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 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...

  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 4 In Bible Gateway, we will link to the NIV this year, though you can choose any version you prefer.  Background:     Jesus regularly shocked the religious leaders, those who practiced an empty and dead religion. He followed God, but he refused to bow to human rules that corrupted God's truth and enslaved people. In today's reading, it was his own disciples that he was shocked by breaking cultural rules that hindered the spread of his truth. There were two in particular that were common to that culture.  First, there was a widespread loathing for Samaritans, so much so that Jews went around Samaria...

  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 3 In Bible Gateway, we will link to the NIV this year, though you can choose any version you prefer.  Background:     If there is one verse in all the Bible known more universally than John 3:16, I can't imagine what it is. God loved the world and gave his Son that those who believe would have eternal life. This great truth is part of an exchange between Jesus and Nicodemus, a Pharisee. Evidently, not all those who were part of the religion of the day stood in opposition to Jesus. Some, like our Nicodemus, were seekers, inquirers, interested in finding truth. Jesus always gave frustrating answers to tho...