Tuesday Tome - The Bible

The Bible has been often referred to as the best selling, most published, most translated, and, unfortunately, least read book of all time. I suspect that's probably true, at least in terms of the number of copies printed in proportion to the number of copies actually read. That's especially true if you mean cover-to-cover reading.

For the last twenty-five years or more, I've been on a personal quest to change that statistic one person and one Bible at a time. I've been reading through the Bible every year and urging others to do the same. I've developed reading programs, tools, classes, and a blog in my efforts to encourage people to get started and to get the most from their reading.

The Useful Breath blog is written for people who are daily Bible readers. The format is simple and follow the Useful Breath reading schedule. More information about that blog and reading schedule are available HERE.

The Useful Breath reading plan starts in September every year. Most annual reading plans begin with January, but I think it makes more sense to get going when the summer wraps up and school gets started. Most church programs follow the lead of the academic year and kick-off in the September, so it makes better sense for a reading program to start then too.

The Useful Breath reading plan includes three reading selections for each day of the year. The first is from the Old Testament history/prophets, the second is from Old Testament wisdom/poetry, and the third is from the New Testament. This gives readers options for customizing their own plan. You can choose to read only the New Testament, or just the New Testament & Old Testament Wisdom, or just the Old Testament. If you do all three readings and stick with the schedule, you will complete the entire Bible in one year.

The New Testament readings in the schedule have a special order. Rather than beginning with all four gospels in succession, the Useful Breath schedule begins with Luke and John, then proceeds through the rest of the New Testament. The gospels of Matthew and Mark are then read at the end of the schedule.

The 2012-13 Useful Breath reading schedule begins on September 2. You're invited to download a copy of the the schedule and read along with me. You can also subscribe to my Useful Breath blog via email or Facebook. Just visit the site and look in the right column for more info. If Lakeville, MN isn't too far from where you live, you could also join me for the Pathway Bible Class I teach at Valley Christian Church on Wednesday nights, 6:30pm. Our fall quarter classes begin on Wednesday, September 12. Send me an email if you need more information.

If you've never read through the Bible, now is the time to do something about that. Join me in reading through the Bible this year (September 2012 - August 2013).