share. Encourage others in these practices. Encourage others to share these with still others. Become annoying in how often you repeat these four practices. [Word. Fellowship. Communion. Prayer.]

• Learning from mY Generation: Stories on the art of listening
• 70 scripts to encourage others
• Unleashing the newsletter… again (PLUS: 7 ways to serve your world)
• Convo-Tip #5: Own a conversation starter
• Convo-Tip #4: Ask for advice or opinions

Click here to learn more about submission

This isn’t a book review or case study, though I should probably do both for Touching Godliness Through Submission and its author, K.P. Yohannan. For now, though, I thought I’d point you to a wonderful resource.

The book is only $10. Not bad. Plus, you’re supporting an amazing organization.

But if you’re interested, I’d suggest checking out the free, downloadable version first. You have to opt-in by giving an email address, but that’s a small “price” to pay to learn more. When you do, you’ll get the full, PDF version. You can print that or read it on your screen. Either way, I’d say it’s worth it.

Check it.

Serving Suggestions:

(1) Sign up to grab your free, PDF copy. Read it. Live it.

(2) Consider purchasing the hard copy.

(3) Let me know your thoughts on it. And in general, how do you feel about submission? What have you learned about it?

(4) Do you like me pointing to various resources like this, or would you rather I stick to my own, original content?

• Renee Johnson interview and blog tour
• Why you can’t just “be yourself”
• Courage to serve
• Learning from mY Generation: Stories on the art of listening
• Contest + free stuff = My happy birthday to you!

At the beginning of ’09, I started a newsletter for bondChristian. Almost.

Thing is, I started collected names and email addresses. Many of you seemed interested. But I completely dropped the ball. I didn’t send out a single issue.

Since then, I’ve wanted to get it back up and running. You know how these things are, though: I couldn’t seem to find the time to launch. Three weeks ago, I came very close to making an announcement about it. Glad I didn’t – I wasn’t ready.

I thought sure I’d have this up and rolling by the start of February. Still, February 1st came and went. No go.

Yesterday, I was finally like, “Whatever with all this. I’m going to launch something. It’s not going to be as amazing, as hyped, and as slick as I wanted, but I’m going to ship something.”

So I stayed up all night.

And now here’t is. In all it’s raw goodness. I don’t even have a video camera yet (something I assumed I’d purchase around the first of the year). Instead, I used the webcam on my laptop and a microphone straight out of the 90s. The quality’s fairly lousy, but hopefully you get what I’m saying.

Enough about the story. Let’s talk briefly about the newsletter.

The bondC Newsletter

I had planned to have a whole “Subscription” page up, detailing all the cool benefits of this newsletter. Ha! Didn’t happen.

Here’s what I’m thinking:

• Twice monthly (or roughly once every two weeks)
• New content. Hopefully a brand new, “exclusive to the newsletter” article with each issue. These will probably be fairly brief, “action step” type articles.
• News. What’s going on behind the scenes in the “real” world.
• Best of bondChristian. Probably a couple links to previous posts here on the blog. This should help for readers who don’t necessarily want to subscribe for updates each day but still want to stay in the loop.
• Maybe a few links from around the web. I’d like to see you and other readers here branching out into the community.
• Interaction. Speaking of community, one of the key reason’s I’d like to start this is to get to know you more. For some, this won’t be what they’re looking for – I’m fine with that. I’ll continue to write completely open to the public articles on the blog. But for others, this might be a chance to interact more. That’s one advantage I have over huge blogs: I can still interact individually with you.
• (And finally) Bonuses. I won’t go into detail here, but I’d like to see some fun things happen on the other side. So come on in – the water’s fine.

The big bonus, and probably the reason I’ve put off launching this for so long, is the bonus series.

“7 Ways to serve your world”

I don’t know what I’m doing with this. I’m scared actually.

I’d like this series to serve as an introduction to what bondChristian is all about. On blogs, the posts aren’t generally arranged in any particular order, so getting the big picture can be difficult if you don’t have the time to read through dozens of posts.

Hopefully this series will bring everyone up to speed on the general vibe of the tribe.

I’m scared, though, because I don’t know what to include and what to cut out. I don’t know what will best connect with readers. When I’m writing posts, it’s easy to take it one day at a time. With a series, I feel like I have to create a more complete picture.

And at the same, while sharing the overall feel of the site, I want to keep each article extremely practical. I want readers to immediately be able to do something as a result of reading. So I’m scared – and excited – because I want it bless your face off. (Not literally.)

Now, part of the reason I’ve said all that, bracing you for what’s to come, is because I want you to help.

I’d like to keep revising and updating this series to make it better and better. One of the best ways I know to do that is to get your advice about it. I’d like you to tell me straight up if you like the series, if it’s helpful or just a waste of reading. You can act like a guinea pig if you.

I’ll get more into that in the emails.

Enough already. Let’s get this thing shipped. [By the way, I was running on not much sleep when I wrote this, so... yeah, that's my excuse. ]

Serving Suggestions:

(1) Sign up for the newsletter. I considered putting another form down here, but that defeats the purpose of all the coolness up top. So I know this isn’t for everyone, but if you think it’s for you, scroll to the top, and enter your details. You can always unsubscribe if you really don’t like it.

(2) In the comments, let me know how you feel about this whole newsletter thing? Why are you joining? Why aren’t you? How can I make it better? What would you like to get from it?

(3) If you haven’t already, I’d also appreciate it if you’d answer the poll question for me in the sidebar. Thanks so much. (If you must chose, though, go with the newsletter.)

• Learning from mY Generation: Stories on the art of listening
• The 4 healthy habits of highly effective Christians
• Convo-Tip #5: Own a conversation starter
• Convo-Tip #4: Ask for advice or opinions
• Convo-Tip #3: Speak like a singer

The Devo Diva herself!

Renee Johnson (a.k.a. Devotional Diva) asked me to participate in her book, blog tour. I don’t even know what that means. I’ve never participated in one before. So of course, my hand shot up (then I had to tweet back because she couldn’t see my hand).

Renee Johnson has been writing devotions for young adults for a while (like years). Now, though, she has her first book coming out, which… well, I’ll let her introduce you to it.

What I really liked about Renee when I began learning more about her was that she took what she enjoyed and turned it around to help others. In many of her interviews (which you can check out here by the way), she talked about how she was inspired to write devotionals after she had read through a number of them herself. She realized there was a need for devotionals that dig deeper and aren’t so cheesy. I can relate.

I liked, though, that Renee decided to do something about it, to actually start writing devotions of her own to share.

Finally, she compiled these devotions into her book, Faithbook of Jesus, and that’s what this tour is about. Renee’s letting me post a whole devotion right here for you to check out. She was also gracious enough to answer some quick questions (it’s not really an interview because I don’t know how to interview either). So with that, I’ll let her introduce you to her book.

*****

In one (perhaps) run-on sentence, how would you describe Faithbook to someone who’s unfamiliar with your writing?

Faithbook is like facebook only with a lisp, which includes a wall post (daily devotional), comments (including prayer), tag (quotes from other 20-somethings), and a link to an online community (faithbookofjesus.ning.com).

I heard that you were homeschooled (I was too) and started out as a math major in college. How did that background birth an author?

I never thought I would be a writer until one day sitting at the newspaper where I was working, they asked me to be the music columnist because I took a history of rock and roll class. I never looked back. Plus I got a C in Calculus 2, and I never get C’s.

That’s quite the turn around. So what made you write this book – what one thing do you want readers to take away from your it?

How to have daily time with God that’s fun, meaningful, and changes their life in a positive way.

I like carrot juice. Knowing that, fill in the blank: Marshall is to carrot juice as Renee is to _______.

…cheese.

Nice. Finally, what question do you wish everyone asked you but no one does (and how would you answer it)?

I love this! I wish everyone asked me how introverted I was instead of assuming that I’m this huge extrovert. I grew up shy, homeschooled, and I journaled every day asking God to heal me. And now that He has, people don’t see where I’ve come from but only a product of God’s healing. So as touched as I am that people don’t ask – I still wish they would.

Right on, Renee. Thanks so much for sharing.

Faithbook excerpt

All right, here’s one of Renee’s devotions for you to get a feel for the Faithbook. I particularly like what she says about praying with Thank You’s. Perhaps I’m biased though.

Desperate Prayer Lives

“This, then, is how you should pray . . .” — M a t t h e w 6 : 9

What do you consider praying? There can be many reasons why you pray, but the best reason of all is to talk with Jesus as you would your best friend. Here are four examples of how to know Jesus more personally today:

1 . Pray with Please and Thank You

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

2 . Pray About Anything

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:18).

3 . Pray in Secret

“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Matthew 6:6).

4 . Pray as Jesus Did

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (Matthew 6:9-13).

• Sheri, 23, said that prayer “is a place of quiet waiting on God. Other times it is requests for direction, healing of hurts, for Jesus to bring freedom to lives of friends, family, and for the many who do not know him.”

• Dear Teacher Jesus, Thank you for the privilege of knowing you. Teach us how to pray. Give us prayer lives that are desperate for more of you each day. Amen.

• What’s your desperation story? Think about a time in your life when God answered the cries of your heart. Please visit www.faithbookofjesus.com and click on “Community” to share.

• To Read Further: Matthew 6:9-15

And that, my friends, is a small glimpse into Faithbook and its author. I hope you enjoyed it.

Serving Suggestions:

(1) Visit Renee’s blog. She’s been posting daily devotions like the one you just read. You can sense her energy and enthusiasm when you get to know her more. If you enjoyed what you just read, show her a little support by leaving a comment on her blog or…

(2) Check out here book, Faithbook of Jesus, due out in March. You can get more information about it at www.faithbookofjesus.com.

• Touching Godliness Through Submission – “Free” book
• Learning from mY Generation: Stories on the art of listening
• Contest + free stuff = My happy birthday to you!
• Others-oriented quiet time: Sharing your personal relationship with Jesus Christ
• How a 17-year-old is teaching Christian manliness – with Nate Desmond

Unusual Routines For Reading Your Bible Series

Unusual Routines For Reading Your Bible (Intro)

3-Verses-From –3-Places Reading

Staggered Chapter Reading

Headings-Only Reading

Mass Reading

Cross-Reference Reading

Cross-Reference Reading

How to do it: Start with any verse you like. Use the cross-reference tool in your Bible to find verses that relate directly to that first verse. If you don’t have a cross-reference tool in your Bible, use a concordance or a cross-reference application from the Internet like Bible Tools (click on the “X-References” button if the references don’t appear automatically at the bottom).

Once you find a new verse, read all the cross-references for that new verse. Do the same for all the verses you find connected to your second verse. Repeat for as many verses as you can find that are related to each other.

In doing this, you’ll create a web of interlocked verses. Some will even double back, leading to one of your previous verses. Some references you’ll expect, but others will come from some unexpected places in the Bible. That’s the joy of it.

Tip: Works best with verses that actually have cross-references. This usually means verses that are fairly meaty, verses with some significant content in them and not something like, “And the Lord spoke to Moses saying…”

Using a computer program to find references is faster, but if you use you’re Bible, this routine also has the indirect benefit of helping you practice your verse-finding skills. Use the method that suites you best.

Why it’s helpful: The cross-reference routine reminds me of reading a Bible commentary, only with this approach, the commentary comes directly from the Word of God.

“Scriptura sui ipsius interpres.” (“Scripture is its own expositor.”) –Martin Luther

How cool is that? In other words, you’re able to get a description of the verse from other verses in the Bible, which helps you understand key words or themes in the passage.

Example: I first tried this when I did a study of Proverbs 31. You know the passage. It talks about the wise woman trading, cleaning, offering sound advice, and the like. Some of the cross-reference verses led to passages in Ruth (e.g. “…for all the people of the town know that you are a virtuous woman.” – Ruth 3:11). But digging deeper, some verses led to 2 Corinthians or Ephesians.

What I learned: All the characteristics of the wise woman are simply the characteristics of Jesus. In other words, wisdom is living life in submission to God. Specifically, since I was reading to find the characteristics of someone I should marry, this routine helped me realize that the wise woman, the woman who “excels them all,” is the woman that follows God. It’s as simple as that.

Serving Suggestions:

(1) Try the cross-reference routine.

(2) Apply your new perspective. This is the more challenging one. Once you learn something new or see something in a new way, apply that perspective to your life. How are you going to live differently because of it?

• Learning from mY Generation: Stories on the art of listening
• Others-oriented quiet time: Sharing your personal relationship with Jesus Christ
• The 4 healthy habits of highly effective Christians
• Touching Godliness Through Submission – “Free” book
• Unleashing the newsletter… again (PLUS: 7 ways to serve your world)

Unusual Routines For Reading Your Bible Series

Unusual routines for reading your Bible (Intro)

“3 verses-from 3 places reading

Staggered chapter reading

Headings-only reading

Mass reading

Cross-reference reading

Mass reading

How to do it: Pick a place to start, any place will do. You probably normally read a chapter or a few chapters in one sitting. Mass reading takes a different approach. With mass reading (not to be confused with Mass reading, which is Catholic by nature), you read many chapters in one sitting, usually ten or more chapters.

Tip: Of course, you’d love to read that much, but it takes a lot of time, right? Not necessarily. For those pressed for time, here are three options:

1) Don’t use this routine. This series has many other routines that are not as time consuming. Assuming this easy copout isn’t a viable option…

2) Eat the time cost. Sometimes you need to make sacrifices. Cut out something else you’re doing – like eating for example. Assuming this difficult commitment isn’t an option…

3) Read faster/skip some words: This is a topic for many a page. In short, to speed read, try using your finger as a guide and follow it as you read, deliberately moving your finger faster than you’re accustomed to reading. Don’t worry if you have to skip some words here and there. You don’t remember every word even if you do read them. The purpose of reading is for meaning, not to say you read every word.

Why it’s helpful: As you’ll see from the example, this routine allows you to see connections between multiple chapters, which helps can reveal totally new main characters or themes that otherwise might have gone undiscovered.

Example: I first tried this seriously only about a year ago. I was reading through Exodus. The exploits of the Israelites start to get a little monotonous, particularly through the last chapters. Employing the mass reading routine, however, I learned something from the last ten chapters that I still remember a year later.

What I learned: A man named Bezalel and his sidekick, Oholiab, used their ‘normal’ skills to honor God. They crafted the utensils used for worship in the Tabernacle. They built the tables, the altars, the lampstands, and almost every other artifact that served in the Tabernacle.

The take away message for me:

a) Hone the practical skills I have so that someday God can use them for His purpose.

b) Build the house of the Lord.

God was able to use this simple mass reading routine to highlight these characters in one sitting. If I had continued to break up the chapters into smaller parts, I wouldn’t have noticed the reoccurring services these particular two men offered. I would have missed the example completely.

Serving Suggestions:

(1) Try it.

(2) Apply your new perspective. This is the more challenging one. Once you learn something new or see something in a new way, apply that perspective to your life. How are you going to live differently because of it?

• Learning from mY Generation: Stories on the art of listening
• Others-oriented quiet time: Sharing your personal relationship with Jesus Christ
• The 4 healthy habits of highly effective Christians
• Touching Godliness Through Submission – “Free” book
• Unleashing the newsletter… again (PLUS: 7 ways to serve your world)

Unusual Routines For Reading Your Bible Series

Unusual Routines For Reading Your Bible (Intro)

“3 Verses From  3 Places” Reading

Staggered Chapter Reading

Headings-Only Reading

Mass Reading

Cross-Reference Reading

Headings-Only Reading

How to do it: Most Bibles nowadays have headings that describe the various paragraphs in the Bible. So read only the headings. For an extra bonus, read through the Bible first, and write your own headings. Then go back and read your headings.

Technically you’re not reading the Bible for this one, but you are getting the scope of the Bible. What you remember from this is from the Bible.

Tip: Works best over long distances. Try reading a book or more in one sitting. You’re not reading that much based on word count alone. But you’ll really get the lay of the land (the Bible that is) with this style of study.

Why it’s helpful: This allows you to focus on patterns and trends in the Bible rather than specific details.

Example: I read the book of Job with this routine. It took less than five minutes to do the reading. However, the synthesizing (read: trying to understand what I read) took about another five minutes. Keep that in mind when you try this.

Through the book, Job and his friends go back and forth on what they believe and how they feel. Sometimes they praise God, and other times they question Him. Job’s friends particularly swing between comforting Job and pleading for Him to give up. Toward the end, however, we glimpse into who God is. God doesn’t change or fluctuate.

What I learned: People change. God doesn’t. God should be my rock, my base of understanding and comfort because He doesn’t shift with circumstances. On the other hand, people respond to circumstances by adjusting to them. This can be difficult because we want solid and stable, something we can rely on. But it can also be beneficial because it allows us to evolve into what God wants us to be.

We shouldn’t resist the adjustment. We should try to be as adjustable in God’s hands as possible. As Job said to God:

“Remember, I pray, that you have made me like clay…” – Job 10:9

Serving Suggestions:

(1) Try it.

(2) Apply your new perspective. This is the more challenging one. Once you learn something new or see something in a new way, apply that perspective to your life. How are you going to live differently because of it?

• Learning from mY Generation: Stories on the art of listening
• Others-oriented quiet time: Sharing your personal relationship with Jesus Christ
• The 4 healthy habits of highly effective Christians
• Touching Godliness Through Submission – “Free” book
• Unleashing the newsletter… again (PLUS: 7 ways to serve your world)

Unusual Routines For Reading Your Bible Series

Unusual Routines For Reading Your Bible (Intro)

“3 Verses From 3 Places” Reading

Staggered Chapter Reading

Headings-Only Reading

Mass Reading

Cross-Reference Reading

Staggered Chapter Reading

How to do it: Instead of starting and ending on chapter breaks like you’ve been trained to do, start in the middle of a chapter and read through to the middle of the another chapter. It doesn’t matter how many chapters you read (if you’re into reading multiple chapters at a time, great). What matters is that you start in the middle, read, and then end in the middle of another.

Tip: Unlike the first routine, this one works best with story passages, though a few times I’ve found other passages that worked as well. In any case, this routine helps with sequential context, that is, seeing the Bible as it flows from one section to the next. If you’re a little lost in this regard, try this one.

Why it’s helpful: When you read directly through to the next section, you see how one event relates to the next instead of always keeping stories separate in their own little bundles of fun. Often this helps your learn why things happen because your get the story leading up to the story (by reading halfway before the chapter break) and effects of the story (by reading halfway past the chapter break). It’s a little like reading the prologue and epilogue of a novel. The pre- and post-stories might not be crucial, but who wants to miss them if the story’s that good?

Example: Go from the end of 1 Samuel 16 to 1 Samuel 17. Chapter 17 is the well-known story of David and Goliath. As you recall, David comes into the camp, sees Goliath insulting God, and kills him. Rewind to the end of chapter 16, and we see David playing a harp for Saul. Why’s he playing for Saul? To sooth and refresh him, as the Bible says, so “the distressing spirit would depart from him” (1 Samuel 16:23). In verse 22, Saul says, “Please let David stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight.”

What I learned: That’s exactly what he was doing for Saul when he killed Goliath. He was standing before Saul and keeping the distress away from him, fighting his battles for him in other words. That was David’s purpose at the time. David had already been anointed as king and was already acting like king while Saul technically had the crown. Amazing.

Serving Suggestions:

(1) Try it.

(2) Apply your new perspective. This is the more challenging one. Once you learn something new or see something in a new way, apply that perspective to your life. How are you going to live differently because of it?

• Learning from mY Generation: Stories on the art of listening
• Others-oriented quiet time: Sharing your personal relationship with Jesus Christ
• The 4 healthy habits of highly effective Christians
• Touching Godliness Through Submission – “Free” book
• Unleashing the newsletter… again (PLUS: 7 ways to serve your world)