On Saturday I was able to chat with a friend I met my freshman year of Bible college. We spent several evenings in those early days seeking the Lord and getting to know one another. We were just kids. I think we were both 18 at the time. We had lost touch and Saturday we spent over 2 hours on the phone giving the fast forward version of our lives since college. Fun times.

One thing that my friend Ryan brought up was a pivotal time in his life several years ago when he decided to read the Bible through in 3 months. Interestingly I had committed to the same thing right after we took our trip out to Narnia to see if we’d live there long-term. It is a pretty cool plan because you go full throttle for 3 months and gain a bird’s eye view of Scripture. I completed this earlier in the year and felt less intimidated (in a good, Godward way) about Scripture. After our conversation I decided to go at it again over the next few months as we enter this new transition. If you are a fast reader you can probably cover the 12 or so chapters a day in 40 to 45 minutes. If you are a slower reader it would probably take closer to 1 1/2-2 hours. It is a real commitment, but the rewards are great. There is an app called YouVersion that many of you likely use. Under the plans section of the app you can set this up and start reading. It isn’t for everyone, but the Bible is. See if you can commit to reading the Bible through in 3 months. Tell me what you think.

We are entering into a pretty big transition with our lives and in about a week now we will land in Narnia. The tendency for me, and for most, is to live off the adrenaline of the crowd. Live off the fumes of the capital city and the glitz and glow of the lights. That is fun for a while, but certainly not enough to stay the course of being full of Jesus, engaging the unreached with the story of Christ. For me, what better time is a renewed commitment to God’s Word than in the midst of chaos? It really is the chaotic times of life that I’ve seen Christ most vividly and been some of the darkest and devastating. It normally has quite a bit to do with my relationship with Jesus in the midst of all this.

This isn’t a formula. Sick. Disgusting actually. My heart is to stay spiritually alert. There are a band of people praying, fasting, and giving money so Jesus can be treasured in Narnia. Janessa and I just want to do our part. So much of mission work is about being there and staying alive in Jesus. I can’t tell you how many times that just by showing up God has worked powerfully. I just popped in at an apartment. . . sipped some tea and been connected with Christ. Priceless moments.

And we all know the opposite of all this. Those times when we try to force things. Force spiritual conversations. Force ourselves to be godly. We end up pretending because we’re not full of Jesus. And those are the roughest times in our lives. In those moments m marriages end. Porn becomes more appealing. Greed and jealousy set in. We’re crazy. Everyone is wrong except for us. Oh, I’ve never experienced this, but someone told me about it once. Yeah right. I’ve lived days and weeks in this darkness and it isn’t fun.

So here we go again with a renewed commitment to the Word and to prayer. I’d love if you joined with me in the 3 month Bible reading thing and trade stories. That’s all I’ve got today.