Category Archives: L.E.D. Bible & Worship

I’m on a roll, a blog everyday in this new year. Don’t count on it continuing.

But something I do hope YOU continue is your daily Bible reading and study. Everyday of not only this year, but every year for the rest of your life. It is said, “This book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book.” I hope sin in your life is forgiven. That not only the presence of sin is under the blood, but the power of sin over your life is broken. And that you have a deep hunger for God’s Word, and reading, studying, and hiding it in your heart every day.

The children and I are finishing a wonderful book from the early 1800’s. (Sound familiar? Yes, older books really are much better usually.) This one is entitled The Scripture Guide and is by James W. Alexander. It is a great introduction to understanding the Bible for children. It is written as a dialog between an uncle and his two young nephews that he is instructing. It concludes with 30 directions for reading the Bible that we would all be benefitted by keeping in mind.

I have read many children’s introductions to the Bible. This is by far the best, for delight in reading, and understanding the Scriptures as God’s Word, and how we should approach our study of them.

I highly recommend that you enhance your reading of the Bible, with an understanding of the Bible itself, not just individual verses, but as a whole. The Scripture Guide is a great way to do that.

I hope you all had a “Blessed Incarnation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, Day” (think about it – “Christmas”) and a triumphant entry to the New Year.

If you don’t have a Bible Reading Plan I encourage you to begin one. It is a great way to begin the New Year, with a plan to read God’s Word completely through, during the year. It is important to read the Bible, completely and in context (as opposed to haphazardly, here a little, there a little). There are many plans you can follow. A very easy one is to read about 3 chapters a day (5 on the Lord’s Day/Sabbath).

One we are enjoying following is a bit different. It prescribes reading from both the Old and New Testaments everyday, and takes you through the whole Bible completely once, and the New Testament and Psalms twice in the year. The layout of it divides the readings into Family and Individual readings, so half the chapters will be read by yourself, and the other half as part of your daily Family Altar time (I hope you are doing this too.)

One great thing about this schedule is that the whole family (and perhaps your whole church, if they do such) is reading the same chapters each day and you can all discuss them at any time. It is a great way to bring spiritual unity in growth, in the family and the church.

This schedule was arranged by Robert Murray M‘Cheyne, who lived in the early 1800’s. It is/was recommended by Ravi Zacharias, Charles Spurgeon and John Stott, among many others.

Here’s a link to a site where you can download/print the schedule. (There are many others, but I like the format of this one – legal size, folds to brochure to fit in Bible, large enough to read easily.) Look under Daily Bible Reading and click on pdf file:
www.mountzion.org/see.html

(Put M’Cheyne Bible into a google search and you will come up with many others, some interactive online versions.)

And here’s a link to a website where you can download free Bible Reader software for reading the Bible on your Palm (or other) handheld, and M’Cheyne reading schedule that you can check off the chapters as you read them. Click on your type of handheld on the left to get the download page for Bible Reader.
www.olivetree.com/download/

Then click on this page to choose a bible version to download. Several are free. KJV is $5.00.
www.olivetree.com/store/catalog/Products-p-1-c-259.html

Then click on this page, on Robert Murray M’Cheyne’s Schedule to download his reading schedule:
www.olivetree.com/handheld/BibleReadMe/

You can also download many other books (many for free) to read on your Palm with Bible Reader. But that’s another topic for another day.
For today, start a systematic reading of the Bible itself – for a Blessed New Year!

We rely heavily upon the Bible for our “curriculum”. But obviously it

isn’t the only book we study. We utilize 4 Real Resources, rather than
textbooks, as our “core curriculum” – Real Books, Real People, Real Places, and Real Experiences. As a part of this Lifestyle we go to places and do things that are relative to “Real Life” – not contrived (which doesn’t always mean, not planned). We talk to “real people”, people who have lived life – gone places, experienced things that are interesting to listen to. And we read real books, exciting stories about the lives of the people that have experienced life, that have learned and grown. Exciting books that allow us to experience in our minds what we aren’t able to experience with our bodies. In addition to stories, we read factual books that present information in an interesting, rememberable way – as much as possible, books that relate that information to God and His Word, and relationally to our lives. I plan to (eventually) send a post of Resources for each of the 7 Pillars of Learning. (perhaps posts for each Pillar.) In this post I’ll start with Resources that specifically relate to our study of God’s Word (that all other studies hinge upon) and our growth in Him.

The Bible of course is our source that all other resources are held up to and compared with. We prefer to stick with KJV or New King James Version for their accuracy. We buy our little ones a NKJV Giant Print Bible as soon as they begin to read. The large print is easier on their eyes, and the NKJV is very understandable, yet accurate – without being a paraphrase, or “dumbed down” version. When our children reach their “formal study” years (around puberty), we buy them a NKJV Spirit-Filled Life Study Bible. This keeps us all reading the same version aloud, for easy follow along, and all memorizing in the same translation. If you prefer the purity and beauty of the original KJV, it is also available in a Giant Print and we recommend the Full Life Study Bible (good study notes), or the Rainbow Study Bible (color coded by theme), or the Hebrew Greek Key Study Bible (includes the original Hebrew/Greek words and their meanings – like having Strong’s concordance in your Bible.) If using KJV, you’ll probably want various family members to have the different recommendations here for optimal study use. The Thompson Chain Reference Bible is also a good study Bible available in KJV and NKJV. For our little ones, babies, toddlers, and prereaders we buy a Baby’s/Toddler’s Bible that they carry around with them as soon as they are able, developing a love for God’s Word at a very early age.

For learning about the Bible, we use several resources. One area we
study is Bible Survey, for familiarity with the whole of God’s Word. Probably my favorite resource for adults and teens is Chuck Missler’s “Learn the Bible in 24 Hours” – a CD-ROM that takes you through a quick (24 Hour) overview of the Bible. It is divided into 1 hour sections, and includes a visual (PowerPoint) presentation along with the audio teaching. Another resource for Bible Survey is “What the Bible is All About” by Henrietta Mears. It is a classic that gives an overview of each book and a reading plan for reading the highlights of each book. It is divided into 52 lessons, and has daily readings for each chapter. There is also “What the Bible is All About for Young Explorers” for younger children. These can be used for Family Study of this topic by presenting from the “…Young Explorers” version then having the older youth also read the regular version and reading plan.

If you have only pre-readers, or desire to use a Bible Storybook, whether for family devotions or your Bible Survey with young children, two of our favorite story Bibles are “The Child’s Story Bible” by Catherine Vos (a classic) or the “Illustrated Children’s Bible”. or you may want to use “Bible Studies to Read” and “Bible Stories to Color” by **Rod and Staff. Each has simple Bible Stories going through the highlights of the entire Bible. Your children can draw or color pages as you read, or narrate or act out the story – either in person or with felt cut outs.

In another post I will continue covering recommended resources for
Bible Doctrine, Bible Principles for Life, Bible References, Bible Study and Memory, Devotional Life and more; as well as documenting our Biblical Studies through Journaling.

**Rod and Staff books not available through Me and My House.