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093 | How to Succeed at a Bible Reading Plan
82 Plays2 years ago
Ever started a Bible reading plan only to give up in Leviticus? We've all done it! In this episode you'll learn why consistent exposure to the Word of God is so important and get a look at five reading plan options to help you do this. Phylicia also discusses the often overlooked hack of using your learning style - auditory, visual or kinesthetic - to help you engage with the Word. Blog post: https://phyliciamasonheimer.com/five-bible-reading-plans-and-how-to-finish-them/
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Transcript
Introduction and Mission
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to Verity Podcast. I'm your host, Felicia Mason-Heimer, and I am here to teach you how to know what you believe, to live it boldly, and to communicate it graciously to the world around you. I believe that women are ready to go deeper in their faith than ever before, and they don't have to go to seminary to do it. I am so glad you're here, and I hope you'll join me on this journey because every woman is a theologian.
Reflecting on Faith Rituals
00:00:29
Speaker
Hi friends, welcome back to Verity podcast. We are getting so close to the end of 2022. I kind of can't believe that this year has flown by so fast. I was just putting together some photos and some videos from this year and
00:00:47
Speaker
Once you put it all together and you look at the different seasons and the things that you did in the last 365 days, it's just amazing how time flies. And it's also amazing to see just how we've spent our time over the last 12 months. The things that we did every day moment by moment, hour by hour, add up to who we are a year later and the culture of our family and the habits we formed and the changes we've seen in our life.
00:01:17
Speaker
Which is why when we get to the end of a year, looking back and being able to add up the minutes and hours that we spent in the Word and in prayer, not literally adding them up, but knowing that this was a daily ritual of our life, how valuable is that?
00:01:38
Speaker
We will never be able to estimate the significance and the impact that those minutes and hours had on our lives.
Exploring Bible Reading Plans
00:01:47
Speaker
Our exposure to the Word of God transforms us in ways that we don't even see or we can't yet see because God is using it to slowly open our eyes and grow us and sanctify us and make us into the image of Christ.
00:02:00
Speaker
And so it's just so important to imperfectly and yet consistently meet God in his word, which is why when I was thinking about what episodes I wanted to do for the end of 2022, I knew I wanted to do one about Bible reading plans because when the new year rolls around, a lot of us are considering starting a new reading plan or starting fresh to focus our time in the word.
00:02:27
Speaker
And as I've thought about the every woman a theologian community and what we do and what we're about, I know that that's something I want to encourage you in. I also have spent a lot of time studying habits and habit forming, learning styles and education. And because of that, I think there is a unique place for every woman a theologian in encouraging
00:02:51
Speaker
men and women to be in the Word of God in a way that works for their personality and lifestyle. Because, as I've talked about when I discuss time management, if you try to adopt someone else's pattern or formula
00:03:06
Speaker
or plan and just integrate it into your life, a lot of times you'll give up after a few weeks or months because their lifestyle is not your lifestyle. You have to customize it to you. And that's the beautiful thing about the freedom of studying the Bible is we get to customize this to us.
00:03:25
Speaker
At the same time, though, we live in a culture that tells us that if it's hard, you shouldn't do it. Or if it's difficult, you don't need to press through that perseverance is something for people who are, quote unquote, naturally motivated.
Motivation and Discipline in Faith
00:03:40
Speaker
But if you talk to anybody who you admire, anybody who's disciplined, they'll tell you that they're not naturally motivated. Nobody is.
00:03:48
Speaker
They might be naturally bent towards order or maybe they are anxious and they like a clean environment or they like to have certain things in certain places or they like knowing they checked something off the list. You can be gifted in that way. However, motivation and discipline are not innate. Motivation and discipline happen with time and effort. It's submitting your will
00:04:13
Speaker
to the Lords, in this case, because you know that exposing yourself to the Word of God over time is the best thing for you. It may be easier to read devotionals or it may be easier to listen to podcasts, but nothing can replace the power of the Word of God itself.
00:04:30
Speaker
And you have to remember, too, that historically, we've only had access to things like podcasts and devotionals and all of these ministries and additional resources that we have today in America, at least in the Westernized nations in the last maybe 100 years, maybe close to 130, 150. We started to see those devotionals come out. But even so, before that,
00:04:58
Speaker
people depended upon the raw Word of God itself. That was how they knew who God was and how to live. It was the Word of God itself that transformed the reformers, that transformed John Wesley, that transformed the missionaries, that drove them. People like Wycliffe and Tyndale, Tyndale died for the Word of God to get it into the hands of the common plow boy.
00:05:25
Speaker
The common Paul boy is the person who wouldn't have access to it, who wasn't privileged, who couldn't read Latin, who couldn't do what a priest could do. And Tyndale wanted that boy to have access to the Word of God. And thanks to his work,
00:05:41
Speaker
we have the Bible today in English.
Prioritizing the Bible
00:05:43
Speaker
And so if you speak or read English, the Bible you have is because someone died to put it in your hands. And yet we have come full circle to where people are more illiterate biblically and sometimes linguistically today than ever before in the last several centuries. We need to remember the cost
00:06:09
Speaker
that was paid for the word of God to be in our hands and to not constantly run to every other easy thing instead of the Bible. Yes, the Bible will be challenging to study. It will take discipline and perseverance. It will take being consistent. It will take you saying no to your feelings and to your flesh sometimes and saying, you know what, I don't feel like doing this right now, but I'm going to find a way to make this a priority because you know,
00:06:38
Speaker
that the Word of God is living and active, sharper than a two-edged sword. It is able to divide and teach you what is true.
00:06:49
Speaker
So yes, on this episode, I'm coming out of the gate a little bit hard because I believe there are some of you who are listening who have replaced the word of God with good things, devotionals, books, podcasts, social media posts, but none of those, none of those will transform you. The word of God will transform you.
00:07:11
Speaker
Those things will help you. I'm not saying there isn't a place for them. I mean, look at me. I'm an author. Every woman a theologian exists. But I would rather you not read what I write if it meant you were reading the Word of God instead. That's what I would rather you do.
00:07:27
Speaker
That's my challenge as we come into 2023.
Choosing the Right Reading Plan
00:07:30
Speaker
I want you to think about how can I make the word of God a priority? And if you want to do a Bible reading plan this year, I have five different options I want to share with you on this episode. And then I want to share with you some ways to integrate Bible reading according to your learning style.
00:07:48
Speaker
We're going to talk about the auditory visual and kinesthetic learning styles. This is something I got into because of homeschooling my girls. I have an auditory learner and I have a kinesthetic learner and I myself am an auditory kinesthetic learner. We'll talk about what they are in a little bit here and my husband is a visual learner. So we've got a lot of different learning styles in my home and we're educating you know
00:08:09
Speaker
constantly around here. So I'm thinking about this a lot when it comes to Bible study because there is a lot of crossover between the kinesthetic learner and symptoms of ADHD. So a lot of the things that work for a kinesthetic learner may actually be helpful to someone who has ADHD when it comes to studying the Bible. So we're going to talk about that towards the end of this episode as well.
00:08:33
Speaker
So let's start by talking about reading plans. So why do reading plans work or not work? So I love reading plans, but I do not love when reading plans become legalistic. And that is often what happens when we do a Bible reading plan, and we make it all about the checklist or about the goal, we miss the point of actually studying the Bible.
00:08:54
Speaker
which means that for some people, if you've done reading plans in the past or you've read through the Bible multiple times, it may be a good spiritual practice for you to not do a reading plan one year and instead simply come to the Bible with no time frame, no schedule,
00:09:10
Speaker
just coming to the Bible and taking it very slow. But for other people, the pressure of that deadline, achieving that goal, reading through the whole Bible chronologically, which is my preference, is a great way to stay on track and stay consistent. It's motivational. It's crunched into these
00:09:31
Speaker
Sub time frames these smaller time frames so you have the whole year But then you also can break that down into a month 30 days of reading in the Bible and then you you check off those 30 days or you break that down even more to a week and having those small chunks that are broken down from the bigger overall goal and
00:09:50
Speaker
can be really helpful to people who work well under pressure, who need a tangible measurement of their success. A lot of people who complain that they don't do well with goals actually would do well with goals if they were set more realistically or if they broke them down into smaller steps and they would actually find that they succeed
00:10:13
Speaker
more at the things that they're interested in or the things that they want to accomplish or the changes they want to make in their life if they broke it into reasonable steps and then tracked their progress. As long as you do not give in to the lie of perfectionism, as long as you see that each little step, each little day that you read in the word is progress in and of itself, you will build momentum by having those tangible ways to track your progress.
00:10:39
Speaker
Now, again, it doesn't work for everyone, but I want to encourage those listeners who've never tried this because they get discouraged that most likely the discouragement is coming from perfectionism.
Perfectionism vs. Authenticity in Faith
00:10:49
Speaker
So the real issue is not the goal. The real issue is not the checklist. The issue for you is perfectionism and thinking that you have to do it every single day. It has to be perfect or it's not worth it. And I want to also challenge that idea. Perfectionism is the enemy of intimacy.
00:11:05
Speaker
Perfectionism is the enemy of intimacy. If you want to meet God in His word, trying to do it perfectly will keep you from doing so. Think about it in a human relationship. If you'll only show up for your friends when you're perfect, if you'll only see your friends with a full face of makeup on, if you'll only let them into your house when it's perfectly clean, your relationships are going to struggle and suffer because you aren't willing to be imperfect with them. You aren't willing to be human. You aren't willing to be in progress.
00:11:33
Speaker
So now translate that to the Word of God and translate that to intimacy with God, who already sees all your failures, who already sees everything that you do well or do poorly. How can you approach God and come to intimacy with Him and enjoy the Word of God with Him, even read through the Bible in a year, if you are idolizing perfection?
00:11:55
Speaker
If this convicts you, I challenge you, pause this podcast and sit with that for a minute. Think about it. Why do you feel like you have to be perfect in your spiritual life? Jesus died for you because you aren't perfect.
00:12:11
Speaker
And He's walking with you to make you into His image. And the Word of God is one way that He does this. So if you're trying to grow in the Word of God and allow it to become a part of you, it makes sense you'd want to be exposed to it every day. And one way to do that is a Bible reading plan. And you can enjoy and use a Bible reading plan if you let go of perfectionism.
00:12:37
Speaker
if you're willing for it to be not quite perfect. But knowing that you will be in progress that whole time because God is going to work through His word and His word never returns void as the book of Isaiah says. So knowing all of this,
00:12:56
Speaker
I want to share a few tips for finishing your reading plans before I give you five reading plan suggestions. And one of the keys to consistent Bible study and using a plan is flexibility. So if you can't complete the daily readings on a consistent basis, maybe the chapter trunks are too big for your season and you can quit the plan.
00:13:16
Speaker
That's okay. You can quit a plan midway through the year. You can quit a plan in January and start with a new one. What matters is that you're in the Word of God. It doesn't matter what plan it is, as long as you're in the Word of God. Maybe the readings aren't unachievable. Maybe they're reasonable, like two or three chapters a day in a plan, but you fall behind by a few days. Here's my big trick, you guys. I've read through the Bible five times. You don't have to catch up. You don't have to catch up.
00:13:43
Speaker
You can just skip to that day's reading and read a few paragraphs from the previous chapter to get the context and start there. I've read through the Bible five times by doing this. And the beautiful thing is, when you read through the Bible repeatedly, you will end up hitting the chapters that you missed. Or you could always go back later and listen to them.
00:14:04
Speaker
It's no big deal. It's when we fall into the lie of perfectionism, that's when we do not accomplish the goal or we don't show up to the Bible at all. So flexibility is key. So I want to give you a couple of these reading plans that I have done over the years.
Different Bible Reading Plans Explained
00:14:23
Speaker
I have a blog post with all of these linked and I'll put the blog post in the show notes. The first one is the two-year whole Bible plan with Psalms and Proverbs.
00:14:32
Speaker
So I did half of this plan one year and then I quit it because I wanted to focus on some individual books of the Bible. But I really like that this plan is stretched over two whole years and you'll go through Psalms and Proverbs four times during those years. What I love about Psalms and Proverbs is they are a little bit simpler to read and navigate. Psalms are where I go whenever I want to just really step into intimacy with God, something that I want to pray to the Lord.
00:15:01
Speaker
So this is a great plan if you want to go through the whole Bible at a slower pace, but also spend significant time in Psalms and Proverbs. The next one is my personal favorite, the chronological Bible reading plan. So this takes you through the entire Bible in the order of the events as they occurred in history.
00:15:18
Speaker
So, if you've listened to the canon series or read my book, How the Bible Came to Be, you know that the Bible that we have today is not in chronological order, right? The books were divided up by literary genre, and the Bible that Jesus actually had at the time of his teaching and ministry would have been from Genesis to Zechariah.
00:15:40
Speaker
And the Bible we have now ends in Malachi. So we have a bit of a different order of the books, even though it's the same books. So in a chronological Bible reading plan, what's happening is we're having all of the accounts that are in the Bible put into the order they happened in history. And the perks of this is it makes sense of the timing of the Old Testament, which can be very confusing and a roadblock to fully understanding the major and minor prophets, as well as the historical books.
00:16:10
Speaker
What I also love about this is that the Psalms are often staggered alongside David's life when he was living. So you'll see during the incident with Bathsheba, you'll see Psalm 51 is part of your reading. So Chronological Plan is fantastic and that is what we'll be doing as an Every Woman a Theologian community in 2023.
00:16:30
Speaker
The next plan is a five day a week whole Bible plan. I first found this through blogger Tim Chalise. And this is a great one because it pulls from different parts of the Bible daily. So if you like to read different genres or content, this is fantastic. Tim said that it brings both familiarity and intimacy. So this is also a very flexible plan because it's five days. So you have two extra days to play catch up or skip whenever you're reading.
00:16:58
Speaker
The next plan is called the machine reading plan, and I might have mispronounced it. It's M-C-H-E-Y-N-E. It's based on a 19th century pastor's plan, and Don Carson has a two year version of this plan. But what you'll do with this plan is you'll be reading through four chapters a day, going through the Old Testament once and the New Testament and Psalms two times.
00:17:20
Speaker
over two years. I believe there's also a one-year version of this plan, but Don Carson's two-year version gives you a little bit more time. The last plan that I have linked in the blog post is what I call the Loose Legacy Plan. So it's just called the Legacy Plan from Equip.org. I call it the Loose Legacy Plan because I think it's the most flexible plan. So instead of daily readings, you actually have assigned books for each month of the year.
00:17:48
Speaker
So you can read as many chapters as needed to finish them within those 30 days. You can read more one day, less another day. So if you want a lot of flexibility, this would be an excellent choice.
00:18:02
Speaker
Okay, so let's say you choose your reading plan. Maybe you pick one of these. Maybe you choose to do the chronological plan that every woman of theologian is doing in 2023. The biggest tip I have is, again, you have to be flexible. If you're rigid or legalistic about the Bible, you're going to stop enjoying it. You're going to miss the point. You're not going to have intimacy with God.
00:18:23
Speaker
So even if you miss a day and you skip and you just move to the current passage, you can read back a few lines to get the context and don't beat yourself up about it. Understanding the Word of God is a lifelong journey. Hopefully you'll read through the Bible more than once in your lifetime.
00:18:40
Speaker
Secondly, don't try to break down the entire three to four chapters during your note-taking and study. And remember that you don't have to do a deep study of the word every day. You could just read it. You could just listen on audio as you read. I mean, you can do a deep study every day, but most people don't have time for that.
00:19:00
Speaker
It could take 30 to 60 minutes. Maybe you only have 15 minutes one day. It's okay to read through the passage, invite the Lord to speak to you, try to bring out that theological principle, and then leave it with the Lord and continue talking to him throughout the day. We have to release the idea that you have to get an application out of every single time in the Word. That you have to get something quick that you can memorize and do. This goes back to the episode about the Holy Spirit.
00:19:28
Speaker
The Holy Spirit is who brings things to mind when we need them. He's who guides us. He's who we listen to. It's not up to us to just find this nugget in scripture that we memorize and willpower our way through. What happens when we do that is we end up actually only wanting to read certain books of the Bible. Oftentimes New Testament epistles, Proverbs, sometimes Psalms. Because these are really quick and easy to read and so we can take a little nugget and just run with it. But that's not what this is about.
00:19:57
Speaker
This is about understanding the arc of salvation history and the heart of God. And when you understand the heart of God, that takes time, time spent with Him, consistently. And it means releasing the word of God into the hands of God for Him to use in your life by the Spirit of God. Don't try to force meaning where there isn't any. Don't try to force an application.
00:20:26
Speaker
say, Lord, wow, I don't fully understand this passage. I'm still studying it. I'm still trying to understand what this is about. And maybe I'll come back to it tonight and I'll study it more or read some commentaries on it or look it up online. But for now, teach me who you are in this passage and remind me of that throughout this day. You can be that simple. You don't have to force an application.
00:20:51
Speaker
Lastly, get accountability. If you struggle with finishing a reading plan, find a friend to do it with or join the community that we're going to be doing in 2023 because that's one of the biggest reasons that I decided to launch this program. Last but not least, I want to go over some different Bible reading tips for different learning styles.
Impact of Learning Styles on Bible Study
00:21:14
Speaker
If you're new to learning styles, there are three main learning styles. Now there's different educators, we'll talk about this in more nuanced ways and there'll be more than three, but the main three learning styles are auditory, visual, and kinesthetic, also called talkers, watchers, and doers.
00:21:35
Speaker
talkers, watchers, and doers. Now, before I get into these, you might recognize a few things in each that you resonate with, but most people have a primary learning style and a secondary learning style. So I'm primarily an auditory learning style, but I'm also very kinesthetic. So that means that I'm both a talker, I process through words by reading and hearing, but I also process by doing.
00:22:03
Speaker
And right now, as I'm recording this podcast, I actually have a stress ball in my hands because keeping my hands busy really helps me to focus on what I am doing. I'm very easily distracted. I'm very, especially easily distracted by noise. Again, being auditory, having excess noise around me can be really bothersome. I've had to train myself and having young kids for seven years to do my Bible study with my kids around.
00:22:30
Speaker
and just to silence excess noise other than the kids and learn to focus with my kids around. So that's an example of something that's not natural to me or innate to me, but I've had to learn to adapt because being in the Word of God was that important.
00:22:45
Speaker
So let's start by looking at auditory learners since that's what I am. I can speak to it a little bit. Here are some tips for auditory learners who are studying the Bible. Try working in quieter areas. So as I just said, if you have kids and you can't get up earlier than them or do this in the evening or on lunch or something,
00:23:06
Speaker
Try to eliminate excess noises beyond the kids. So fans that are running, music, TV, noisy toys. Have your kids play with something that doesn't make noise. Don't play a movie that you're in the room with. If they're in another room, that's one thing. But try to eliminate excess noise for yourself.
00:23:24
Speaker
Once those noises are eliminated, sometimes for some auditory learners, it does help to have instrumental or classical music while they study. So that can be helpful for some auditory learners. Another tip is to listen on audio as you read and follow the text with your finger. This is something that's helpful to me when I'm reading the Bible. If I'm struggling to focus, I will play on audio and then follow the text with my finger or read along with it.
00:23:52
Speaker
You can listen to the YouVersion Bible app to listen on audio in any version you want and match it to your Bible. And then you can follow along with it. Another tip is to read out loud. I will read the Bible out loud on days I'm really struggling to focus. And this is where my kinesthetic doer learning style comes in. Sometimes I'll actually walk around, hold the Bible, read out loud walking around. My kids think it's crazy, but sometimes I'm like, you know what? You're playing with your Calico critters.
00:24:20
Speaker
I'm gonna just do this because I cannot focus right now and I need to hear this out loud and I need to be saying it so that I'm really integrating the word of God into my body and my mind at the same time. So those are a few tips for auditory learners. You can also set a timer. This works for all learning styles using the Pomodoro method. So this is when you set a timer for 20 minutes. You focus work for 20 minutes.
00:24:47
Speaker
And after those 20 minutes are up, you set a timer for five minutes and you take a break. And if you have anything else to do after that, you would do another 20 minutes or 10 minutes, whatever. You could do this 20 minutes in the word, five minute break, 20 minutes of journaling your prayers. I write out my prayers because it helps me focus. I talked about that in the prayer episode. So a promedoral method can be really helpful as well for all learning styles.
00:25:13
Speaker
So let's talk about visual learners or watchers. So for you, the visual, the watching, that's gonna be more helpful than just reading. But I do wanna say something. Your learning style is an advantage. It helps you to engage with the text, but it doesn't mean that we never read. I always encourage people who say, oh, I hate reading. Figure out why you hate reading. Who ruined you?
00:25:37
Speaker
You know, who made it hard for you? Who made reading something you didn't like? Can you get to the root of why that was? Because the Word of God is still so important in the written Word and God will meet you through it. But it doesn't have to be the primary way you engage with the Bible either. So utilize videos related to the text you're studying. You might use the Bible project or YouTube that, you know, look up
00:26:03
Speaker
I'm studying Genesis 11 through 15, a video about Genesis 11 through 15. Bible Project has stuff on this. You would want to vet who's talking about it, but I am sure there are so many great YouTubers who have resources on this.
00:26:18
Speaker
Make a study area or your living room wherever you're sitting to read when you're sitting to do your Bible study. Make it visually appealing and relaxing, so limit the distractions around you. If your area is visually cluttered or you can see all of this stuff that is drawing you away,
00:26:36
Speaker
put it away, clean it up, create a space you enjoy and you love and you want to go to. I also recommend putting your phone outside of the room. So I did just mention using the Pomodoro method, setting a timer. Honestly, I would recommend getting a kitchen timer, one that is not connected to your phone so that your phone is not around you while you're studying. I really would highly recommend that or set your oven timer if you're near your kitchen.
00:27:02
Speaker
Take notes as you read. So all learning styles really benefit from note taking. When I worked in college counseling, academic counseling, one of the things I taught my students is if you take notes, you will retain what you read by 40%, even if it's not a ton of notes or shorthand.
00:27:19
Speaker
you know, or even doodling, you will retain more. So take notes as you read or listen. Use bright colors. This is big for our visual learners. Handwrite your notes, type them up later, but when you're typing your notes or writing your notes for visual learners, it can really help to leave a lot of white space in your notes so your note page is not visually overwhelming. It can also help to use markers and crayons and
00:27:46
Speaker
to kind of journal what you're learning. One prayer method a friend of mine taught me is as you're praying to draw or doodle a flower or an animal or something, and as you draw each portion, you pray over somebody until that portion is done. You could do the same kind of thing while listening to the Bible on audio.
00:28:05
Speaker
Say you're drawing a flower and as you're drawing one petal, you write inside the petal something you noticed from the last passage that was read aloud to you. So that's a way to integrate that visual and that auditory together. Okay, let's go on to kinesthetic or doer learning styles.
00:28:24
Speaker
So again, this one brings up taking those handwritten notes as you read. Because this is a doer learning style, you're having to be active. Use your body. We have a particular child in our family who is such a doer. She has to be moving whenever she's learning. So I do a lot of games and moving your body while you're listening or watching things.
00:28:45
Speaker
So taking handwritten notes again is important, and I do this with her at her age level where she can use markers to draw a picture of what I'm talking about. Kind of like I just mentioned. So use highlighters, fun pens, and paper to interact with your text.
00:29:02
Speaker
try standing up while reading, reading aloud, or try reading while walking on a treadmill, or taking a walk and listening to the Bible on audio. Those are some great things for kinesthetic learners. You may need a physical outlet for your energy. This is a big problem for a doer learning style. And this is where I think, and again, I'm not at all speaking as if I'm
00:29:24
Speaker
license to counsel on ADHD or anything like that. But from all the things I've studied on ADHD when I'm looking at my kids and I'm looking at the Bible students I'm working with, there's a lot of crossover between these kinesthetic learners and symptoms of ADHD. So having this
00:29:46
Speaker
either hyper focus, difficulty paying attention for long periods of time, wanting to get up and expend that energy. There are ways to integrate that into your Bible study routine. So you might need a physical outlet for your energy. Try taking breaks to exercise between chapters or walking while listening to the Bible and audio. Another great method for doers is to rewrite the passage in your own words. This is something that I do really helps me to engage with the text,
00:30:14
Speaker
Rewrite it in your own words. No, it's not a translation. It's not perfectly accurate, but it helps you to engage with what you are reading. The last thing for doers, and this is super fun, I have on my desk here a box of fidget toys that I got from Walmart. This box of fidget toys was $24 and it has inside it a couple of stress balls, some little bendy toys, some
00:30:40
Speaker
stretchy rubber like strings, some poppers, you can kind of hear that there, some silly putty, a Rubik's cube, and some little like finger traps and marbles and things like that in this fidget toy box.
00:30:59
Speaker
And I got this box because I'm recording some videos about your learning style and Bible study for our Every Woman a Theologian Bible reading community, but I'm also using this box of toys for our homeschool routine with my kinesthetic learner. So while you are reading the Bible, you can hold a stress ball.
00:31:19
Speaker
to keep your hands busy. You could do a Rubik's Cube while listening or play with a little popper. You have options to help yourself expend that energy, keeping your hands busy while you are watching, reading, listening. If you are a knitter or a crocheter or you like to embroider, those are great things to do while you're listening to the Bible on audio. And if you are listening on audio, typically with a chronological plan, you'll have about three chapters a day.
00:31:48
Speaker
it only takes maybe 10 minutes to listen to three chapters. I would listen through it multiple times or in multiple versions. So those are some tips for the kinesthetic learner and I have a lot more of these that I'm going to be sharing over the course of 2023 to the Every Woman, Theologian community when we launch this program January 2nd. So
00:32:10
Speaker
a little bit about what we're going to be doing. We're going to be doing a chronological reading plan. And what this is going to look like is it's going to take place in a teachable course, which is an app on your phone. And each week you will get the week's reading plan. You'll have a five day plan.
00:32:27
Speaker
You'll be covering, you know, the chronological reading for those five days and you have seven days to read it. You'll have access to these learning style ideas. You'll have access to links to different YouTube videos. We're going to just give you some different resources that you can use. Whether you want to or not, that's up to you. And then this is the cool part. Everyone who has subscribed to the program, it'll be about $10 to $15 a month.
00:32:53
Speaker
Everyone who subscribed to the program will be held accountable for two reasons. When you're investing in your Bible study, you have some skin in the game. You're more likely to show up if you're paying $10 a month, which is about the cost of two grande lattes. If you're investing, you're more likely to want to spend time making sure that you're following through. But when you know that other people are showing up to meet you there and other people are reading the Bible with you, you're also more likely to follow
Community and Accountability for 2023
00:33:20
Speaker
through.
00:33:20
Speaker
So this program will allow you to go through the Bible.
00:33:26
Speaker
in a year, you will have the assigned reading and you will have, and this is the cool part, all of these other people in the Every Woman a Theologian community also able to comment in the app without having to go on social media and get distracted what they've been reading that day. So in each lecture, you'll be able to comment and interact with each other. You'll be able to share what you're learning, ask questions, ask for resources, et cetera.
00:33:53
Speaker
And so by the end of the year, our prayer and hope is that you'll have read through the whole Bible and you'll have done it in community. But the really cool part is we're going to allow this program to be one where you can register halfway through the year. You can join anytime and you'll just join in wherever we are in the Bible. So even if you don't join at the beginning of the year, you'll be able to join anytime throughout the year.
00:34:15
Speaker
So we're very excited about this. But again, if you want to just go through the Bible on your own and find an accountability partner at your church and your community, that is great too. And you can use any of the Bible reading plans that we have linked in the show notes. You can grab those, you can download them, you can do them in your own community and your own church. And then if you want to join the Every Woman a Theologian plan and program to have access to our resources, the learning style tips, the habit forming tips, all of that is going to be
00:34:43
Speaker
in that program, which will be starting on January 2nd. I'm so excited to do this with you guys. And I pray that 2023 is the year that you make the word of God the highest priority. Even if you take your time to go through the word, you make it the highest priority, the center of your being, because God is going to speak to you through it. And the word of God is living and active, ready to transform you into the image of Christ.
00:35:13
Speaker
Thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of Verity Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, would you take the time to leave us a review? It helps so many other women around the world find out about Verity and about every woman a theologian as a ministry and a shop. We appreciate you and I hope you'll be back next week as we continue to go deeper into God's word and the heart of Jesus Christ.