Lessons Learned from the 90 Day New Testament Challenge

On Sunday our church completed a summer activity called The 90 Day New Testament Challenge. It was actually pretty simple. I asked our congregation to read through the entire New Testament over the course of 90 days beginning June 1. I believed that this would be an important piece of our summer strategy, given that we committed our Wednesday nights to serving our community though an initiative called "The Summer of Love." To encourage our people to stay with the task, we developed a blogsite, www.nt90.com, to give people a chance to read entries, find a reading plan, sign up for daily text message reminders, and to post comments. So what was the take away from this promotion? What did we learn from our shared experience? Here are a few things that I learned and hope that others learned as well.

First, the New Testament is a primarily missional document and should be read with that in mind. For example, the Book of Acts has no ending. The story just stops, as if to assume that the second and third generations of believers would continue to walk in the same path. As we read the New Testament, we were able to understand the mission of the Kingdom past and make associations with the mission of Kingdom present. Like those whose “sentness” has been documented in the grand story of the New Testament, we too have been “sent” into the world to be the presence of Christ.

Second, there is a unique power that comes when the people of God are immersed in Scripture together. I enjoyed every conversation that I had with others who were taking the journey. Bible reading is intensified when it is a shared experience.

Third, the people of God are informed and encouraged by the ancient story. We were able to identify with many of the experiences we discovered in our reading. We felt things, saw things, and shared in things that Jesus and the apostles felt, saw, and shared.

Finally, the mission of Jesus is sustained and energized by the written word. Scripture reading provided spiritual sustenance for the unique mission we undertook this summer with The Summer of Love. To intentionally engage our community this summer apart from the steady ready of Scripture would be the equivalent of an athlete going to the game with an empty stomach. In John 4, Jesus told his disciples, “I have a kind of food that you know nothing about.”

At the beginning of our challenge, I pointed out that it takes 28 days to create a habit, whether good or bad. My prayer is that the completion of the challenge will not be an end to an accomplishment, but rather serve as the initial steps of a lifelong discipline of daily Bible reading.

The 90 Day New Testament Challenge

We are wrapping up the Gospel of Luke this week and beginning the Gospel of John. If you haven't joined the 90 Day New Testament Challenge, it's not too late! To find out more, visit http://www.nt90.com!

The Vision of His Glory

Tonight my wife Lisa and I will begin team-teaching the Anne Graham Lotz study The Vision of His Glory. This 14 week series focuses on the Book of Revelation.

One of the reasons I'm excited about this video series is the Bible Study method that Graham-Lotz shares with her students. Here's the five steps of Bible study that she teaches in the study guide (pp. 9-11):

Step One: Look into God's Word

Simply read the designated passage of Scripture.

Step Two: What does the passage say?

When you have finished reading the passage, make a verse-by-verse list of the outstanding facts. Don't get caught up in the details, just pinpoint the most obvious facts. Ask yourself, "Who is speaking? What is the subject? Where is it taking place? When did it happen?" As you make your list, do not paraphrase, but use actual words from the passage itself.

Step Three: What does the passage mean?

After reading the passage and listing the facts, look for a lesson to learn from each fact. Ask yourself, "What are the people doing that I should be doing? Is there a command I should obey? Is there a warning to heed? Is there a promise to claim? An example I should follow?" Focus on spiritual lessons.

Step Four: What does the passage mean to me?

The most meaningful step is step 4, but you can't do step 4 until you complete the first three steps. Take the lessons you identified in step 3 and put them in the form of a question you could ask yourself, your spouse, your child, your friend, your neighbor, or your coworker. As you write your questions, listen for God to communicate to you personally through his word.

Step Five: Live in Response.

Pinpoint what God is saying to you from this passage. How will you respond? Write what you will do now about what God has said to you. You might like to date it as a means not only of keeping a spiritual journal, but also of holding yourself accountable to following through in obedience.

This is an excellent strategy. I hope that you can find it useful to you in your daily Bible study.