[originally posted Jan 9, 2017]

Dear 5x5x5 Bible Readers,

Wow!  300+ people from our church body have committed to reading through the New Testament this year using the Discipleship Journal 5x5x5 plan.  (Also available on the You Version app.)  I am so excited to take this challenge together, you’ll have many people to talk to about what you’re reading!

Our reading plan starts in the gospel of Mark.  Mark was written to a non-Jewish audience and was a book for people who were not acquainted with Jesus or Christianity.  Mark’s goal is to introduce you to Jesus and the book is loosely chronological and reads easily like a newspaper.  Mark doesn’t quote the Old Testament much, never mentions the Law, and doesn’t record many speeches or parables.  Mark is more like a concisely edited documentary film script… It is full of action verbs like “at once” and “immediately” (42 times)… Mark’s characters are “amazed”, “astonished”, and “terrified”… He would have written in all caps with lots of exclamation points today!

I’d like to encourage you to Read regularly – but also to Reflect, Record, Respond, & Repeat (all the good R words from Sunday’s sermon!).

Sometimes it helps to read with a question in mind – In the book of Mark I am asking, “Who is Jesus?  What can I learn about his character, his power, his mission, and how he interacts with people?”

Five minutes a day – let the Word change your life!  Make a new habit!  Courage to you all.