I loved when I had the opportunity to go through the North Star Training Program with our church, it was a really great learning experience. One of the highlights was reading through the Bible really quickly, it really helped to see the overarching story of the Bible, from the onset of sin, to it’s defeat by Jesus on the cross.
I recently took up a very different challenge, I am hand copying the book of Luke 10 verses at a time. I think I am understanding the idea of meditating on His word for the first time. By slowing down enough to hand-write each word, it really sticks with me and I end up thinking about those ten verses all day long. Some times I end up looking up different terms or idea presented to increase my understanding of the verses I read, and sometimes I am just lead to prayer and thanksgiving since I know how the story ends up finishing. So far, it has been a very rewarding experience.
-Mark Jackson