Finding Jesus in the Bible…So We Can Follow Him in Life
Bible Reading Plans
- Plan One: New Testament Only
- Plan Two: New Testament + Psalms
- Plan Three: New Testament + History
- Plan Four: The Entire Bible – Year 1 of 3, Year 2 of 3, Year 3 of 3
Don’t know which plan? Go to A Christ-Centered Bible Reading Plan: Quick Start.
Extras
Verse of the Day, Audio Capsule, and Video Minute
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The One True Church
Chapter 9 – What I Learned from Returning to the Bible
As I said in the previous chapter, my reentry into the business world after a roughly 15-year absence put enormous pressure on me to “catch up” on what had changed in the industry I’d been a part of. A lot had changed between 1979 and 1995. Every hour I was not working had to be spent “boning up” on subjects in which I was deficient. And there were many such subjects.
When I wasn’t working, I was reading current business and information technology books and periodicals to help me make sense of the things people were talking about. People would say things to me during the work day that were incomprehensible until I could do some research that night to learn what they had been talking about.
Why didn’t I just admit to my business associates that I was clueless about much that they said? Because I had a family to support. I’m not proud to say it, but I faked it until I made it. I do not recommend it as a strategy. At its core, it’s unrighteous.
I was able to semi-retire in 2007, and fully retire in 2015. Being semi-retired gave me the opportunity to read something other than what was required for surviving at work. It wasn’t long before it occurred to me that I could return to reading the Bible. So I did.
I quickly realized what I had been missing for 15 years. I had been trying to live for Christ simply on the memory of what I had learned during 15 years of ministry. It hadn’t worked…and my lapses into unrighteousness were proof that it hadn’t worked. I began to appreciate what Jesus meant when He taught us to pray:
Matthew 6:11 ‘Give us this day our daily bread.’
I had tried to keep my relationship with Christ through good intentions and occasional prayer, but without the Bible…my relationship with Christ deteriorated. And, believe it or not, I did not realize this until I returned to reading the Bible daily.
You would think that my failures to live up to the life I knew from the Bible that Jesus wanted me to live would have made me realize that I needed to return to daily Bible reading…but it didn’t. Only reading the Bible again did that.
The Bible was bringing me back to spiritual life. And before long, my zeal for Jesus returned in full force. I started writing again and launched “Blog for the Lord Jesus” in 2009. The Lord reinforced in me the things He had revealed to me before. Plus, He began to reveal new things to me.
I’ve tinkered with how to present my writing on line since then. Currently, I have a website that hosts a dozen or so books and related resources. It adds up to well over a million words in total – probably closer to two million.
My life so far can be sorted into five periods of 12-18 years each. The following chart shows you how much church, Bible, or Jesus I had in my life during each of those periods. It was in the last stage that I have finally got the mix right.
| My Age | Church | Bible | Jesus |
| 0-12 (Catholic) | Lots | Little | Little |
| 13-26 (Secular) | None | None | None |
| 27-43 (Minister) | Lots | Lots | Lots |
| 44-56 (Business) | None | None | Little |
| 57-75 (Retirement) | None | Lots | Lots |
Jesus without the Bible is insufficient.
The Bible without Jesus is insufficient.
All modern church does is distract from the kingdom of God.
This book is about church – the one true church – the one in the New Testament. The book after this one will be about the kingdom of God.
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