2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God(YHVH), and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
Why start/join this forum? If you want to draw closer to your Creator and learn His will for your life, I know of no better way than to study His word for yourself. We should not rely fully on what other men would say, but to study the scriptures for ourselves.
This is a proposal to get people on a schedule to read through the Bible in a consistent timeframe. The idea for the forum arose to generate some accountability and also as a way to get people to think about and discuss what they are reading.
The Bible is to be divided into weekly reading sections in order to get through the entire Bible in one year. Click for a weekly reading breakdown (This could be accelerated if desired by the group.) i.e. 6 month. Etc. If it is helpful, the readings can be subdivided into daily portions for those who would prefer.
Duties: Members are to read the appropriate section for the week and “report in” (this will be described below) to the group comment collector/filter person.
Collector/Filter person: Once all the comments are collected, on the day after they are due, the collector will email a compilation report from everyone to the list, and/or post the weeks comments on a web page if desired. The collector will put all the various emails into one report to be sent to everyone in the group (use BCC to help keep members from replying to all). Their job is to also filter any in-appropriate content. Members send any follow-up comments back to the collector, who in turn will save them for a “past comments” section in the next week’s report. Limiting feedback in this manner is to try and keep things professional and to keep replies from getting out of hand. The collector will need to keep track of each persons responses, see next section.
Accountability: The goal is to get members to read the entire Bible for themselves. If you do not have this desire, then this forum is not for you. If a member misses a reading, and or fails to report in on the specified date, they are strongly encouraged to make up any missed readings and “report in” as soon as they can. These missed readings will go out in the collector’s report under a section labeled as such. This is to help encourage people to be timely with their feedback. However it is better to read some than none at all. If you will not be reading the missed sections but still wish to continue on with the forum, then by all means, read the current section and report in as usual. If you know you will be busy a certain week, one can always do that week ahead of schedule.
Reporting in: An email sent to the collector with your input on the weekly reading. This is quite flexible. At minimum to report in you would need to say something like: I have read this weeks section and have no comments.
Here are some ideas of what people
may write about:
-general/specific comments
-thoughts/insights
-something you learned or sticks out in your mind
-questions/things you don’t understand
-how to apply something in the text to us today.
Things not to include:
-You should not give a replay or overview of the portion.
Everyone in the forum should be reading it.
-Why this or that scripture proves your pet theory/doctrine.
Remember, others will be reading what you write. Use discretion and wisdom. Be sure you read over your comments at least once before sending them on. This well help things go smoothly.
Groups: Groups can consist of families, churches/fellowships, anyone who wants to draw closer to our Creator. If the interest is large, they could sub-divide into smaller groups, each with their own collector.
The primary goal of this forum is to get us to read the entire Bible and to think about what we are reading. The secondary goal is to see what others think and to share your thoughts as well.
(All collector reports could also be posted on the web for others to learn from/enjoy.)
If you like this idea and decide to try it with your group, let us know. Thanks.