I know so much of life looks black and white right now. At least, you wish it did. And when it doesn’t, you try to make it that way; it’s your way of making sense of the world. It would be so much easier if God just handed you the blueprint, wouldn’t it? It would be easier to follow “the plan”.

I think we’ve all been in a bible study that was at best uncomfortable and at worst, not a “study” at all. I’ve been in a lot of studies over the years in many different formats. These varied from in-home studies to church-facilitated groups. I learned much about the Word in those groups and I made some lasting friendships, but I also learned how NOT to host a Bible study when it came Josh and my turn to facilitate one!

They were baptized as babies. They grew up in the church. Grandma was a “front row Baptist” and they were right there with her on Sunday morning. Or they sat through youth group and Christian school and assumed, because they knew the FACTS of God, they knew God Himself.It’s an epidemic problem in America, where following Jesus has been distilled down to saying a prayer to “ask Him into your heart”.

When you’re a mom of young kids, leaving to disciple people in a foreign country probably isn’t on your agenda; your primary discipleship is to the little people under your roof. But you also have another mission field: The one outside your door.

It’s the new year and if you’re like me, you’re starting a Bible reading plan! Apps like YouVersion make it so easy to pick a reading plan for the year – especially one for reading through the whole Bible. I love these, because reading through the entire Bible will help you see the big picture (or metanarrative) of the gospel, but it will also force you to read books you might otherwise skip over! I am entering my fourth year reading through the Bible (chronologically this time – my second time this way!) and it’s something I always encourage, even if it takes you longer than a year!