The Challenge

About a year ago pastor David Rutherford challenged us to read the entire Holy Bible during the next year. I don't remember exactly when I started the assignment and I do know that I have enjoyed and been blessed by my effort. God has met me in so many ways. I came to Lord nearly fifty years ago at a United Methodist Youth convocation in Salt Lake City. I was sixteen and went because I thought that there would be lots of girls there. That was my plan, God had a different plan. I really wish that I could say that I jumped right in and became what God wanted me to be. I continued to be more interested in girls than Jesus. I won't bore you with the details(click here for the whole story). Fast forward to now. God has been faithful to watch over me and protect me from fatal harm. Over the years I have received a lot of really good biblical teaching and have learned much from the Holy Bible. I have never read the Bible from front to back.

The Journey

Once I started this new journey, lots of things have happened. Not too far into the project our life group did a study of Pentateuch with Bruce Wilkinson that was eye opening. For a couple of years Alice have been reading the days through Proverbs (Proverbs 1 on the first day of the month and so on), so in the last year I have read Proverbs twelve times. We added a chapter of Psalms each day so I read Psalms about twice. I felt the call of the Holy Spirit to really meditate on certain books, so I spent 30 days reading Habakkuk every day listening to God had to say. Then I spent forty days with the "Sermon on the Mount" in Matthew. I came away with a very changed outlook on the people I encounter each day. I am much less judgmental and more loving. Next I spent forty days with John, I have written about that experience elsewhere (Have you met John?). I read Galatians five days in a row. I am now in the middle of forty days in 1 John.

The Progress

To date I have read Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms times two, Proverbs times 12, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Ezekiel, Habakkuk times 30, Luke, John, Galatians times 5, and 1 John times 21. Obviously I have failed in the completion of this assignment. More importantly God has met me and really cause me to change my life. As the Holy Spirit makes all of this clear to me I will share my experience. For now I thank God for sending Alice and I into the ministry at NorthSide Christian Church. I thank God for David Rutherford's obedience to God's call on his life to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.