Reflections on the Bible, and Other Writings, from a Christian Perspective.
About a week and a half ago I released another dozen recordings of my readings from the New Testament. As we approach the end of 2020, I have one more book to share. That being 1 Thessalonians, which is five chapters in length.
Several months ago I decided to record myself reading all of the New Testament, but after only two uploads, I was unable to continue such efforts with any regularity. Today, I am pleased to announce the release of three more books from the World English Bible. These include Philippians, Colossians, and 2 Timothy.
I have said this before, and I'm sure I'll do so again: Jesus was a great master teacher. One aspect of His teaching that people are most familiar with is His use of parables. Some of these are short and relatively straightforward. Others were so confusing that the disciples asked for an explanation. Because of their importance in the Gospels, it was only a matter of time before I would develop a reading plan for them.
Humility, or the lack thereof, lies behind many events in the Bible. Multiple kings of Israel were destroyed because they did not have it. A number of men and women exhibited it in various ways. Jesus taught it by explicit instruction, and also by example. Because of these reasons, reading passages on humility is surely edifying and uplifting for us.
Pride is involved with us being tempted to sin against God, and is admittedly an unpleasant topic to discuss. However, it is important for us to study so that we understand why we should resist it. That is one of the purposes for this reading plan. I hope that it brings the folly of pride to light in our lives, and motivates each of us to destroy it within ourselves through Christ.
I find the concept of creation to be fascinating. It is remarkable for displaying God's authority and power, while also reminding us of our lowliness before Him. One aspect that may be less apparent is how often some of the topics mentioned during the creation week are found elsewhere in the Bible. This integrated reading plan helps demonstrate these connections.
Last month I began releasing my first audio recordings of me reading the New Testament. I started in modest fashion with some of the shortest chapters in the Bible. Today I am sharing my second set of readings, this time with nine more chapters available for download.
As I have shared multiple times before, I consider reading the Bible to be one of the most important decisions I ever made in my life. I encourage all people to do the same, even though I recognize that reading that much may be a significant challenge. For some, listening to the New Testament is a more realistic option. Today I am contributing toward this latter goal by releasing my first series of audio recordings.
It is safe to say that love is an extremely important topic in the New Testament. Multiple chapters discuss it at length, one of which is 1 Corinthians 13. In that text, the apostle Paul even goes so far as to say that love is greater than faith and hope. I have already prepared plans for both of those topics. Today I am finishing this series with the concept of love.
Continuing through our series of reading plans based on the end of 1 Corinthians 13, we now come to hope. At first glance, it may seem very similar to faith. Surprisingly, it is distinct from that. Although the two words are sometimes used in the same context, hope is actually found far fewer times in the New Testament. It is also used for different reasons.
James L. Hutton 