Ray Fowler .org

Wait! Don’t throw those Christmas cards away. Turn them into a prayer list instead. Here is a great idea that our friend Tom shared at church last Sunday:

Do you have a bunch of Christmas cards hanging up that you just don’t know what to do with now that January has come? We put ours in a pile, and each night at supper we have someone pick a card from the pile, and we remember that family/person in prayer. People that have found out that we do this have now sent us cards just to be in our prayer pile each year. We are always sad when we reach the end of the pile, but we enjoy praying for our friends right through spring.

Click here for more Christmas related posts.

Reading the Bible Through in a Year Series:
      1. Free Bible Reading Plans for the New Year
      2. Books to Help You Read through the Bible
      3. Recommended Children’s Story Bibles
______________________________________________________________

If you are looking for a good story Bible to use with your children, here are some excellent choices. The ones we used with our kids were good, but I like these even better. I wish they had been available when our children were younger.
 

The Jesus Storybook Bible, by Sally Lloyd-Jones. Points to Jesus as the center of every Bible story. As the subtitle says: “Every story whispers his name.” Recommended for ages 4-8.
 
 
 

The Big Picture Story Bible, by David Helm and Gail Schoonmaker. Presents the individual stories of the Bible within the bigger storyline of God’s love for the world. Focuses on God’s “big promise” that was eventually fulfilled through Jesus. Recommended for ages 4-8.

Mighty Acts of God, by Starr Meade. Taking a panoramic, chronological look at the character of God from a Reformed perspective, 90 Bible stories focus on a particular trait or truth about God to help children better understand their heavenly Father. Includes applications and discussion questions. Recommended for ages 4-10.

Read-N-Grow Picture Bible, by Libby Weed and Jim Padgett. Large comic-book format with simple text placed beneath realistic pictures. Faithful adaptations of the Biblical stories. Recommended for ages 4-8.

Step into the Bible, by Ruth Graham (daughter of Billy Graham). This family devotional presents brief re-tellings of 100 Bible stories accompanied by photographs along with brief discussion questions and memory verses. Each devotion takes approximately 10 minutes to complete and has been used by four generations of the Graham family.
 

The Child’s Story Bible, by Catherine F. Vos. More than two hundred stories from the Old and New Testaments faithfully retold in simple language with illustrations. Recommended for ages 6-12.
 
 
 
I also have fond memories of this story Bible that my parents read with me and my siblings when we were kids.

(The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes, by Kenneth Taylor)

What resources have you found helpful for reading through the Bible with children?

Related post: 5 Reasons to Read God’s Word This Year

Reading the Bible Through in a Year Series:
      1. Free Bible Reading Plans for the New Year
      2. Books to Help You Read through the Bible
      3. Recommended Children’s Story Bibles

Note: The Bible Memory Version is available for purchase here at my website (in ePub or Kindle format) and also through Amazon or Barnes & Noble. If you don’t have an e-reader, you can download a free e-reader here.

Reading the Bible Through in a Year Series:
      1. Free Bible Reading Plans for the New Year
      2. Books to Help You Read through the Bible
      3. Recommended Children’s Story Bibles
—————————————————————————————————————————
Yesterday, we looked at several Bible reading plans designed to help you read through the Bible during the year. Today I would like to recommend several book resources which will help you do the same. I own all four of these books and am happy to recommend them to you.

The One Year Bible – There are a number of these available in different bindings and translations, but they all operate on the same principle. The One Year Bible contains the entire text of the Bible divided into daily readings from the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs. You simply open the Bible to the day’s date and read the selections for that day.
 
 

For the Love of God Volume 1 and For the Love of God Volume 2, by D. A. Carson – Carson’s books are based on the M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan that in the course of one year will guide you through the New Testament and Psalms twice and the rest of the Old Testament once. The books also work as a devotional, containing Carson’s thoughts and reflections on the various Scriptures read for that day. The volumes are independent of each other, so you do not need both of them to read through the Bible. Or, if you like, you can use one volume one year and the second volume the next.
 

Through the Bible, Through the Year, by John Stott – Stott’s book offers daily readings that take you through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation with an emphasis on both the “big picture” of the story of God and the nature of God as Trinity. The book features three sections that follow the church calendar. From September to December, Stott focuses on how God is revealed in Old Testament times; January through Pentecost, the life of Christ in the Gospels; and May through August, the Holy Spirit in the New Testament.
 

Through the Bible in One Year, by Dr. Alan B. Stringfellow – Stringfellow’s book is more of a workbook format with 52 weekly lessons that bring you through all 66 books of the Bible in a year. There are assigned readings for each week followed by a weekly lesson with study notes and questions on the passages read. Great for individuals, groups or families, Stringfellow’s book will help you to learn the major themes, the key verses and the central messages of every book in the Bible.

What other books can you recommend? (Note: Tomorrow we will look at recommended Children’s Story Bibles.)

Related post: 5 Reasons to Read God’s Word This Year

Reading the Bible Through in a Year Series:
      1. Free Bible Reading Plans for the New Year
      2. Books to Help You Read through the Bible
      3. Recommended Children’s Story Bibles

Note: The Bible Memory Version is available for purchase here at my website (in ePub or Kindle format) and also through Amazon or Barnes & Noble. If you don’t have an e-reader, you can download a free e-reader here.

Reading the Bible Through in a Year Series:
      1. Free Bible Reading Plans for the New Year
      2. Books to Help You Read through the Bible
      3. Recommended Children’s Story Bibles
—————————————————————————————————————————
Here are links to some free Bible reading plans to help you with your Bible reading in the New Year. I have used each of these plans at different times and found them all helpful.

1. The Five Day Bible Reading Schedule: This Bible reading system allows you to read the entire Bible chronologically in one year while only reading five times a week. Five readings a week gives room to catch up or take a needed day off, and makes daily Bible reading practical and do-able. Further, reading the Bible in chronological order aids understanding of the Bible story, and helps the reader to look forward to reading God’s Word. (Download: Five Day Bible Reading Schedule)

2. New Testament in One Year: Here is a simple “Read the New Testament Through in a Year” sheet that I put together for my boys when they were younger. You read one chapter a day five days a week alternating the longer books with the shorter books. It prints out nicely on one sheet of paper (front and back sides). Feel free to use, copy, pass on or modify however you wish. (Download: New Testament in One Year)

3. Psalms and Proverbs “Plus” Plan: This plan will help you read through Psalms and Proverbs plus the wisdom books of Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs each month. This is similar to the five Psalms a day plan except that the Psalms have been arranged so as to give readings of equal length for each day. The five books of Psalms have been noted, and specific collections of Psalms have been grouped together within a single day’s reading, such as Psalms 113-118 (The Hallel Psalms) and Psalms 120-134 (The Psalms of Ascent). Billy Graham notes: “I used to read five psalms every day – that teaches me how to get along with God. Then I read a chapter of Proverbs every day and that teaches me how to get along with my fellow man.” (Download: Psalms and Proverbs “Plus” Plan)

4. Five Track Bible Reading Plan: This plan divides the Bible into five separate “tracks” corresponding to five major sections of Scripture. (HT: Five Lane Plan)

• Track 1: Beginnings: Genesis to Ruth (236 Chapters)
• Track 2: Nation Building: 1 Samuel to Job (242 Chapters)
• Track 3: Poetry and Wisdom: Psalms to Song of Songs (201 Chapters)
• Track 4: Prophets: Isaiah to Malachi (250 Chapters)
• Track 5: New Testament: Matthew to Revelation (260 Chapters)

The daily readings from each track consist of major narratives or divisions within these sections of Scripture. Reading large portions of Scripture in this manner will give you a better appreciation for the overall flow of Scripture and how the various parts of the Bible fit together. This plan comes with various options ranging from reading the whole Bible through in three years to reading the whole Bible through in a month. It can also be used to read through the book of Psalms and Proverbs each month, along with Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon. Once again, feel free to use, copy, pass on or modify however you wish. (Download: Five Track Bible Reading Plan)

5. M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan: 19th Century Scottish pastor Robert Murray M’Cheyne (McCheyne) created this popular plan which in the course of one year will guide you through the New Testament and Psalms twice and the rest of the Old Testament once. You can get free pdf printouts of the M’Cheyne calendar as well as RSS feeds of the daily readings here.

6. Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plans: NavPress offers the following three different Bible reading plans.

• Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan: Read four places in God’s Word every day to better grasp the unity of the Scriptures. Read the complete Bible in one year. (Download: Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan)
• Book-at-a-Time Bible Reading Plan: Intersperses Old and New Testament books in each month’s readings, with the four gospels spread out throughout the year. Read the complete Bible in one year. (Download: Book-at-a-Time Bible Reading Plan)
• 5 x 5 x 5 Bible Reading Plan: 5 minutes per day, 5 days per week, 5 ways to dig deeper. Takes you through one chapter each day. Read through the entire New Testament in one year. (Download: 5x5x5 Bible Reading Plan)

What other resources can you recommend? (Note: Tomorrow we will look at books to help you read through the Bible and the next day at recommended Children’s Story Bibles.)

Related post: 5 Reasons to Read God’s Word This Year

Reading the Bible Through in a Year Series:
      1. Free Bible Reading Plans for the New Year
      2. Books to Help You Read through the Bible
      3. Recommended Children’s Story Bibles

Note: The Bible Memory Version is available for purchase here at my website (in ePub or Kindle format) and also through Amazon or Barnes & Noble. If you don’t have an e-reader, you can download a free e-reader here.

I will be running a short series this week on Reading the Bible Through in a Year. The first post will look at several Bible reading plans that are available online. The second post will direct you to some good book resources. And then the third post will provide recommendations for children’s story Bibles (for families that would like to read the Bible with their children this year). Here are the links to the individual posts.

Reading the Bible Through in a Year Series:

      1. Free Bible Reading Plans for the New Year
      2. Books to Help You Read through the Bible
      3. Recommended Children’s Story Bibles

Related post: 5 Reasons to Read God’s Word This Year

Five Reasons to Read God’s Word This Year

1. It will teach you God’s ways.
    – All God’s ways are good and right (Prov 3:13,17; Rev 15:3)
    – God commands you to walk in his ways (Dt 10:12; Ps 25:8-10)
    – God teaches his ways through his word (Ps 1:1-2; Prov 8:32-35)

2. It will guide you in God’s paths.
    – God’s word shows the right way to go (Prov 16:25; Jer 6:16; Ps 119:105)
    – It shows you the best way to get there (Is 48:17; Prov 3:5-6)
    – It helps you walk close with God all the way (Ps 23:1-3, 32:8)

3. It will strengthen you for your tasks.
    – God’s word equips you (2 Tim 3:16-17; Psalm 18:30-36)
    – God’s word nourishes you (Matthew 4:4; Job 23:12)
    – God’s word gives you wisdom to succeed (Prov 24:3-6; Josh 1:8)

4. It will comfort you in your sorrows.
    – The Scriptures were written for your encouragement (Romans 15:4)
    – The gospel is good news for the poor and brokenhearted (Isaiah 61:1-3)
    – God’s promises preserve your life (Psalm 119:28,49-52)

5. It will protect you from harm.
    – God’s word guards against wrong paths (Proverbs 2:6-12)
    – God’s word helps you fight against temptation (Ps 119:9-11; Eph 6:17)
    – God sanctifies you by the truth of his word (John 17:15-17)

Note: You can read the complete message that goes along with this outline here: Five Reasons to Read God’s Word This Year

One of the reasons I started this blog was simply to have a place to publish my sermons on a weekly basis. The thought was that if anyone at church missed a message, they could catch up with it later in the week on the blog. Also, this seemed like a great way to expand the ministry of the messages by making them available to a wider audience than the congregation present on Sunday mornings.

I have been pleasantly surprised at how many people actually find and read these messages while searching for various items online. It is gratifying to see God still using a message that was preached months ago in the lives of people today. So, with that in mind, here is a list of the most read sermons on the blog for 2007.

• Trusting God No Matter What (the final message in the Habakkuk – The Journey from Doubt to Faith series)
• The Sins of the Fathers (a message on generational sin from The Ten Commandments for Today series)
• The Cradle, the Cross and the Wardrobe (a message on the birth, death and resurrection of Christ from the Narnia Christmas series)
• Praising God for His Amazing Grace (a message on God’s grace from the 1 Timothy – Doing Church Together series)
• Straight from the Donkey’s Mouth (a narrative sermon told from the donkey’s point of view on Palm Sunday)
• The Measure of Love (the first of three messages from 1 Corinthians 13 – The Love Chapter)

Related posts:

• Top 20 Posts for 2007 – Year in Review
• Sunday Morning SoundBytes – Each week I post a brief summary or outline of that week’s message under Sunday Morning SoundBytes.

You may have noticed it snowing on the blog lately and wondering, “What’s that’s all about?” This is for the benefit of my friends “down under” (where it is presently summer) and for my friends in Florida (where it is always summer). Basically, whenever it snows here in Massachusetts, I will try to remember to turn on the snow for my blog. So, if you see it snowing on the blog, you will know that we got snow here in Massachusetts, too. That way we can all share the experience. Hey, at least you don’t have to shovel a snow blog!

Related posts:

• A Foot of Global Warming
• At Least It’s Not Condition 1 Weather!
• Somebody Shoot the Groundhog

Yesterday’s message was called Five Reasons to Read God’s Word This Year. The main idea of the message was that we should make reading God’s word a priority in our lives.

Note: I have moved the outline over to a post of its own. You can now find the outline here: 5 Reasons to Read God’s Word This Year

To read the complete message, go to the Sermons tab at the top of the blog.

Four Hands – One Guitar (video length: 1:44)

Antoine Dufour and Tommy Gauthier join hands to play Jerry’s Breakdown (by Jerry Reed) on a single guitar. (Related post: Four Men and a Cello)
 

Singing Backwards (Video length: 2:28)

In the first half of this video OneManSho sings a song backwards while popping balloons and knocking over blocks to authenticate what he is doing. In the second half he plays the video back for you backwards so you can hear what he was actually singing.
 

When Robot Programmers Get Bored (video length: 1:12)

I am guessing whoever handles workman’s comp for this company was not real pleased to see this video. You had better be pretty confident in your progamming skills to try this stunt. (Don’t try this at home!)

Special delivery. Police Sergeant Steven Rocher helped deliver a woman’s baby on the streets of Philadelphia early Christmas morning. He discovered the woman lying on the sidewalk near a bus stop about to give birth. The baby’s father was with her. After safely delivering the baby, Rocher called for a police car to take the parents to the hospital along with their new baby girl.

Small-print Bible. Israeli scientists have inscribed the entire text of the Jewish Bible onto a space less than half the size of a grain of sugar. The nanotechnology experts at the Technion institute in Haifa say the text measures less than 0.01 square inch surface. It may not take up much space, but in order to read this Bible you will need exceptionally good eyesight and know how to read Hebrew.

Loose change adds up. Paul Brant bought his brand new Dodge Ram half-ton pickup truck using spare change that he collected in bottles and cans. He was escorted by sheriff’s deputies as he brought nearly $26,000 in rolled coins to the dealership to make the purchase. It was not the first time. In 1994, he bought a Dodge pickup and a Dodge Neon using about $36,000 in quarters.

I have never given money to a political candidate before. I am usually just not that interested, plus I am careful in how I spend my money. But I have donated to Fred Thompson’s campaign several times this fall. Why? Because I have been impressed with Thompson as a candidate ever since his interview with Chris Wallace back in March. I like his views, I like his policies, and I like his approach. And I am frustrated that he is not getting as much attention as I think he deserves.

Although there are a number of strong contenders for the GOP nomination (for which I am glad), I am surprised that more Republicans have not rallied around Thompson as a candidate. Thompson has been a consistent conservative throughout his entire career. He is strong on national defense, favors smaller federal government, and is conservative on social issues such as abortion and the second amendment. He is one of the few candidates who has been bold enough to come right out and say that Roe vs. Wade is bad law and should be overturned.

Thompson was criticized for entering the political race so late, but one of the reasons he waited until September was because he spent the summer carefully putting his policies together. Thompson has made available clearly articulated and concise position statements on every major issue, including the following:

Federal Government Issues:

• National Security
• Government Effectiveness
• Appointing Judges Faithful to our Consitution
• Energy Security

Fiscal Issues:

• Federal Budget and Spending
• Tax Reform

Social Issues:

• Healthcare
• Building Strong Families
• Immigration
• Education
• Second Amendment

You can read Thompson’s position on each of these issues by going to Fred On the Issues and clicking on each one. (It will take you all of ten minutes.) You may or may not agree with his positions, but at least you can read them for yourself.

Bob Krumm also has several good (and fair) articles detailing Fred’s positions and comparing them with the other Republican candidates:

• It Takes All Kinds
• The Analytical Case for Fred

I would not presume to tell you for whom you should vote for president. Instead, I would encourage you to study the candidates and their policies to see how well they line up with your own views on different issues. Thompson seems to line up best with my views, but if he does not line up with yours, then you shouldn’t vote for him. Study the issues and vote for the candidate who you believe will best lead our country as president. A great tool to help you get started with this is the MPR Select a Candidate Quiz.

I live in Massachusetts, and even though our primary is not until February 5, I am well aware that eight states will already have held their primaries by that time. Some candidates may even be eliminated before I get the chance to vote. That is one of the reasons why I have donated money to the Thompson campaign now. I am still leaning towards him as the best candidate and, as things stand right now, I would like the opportunity to vote for him come February.

Related posts:

• A Fred Thompson Irony
• Thompson Bloggers Contacted By Romney Campaign
• Mike Huckabee’s Sunday Sermon at Prestonwood
• The Cluster Approach to the GOP Nomination
• The MPR Select a Candidate Quiz
• Memo to Evangelical Leaders on Romney
• Rasmussen Reports Daily Presidential Tracking Poll
• Ravi Zacharias on Electing the Next President
• Should Christians Call Mormonism a Cult?
• Rudy, John, Mitt . . . and Fred?