Are You a "Flip and Pick" Christian?

You're getting ready to read the Bible. It's been a while and you know that you have to get in the word. So you pick it up and stare at it for a few seconds wondering where you're going to start. You know the Bible is divinely inspired so anything you read will be good, right?

So what do you do? You flip the Bible open and you blindly use your index finger to pick a random piece of Scripture out from the Bible.

Ah! Your index finger suddenly lands at 1 Chronicles 7, a wonderful list of genealogies!

Oh well, you say, lets move on to an epistle or something. And the life of the "flip and pick" style of reading the Bible goes on. We come across a nice little verse you can fit in your pocket, share it on facebook, and you've done your meditation for the day.

I blame devotionals on this. I blame pastors for doing the same thing. I blame all sorts of personalized, pocket verses that have been used, abused, and taken out of context.

If you're a "flip and pick" Christian, you're not taking your faith seriously. The Bible is extremely rich in deep theological significance. No, I'm not talking about going to seminary and studying theology. I'm talking about theological significance for your faith. The more you understand the Bible, the stronger your faith will be.

There are many Christians who abandon their faith because of some apparent problem in the text that they simply cannot get over. Maybe its the ever famous, "This genration will not pass away..." verse in Matthew 24. Or maybe its the extravagant stories and epic tales in the Old Testament. Maybe its all the laws and seemingly irrelevant regulations God gives to the Israelites. I don't know, but I am sure it is grounded in not being able to read the Bible for all its worth.

Do I have the antitote? No! I wouldn't dare try to teach you how to read the Bible. But I can point to someone that can.

Enter How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth...

This book will save you from flipping and picking and bring into a world of searching the scriptures like the Bereans did. This book is easy to read and simple to understand. You don't have to major in theology to understand any of its concepts.

You will be edified and strengthened in your faith by learning how to do what the books says, read the Bible for all its worth.


My recommendation is to pick up a new NIV Bible and this book. If you like your current translation, then use that. But whatever you do, buy this book.

I started reading it for a class and I immediately started putting the principles in practice. Because of it, I can pick up the bible and start reading with serious comprehension. It's not that the Bible is "hard to read," its just that some people cannot successfully place context around what they're reading because they've been trained to "flip and pick."

So, to conclude my book recommendation for today....GO GET THE BOOK!