National Bible Week: Nov 23-30 and Reading Your Bible

Monday next week begins National Bible Week (Nov 23-30) sponsored by the National Bible Association. It was founded in 1940 for the nation to find hope through the Bible during a time of war. The goal of National Bible Week is just to encourage people to read the Bible. Do you have a Bible? Let me know if you do not and I'll see what I can do to get you one. email me. If you want to read the Bible next week and aren't sure where to start I'll be helping you right here on the Land of the Ultra Rev. Come back in the next couple days for some suggestions. Here's some basic starter places: The Birth of Jesus: Luke 1-2 The Death and Resurrection of Jesus: Luke 22-24 Proverbs 1-9 Psalm 119 The books of First Peter, James and First John As you read and then reflect, ask yourself, "What do these passages teach me about God?". Here is how I got my first Bible: I was in high school -- 10th or 11th grade. The school day ended and I boarded the bus as usual in the school driveway. As the buses filed out of Liverpool High School's parking lot, there were some folks standing just off school property. As the buses stopped at the stop sign, they handed orange Gideon's New Testaments to the students through the windows. Of course that started a Bible war on the bus with Bibles being thrown everywhere. I got one through the window and kept it. It became a treasured possession and was a source of hope for me. I became committed to giving away the Bible. In college I ran an American Bible Society Scripture Courtesy Center out of my dorm room and got other students to participate with me in Bibles For Russia, which was a ministry of sending Bibles to Russia. My college internship was working for Bible Clubs of Syracuse where I taught backyard summer Bible Clubs and gave away Scriptures there. If I remember correctly, my good friend Dennis pilfered a case of Gideon's New Testaments from his father for me to give away. The churches I have served became my next outlets for giving away the Bible, making sure they were available for free. I read less of the Bible now that I am not preaching every week and I miss it. I love being part of a denomination, the Evangelical Covenant Church, that holds the Bible in such high esteem. I hope you will commit to reading the Bible every day next week.