Some #ff

27 January 2012 link

Two interesting Twitter accounts that I've come across in the last couple of weeks:

@Bible_Haiku - like Bible Summary but in haiku form! Currently on Genesis 39.

@tweetechism - tweeting through the Heidelberg Catechism.

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Popular Psalms

8 January 2012 link

That wraps up the first book of Psalms! (I wonder why they're not numbered 1 Psalms, 2 Psalms etc.)

These have been some of my favourite summaries so far. I love posting straightforward praise of God each morning. And judging by the number of retweets, I'm not alone in that.

Psalm 23 has had 52 retweets, which puts it in the top 10 summaries overall. Psalms 1, 16, 25, 27, 31, 34, 37 and 40 have all had over 30 retweets.

I've still got three-and-a-half months to go before I get to Proverbs. So, I must say I'm relieved that it's Psalms (rather than, say, 2 Chronicles) that has 150 chapters!

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Favourites and retweets

14 December 2011 link

If you have a Twitter account, you can now retweet or 'favourite' any summary directly from this website.

Go to an individual chapter page (e.g. Genesis 1 or Psalm 1) and use the icons beneath the summary.

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@TweetTheBible86 and Mashable

2 December 2011 link

Bible Summary has been mentioned on Mashable again, in a post about a new project to tweet the whole Bible, a verse a day.

Yes, the folks at @TweetTheBible86 are making my 3.5 years look easy. Their project will take 86!

Of course, they do have the advantage of just pasting the verses as they are (rather than writing an original summary each day), but it's still an ambitious undertaking!

If you like the idea of @TweetTheBible86 but would prefer a quicker pace, you can follow @BibleBird, who are in the middle of tweeting a verse every 20 minutes.

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The Psalms

28 November 2011 link

Here we go - I'll be starting the Psalms tomorrow!

I was worried that I would be tired of the daily summaries by the time I got here, and that five months in one book would finish me off. But I don't think I've looked forward to any book more!

In my day job, as Director of Worship at King's Church Durham, I've been challenging myself to include a Psalm each time we gather for worship. That may sound obvious, but our diet has been very much focussed around hymns and songs. It's been incredibly enriching to explicitly link our worship with the songs of Scripture.

The Psalms are a kind of lexicon of worship. Given how much my understanding of the other books I've summarised has grown, I'm really excited to discover what the impact of working through the Psalms will be.

I'm also really looking forward to tweeting straightforward praise of God each day!

I think the Psalms are a kind of project-within-the-project. Reading through the Psalms would benefit anyone... so how about joining me?

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Looking forward to the Psalms

24 November 2011 link

I've almost finished Job... which means the Psalms are just around the corner!

I've been looking forward to the Psalms since I began the project. I'm a worship leader in my day job, so it's going to be brilliant tweeting the songs of ancient Israel every day for five months!

I've written another press release to highlight this part of the project. Please do pass it on to anyone you think may be interested!

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An overview of Job

12 November 2011 link

How's everyone doing? We're nearly four weeks into Job - only two more to go! We've just started Job's closing speech, then we have a few chapters of Elihu, and finally God's response.

Just in case you're feeling lost, here's my original overview of Job. I wrote it ten years ago, in a much more colloquial style. There are a few points where I think I probably took liberties with the text, but hopefully it will help you catch up with the conversation to date.

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Word Bible Designs

9 November 2011 link

I've only just stumbled upon the Word project - right as it's finishing!

Graphic designer Jim LePage was looking for a way to discipline his Bible reading (sounds familiar!) and hit upon the idea of producing an original design for each book of the Bible - one a week for 66 weeks. He's only got Revelation left to go!

It's great work, and well worth a look.

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The Wisdom Literature

18 October 2011 link

I've finished the History books! That always feels like a very significant step on the journey through Scripture.

Next come the Wisdom books, which are probably my favourite in the Old Testament. I've been looking forward to starting Job for weeks!

Perhaps that sounds strange? Job has a pretty gloomy reputation. But the raw honesty of books like Job, Ecclesiastes and the Psalms has been life and death to me in dark times over the years. I've never been content with a faith that shies away from those realities.

The Wisdom books take the reality of the human condition very seriously. And they also take God very seriously. There's a spring of life in the coming together of the two.

So, on to Job...

The first time I read the book of Job - about twelve years ago - I was expecting it to be only a couple of chapters long. I had assumed that the children's version was all there was to it. I was bewildered as chapter after chapter of poetic dialogue sailed over my head.

In fact, that bewilderment partly accounts for this whole project!

In an attempt to get to grips with the arguments of Job, I condensed the book into a two-page script. That summary was one of the first things I ever published on the internet!

I'll have a head-start as I get underway tomorrow...

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The exiles return

11 October 2011 link

These shorter books are passing quickly! Ezra and Nehemiah are done, and Esther will be finished in a week. That will be the end of the history books!

Somewhat appropriately, I've just passed 10,000 words for the project.

After the run of evil kings leads inexorably to the exile, it's a relief to find a new start for Israel in these recent books. But you can't quite escape the comparison with the great heights of earlier generations.

The Israelites felt the contrast themselves: in Ezra 3 the older people weep for the glory of the former temple even as the new foundations are laid.

This seems a very unresolved new beginning.

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