Friends, I’ve discovered something more precious and enduring and helpful than Facebook. I commend to you this lost book of the Bible, which is really quite easy to memorize. It is just a simple chart to help direct your attention to the right things at the right time. Popularized by Stephen Covey, this chart was originally used by President Eisenhower.

Do not show this to your spouse except on the condition that they refrain from comments like, “Babe, are you in quadrant 4?”

This article is helpful in explaining how to take advantage of this helpful productivity tool.

I can probably count on one hand the times I’ve blogged about lame church practices. I really should do it more, but have hesitated for want of honoring Paul’s words in Philippians 1:12-18. We should be careful to “rejoice” with the Apostle Paul who praised God for the spread of the gospel, even when those who preached it did so “out of rivalry,” seeking to afflict him in his imprisonment.

But, sometimes it’s good to stare for a moment at something ridiculous to remind ourselves of the difference that theology makes for how we conceive of our relationship to God, one another, and the world around us. Our theology  – good or bad – will have its way with us. We bleed what we believe. And theology has much to say about how we talk about church, what we are doing as God’s people, and how God works in the world.

So, here it is. Today I ran across a blurb for a “29 minute sermon!” on this church site. Hold your stomach:

Summit Church is home of the 29-minute sermon. Don’t you hate it when people waste your time? When we go to the movies, a restaurant or a doctor’s office we often evaluate the quality of that product or service by the efficiency of their presentation and how that business or service values our time.

At Summit Church we value YOUR TIME. We commit to NOT wasting your time with pointless announcements, rambling sermons or song-services that fail to inspire. In fact, we recognize that most Americans have opted out of church because they value family time more highly than going to some out-dated, highly-theological-but-irrelevant sermon.

Summit Church’s strategy for Sunday messages are designed to strengthen your family, through practical messages on marriage and dating, Parenting, Financial Principles from the Bible, Expanding your leadership and Understanding the foundations of Christianity. That, combined with contemporary and classic worship encounters create a powerful combination. Small Groups and various Bible Studies are designed for deeper and longer times of growing closer to God but Sunday Mornings are designed to be quick and inspiring. We know you want to enjoy Colorado with your family. So, start your Sunday right with a quick visit to Summit!

At Summit Church you’ll be entertained, challenged, inspired and equipped to live the Christian life in practical ways. Each week you can expect God’s word to be taught in Creative ways using great music, movie clips, drama and high-tech media tools to share God’s truth in relevant ways.

Last Sunday, at Desert Springs Church, I had the pleasure of preaching a sermon entitled, “The Urgency of Unity: The Gospel’s Power Displayed in the Church,” from Ephesians 4:1-16.

In the fourth chapter of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he urges us to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which [we] have been called” (4:1) The “calling” part of the that verse sums up the three chapters leading up to this point. The “walk” part sums up everything which follows. Interestingly, the first sixteen verses in this half of the book have to do with the unity of the people of God. God has made for himself a new humanity. The power of His gospel and the greatness of His grace is displayed in a people who belong to Him and reflect His own oneness in their life together.

I pray that, as a result of this message, God’s people would display the power of the gospel in the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Here’s the outline:

1. The Reason for Our Unity: The Gospel (1-3)
2. The Source of Our Unity: The Trinity (4-6)
3. The Paradigm for Our Unity: The Body (4, 12, 15-16)
4. The Plan for Our Unity (7-16):

> Christ Ascends
> Christ Gives Gifts
> Leaders Equip
> Everyone Serves
> The Body Grows

5. The Goal of Our Unity: Maturity and Magnification (13-14; 3:10)

My big project for the first of the year was to take ownership of and commit to a Bible reading plan. I read Justin Taylor’s excellent post and thought I’d combine a few of the better features of several reading plans into one, along with a few other features I’ve wanted in a reading plan, or at least in a reading plan document. You’ll see what I mean.

Here it is, albeit three days late:

Bible Eater: A Bible Reading Plan for Tasting The Bread of Life in Every Chapter of The Bible In One Year

This reading plan, which gets its name and theme from Matthew 4:4, assigns readings for both testaments at one time, provides 4 buffer days each month, and is presented to encourage interaction with the text and the redemptive story of salvation in Christ.

I hope this encourages you to read God’s word and helps you relate every word to Jesus Christ. Feel free to email me with feedback at trenthunter03 [at] gmail [dot] com.

Here’s the explanation from the back of the document:

Bible Eater

A Bible Reading Plan for Tasting The Bread of Life
In Every Chapter of The Bible In One Year

God has not told us when or how often we should read the Scriptures. He just told us we need them in order to live: “Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Deuteronomy 8:3; Matthew 4:4). God’s words are life to us because of the life that is available through faith in Jesus Christ, who says, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger.” (John 6:35).

God has not told us when or how often we should read the Scriptures. He just told us we need them in order to live: “Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Deuteronomy 8:3; Matthew 4:4). God’s words are life to us because of the life that is available through faith in Jesus Christ, who says, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger.” (John 6:35).

But life is nuts. In any given day, there are numerous meaningful demands on our time, including family, sleep, work, and relationships, to name a few. But there are plenty of much less meaningful distractions to crowd our attention and deaden our spiritual senses. So, a plan for reading the Bible is a good idea. Here’s how this one works:

MEAL PLAN OVERVIEW

• Read 2-3 Old Testament (OT) chapters per day, along with 6 one-sitting reads indicated by parentheses and blue colored text.
• Read 1 New Testament (NT) chapter per day, 5 days per week.
• Take 4 “off” or “catch-up” days per month are built in to use as needed.

SPECIAL INGREDIENTS

1) Flexible Format: Since life happens, this plan has a balance of daily reading at a pace of about 2-3 and sometimes 4 chapters a day, 6 longer one-sitting reads, and 4 “off” or “catch-up” days per month. Since some longer books are more difficult to persevere in reading over many weeks, one-sitting reads allow you to read for the big picture. Routing these to a single sitting also lightens the daily reading.

2) Reading Both Testaments Together: Many annual reading plans assign the first ten months to the OT and the last two to the NT. The OT just takes a long time to read! Since the OT points to and sets up the gospel story, this approach has good merit. However, we learn to read the OT properly by taking the lead of the NT authors. So, reading them together makes sense.

3) Big-Picture Chapter Highlights: Every chapter in the Bible is important since every word in the book is from God. But some chapters are more crucial for helping us understand the overall narrative of the Bible’s salvation story. Red highlights indicate these kinds of chapters. Some contain promises of a prophet, a priest, a king, etc. to come who is Jesus. Others show the need for this One in the unfolding drama of God’s grace to a rebellion-wrecked, suicidal humanity. NT highlights show the fulfillment of these great expectations.

4) Text-to-Text Relationships: Given the layout of chapter numbers, it should be easy to draw a line from one chapter to another using a fine point colored pen. For example, at his last supper, when Jesus identifies the wine as representing the new covenant of his blood, a line could be drawn from Luke 22 to Jeremiah 31. The Prophets and Wisdom books are in the center since they are quoted most often in the NT. In time, you can see which Old Testament books and chapters figure most significantly in to our understanding of person and work of Jesus Christ. There’s also plenty of white space for jotting down verses that catch your attention, lists of related verses along a theme, or verses you would like to pursue later with further study.

Enjoy this reading plan and let me know how it goes. I welcome feedback at trenthunter03@gmail.com.

Enjoying the Bread of Life with you,

Trent Hunter