Dave Miller's 2025 Bible Reading Challenge

   Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2026 This year, we will read the Bible chronologically, as it happened, instead of simply reading from Genesis to Revelation. The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but we will give more emphasis to the New Testament, spending half the year in the Old Testament and half in the New.  Bible Readings :   Luke 7:36-8:3, 19-2 1 In Bible Gateway, we will link to the NIV this year, though you can choose any version you prefer.  Background:     In Luke 7:36-8:3, we see two stories that show Jesus' concern and compassion for a group of people that the religious world often forgot, discounted, or disrespected - women. Jesus treated them as people, as co-bearers of the image of God, and as people of worth and value. At the end of Luke 7, we have a shocking story of Jesus showing compassion for a woman of low character, someone the religious leaders would uniformly shun. He gave grace and forgiveness to the wom...

   Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2026 This year, we will read the Bible chronologically, as it happened, instead of simply reading from Genesis to Revelation. The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but we will give more emphasis to the New Testament, spending half the year in the Old Testament and half in the New.  Bible Readings :   Matthew 8:1-17, Luke 7:1-17 In Bible Gateway, we will link to the NIV this year, though you can choose any version you prefer.  Background:     After a side-trip into the early chapters of John and an excursion in Matthew and Luke in the wonderful teachings of the Sermon on the Mount (and its cousin, the Sermon on the Plain), we return to the early Galilean ministry of Jesus in today's readings. After years of obscurity, Jesus appeared before John and was baptized, went into the wilderness to be tempted, and then, under the fullness of the Spirit, headed into Galilee to begin his ministry. He proclaime...

   Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2026 This year, we will read the Bible chronologically, as it happened, instead of simply reading from Genesis to Revelation. The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but we will give more emphasis to the New Testament, spending half the year in the Old Testament and half in the New.  Bible Readings :   Luke 6:17-49, 11:1-36 In Bible Gateway, we will link to the NIV this year, though you can choose any version you prefer.  Background:     Did Jesus preach the same sermon twice, with a few tweaks, or did Luke and Matthew just disagree about the details of the same sermon? That's the question that faces us as we look at today's passage in Luke 6. It is clearly a retelling of the Sermon on the Mount, but there is quite a bit that is different. The setting is different - Jesus is on a level place, not a mountain. The message is different. Jesus talks about the poor, not the poor in spirit. He balances his...

  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2026 This year, we will read the Bible chronologically, as it happened, instead of simply reading from Genesis to Revelation. The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but we will give more emphasis to the New Testament, spending half the year in the Old Testament and half in the New.  Bible Readings :   Matthew 6:19-7:29 In Bible Gateway, we will link to the NIV this year, though you can choose any version you prefer.  Background:     In one of my favorite movies, Inigo Montoya tells Vizzini that the word he keeps using, "inconceivable," doesn't mean what he thinks it means. Today's reading has some of the most misunderstood and misapplied scriptures in the Bible. Some of its teachings do not mean what people seem to think that they mean.  After dealing with the law and with religion, Jesus in the remainder of the Sermon turns his attention to a series of ten teachings on life in the kingdom of God. Th...

  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2026 This year, we will read the Bible chronologically, as it happened, instead of simply reading from Genesis to Revelation. The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but we will give more emphasis to the New Testament, spending half the year in the Old Testament and half in the New.  Bible Readings :   Matthew 5:1-6:18 In Bible Gateway, we will link to the NIV this year, though you can choose any version you prefer.  Another long background section as we begin to read the Sermon on the Mount.  Background:     Sometimes the teachings of Jesus are so shocking that we tend to ignore them, redefine them, or put them in some special classification to justify the fact that we do not live them out. The teachings of the Sermon on the Mount fall in that category. Several of the words Jesus spoke act like ice-cold water on a hot day to our souls. Beside the Sea of Galilee, there is a natural amphitheater on the...

  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2026 This year, we will read the Bible chronologically, as it happened, instead of simply reading from Genesis to Revelation. The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but we will give more emphasis to the New Testament, spending half the year in the Old Testament and half in the New.  Bible Readings :   John 5 In Bible Gateway, we will link to the NIV this year, though you can choose any version you prefer.  Fair warning - I may be a little wordy in the background section today, but this is a key passage in the development of the doctrine of the Trinity. Background:     When two people are in conflict, my first goal is to discern what the fight is actually all about. The stated source of conflict is often not the trigger point – there may be deep resentments or hidden agendas. A husband and wife may be bickering over some small decision, but the real issue is respect or control. Parents and teens are locked...