Foundations: Scripture // Bible Reading Plans for 2011

This Sunday we are going to be starting our series on "Foundations" with a look at the spiritual discipline of Scripture reading. 

Why read the whole Bible?
One of the great attributes of the Bible is that it tells a story.  Coming from a "church" background, I was surprised when I got to Boston University and discovered that several of my most well educated, secular college friends were not familiar with some of the most well-known Bible stories like Noah and Abraham.  I also found in church among my generation few attendees have actually read through the whole Bible.

To not have read the whole Bible and become familiar with it is similar to only reading a couple chapters in the middle of a large novel.  You don't know all the characters; you can't figure out the whole plot; and you could even get a totally confused about what the author is trying to communicate.

Bible Reading Plans
Therefore, it is important to read through the whole Bible.  To do that you will likely need a plan and a community.  There are 3 resources below that will help you plan for how to read through the Bible in 1 year.  My wife (Betsy) and I are going to be using the plan and resources that Journey Church in St. Louis has generously provided online (see option #2 below). 

I want to enourage everyone involved in Fenway Church to consider committing to do a plan together with others in our church; the accountability, encouragement and discussion that will come out of it will be valuable.  A building is only as strong as it's foundations - let's dig deep together this year!

1) 10 reading plans from the EVS Study Bible website (a study Bible I use): http://www.esv.org/resources/reading-plans-devotions/

*recommended*
2)  This plan was developed by Journey Church (an Acts 29 church in St. Louis).  It involves reading only 3 chapters (1 NT, 2 OT) a day with an an off day every 4 days.  If you are like me, the off day is key for catching up or reflecting on what you have red.  To make this plan possible, they pull out 12 of the more confusing and dense books of the Bible and provide video snapshots that provide a background for the book and then encourage you to speed read them in one sitting to catch the main ideas of the book. Here are the links:

Vision and explanation of plan includuing guidelines for how to read the Bible effectively and an introduction to the Bible's mega-narrative (I highly recommend reading through this .pdf it is a rich resource!)
http://journeyon.net/sites/default/files/attachements/blog/BibleReadingPlan.pdf

Introductory and Snapshot videos to each book of the Bible.  (I watched two and they were great, hoping the rest will have similar quality and content)
http://journeyon.net/media/engage-scripture

3) A pair of bookmarks that let you check off days and leave buffer days for each month. It more typical of traditional Bible plans in that it has you read from 4 different parts of the Bible each day. http://www.navpress.com/uploadedFiles/15074%20BRP.dj.pdf