B120, the Third...

Hungry souls are crying out for yet another B120. This time we will be starting,

Update: 3rd of February 2013

This could be your third time, second or even first time. If it is your first time then you are especially invited. Why? Because getting the big picture is most important to begin with. For more good reasons see the "Benefits" section. 

What reading plan will be used? Generally there is total freedom between everything that you can find here on the website or your own creation. But there will be one ready that is a little different to what is currently available. So much I can say already though, it's based on the B240X...

COMMUNITY: This is and has been one of the great strengths of this initiative. Therefore if you find this, are interested and would like to read and meet with others in your area, let me know and I will get a page with all the B120 group and then you can organise meeting each other, to talk about your experience of reading at that pace, spur each other on, encourage each other and share the things the Spirit has taught you.

Or use Facebook...

Reading Plans: Hebrew OT Order

Close to the second B120 starting on 1st of September one new reading plan has just been released in two different versions. It is a changed version of the 180X and 240X plans but with the OT in the original Hebrew order. 

Now what's the point of reading the Old Testament this way? Because Jesus and the apostles and the entire church who had the complete OT read it that way. It was only later changed to a different order. Is that a big problem? Not massively because it is very easy to find the original order on the internet and everyone can decide for themselves in what order he or she reads through the OT. Unfortunately not many know that there is a different order to the OT. And there are indeed advantages in reading it this way. 

Some things only really make sense when you read it the Hebrew order. For example the books of Chronicles close the canon of the OT for the Hebrew reader. That means you don't read first Kings and then straight after almost the same again in Chronicles. Instead you first go through all other writings of poetry and prophets until you get again confronted with the history of Israel. Chronicles serves as a summary of the entire Bible up to that point and through it's genealogies is focusing on the lines of Judah and Levi, the royal line and the priestly line. And as the expectations for the future Messiah are finding their climax we find both lines coming together in Jesus, the King-Priest who fulfills both in himself. 

And not only does Chronicles belong at the end of the OT, it was also written last. That can be seen that 2 Chronicles 36 makes mention of the return of the exiles who were now in need to be reminded of their identity since the entire generation grew up in exile, far away from their home land. And it explains the prophetic insights that it includes and which we don't find in 1 & 2 Kings. And the kings of Israel don't even appear in the story line, as they do in the book of the Kings, because they have nothing to do with the line of Jesus, which is rooted in Judah. 

So if you would like to have a look at the OT from the angle of Jesus and the apostles, feel free to download the reading plans below. 

B180X Hebrew Order

B240X Hebrew Order

First B120 Completed!

Hi everyone,
the first Bible in 120 days read-through has been completed on the 12th of August. But quite a few people (including myself) have finished a little later or are still in the final lines of the reading plan. That is perfectly ok since the the schedule is only an orientation and to keep synced with the other readers.

Now the question is who people found this reading experience. Those testimonies would be useful for those who are intrigued about the value of reading through the Bible 3x faster than average. Does it really make a difference to read bigger chunks daily? Was it like rushing through the Bible? How long did people take to read their daily passages? Would you do it again?

Especially the last question is answered in that some who have heard about B120 half way through would like to do it for the first time now. Since 120 days fit into a year 3 times, the next B120 will start on 1st of September. At the same time there can be a parallel B90 reading stream starting on 1st of October. That would result in the following starting dates through every year.

B120:  1st of Jan, 1st of May, 1st of September
B90:    1st of Jan, 1st of April, 1st of July, 1st of October

And again their is complete flexibility as well. For example doing a B90 only on 1st of Jan and July and then leaving the two in between for catching up or unstructured Bible reading.

Would it not be amazing if in a not to distant future there would be enough people committed to this reading pace that there are always some people doing one of the following reading times so that one is never alone? Unthinkable? But surely; whoever has tasted the goodness of the Word of God by eating a little more honey everyday, why would you go back

New Reading Plan (B240X & B180X)

It's week six of B120 and I hope people are keeping up with the reading. If not then still keep it up as you can and as time permits. Trying to catch up can be a real slave master and that's not what it is about.

Meanwhile the feedback of the last months has led to the creation of a new reading plan. It's quite different than what I've seen so far so hopefully it will fill those gaps that keep people from reading and gets them into the Word. However I couldn't come up with a fitting name for it because it's so flexible. I just called it Bible X because X stands for

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Another reading tip for B120

Today week three of B120 will finish and we are heading straight into the fourth week. I hope you all got safe through most of Leviticus. It should be easier reading through it quickly rather than wondering what each of these strange law is all about. It will come together over time, I'm sure.

I was naughty and stuck my nose into judges a bit already (no, I'm not ahead) and noticed something: "Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah, and they came to the vineyards of Timnah. And behold, a young lion came toward him roaring. Then the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat." Jdg 14:5-6
Samson - a judge of Israel - young lion!!! Very interesting! "There was a certain man of

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Discipline and Bible reading

Reading through the Bible in 120 days can be quite a challenge for some and so they need to be disciplined that they make the time during the day to read the set text. But there is a fine line between grace-inspired discipline and self-imposed, legalistic 'trying-harder'ism.

Here are two - helpfully - helpful articles if you want to be clear where you stand on this issue and to make sure you enjoy this reading adventure.

Ron Frost - Discipline and the Disciplines 

Glen Scrivener - Disciplines 

Ron Frost on Bible Reading

Today I went to a few seminars run by CorDeo called "Delighted by God". In the break I had the chance to chat Ron Frost about Bible reading and he told me about how he got into the habit of reading through the Bible 2-3 times a year by simply setting aside about 40 minutes every day.

read his thoughts here on his website:
A Spreading Goodness - Bible Read Throughs

if you prefer listening to some of it there is an interview of him with Mike Reeves at theologynetwork.org
God's heart and ours (from minute 51:30) The earlier stuff is great, too!

Jabber from Hux

I bit late but still: Here is a blog that Paul started for the B120 reading. Feel free to click in. 

Jabber From Hux

This blog is a sort of braindump for things that I think. It's speculative, and not deeply thought through. I'm going through Bible120 and will post as and when I feel like it.

First Week Done

Hi all and congratulations for having done the first reading week of B120. I hope you feel less like tabbing yourself on your shoulders and instead simply blessed by having exposed your mind to so much of God's good Word. We don't read the Bible to do God a favour but to have him bless and teach us about his Son. So don't worry if you are behind. Stay encouraged and read what you manage.

I met lots and lots of people during the week who have started the reading. Some invited whole groups of friends to read with them. Others have adapted the reading plan according to their preference and indeed - there is much space for flexibility. It's great to see the excitement on some faces, when they realise that they can get through those 10-12 chapters in less than the time set out by the audio Bible - all without feeling rushed.

By now more than 310 people have downloaded the reading plan for B120 and another 120 people have gone for the B90. It's mainly people from the UK but this website had hits from all over the world except for the arctic poles. How cool is that!?!?!

As you will notice the header of this page will change every Sunday to show the reading of the week. I will also try and keep the audio links up to date in the right hand column. And in order to keep all of us alert while reading, there will be some posts that look at the text of the week ahead to give you confidence in the sufficiency of the Bible, give you something to think about and some encouragements.

Onward in the 2nd week!

Daily Audio Bible: ESV (Day 3)

I only just realised that B120 has gone out into the entire world. Literally every continent seems to have some people who have found their way to this reading community and are also possible doing it. So this audio will hopefully be posted every day at 5am UK Standard Time. But I'm flexible to change that so that those of you who are hours ahead of us can still get the audio in time. Just drop a comment.
UPDATE: Ok, instead of scheduling posts every day, that include this audio stream of the reading, I made a list of links to the right. The reason is that the ESV player either takes to long or that all the players on the page start loading simultaneously, which slows down the page. No need to worry about time zones then. 

ESV Audio: Genesis 15-20; Job 5; Matthew 5-6

Mt 4:1-4 - Honey for the Hungry

Jesus' time in the wilderness getting tempted by Satan is definitely one of the many great moments, when we can see our Lord in his greatness. In every point, where we mere humans failed, he is victorious.

Adam and Eve were in the lush garden of Eden and had all the food they could have wanted, and yet they could not resist the fruit of this one tree. The serpent comes, the tempter approached and the father of lies spoke his native language ...and we have already read the rest of the story. From that point onwards everything goes downhill. Were it not for the promise of the serpent crusher, we could pack up and stop reading. And hundreds of years later there is a chosen nation in the wilderness for 40 years and again and again they murmur and test the LORD, even though he provided everything that was needed for them.

And now comes Jesus, 40 days and 40 nights without food, and he was hungry! His body screamed for nourishment and the weakness of his body must have been agonising. What a pleasant relief a loaf of bread would have been. But never must the Son of God listen to the devil. And never should he allow the devil to call his identity as Son of God into question, by serving himself. He was there in the wilderness to stand firm against the devil and by that, to make the devil flee away. "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." (Js 4:7). And this obedience of Jesus would then be credited to us. Jesus was in the wilderness as a servant, to serve us, showing us his integrity and preparing a righteousness which he could give as fine linen, bright and pure to his Bride, the church.

And the destructive weapon against Satan's first attempt to make Jesus look to himself first and not to others was from Deuteronomy. When the Israelites were wandering about in the wilderness, they grumbled for a lack of food and the LORD provided manna for them, "a fine, flake-like think, fine as frost on the ground. … It was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey." (Ex 16:14, 31) They didn't know before that time, what manna was. The LORD made it specifically to teach them this truth which Jesus uses against the devil. "The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;… More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb." Ps 19:7-10 "How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! … Therefore I love your commandments above gold, above fine gold." Ps 119:103, 127

With every bit of the manna and at every moment, when the taste of honey would stimulate their palate, they were meant to think beyond their stomachs. "And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD." Dt 8:2-3

But still, they grumbled even against the manna. "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food." (Num 21:5) Worthless? Loathing? This was like saying "Your Word is useless and your promises give no hope in this desert." But how precious did the word become for our salvation, when Jesus spoke it against the devil! It fought off the first of three vicious temptations, which endangered our salvation. "For it is no empty word for you, but your very life" (Dt 32:47). Let's not make the same mistake and get fed up with the taste of honey. As we do B120 in community, whether on schedule or not, let us, instead of pushing each other to read, make the Word sweeter to each other's taste so that is not duty, but choice, a joy and a pleasure.

ESV: Listen to the Bible

Already we had a great post on the facebook group (thanks to Twiga): If you like to listen to the Bible and use the ESV translation, you can now do that with just one or two mouse clicks. If I remember I will post an mp3 which has all the chapters of that day's reading in one mp3. Very convenient. Here are the readings from the last two days.
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Genesis 1-6; Job 1-2; Matthew 1-2 

Genesis 7-14; Job 3-4; Matthew 3-4

Week 1/17 (plus some practical tips)

A big welcome to all who have decided to join the Bible120 reading group. Up to this day the reading plan has been downloaded 250x exactly with another 100x of the Bible90 as well. Of course that doesn't mean that all those who downloaded a reading plan are also doing it. Neither does it mean that only the downloaded plans are used because I have heard of married couples and whole families doing it together. It's definitely really encouraging. 

If you are still wondering how you can manage to get through the 10-12 chapters a day, here are some practical tips. 

1. Most people are used to very slow reading of the Bible. But slow reading is actually more of form of meditation. B120 is definitely reading so try to read as if you are reading a novel. If you find things that puzzle you or something you want to meditate on more deeply, don't stop but just make a quick note of it on a piece of paper (i.e. Mt 2:8, the glory of baby Jesus) and move on. The strength of this kind of approach to the Bible is in grasping the context. It will help you later when you came back to meditate on something. 
2. If you don't find enough time to do all the reading in one go, do half in the morning (NT and Wisdom) and half in the evening (OT, later also Prophets). However from personal experience I found it easiest to do it all in the morning because I never quite knew how tied up I would be later in the day - especially on day when I was out.
3. Have a little notebook where you write down all your questions. You can forget a thought in about 3 seconds so help your brain with pen and paper. Writing down questions helps you to remember them and possible find answers in the next few chapters or when you come to share with friends. Of course when you have a question to every single verse (that would be great) you might have to rethink writing them down because you will be too slow and never get through. 
4. Unless you are marriage you probably will read the daily chapters on your own. But B120 builds on community. It will really sharpen your eye for details and your ability to pay attention to the reading, when you share your thoughts with other people. Your questions will help them and their questions you. For that reason this blog was created. You can either be an author and regularly post some stuff (just let me know your email address in the message box to the right) or send me your thoughts and I post them for you. Of course you can stay anonymous if you wish.
5. Very importantly: in community you can make sure that each of you enjoys the reading. The last thing we need is some legalistic pressure that spoils the joy of it all. You don't do B120 to have something to boast in, neither does it give you any brownie points with God. You do it hopefully, because you know yourself loved by God in Christ and want to know it even more. We don't read the Bible for God but He has given the Scriptures to us so that we might be strengthened in our faith in Christ and that will secure your sense of God's love for you in Him. More here: Why we don't read the Bible

Happy and joyful reading with much blessing to you all in Christ. 

Welcome

At the age of 67 George Müller started to read through the entire Bible 4x a year. He continued that for 25 years until his death, which means he read through the Bible more than 100 times in his life. Likewise it was said of John Bunyan, author of pilgrims progress, that his blood was "bibline". In whatever place you cut Bunyan, he bleeds the Bible because he was able to relate every situation in life back to God's word. And also Charles Spurgeon once said that he found the Bible more thrilling after having read it through 100x than at the first time. Men like these are the inspiration to read through the whole of Scripture in less than a year. B120 is a more moderate attempt to follow George Müller's example by simply trying to read through the Bible in 120 days. 

If you want to be more inspired by George Müller's great faith, prayerfulness and life, enjoy this 60 documentary "Robber of the Cruel Streets" on youtube.

The first B120 starts on the 15th of April so that lots of people can do it in community. You most read on your own and have to plan it into your day yourself but by inviting other to join B120, you can talk to people about the reading, share insights and ask your questions. According to schedule we are done by August 12th. And if we fail to get through the Bible in 120 days, then 150, 180, 200 is still great!

But maybe you are wondering what the use of all this would be. Then carry on reading about the benefits of it all and I hope it will be helpful and encouraging.

If you want to not only join the B120 challenge, but also contribute to this blog by sharing your insight gained from reading or post your question as they arise, send an email to info - at - bible-reading - dot - org or use the message button (letter) in the right hand column. 

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