The Way ‘They’ do Things These Days

In her latter years my mother would explain to herself an increasingly confusing world with the words, ‘Well, that’s the way they do things these days.’ From free love to microwave ovens this phrase explained it all, ‘I don’t understand it, but that’s the way they do things these days.’

Most people follow the way they do things these days, whoever ‘they’ are. From the clothes we wear to the opinions we hear and retail, from what we choose as entertainment to our eating habits, and ther company we keep we all do things the way they are done these days.

But what if ‘they’ make bad  lifestyle choices, express dangerous, destructive opinions? How would we even know those choices were unwise if the way ‘they’ do things is our only measure of what is good, If man is the true measure of man?

I am reminded of the adage, ‘Who marries the spirit of the age will end widowed.’

James, in his letter to Christians scattered across the empire, writes about the trials of many kinds that come and test our faith (Js.1:2-3). He encourages us to have a firm faith, warning against doubt, or we will find ourselves ‘like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind,’ driven by the way things are done these days. Does that sound familiar?

When Jesus spoke of John the Baptist he said, ‘What did you go into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?’ (Lk.7:24) A single reed was the personal emblem of Herod, a man blown about by every political wind, driven by the way things are done these days, defined by expediency, nothing to cling to but the latest piece of fashionable flotsam.

What we learn from my mother’s ‘explanation’ of the way things are done these days is that the spirit of the age will pass. The way things are done is not the way they were done in her lifetime, neither is the way things are done today the way things were done in my memory, The way you do things will pass too, another generation will rise and do things their way.

We are mistaken, of course, if we assume the way things were are preferable to the way things are, to imagine a golden age. At the same time it is folly to assume improvement is inevitable with each passing generation. Things can’t only get better, as history teaches us. What can we find to cling to in this process of rising and dying ages, this sea of life that tosses us this way and that?

James reminds us, ‘If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach and it will be given him.’ (Js.1:5) The Father, he reminds us, is one ‘who does not change like shifting shadows’ (Js.1:17) and Jesus, we are told, is, ‘the same yesterday, today, and forever.’ (Heb.13: 8)

Isaiah reminds us, ‘All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flowers of the field…The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God will stand forever.’ (Is.40:7-8)

If you’re looking for stability in a changing world look no further than the word of God. It will often make you unpopular with those married to the age, but when this age has died and another rises, you will still be standing faithfully doing things God’s way, while they seek yet another marriage of convenience leading inevitably to another funeral.

10 Reasons for Reading your Bible in 2014

Christmas is over, thank goodness. Isn't it a minefield of custom and etiquette? Did we send an appropriate card to this or that person? I hope they didn't feel it was preaching at them. On the other hand, I do hope it wasn't too frivolous, was a clear “witness.” Did someone we sent a card to not send one back? Did we get a card but forget to send one? Is anyone coming off our Christmas card list? (No one comes off mine)

And gifts! Does anybody understand this new technology that seems to be obsolete as soon as it hits the stores? A book is still the safest bet in my view. You don't have to switch it on, it won't run out of power, it will pass airport security without any trouble, and you don't need teenagers to show you how it works.

A friend wishes you a merry Christmas and you shake his hand in a manly fashion, but what about his wife? Do you simply nod, shake hands in a manly fashion, or do you kiss her? Do you kiss her, or does she kiss you? Is it a peck on the cheek, an air kiss, and how many? One, two three? How many is polite and how many is bordering on predatory?

And the greeting! How are we to greet each other? If you say “merry Christmas” you simply know someone is going to look disapprovingly at the connotation in that word “merry.” “That’s the kind of Christmas you have is it? And you an elder of the church!” On the other hand, if you say a sober “happy Christmas” someone is bound to reply with a loud, “Merry Christmas!” as though to make the point, “cheer up you miserable so-and-so.”

Do you think we might be worrying about the wrong things though? The best place in my Christmas was the carol services. They took me away from the hurly-burly of Christmas mania and focussed my mind where it should always have been. Thank God for his church.

New Year Resolutions

But it is over for another year. Although, we now have New Year's resolutions to contend with. I expect the diet companies will get a sharp rise in membership in January followed by a depression by March, in more ways than one. Gym membership will rise for a bit, but how long will it last? The roads of hell are paved with good intentions. Are we thinking about this in the wrong way as well? Is there a better way of finding resolve, of making and keeping the promises we foolishly make to ourselves this time of year?

I have one piece of advice when it comes to New Year's Resolutions – don't make them!!! “From now on...” statements just rise up and embarrass us, remind us of our folly and failures.  The problem is that once we tack a resolution to a day and time it becomes absolute and we are so discouraged the moment we fail because the failure is absolute.

“I said I would do this ‘from now on without fail,’ and I have failed, and what a miserable, discouraging experience it is.”

My advice to you is, don't make this type of resolution. Can’t we find different, more realistic, reasons altogether for adopting the disciplines that so often evade us?

Some of you will decide to follow a Bible reading plan in the coming year.  With the right motivation we can start a plan any time, resume it with renewed resolve when we fall down, and witness real progress even as we occasionally fail. Reasons that have nothing to do with the date but everything to do with how we benefit from reading our Bibles.

Let me share some thoughts on why starting a Bible reading plan – any time – is a good idea and give you reasons for persevering, guilt free, in that plan.

1. Encouragement

I am encouraged to read that the apostle Paul needed to encourage his young charge, Timothy, in applying himself to reading and teaching the Bible. In one of his letters to  Timothy Paul writes this familiar text,

As for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. (2 Tim.3:16)

Even church leaders need to be reminded to read, teach and live the Scriptures. This should encourage us to persevere, knowing we are in good company when we sometimes struggle. In persevering we can be a blessing and encouragement to others – even our leaders.

2. Blessing

There is blessing in reading and obeying the Bible. God said of Abraham,

I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws." (Gen.26:4)

How did Abraham hear God? You might be surprised to know he read God’s word. We like to think of those times when Abraham heard directly from God but he also had a written record of God's statutes and commandments. The word translated statutes means a written record, an engraving in fact. Certainly, written records go back that far and further. So Abraham read and obeyed God's written word and, we are told, there is blessing in hearing and obeying God. Following the example of the “father of the faithful” includes Bible reading.

3. Personal Application

The Bible is for us and applies to us personally.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Heb.4:12)

What's on your heart today? What is burdening you? A good place to start is with God's Word, which can help straighten out your thinking, read your heart and show you a way through. Look again at that note from Paul to Timothy:

As for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. (2 Tim.3:16)

How often have we thought how we would like to have spiritual wisdom, to know thorough equipping, and to grow in the things of God? What better motivation could there be for opening our Bible to read in the coming year?

4. Inheritance

We are charged with faithfully passing on Bible truth. King David, in his old age, wrote:

My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge. With the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD I will come; I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.

O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and grey hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come. (Ps.71:15-18)

Scripture tells us this is what Abraham did, “Abraham gave all he had to Isaac” (Gen.25:5) Just like Timothy, Isaac had learned and inherited God's truth from childhood. In the Bible we see God’s truth being passed on from one generation to the next. From Abraham to Isaac  to Jacob, to Moses and the prophets, to David and from him to those that followed and to Timothy from his mother. We too have inherited that same truth from our spiritual parents. What better way to do the same than by the good example of faithful Bible reading?

5. Covenant

We are told in Exodus,

Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, "All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do." And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. (Ex.24:4)

Just as with those people of God in the desert, when we become Christians we enter a covenant relationship with God and the terms of that covenant are recorded in the Bible. Why wouldn’t we want to read that exciting account of God’s dealings with his people, of God’s promises to us and ours to him?

6. Tradition

We read of the first Christians that “they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” (Acts 2:42)

As we read, ponder, set our minds and hearts on the word of God we are doing what was done by our spiritual forebears in the early church. In the privacy of our room, in our quiet times, as we read, ponder and apply the word of God to ourselves we are following in that unbroken tradition given us by God.

Do you want to know what it is to be a biblical people, to be “church?” It starts right here, with Bible reading.

7. Prophecy

Before he ascended to the Father Jesus said to his disciples,

These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled."

Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. (Lk.24:44-45)

Warning his disciples of false Christs Jesus said, “But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand.” (Mk.13:23) The things that happen to the people of God are the fulfilment of the purposes of God. Have you ever thought of that? Ours isn't a blind faith but an informed faith, wonderfully informed beforehand by Scripture. Who wouldn’t want to delve into God’s declared purposes?

8. Instruction

Paul reminds us in his letter to Christians in Ephesus,

You also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (Eph.1:13-14)

Did you get that? You were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, when you believed. Now look at what John says in his gospel about believing,

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30-31)

In the Bible we have that “word of truth” and in believing that word we are included in God’s great plan for mankind, sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. Why wouldn’t we want to open up the book and read what God has to say to his people?

9. Example

Writing about the experiences of rebellious Israel Paul wrote,

Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. (1 Cor.10:11)

Some people are in the Bible as an example, others as a warning. This is instruction to us as we anticipate Jesus coming again. Why not learn from the wisdom and folly of others, reading their stories, allowing their lives to either guide us on or warn us?

10. Assurance

Finally, in a glorious description of the City of God, John writes,

And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.

It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed-- on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates.

And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls.

The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel's measurement.

The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, clear as glass.

The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.

And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass.

And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.

And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day--and there will be no night there.

They will bring into it the glory and the honour of the nations.

But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. (Rev.21:10-27)

You see, there is another book and our names are recorded in it as citizens of God's city and kingdom. We are written there if we have believed and obeyed, like Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, John, Paul, Timothy...who believed because they read and trusted God's word and walked by its light (Ps.119:105)

Who wouldn't want to read the Bible this coming year, to be reminded of God’s sure promises to those who trust him? And if, like Timothy, we need encouragement, if we get distracted, who wouldn't be encouraged to take up the word again, persevere and continue in trusting and obeying, “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, [pressing] on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Php.3:13-14)

Happy New Year, and may God draw us ever closer as we devote ourselves to his word in the Bible and allow it to shape and mould our lives, to his glory.

Religious Liberty Monitoring: USA: not immune from Western religious liberty trends

 “The principal religious liberty trend of the multicultural West is that religious liberty is disappearing as the traditionally Judeo-Christian culture's Biblical foundations are being excavated. The excavation is integral to the social engineering/renovation project underway aimed at producing a 'post-Christian' culture. Unfortunately, most Christians do not comprehend the implications of this phenomenal strategic shift, and likely will not until the new social order has been consolidated and direct persecution starts to impact them personally.

Christians in the West are losing the right to criticise non-Christian (minority) religions (particularly Islam) and witness to non-Christians (particularly Muslims). They are also losing the right to conscientiously object to new social norms being imposed upon them essentially at the behest of radical feminist and Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender (GLBT) lobby groups.”

This quote is from an excellent commentary on the threat to religious liberty posed by post-Christian, liberal social norms. The non-thinking nonsense in the two stories illustrating the piece is breathtaking. Its a long blog but, I think, well worth taking time to read.

One of my favourite quotes is from George Orwell who wrote,“Liberty is the right to tell people what they don’t want to hear.”  This , as the blog illustrates, is being taken from us in the truly meaningless name of multiculturalism and tolerance. Some Christians are being taken in by this message, mainly because “tolerance” seems so right somehow, so typical of what Jesus would do. They need to remember that this same Jesus declared, “I am the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn. 14:6) Let’s define a couple of terms that are frequently abused today and bring them back to their true and original meaning, the meaning they had before the liberals got hold of them:

TOLERANCE: My dictionary gives the definition of an allowable variation from a standard dimension. In the liberal world there is no standard dimension and every worldview, philosophy and “lifestyle choice” is equally right.  Tolerance, according to my dictionary, means indulgence of beliefs or practices different from one’s own. One who is tolerant is said to be practicing forbearance, to be enduring something. The language of tolerance then is endurance, forbearance, indulgence, allowance. To tolerate something is not to give it approval but to indulge it, to endure it for the greater good. Liberals would have us treat the words “tolerance” and “approval” as synonyms and fiercely condemn anyone who isn’t “tolerant” by this definition.

Democratic principles demand that, while I disagree profoundly with the tenets and practices of Islam, I am willing to endure its presence in a democratic society. I am not, however, bound to like, appreciate or approve of Islam and I am certainly not bound to welcome the  colonisation of Western societies by Muslims with the attendant cultivation of Muslim principles and ideas.

PHOBIA: A phobia is defined as an exaggerated and illogical fear. Common phobias include fear of spiders, the dark, flying, indoors, outdoors etc. It does seem irrational for a grown person to fear a common house spider, or to fear going outdoors, but plenty of people do and many seek help to overcome them. This word has become almost meaningless as people are encouraged to think of those who disagree with them as phobic. The previous paragraph would, in the eyes of many, identify me as “Islamophobic.” I also adhere to the biblical view that homosexual practice is wrong in the eyes of God and this, to many, makes me “Homophobic”.

Of course, the old way of presenting the same idea is by dubbing people “anti” this, that or the other. Critics of Mormonism are dubbed “anti-Mormon”, of the Roman Church as “anti-Catholic” etc. In those days it was easier to see that these tags were often ways of avoiding the issues and dismissing the critic by naming and blaming. In those days fewer people got away with it.

Things have changed however and the liberal lobby has such a grip on society that people indifferent to faith issues don’t just tut in disapproval when they hear people declaring strongly held beliefs contra to the beliefs of others. These days, to hold strong beliefs, no matter how tolerant one is prepared to be towards others, is to risk vilification and possibly prosecution. Because you are allowed to be anything in the brave new world – as long as it is liberal and adheres to the new dictionary definitions prescribed by liberals.

Some Christians fail to see that, while democratic principles, tolerance, liberty and freedom are precious, nevertheless, our first loyalty is to the God of the Bible. I note that many who enjoy this new way of looking at the world move away, very quickly, from Scripture and instead embrace the values of fallen man. If freedom and tolerance mean immorality, compromise, idol worship and worldliness then we had better get back to the true definitions of those terms. More urgently, we had better get back to God’s Word. Click on the link to read the Religious Liberty Monitor review.

Religious Liberty Monitoring: USA: not immune from Western religious liberty trends

I’m Glad You Asked…

I am at an age when I am increasingly dependent on the wonders of modern medicine to keep me upright and functioning. “It comes to us all” is what they say and it certainly hasn’t given my house a miss, although there are times when I wish it had. As part of my drug-dependent regime I take a glass of water to bed every night and take my two final pills of the day.

Every Tuesday evening I have the thrilling task of emptying the bins around the house and putting out the rubbish, recycling etc. and when it comes to my bedtime routine, I reach for two tablets from the strip at my bedside and, would you believe it, they are the last two in the strip, every fortnight the last two in the box and so I throw the strip in the bin. Now call me fussy but it offends my fastidious nature that a bin so recently emptied should so soon begin to fill.

How can this be? What is going on that every Tuesday I should suffer this frustration? That strip, that box could have been out on the pavement with the rest of the rubbish waiting to be picked up early next morning. It is one of those things that irks you each time it happens but you just as quickly forget about it and get on with your life (I think I ought to say that my wife thinks I’m more than a little unhinged to worry about this, but she doesn’t throw an empty strip into a bin she has just emptied – or have I missed something here?)

This week I decided to get to the bottom of this mystery, sat down with a strip of tablets, a calendar and a calculator and figured it out. (I lied about the calculator actually and only put it in for dramatic effect. Also, I did have a calendar but in my head. I don’t want people to get the impression I can’t count and don’t know what day it is) There are fourteen tablets on a strip and two strips in a box. I take two tablets every night, start a strip on a Wednesday and, therefore, come-to-my-last-two-tablets-the-following-Tuesday-evening and the last two in the box every other Tuesday. The sense of relief, I can’t tell you! (I know, I ought to get out more)

Its with not a little pride I can tell you that I broke the cycle last night – today being Wednesday and the day the rubbish is collected. When I emptied the bin in my bedroom I took the two remaining pills, placed them on the bedside cabinet, and threw said strip, and the box as it happens, into the rubbish to be taken away. Oh, the sense of triumph! Tomorrow the WORLD!

Life can be like that. Something troubles you but not enough for you to actually give it serious thought. But each time it arises this bothersome and unresolved issue winds you up. For a lot of people questions of faith can be like that. Something is reported on the news, or happens locally, and someone asks, “If there is a God why…” Someone close to us dies and for a moment we feel prompted to ask some of the bigger questions, the “God that’s not fair!” questions. But then life presses in on us and soon the questions are laid aside for another day.

I’m Glad You Asked…

When I am asked such questions, sometimes quite challenging questions I can find it a struggle to answer, not because I don’t have an answer, but because I don’t have a neat, glib sound-bite answer to do justice to what is often a very good question. I want to say, “I’m glad you asked. Can you set aside some hours to talk about this?” And, of course, people are busy and very reluctant to commit the time, afraid perhaps of what they might be drawn into.

But, just like my puzzle over tablets and bin day, sometimes you just have to stop and give it some serious thought. Just as I sat down with a calculator, a calendar and blister strip (OK, there wasn’t a calculator, but you get my meaning) so you, if your questions are serious, must sit down with a Bible, a Christian friend and maybe a good book or study guide if you are going to get real answers.

I often ask people if they are readers because many people are not these days, which is a great pity for all sorts of reasons. If they are, or at least are open-minded enough, I suggest they go and browse around their local Christian bookshop. They would be amazed, I insist, at how many of life’s questions, how many big issues are addressed in Christian books, journals and magazines and how determined, serious-minded Christians are to understand the world. A Christian bookshop is just that, i.e. a bookshop. It isn’t a “truth shop” where all issues are answered definitively and where dogma is sold by the pound but a bookshop where people with different views are represented and ideas are presented to get explored, tried and tested.

Why don’t you come to church? I ask them and, as they give a wary look, explain that churches hold courses where these questions are addressed and answers are sought. Sermons inform as well as challenge, enthuse and convict. Why not come and listen to a few? Why not come over for a coffee and spend an hour or two talking about things, maybe make a start on the journey of discovery that begins with the kind of questions you are asking? Because the big questions are not destinations but departure points and you have to be prepared for the journey of discovery that leads to the answers. Otherwise, why ask?

Be as wary as you like, sit near the door at church, tell the bookseller you’re “just looking” but don’t put it off any longer. Make a move, get a Bible, ask a trusted Christian friend, put that best seller down, good as it is, and pick up a Christian book that looks like it might be interesting, informative and helpful. Come over for a chat some time and lets talk about God and what’s fair and not fair, and what’s it all about, and why you want to do the right thing but so often find yourself doing the wrong thing, and what happens when you die, and does evolution disprove God, and…well you get the picture. Give it time, and effort and you might be surprised what answers come if you just ask.

Here are some books I have personally found very helpful:

1. A Fresh Start, by John Chapman and published by Matthias Media tackles some of life’s fundamental questions.
2. God That’s Not Fair, by Dick Dowsett, published by OM, addresses some of the really hard questions people ask
3. Six Modern Myths, by Philip Sampson, and published by IVP, is a look at six popular myths about the church in history and society, from Galileo to Environmentalism
4. Knowing God and Knowing Christianity, by JI Packer and published by Hodder and Staughton and Eagle respectively are excellent insights into the God of the Bible and the faith of a Christian
5. Why I am a Christian, by John Stott and published by IVP is a refreshing insight into one man’s reasons for embracing the Christian Faith.
6. The Puzzle of God, by Peter Vardy and published by Harper Collins is a more philosophical look at the subject
7. You Can’t be Serious, by Michael Green and published by Monarch is a serious look at 12 reasons for avoiding Jesus
8. At the Heart of the Universe, by Peter Jensen and published by IVP is a close look at what Christians believe about God, man and the purpose at the heart of the universe
9. There is a God, by Anthony Flew and published by Harper Collins is, in the words of the author, an account of “How the world’s most notorious atheist changed his mind”
10. Simply Christianity, by John Dickson and published by Matthias Media, is a reading of Luke’s Gospel with simple but challenging commentary designed to discover what is simply Christianity when all the extraneous stuff is stripped away.

There must be something there that caught your attention and made you think it might be worth turning off the TV and curling up with a cup of tea and a book. If you do take up the challenge to do more than ask the questions, more than dismiss God with a wave of your hand as you walk away still bemused, let me know. Write to me and we can have a chat about it. I always like to chat about my faith and hear what others have discovered on the journey. Your here until you go so you may as well make the best of it. Who knows but that it might turn out better and more meaningful than you ever dreamed or imagined?

e100 challenge - The Program

This is an initiative by Wycliffe to encourage Bible reading. The Bible reading habit has declined alarmingly among Christians and it is a cause of great concern. This looks like a great programme from the real experts in Bible translation and distribution.

WHAT IS THE E100 CHALLENGE?
The Essential 100 Challenge™ (The E100) is an effective Bible reading program built around 100 carefully selected short Bible passages — 50 from the Old Testament and 50 from the New Testament. It enables people in your church to get the big picture of God's Word and in the process develop a daily Bible reading habit.

e100 challenge - The Program