I just finished my annual speed-read of the Bible, so the contest I announced on December 28 is now closed. Two brave souls read the entire Bible and finished before me, winning a copy of Knowable Word and their choice of study Bible. May the rest of the year be filled with more fruitful time in Scripture for you!
Bible Reading Contest
I believe it’s worth it to read the entire Bible quickly, and I’m willing to stand behind that belief. So I invite you to join me in my annual Bible blitz. The first 3 people to finish before me will win both a copy of Knowable Word and the study Bible of their choice from my buying guide. Note: If I decide international shipping costs are prohibitive, I reserve the right to email you a gift certificate or ebook instead of a physical book.
Rules:
- You must read (not scan or skim) all 66 books of the Protestant Bible. You may choose the translation and reading plan (canonical, chronological, etc.). You don’t have to stop and meditate on every detail, but I’m trusting you to be honest about reading and not skimming. Listening to an unabridged audio Bible is acceptable.
- You may not begin until January 1, 2016.
- As soon as you finish, you must email me at peter.krol@knowableword.com (or contact me through the web form) with the date you finished and what you thought of the speed-reading process.
- The first 3 people to finish before I do may select a study Bible for their prize package. If you request physical books instead of ebooks, I reserve the right to send you a gift card if I determine shipping costs are excessive.
- When I finish my speed-read, or when 3 others have contacted me (whichever comes first), I will update this post and close the contest.
To give you a sense of scope, here are the dates I finished my speed-reads over the last 5 years.
2011 – March 20
2012 – March 12
2013 – March 11
2014 – March 8
2015 – February 6
[2016 – February 5 — UPDATE: the contest is now over.]The speed jumped in 2015 because I began supplementing my reading time with an audio Bible.
I’ll look forward to hearing from you. I hope you have as much fun with it as I do, and may the Lord draw us all nearer to him through it!
A Bible Reading Plan for Readers
This is a great time to consider a new reading plan. While it requires discipline, it can also be great fun. I just reposted an article about the speed-reading Bible plan I’ve followed for the last 5 years. This article first appeared at The Gospel Coalition. In a few days, I’ll post a new contest to encourage you to try this delightful plan in the coming year.
Back Next Week
I’m on Thanksgiving vacation with my family, and we have a lot of legos to build. I plan to get back to regular blogging next week.
In the meantime, and in honor of the upcoming release of “The Force Awakens,” here are my musings on What Star Wars Taught Me About Bible Study. Enjoy.
Too Busy to Blog: Little League is On
I’m not able to write this week because I’ve taken my family to see some early games of the Little League World series tournament in Williamsport, PA. If you’d like to see one reason why we love attending, check out “What the Little League World Series Taught Me About Bible Study.”
We’re so excited to see another Pennsylvania team back in the tournament this year. Go Red Land! And we couldn’t be more thrilled to see another team from Uganda back in the series (my sons were born in Uganda).
Giveaway: Celebrating Knowable Word’s 500th Post
Knowable Word just had its 500th post, and I’m feeling a bit like the Egyptians giving all their stuff away to the fleeing Hebrew slaves. Except I don’t want you to leave. And I promise not to make you find your own straw. And I’m not hardening my heart against God’s promises to his people. And… Well, okay, it’s not a great analogy. I was just trying to come up with a biblical example of exuberant generosity.
Eric Angelo (2007), Creative Commons
The point is this: To celebrate the 500th post, I would like to give away a free Bible to someone who can use it. You can have your choice of an ESV Reader’s Bible or any one of the markup Bibles Ryan recommended.
In addition, four runners-up will each receive a free e-book of Knowable Word.
To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is show us you’ll know how to use your new Bible. To that end, you’ll have to make observations of the text of Job chapter 14. I’m counting on the fact that you’ve never been in a Bible study on Job 14 and that you’ll come to the text without too much familiarity. Perhaps I’m just a sucker, though, and I presume too much, like the Jedi in that prequel episode everyone loves to hate.
Giveaway Rules
- Use the form below (or click this link) to enter your observations.
- You’ll get one entry in the drawing each time you submit the form, so please limit yourself to one observation per form. You may submit as many entries as you like.
- The observations you submit must be on Job chapter 14, but you may use any English translation.
- We reserve the right to reject any entry that doesn’t contain a legitimate observation of the passage.
- Entries must be submitted by 12 noon (eastern daylight time) on Thursday, May 7, 2015.
- Winners will be selected at random from eligible entries. One grand prize winner will choose either an ESV Reader’s Bible or one of our recommended markup Bibles. Four more winners will receive a free Knowable Word e-book (choice of kindle, epub, or pdf format).
- To win the grand prize, you must have an eligible mailing address.
- If the grand prize winner lives outside the United States, I’ll do my best to get you either the requested Bible or an Amazon gift card to buy your own Bible. If it’s not possible or reasonable to do either, I’ll give you a Knowable Word e-book instead and select another grand prize winner.
- The winner agrees to make good use of the new Bible. If I catch you choking one of your debtors, I just might take it back (Matt 18:28).
Please Help Me Decide What to Do Next
Spring sprung a leak in Happy Valley this year, and a snowstorm was our reward. No joke. But by faith, I trust new life is on its way. “All the days of my service I would wait, till my renewal should come” (Job 14:14).
I’m trying to figure out what to blog about next, and I’d like your help. What sorts of posts have you found most helpful? What would you like to see more of? What would help you learn to study the Bible better?
I’ve done longer series on the following topics:
I’ve written some shorter series as well:
- Teaching Bible study to children
- Comprehensive analysis of Old Testament quotes in the New Testament
- Big Bible words made simple
- Finding the unique main points in each account of the feeding of the 5,000.
I have some more ideas, but I’d like to know what would be most useful to you:
- Sample Bible studies through another book of the Bible
- Big Bible concepts made simple (tracing major themes through the Scripture)
- How to train others to lead Bible studies
- How to use commentaries and other resources well
- Recommended commentaries that promote OIA (observe, interpret, apply) Bible study
Do any of these ideas resonate with you? Do you have any others? What would you like to see on the blog that would help ordinary people learn to study the Bible?
Feel free to comment below or on the Facebook page. Your ideas may trigger further ideas for others. If you’d prefer to keep your suggestions private, however, please use the contact form.
Thank you for your help!
My New Cohort
In my effort to become all things to all people (1 Cor 9:22), I’m pleased to announce that I’ve discovered arm-twisting to be a viable strategy for persuasion. My dear friend Ryan Higginbottom has succumbed to my righteously coercive tactics and agreed to become a co-contributor to this blog.
Like Baruch, who blogged frequently with the prophet Jeremiah (Jer 45:1), Ryan may be tempted to believe the Lord has only added to his pain. Joining with me may make him weary with groaning, until he finds no rest (Jer 45:2-3). But, as with Baruch, Ryan may yet find his life as a prize of war for all his toil (Jer 45:5).
What does this mean for you, dear reader? You can expect to see regular posts from the good Dr. Higginbottom fortnightly, beginning on the morrow. If you’d like to learn more about this tall, dark, and handsome fellow, please refer to the About page. With a solid grasp of basic observation skills, you’ll have no trouble finding the relevant information you seek.
What My 5th Child’s Birth Taught Me about Bible Study
…that I need to take a short break from blogging to care for my growing family.
As Ecclesiastes 3 reminds us, there’s a time to be born, and a time to die. There’s also a time for blogging, and a time to refrain from blogging. Lord willing, I’ll plan to be back at it next week!
Announcement: Monday Posts
Your Mondays are about to become less full. Or less bothersome and weary. Or more empty and devoid of wisdom…
With the completion of my Proverbs series, I’ve found myself in something of an existential crisis. “All things are full of weariness…The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the internets filled with blog posts” (Eccl 1:8, translation according to a recent re-interpretation of the Hebrew text). In addition, my wife will soon groan in the pains of childbirth (Rom 8:22) as our new baby arrives in power and great glory sometime around Thanksgiving.
So I’ve decided to reduce my posting to twice per week for a time.
You might ask, “How long?” And you wouldn’t be the first (Psalm 13:1). And I’d be tempted to retort with something like, “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste” (Is 6:11), but I won’t.
So for now we’ll just all have to content ourselves with Knowable Word posts on Wednesdays and Fridays, and we’ll be blessed if we do (Phil 4:11-12).
