John Markum

Category: Scripture

B90X

Posted on by johnmarkum

Ok, I’m totally blaming my friend and fellow pastor, Jason Smith, for getting me to do this… For some reason, I decided that I wasn’t busy enough between ministry, family, and maintaining my own sanity, and I have now begun a Bible reading plan that Jason and I (as well as several others) are fondly reffering to as “B90X”. What is that, you ask? We’re challenging each other, and holding one another accountable, to reading through the entire Bible… in 90 days. Now I’ve attempted some big tasks before, and I’ve read through the Bible multiple times… but this is intense! For one, Jason cheated! He began on New Year’s Day, a Saturday, which means I wasn’t going to get the first day’s reading knocked out until Sunday afternoon since I was elbow-deep in getting ready for a new night, series, and year for The Awakening. But I got caught up (2 days later, but who’s counting) and have been extremely blessed by God’s Word thus far in the reading plan.

I almost didn’t share this on the blog, mostly because I did’t want any of our readers thinking I was trying to flex my “I’m awesome” muscles, and coming off as proud or conceited. But I decided to go ahead with sharing about this experience for 3 reasons:

  1. It’s a lot easier to stay motivated when I have thousands  of viewer’s following my progress. Ok,… so maybe dozens, not thousands, but whatever.
  2. I hope this experience will challenge many of you to get into the Word in 2011, and possibly begin a reading plan of your own. Heck, maybe some of you are real Bible-reading juggernauts and will read through it in 60 days.
  3. God has already began overwhelming me with things from His Word in the past 4 days, that I feel compelled to share with you.So I’ll keep the updates down to a weekly basis.

If you are interested in beginning a Bible reading plan, I strongly urge you to go to youversion.com, create a free account, and select a reading plan. You can do anything from through the Bible in a year, 90 days, New Testament in 30 days, and on and on… some of them are pretty intense and require about an hour a day worth of reading, some are easy to follow and will simply keep you honest about staying in the Bible in 2011. I’ve found out that, so far, if I read for one hour, I can typically get through all the reading I need to, to stay on track. And that was while playing catch-up for 2 days. You can read through the entire Bible in one year by reading 4 chapters daily. That equates to about 15 minutes worth of reading for the average 8th grader.

Also, get someone to do a plan with you. Strength in numbers! And if you and your girlfriend want to go through a reading plan together, have other people join you.

I’ll post later about what God’s been doing to me so far in this reading, but go ahead and get started on your own reading plan. Feel free to use the comments on this post to ask questions about reading the Bible, or following a reading plan, or how God has lead you to get into His Word in the new year. Make 2011 different on purpose.

Blessings,

John

Spiritual Habits: In the Word

Posted on by johnmarkum

It amazes me how often we say “God, I just want to know your will for my life!” And we act as though we’re waiting for a burning bush, or a voice from Heaven, or Elvis to come back and tell us what God wants for our lives. And yet we’ll spend no time in the Word where God has already revealed His will to us.

The problem with many Christ followers and creating the spiritual habit of getting into the Word, is that most don’t know where to begin, or how to read it.

When it comes to where to begin, most go for “the beginning,” Genesis. They usually get to chapter 10, hit a long line of genealogies and ask, “Why am I doing this?!?” If you are a newer believer, or if you are still on the fringe with God, church, and faith – there’s probably no better place to get started than the Gospel of John. Out of the 4 Gospels (accounts of Jesus life) , John is the most unique. If you have been in church for awhile, or if you just finished reading John, I would strongly suggest that your next reading be James, then Philippians, then Romans.

If you don’t have a Bible, read online at either biblegateway.com or youversion.com, or get one at a local Christian bookstore. Everyone asks about translations, and not all translations are made equal. You need one that is easily readable, and yet accurate and close as possible to the original languages. Without getting into that conversation, I  suggest a New English Translation (NET) available online everywhere, New King James Version (NKJV), New American Standard (NASB), New Living Translation (NLT), or English Standard Version (ESV).

As far as how to read it, start with 1-3 chapters, 3 to 6 times a week and try to develop into reading 5-10 chapters daily. While reading, look for, and ask, the following questions:

  1. What command is there to obey?
  2. What example is there to follow?
  3. What sin is there to avoid?
  4. What character is there to develop?
  5. What promise is there to claim?
  6. What good is there to praise God for?

Pray before and ask God to speak to you through His word. Take one thought away to remind yourself of the rest of the day. And pray again afterward and thank God for opportunity to know His will.

May God richly bless you, and may the resurrected power of Christ fall on you as you read and obey His Word.

Blessings,

John

The phrase no pain, no gain has been a mantra for athletes and fitness junkies for years. And what they understand about physical pain needs to be broadened to a much more general use in all of our lives. Pain hurts. That's the whole problem. No one enjoys it, and if someone does, we rightfully

The Premium of Pain