I thought that I would like to share a website that I’ve found super valuable to watch  with my children as we read through the Bible together. I’m always surprised to find someone who hasn’t seen it yet, so I’d like to share it with you.

The Bible Project is a marriage of Bible study with art. Long-time readers may know how much I love beautiful things. A beautiful leaf will stop me in a moment. I avoid picture books with ugly illustrations. It has even become a family joke that an ugly dinner can put me in a bad mood. A casserole may taste good, but if it looks like slop, there’s little you can do to make it look good. Better to keep meat, veggies, and sauce artfully separate.

Like a well-designed meal, the Bible Project is quite attractive, creative, and satisfying.  It shows relationships and themes visually as the narrators explain their topic. The website has a video for each book of the Bible, with more videos for particular themes and word studies. They’ve got an ongoing series on how to read the Bible that is excellent.

These will be quite valuable as you read the Bible with your children. Watch them before you start a new book of the Bible. That way you’ll be looking for the themes as you read. They’ll answer some questions before you get there, and you’ll be able to refer back to the video when you get to that point in your reading.

The Bible Project Leviticus videos, for example, remind the audience that being unclean isn’t the same thing as sinning. That’s helpful. Also helpful is the emphasis on God making a way for humans to have fellowship with him. These ideas anchored my children as we slogged through a book of the Bible that can at times be difficult and boring.

In the podcasts, Jon and Tim emphasize the need to learn from the Bible directly, rather than making assumptions about what is in the Bible. I love this focus on biblical literacy, especially important for those of us who grew up hearing Bible stories in church and home. Children growing up in godly homes don’t always understand clearly the Bible lessons they are given when they are young, and perhaps we must acknowledge that we do not always teach our children accurate Bible knowledge (either as parents or Bible teachers). Helping our children learn to use the text as a primary source and reference point is vital, and will carry them forward long after our imperfect Bible instruction has ceased.

I love that Jon and Tim seem less concerned with following the views of popular celebrity Christians than being faithful to the Word of God. I also enjoy the camaraderie of this collaborative duo; they model what it looks like for friends to talk about the Bible together. If you learn by listening, subscribe to the podcast!

We’re now reading Hebrews. It’s not next in our chronological Bible study, but all that reading about sacrifices made me want to show them Jesus Christ through the lens of Leviticus.Then we’ll go back to Numbers. What are you reading with your children?

 

 

 

We’re not at Leviticus in our Bible reading, yet. We finished Job, and then went back to Genesis.

Tonight, Bethel asked to watch the Bible Project video for Job. I shouldn’t be surprised that they appreciate the videos more after they’ve read the book. If you haven’t watched any of these, take a look!

What if you’re not up to reading several chapters? Barbara Reaoch has a great ministry to parents who are new to reading the Bible. Every week she posts consecutive Bible passages to read with children. Her selections are short enough to read even for young children. Best of all, she gives ideas for questions to ask while and after you read. If you feel intimidated by just reading Scripture, give this website a try! You can subscribe on by liking her Facebook page, or look in the archives on her website.

And, while I’m sharing links, I would love for you to go to Facebook and like my new author page. You all know me best, and I’d love to see you participate in discussions or just say hello! I’ll be talking more about my new book called Parenting with Mercy that will be coming out soon.

Meanwhile, we’re still reading. I’m curious to see how my children react to reading Leviticus, honestly. Since my goal is to read the Bible more than talk about the Bible, I don’t feel the need to explain everything or make a modern application from each chapter. Maybe we’ll talk about what grown ups do when they are reading a portion of scripture they don’t understand well or doesn’t seem to add much to their understanding of who God is. How do you read the portions of Scripture that are over your head?

A few weeks ago, we started reading the Bible from start to finish with our children. We’ve read smaller chunks, but I don’t think we’ve ever read the Bible straight through together. We haven’t been reading together in awhile, I do want you to know.

I told them I’d like to read through the Bible together. Asked them whether they would prefer to read chronologically, or just straight through the Bible. They were enthusiastic and voted to read chronologically, so we started. Technically we were starting close to the new year, but I decided it was silly to wait two weeks to start.

Mostly we just read, because I want to keep our time under thirty minutes. Sometimes they’ve asked about a verse they don’t understand, and sometimes I point out something I like. They’ve asked some questions that I couldn’t answer.

Maybe reading the Bible through is something you’d like to try this year. It doesn’t matter that we’re already two weeks into the new year; I started two weeks early, and we’ve been reading only on school days. You can start two weeks in. What if you get stuck at Leviticus? You might think you’re the only one who has these pitfalls. You hear your friends talk about this thing they’re doing or that, and you feel like the unspiritual one. Don’t worry. No matter where you are, you can always move forward. If you get bored by Leviticus, you can still keep reading. Or you could skip Leviticus. Wouldn’t it be better to skip Leviticus and get through the whole Bible, than to stop every year because of … Leviticus?

My life is full of starts and stops, of repeat lessons. I ask for God’s mercy all the time. Do you have something you’ve been avoiding because you’re concerned you won’t be able to follow through?

Pray for us. We’ll be starting Leviticus soon.

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14