Recommendation: Grant Horner’s Bible Reading System

February 10, 2012 Leave a comment

As a professional I take my personal growth seriously. Follow me on Twitter or scan through the history of this blog and you’ll find a number of posts that I’ve written and/or reviewed on the subject. As a Christian, I see my personal growth as a spiritual journey also. Obviously, reading the bible is a discipline that’s paramount to my growth but one that I’ve always struggled with outside of my normal sermon preparation time as a minister. Some pastors see their time in preparation as the “bible” time in their day but I’m not one of those. Preparation for a message is more research based while reading the bible for growth is more “heart” driven. So how do I get more of God’s Word into my life?

For years, I’ve tried various methods. I’ve downloaded numerous reading plans over the years and would gladly share them with you if you email me. Many bibles today have a plan printed in them for you to get started and those are great too. This year, I decided to try something new and after 40+ days of doing it, I can honestly say it’s something I would recommend to anyone who asks. It’s the reading system developed by college professor Grant Horner. You can download a copy of the system by CLICKING HERE.

I call this a system of reading because I really am not a fan of plans. Most plans are calendar based and the reason nearly everyone fails on them is because life happens and we get behind on the “plan”. This in turn leads to frustration and ultimately to giving up. Horner’s system of reading simply has you reading a chapter a day in ten different places in the bible. The system is not calendar driven so you can start today and begin reaping the rewards. If you’re a tech type reader, there are apps you can download for the system and use your smart phone or tablet PC for reading. Personally, I prefer my traditional bible and have printed out the bookmarks for the plan, laminated them, and use this as my daily reading tool. One other helpful tip for me was using those colorful “post it” type flags you can buy in any office supply store and mark my chapters as I read in the ten places each day. That way, if two chapter headings our on the page, I know where I’ve left off in that section.

Ten chapters a day sounds like a lot and initially it is until you get used to it. After a month of reading this way I’ve found many benefits within the system. The main benefit for me is that I see many cross references within scripture that I had not seen before unless I was using a specific tool in my research time. God’s Word is infusing my life with a joy in reading I had not had before. I’ve not reading for deep study initially so I get through my chapters within 30-40 minutes. The only tools I use while reading are some highlighters and a small notebook. As I’m reading, I take note of specific passages I want to return to for research and study. I highlight a few and that’s it. Later in the day, I can go back and do a deeper study if I wish on those places in scripture that I want to research.

Reading the bible is a discipline that’s sorely lacking in most Christians’ lives. We cannot grow in our faith if we do not give ourselves to the reading of scripture. As a pastor, I highly recommend Horner’s system to you. Download it, try it for 30 days and see if you do not agree. If you’ve already tried it and have thoughts to add, please comment below!

Filed under Church Life, Leadership, Spiritual Growth Tagged with , ,

Making Time for Personal Growth

November 14, 2011 Leave a comment

If you’re a regular reader here you know of my love for books. It doesn’t matter if they are traditional paper books, eBooks, audio books, you name it. I love to explore and tinker with ideas shared in the content of a good book.

More and more though I hear people telling me they have less time to read and for some, they see little value in the expenditure of time for what they perceive is very little growth. This week, I want to focus on simple tips for your personal growth. You CAN find a way to do this and starting small will help pay big dividends in the end.

Let’s start with audio books. These are handy because you can listen while you drive, exercise, do housework, or shuttle between classes at school. If you can carve out 20-30 minutes a day, then you can absorb some great growth material. Here are two books that can get you started…

1) The Art of Influence
This is a great audio book that explains the simple techniques for learning how to communicate with others and to build your leadership skills into a great leader.

2)The Art of Exceptional Living
Jim Rohn is one of my favorite speakers and this condensed audio book is brief but packed with great ideas. There is so much here to learn and benefit from.

I picked these two books not only because of their content but also because they are brief. For someone starting a new habit like allowing themselves time for audio books, these are two that are short but power packed. You could finish either one in a week’s time if you just allow yourself 20-30 minutes a day to listen to them. That means in two weeks time (conservatively) you will have completed two books in your personal growth and hopefully will have a number of great ideas to implement from them. Remember, you must take ACTION to benefit from this teaching. Believe me, there is enough here to take action on within the time you will invest to listen to these books. Better yet is cost. I was able to check out both of these books in audio form from my local library! That’s right, two outstanding books and it didn’t cost me a dime! Even if you did buy them, the price is reasonable enough and the benefits worth it.

There’s no excuse not to take in great ideas. In less time that you will take to watch ONE television show, you can be growing in your personal development and these two books are just a start! Make it a point to listen while you finish house work, wash the car, or take a walk! You can do this and if you do, by the time you finish these two books, I guarantee you will build a habit that desires more!

Give it a try and happy learning!

Filed under Leadership, Productivity, Spiritual Growth

Our Identity as a Christian

July 29, 2011 Leave a comment

Do what God’s teaching says; don’t just listen and do nothing. When you only sit and listen, you are fooling yourselves.
(James 1:22 ERV)

Many people today claim some type of faith. In America, though other religions are growing, Christianity still is the predominant religion of our culture. Ask most people and they will tell you they are “Christian”. Most however are merely giving a default answer. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to judge anyone but if statistics are to be believed we are in an age when true Christianity is seeing a serious decline in its adherents.

It might help to state that I see the practice of claiming to be a Christian as more than just an identity to satisfy ourselves but rather, it’s a label that denotes our devotion to the person of Jesus Christ. When I talk to people about their faith and they willingly share with me that they are a “believer” my conversation naturally turns to how often they are reading the Bible, what has God been teaching them of late, and who are they serving? Once in a while I will get solid answers of daily reading, blessings and burdens, and the ministry they are serving in. In the vast majority of cases, I hear a plethora of excuses ranging from time constraints, not understanding the Word of God, not wanting to be bogged down in a church, etc..

As a business professional I write often here about leadership skills and time management. As a pastor, I attempt to bring this crucial information into the spiritual realm. The reality is our lives reflect what is most important to us. If Christ is important we will find 30 minutes in a day to read God’s Word. We will pray, we will change destructive actions and not be influenced by destructive people, and we will find a way to live our faith practically so that others will see the reality of who Jesus is. The words of the Apostle James follow up on this:

You might think you are a very religious person. But if your tongue is out of control, you are fooling yourself. Your careless talk makes your offerings to God worthless.
(James 1:26 ERV)

Do our actions measure up to our words? Or is our tongue merely being careless? If we never take action on what we learn, are we really making a difference? And how can we take action if we don’t read the execution manual? (The Bible). In business, we would be fired for attempting to do something without first reading the instructions and knowing how it should be done. If we lie on our résumé and say we are proficient in a certain skill we will soon be found out. Yet, many do this very thing by claiming to know God when they’ve never even read His book, hardly pray, and never take action. If you really are a Christian, then let God’s light shine through you as you serve others and glorify God each day (Matthew 5:16)

Filed under Church Life, Spiritual Growth

Growing In the Bible

July 17, 2011 Leave a comment 

Nearly every week I see yet another advertisement from some church network on how to get my people more excited about growing spiritually or spending more time in the bible. 40 days of this and 90 days of that and several hundred dollars for all the files to reprint and I'm in business.

REALLY?

Call me silly but when did real bible study lose it’s ability to do these things? Consider these passages from scripture:

Therefore my people go into exile for lack of knowledge; their honored men go hungry, and their multitude is parched with thirst.
(Isaiah 5:13 ESV)

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me.
(Hosea 4:6a ESV)

These are just two verses that warn of impending problems when we get away from learning the Word of God. In churches today we are seeing more biblically illiterate people NOT because they necessarily want to be. We are seeing this because the leadership is trending away from the hard work of stressing real bible teaching because it’s not popular or trendy with our culture. People outside the church that we are trying to reach don’t understand the value of this practice for the very reason that they ARE outside the church. Encouraging people to dig into the bible itself and learn it’s precepts is not something that many people find appealing and for some, they will leave and go to a church that gives them more of what they want; messages that tend to be more about self-help with a little bible applied and little else.

There’s nothing wrong with tying life’s problems into our messages and giving people hope but as a pastor, my first priority is to infuse scripture into the lives of my congregation and allow them to see the application to their modern day existence. I do not want to be one of those “rejected” by God because I chose to avoid the hard work of teaching scripture. Teaching people to use tools like the Cross Reference Guide to the Bible so people can discover the bible’s own teachings is paramount in my ministry. It’s not popular because it doesn’t come with a fancy study guide, internet graphics, and it doesn’t sync with smart phones. What it does though is transform lives. THAT should be our focus. If current trends continue, our culture will drift listlessly into a sea of muddled theology and no biblical conviction. Let’s change that trend one person at a time.

I’d love to read your thoughts on this!

Filed under Church Life, Leadership, Spiritual Growth

When Life Hurts

June 7, 2011 2 Comments

I recently had a friend ask me “Why has God abandoned my family?”. Still another asked “Will I ever see my children again?” A third is going through the pain of separation after taking a stand for their faith and breaking up a long time relationship when a promised commitment never materialized. As a pastor, I see a lot of hurt. Still, it’s okay to ask the question “Why?”

Ecclesiastes is one of my favorite books in the bible because it was written by a man who had reached the pinnacle of God’s blessing only to make a series of horrible choices and fall to the lowest of lows before realizing what life truly was all about. King Solomon was the son of David and the wisest man in all of Scripture and yet, even he questioned the cycles of life. Here are just a smattering of quotes from this wise King:

I decided to learn how wisdom and knowledge are better than thinking foolish thoughts. But I learned that trying to become wise is like trying to catch the wind.
(Ecclesiastes 1:17 ERV)

So I decided to fill my body with wine while I filled my mind with wisdom. I tried this foolishness because I wanted to find a way to be happy. I wanted to see what was good for people to do during their few days of life.
(Ecclesiastes 2:3 ERV)

There is a time to cry and a time to laugh. There is a time to be sad and a time to dance with joy.
(Ecclesiastes 3:4 ERV)

In the end, Solomon realized that this life and all that we do is a preparation for the one that is coming after we die:

Remember your Creator while you are young, before the bad times come–before the years come when you say, “I have wasted my life.”
(Ecclesiastes 12:1 ERV)

Your body came from the earth. And when you die, it will return to the earth. But your spirit came from God, and when you die, it will return to him.
(Ecclesiastes 12:7 ERV)

I don’t have all the answers. It’s okay to say that. When I counsel with others I tell them that many things in this life have to be taken on faith. God sees suffering and time in a different way. We cannot control many of the things that come at us. Both of my parents came from broken homes, my wife’s father was an alcoholic who destroyed the family bond,  and my wife’s oldest brother died in his early 40′s after years of bad choices and his body finally beat up with the ravages of those decisions.

What we can control is our reaction. The late Jim Rohn would call this our “philosophy” of life. We can choose to take the bad and make good from it or we can continue to associate with destructive people and choices and, like King Solomon, come to our middle age years wondering if we have wasted our lives.

I choose to live in Joy. That doesn’t mean that I don’t get depressed at times. I’ve cried a lot recently over many of the things happening to those around me that I care for. I’ve had extended periods of being down and out. I’ve felt like Elijah on the mountain crying out to God for some relief (1 Kings 19). Still, I can live in Joy knowing that one day I will live in eternal bliss with the King of Kings. For now, my life call is to bring hope to others. It will get better. “Joy coming in the morning!” (Psalm 30:5).

Have a great day…Serve someone!

Filed under General Topics, Spiritual Growth

Reflecting Success!

June 1, 2011 Leave a comment

Do what God’s teaching says; don’t just listen and do nothing. When you only sit and listen, you are fooling yourselves. Hearing God’s teaching and doing nothing is like looking at your face in the mirror and doing nothing about what you saw. You go away and immediately forget how bad you looked.
(James 1:22-24)

Are you unhappy with some things in your life? Are you not having the successes you thought you would have? Are your relationships in the tank and not seemingly getting any better? Have you looked in the mirror lately?

In his excellent book “Lead the Field” author Earl Nightingale relates a story of a woman who had the impression that everyone in her new neighborhood was unfriendly and unwelcoming so she prodded her husband to move them back to the area from where they had come. Nightingale questioned the husband when he saw them packing after just a few months and asked him if his wife had taken any steps to let the women in the neighborhood know she was interested in making new friends. The crux of the story is that the ladies saw this woman as cold, unfriendly, and to herself. How could that be given her desire to fit in? It was because of the way others saw her and the “image” she reflected.

So many times I see people who are unhappy and unfulfilled in life and they can’t see for themselves what’s causing the problem. When you spend as much time with people as I do, you can generally pick up the problem quickly and in almost every case the person they are reflecting is a negative, surly, person that nobody would want to be around. At least nobody that wants to feel better about themselves. These types of people tend to attract just who they are “reflecting” and what happens is a horrible cycle of bad relationships, wounded self-esteem, and a life wasted. In this state of mind it’s easy to find others who reflect the same bad attitude and don’t want to change. You can “coast” along in life and never change.

This affects all age groups. Teenagers are just as easily affected as business professionals. A teen girl without a true fatherly role model can easily see herself in a mirror as unworthy of true love and she desperately tries to make it happen by hooking up with boys who are quite eager to take her physical love from her and leave her when they tire of the experience. Why do you think TV shows like “Teen Mom” are so popular with the younger audience today? The girl is often left a shell of herself after a few of these “relationships” and her reflection worsens over time.

So how do we fix this? It’s not easy but you have the complete control in this matter. As the quote I began this post with states, you can look in the mirror and see what needs changing. You have to be intentional though. What are you reflecting right now? What do people see? Have you ever asked? You might be surprised. Here’s a start-up list of some ideas to improve your reflection:

1) Find someone outside of your present circle of friends who reflects success. Find people who are where you desire to be. Spend time with these types of people. At first, this might be difficult since you’re so used to “coasting” along in life. You might even have to start by finding these “mentors” in books at your library and read their inspiring words. Audio books work well too. For me, Earl Nightingale and Jim Rohn were friends from audio books that challenged me.

2) Decide on one action you will take that will improve your reflection. Are you overweight like me? Then start walking and make better choices as you eat. How do you dress? I’m not saying you have to wear a suit but do your clothes look like they belong in the 80′s or 90′s? If so, upgrade a bit. It doesn’t have to be expensive. I’ve found nice clothes at the Goodwill and Thrift shops in town along with discount and department stores. The point is ACTION. Do something today to improve your reflection.

3) Journal. This one will not resonate with many. Writing in a book is not something many folks are inspired to do but there’s something about capturing your thoughts on paper that will benefit you in the long run. Journal today about how you feel and what you want to achieve in the next year, 3 years, and 5 years. Be honest. This is your private document. Let go of everything that you fear and spill yourself onto the notebook. Trap those thoughts in the prison of paper and review them from time to time. This will inspire you to make the changes needed to improve your reflection.

I hope you will decide to continually be improving yourself. I’m not where I need to be either but am continuing on the journey. Chaos is all around us. Only YOU can bring the order you desire. Take action today!

Filed under Leadership, Spiritual Growth

Preaching for God’s Glory – Book Review

May 27, 2011 Leave a comment

Every year I like to read at least one to two books on the topic of preaching just to continue to improve in my work as a preacher of the gospel.

Alistair Begg’s new edition of “Preaching for God’s Glory” was recently released and is available as an ebook for about $5 through the Crossway Books site so I couldn’t resist and picked it up and quickly put it on my Sony Reader. Begg is one of the men who I most admire and his work as a pastor in two continents over many years points to his longevity in the pulpit. This book is his brief but to the point call for preachers to return to careful exposition of God’s Word. In a few short chapters he starts by giving some brief history of his own spiritual growth as a preacher and then dissects the topic of expository preaching to bring it’s eternal benefits to life.

Begg does not criticize other styles of preaching but instead, makes his case for our foundational study being that of expositional teaching. I agree with him. Within preaching today, we must be very careful not to allow our desire to fit the Word of God into what we want to preach dominate over what the Word is actually saying. It’s a very subtle effect but Begg champions the idea of coming to a text in scipture “empty” and allowing it to shape us and our message rather than trying to shape the Word into our want for a specific topic.

After breaking down and explaining the various benefits of expository preaching, Begg than concludes the book with a brief outline of how he prepares his messages each week and how we can derive the greatest benefit from the work of planning in this way.

The book is short, to the point, and gives great information. You could read the entire thing in one sitting probably in an hour or two. I chose to read it slowly, taking in a chapter every day for a few days and writing down some ideas I had taken from the book. Either way, if you are a preacher of God’s Word, you would benefit from reading this book!

Filed under Book Reviews, Spiritual Growth

Motivation and Enthusiasm

May 25, 2011 Leave a comment

“Dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die today.”
~James Dean

What motivates you each day? What is it that causes your feet to hit the floor and get out of that bed to start another cycle of living? Is it routine? Or is there something bigger that drives you?

Motivation is one of those components of life that we talk a lot about but don’t spend a lot of time defining. Enthusiasm is often errantly considered motivation but it’s not. Enthusiasm is easier to generate but when it comes time to take action on the enthusiasm many will put it off and soon, never execute. The difference between enthusiasm and motivation is similar to the difference between lust and love in a relationship. One is easier because of its immediate reward. The other harder because it takes effort.

Motivation is when your doctor tells you that you have one year to lose 50 pounds or you’re going on medication. Motivation is when your job is eliminated and you have to reinvent yourself to employers. The actions you take in these situations are driven by motivation and NOT enthusiasm. The bible speaks of our work and death in these terms:

Every time you find work to do, do it the best you can. In the grave there is no work. There is no thinking, no knowledge, and there is no wisdom. And we are all going to the place of death.
(Ecclesiastes 9:10 ERV)

Realistically I’m entering the final third of my life as far as work is concerned. I hope I live that long but there are no promises. James Dean died in his mid-20′s not long after uttering the words I used at the beginning of this piece. What is it that I most want to achieve? A decent quality of life for sure. I want my wife and I to have some time together when our kids are grown so we can enjoy our final years together doing some things we’ve never gotten to do. But even larger than that is the legacy I leave behind for my son and daughters. Along with them are the people I’m honored to serve as a pastor. What eternal difference did I make in this brief window of time that God gave me to live my life? What can I do for someone else that will matter past the days I’m here? THAT is what motivates me. And the answers to these questions require a daily examination of my actions:

Then Jesus said to his followers, “If any of you want to be my follower, you must stop thinking about yourself and what you want. You must be willing to carry the cross that is given to you for following me.
(Matthew 16:24 ERV)

Your motivation might be different. But this is what I live for. Sure I’m enthusiastic about it but that’s not what DRIVES me. Don’t confuse the two. Plan your day with motivation in mind.

So what motivates you?

Filed under Leadership, Spiritual Growth

Planting the Gospel

May 23, 2011 2 Comments

What would happen if we as Christians focused our efforts at planting Jesus in the hearts of people rather than simply planting a “church”? As a church planter, I wrestle all the time with ideas and expectations of what the process of establishing a “church” looks like. Is it found in programs? A building? Teams of people moving to an area?

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
(John 15:7-8 ESV)

What if we simply took the words of Jesus to heart and began producing fruit? Would that fruit not eventually grow into a church? I think sometimes in our zeal to plant a “church” we forget the most important element and that is the heart of people. Most church planters I talk to say they are planting a new church because they want “see the lost get saved and serve Jesus” but if that really is the case then you have to realize that new Christians will come with a lot of baggage that will take a long time to shed. Sometimes (Many times!), they will get discouraged and leave the work you are trying to establish. In doing this they will often criticize you, your vision, God, your spouse, and other people in the congregation you are trying to bond together. All the fancy systems and planning cannot eliminate this. We have to focus on people.

What would such a movement look like? How much would you be willing to sacrifice? Would you and your spouse be willing to work full-time jobs as you started the process of reaching people? It would certainly speed up the process of getting to a specific region and moving forward in planting Jesus in the hearts of people. Even the apostle Paul made tents as he planted the gospel seed of Jesus into the hearts of the people he ministered to.

All good questions to consider. Feedback anyone? Anyone?

Filed under Church Life, Spiritual Growth

Digital Bibles – The Downside?

May 20, 2011 Leave a comment

Is there a potential downside to the digital trend in bibles on tablet PC’s, smartphones, and eReaders? This week, I’ve discussed (albeit on a surface level) the great benefits we now have living in the digital age. This includes the availability of bibles and related study tools that are freely ready for downloading, most at no cost to the reader. So what could be bad about all of this? It really depends on who you talk to. There are actually some people out there who have said that a digital bible isn’t really the inspired Word of God. I guess you have to have a “hard” copy in your hands for it to really work for you. I don’t understand that line of thought but perhaps there is one grain of truth in that thinking that is purely unintended. That is this: The digital revolution has the potential for stunting your spiritual growth. You might say no it doesn’t but let’s consider a few of the “negative” aspects of digital bible reading…

1) Reading the Bible is much more than checking off boxes on a reading plan. I’ve went back on forth on reading plans. I like the organization but truthfully, they are constricting. Miss a day and you get discouraged. Miss a week and you give up. I’ll have more to say on this later but understand that a reading plan is not much more than surface level stuff. If you really want God’s Word to change you, there has to be more.

2) Depth of study. Digital tools give us flexibility in how we interact with scripture but are we really using them to study or do we use them as a kind of internet search to find ‘verses that talk about adultery’? Giving time to let God’s Word speak to you is the only true path to life change (Colossians 3:16).

3) Personalizing it. Today’s newer online tools have the ability to make notes, highlight text, and bookmark your reading. Still, there’s something about underlining verses in a paper bible, writing notes in the margin, highlighting text, and using special little “glyphs” to note your reading that make reading from a “hard” copy bible something that digital will never reproduce. For years, I’ve put lightning bolts, light bulbs, question marks, and candles in the margin of my bible to mark specific ideas or thoughts as I’ve read. It doesn’t matter what they mean…You might have your own system but what it does is make your bible YOURS. My kids have looked at my bible and laughed at the things they’ve seen but they have also questioned me on certain areas where I’ve written things down. One day, it might be something that will bless them or a great-great-great-great grandchild I will never meet in this life.

In the end, digital tools are great. I use them all the time. But I’ve never allowed them to replace my traditional paper tools that I still use for my in depth study of God’s Word. You will have to determine what works for you and allow God to change your heart with the daily infusion of His Word in your life. I welcome any thoughts you might want to add on this topic.

Filed under Church Life, Spiritual Growth

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