Dave Miller's 2024 Bible Reading Challenge

  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2024 This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened."  Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles.   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 :   1 Corinthians 13-14 Background:    An ironic rebuke, 1 Corinthians 13 is one of the most familiar scriptures. It describes the love of God and the love we are to have for one another - a love that is not squishy, tolerant of sin, or weak. It is a gritty love that is based on actions that mimic the love of Christ. It is given as a direct contrast to the self-serving focus on gifts that was prev

  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2024 This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened."  Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles.   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 :   1 Corinthians 12 Background:    There is so much going on in 1 Corinthians 12 that it deserves a book, not an introductory paragraph. Several quick points. Contrary to many translations, the introduction should not read, "now about spiritual gifts," but is more generic. "Now, about spiritual things." The chapter is about how the Spirit operates. The key principle is that th

  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2024 This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened."  Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles.   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 :   1 Corinthians 11:2-34 Background:    Paul deals with two topics in this passage, the first is one of the more confusing passages in Paul's writings. He gives instructions about men and women and hair length and head coverings, and after carefully studying this passage several times I still do not know exactly what is being said. What is clear is that Paul wants men to be men and women to b

  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2024 This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened."  Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles.   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 :   1 Corinthians 8:1-9:1 4  Background:    Paul turned his attention in chapters 8-10 to "food sacrificed to idols" - a huge issue in that era, but not one we worry about much these days, at least not literally. Those who worshiped idols did so by offering sacrifices. Lo and behold, those idols did not eat much and the leftover meat was sold in the idol meat market - the best steak at t

  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2024 This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened."  Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles.   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 :   1 Corinthians 9:15-11:1   Background:    In this section, Paul continues his discussion of meat sacrificed to idols. Though idols are nothing and eating meat sacrificed to idols is nothing, he warns against any form of idolatry. The entire passage is summarized in 10:23-11:1, where Paul advocates both freedom in Christ and concern for others over demanding our rights and privileges as Christia

  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2024 This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened."  Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles.   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 :   1 Corinthians 7 Background:    Marriage became a hot-potato issue in the early church. Some saw sex as carnal and unworthy of the Christian and thought all Christians should remain single. Others were dealing with situations such as those Paul addressed in this chapter, in which one partner was converted and found himself or herself married to an unbeliever. Should a child of God continue in a

  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2024 This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened."  Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles.   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 :   1 Corinthians 5-6 Background:    Evidently, one of the reports that came to Paul was about serious sexual immorality going on at the Corinthian church. This was not just the presence of people who fell to sexual sin, but those who twisted the grace of God. This was the arrogance Paul spoke of in 5:2. They proudly spoke of their tolerance and "grace" toward this scandalous sinner. Pau

Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2024 This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened."  Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles.   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 :   1 Corinthians 3-4 Background:    Perhaps the best way to picture this book is to see Paul as a fireman and this book as the red truck. Some of the more faithful members of the church at Corinth wrote Paul to tell him of the serious issues going on and he hopped on the truck, started up the siren, and tried to hose down the errors. In chapter 3 we find out that one of the biggest problems was sch

  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2024 This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened."  Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles.   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 :   1 Corinthians 2 NOTE: if you are reading this, I would appreciate your prayers. My plan is to be on a  plane today to Senegal for a week and a half of ministry to the Essing people. Plan to fly back on the 17th. I have devotionals ready for the time I'm gone, but if anything goes wrong, I will not be able to fix it.  Background:    In verses 1-5 of 1 Corinthians 2, Paul describes his entra

  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2024 This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened."  Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles.   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 :   1 Corinthians 1 Background:    Introduction to the Book of 1 Corinthians Paul started a lot of churches. He had great churches like Philippi and Ephesus, who brought him constant joy, who demonstrated the fruit of the Spirit and a passion for the gospel. He had the Bereans who searched the Scriptures to see if what he preached was true. He started churches in Thessalonica, Galatia, and all ove

  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2024 This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened."  Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles.   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 :   Acts 18:23-19:40 Background:    We are back into the book of Acts for one day to read of Paul's third missionary journey. As you might recall, Paul wrote three books on the third journey (one on the first - Galatians, two on the second - 1 & 2 Thessalonians). He wrote to a church he had visited which gave him a lot of trouble, the Corinthian church and he also wrote to Rome, where he&#

  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2024 This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened."  Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles.   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 :   2 Thessalonians 1-3 Background:    2 Thessalonians was written not long after the first letter and it continues the same themes. This book deals extensively with issues related to the end of time and the coming of Christ. Chapter 2 focuses primarily on the great deception that accompanies the coming of the antichrist at the time of the end. It is notable that Paul does not teach on the end tim

  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2024 This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened."  Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles.   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 :   1 Thessalonians 5 Background:    This passage concludes the book of 1 Thessalonians with several powerful teachings. It begins with a section about the "day of the Lord" - a general reference to the end times. Because we do not know when the Lord is coming, we are admonished always to be ready. The final section contains a rapid-fire series of commands from Paul to the church, contai

  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2024 This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened."  Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles.   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 :   1 Thessalonians 4 Background:    Paul turns from personal remarks to teaching important truths to the Thessalonians, though still with a personal perspective. He admonishes the Thessalonians to obey God's will in abstaining from sexual immorality, to live quiet, godly, and productive lives, and to have the proper attitude about the coming of the Lord. It seems likely that some "second

  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2024 This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened."  Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles.   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 :   1 Thessalonians 2:9-3:13 Background:    Paul continues his personal testimony of concern for the Thessalonians. He reminds them of his diligent labor for them and lauds their response to what he preached - that they received it not as simply Paul's words, but as the word of God. He explains how he sent Timothy to see them and has now received an encouraging word from him on his return that