"These days, few Christians read all of God's Word," says Trey Little, pastor of MMPC and president of the Albany Ministerial Alliance. "We'll be inviting the entire town to do it in 90 days. Yes… 90 days."
The town-wide initiative is an outgrowth of a curriculum called The Bible in 90 Days, which was created by a lay person from Houston and published in late 2005. It has since been used in congregations across denominations, throughout the United States.
"Albany, Texas and Waterville, Ohio will be the first towns to offer The Bible in 90 Days on a townwide basis," says Ted Cooper Jr., creator of the curriculum and founder of the non-profit ministry that supports organizations that offer it. "However, a number of churches have offered it on a church-wide basis, with great success."
Cooper will attend the meeting on December 2. He'll share his testimony of being agnostic eight years ago, then suddenly feeling compelled to read the Bible from cover to cover. He read it in three months, and halfway through became a believer.
The change in his life was so dramatic that he created a course to help members of his local church read the Bible. So many people were interested in the course -- and so many of those actually read the entire Bible -- that he felt compelled to leave his career to start the Bible in 90 Days ministry.
Cooper says most people don't believe they can read the entire Bible, much less do so in 90 days. Until they have done it. "Then, many wonder why everybody doesn't do this," he says.
Little reports that even some of his fellow clergy were skeptical. "All of us know many people who start to read the Bible, but never finish. This program lowers the barriers that keep many people from finishing the Bible. It works in large groups and small ones. We realized that, for many of us in Albany, this may be the best chance we'll ever have to read the entire Bible. It's exciting to be able to invite the whole town to do it at once."
The churches already committed to offer The Bible in 90 Days are: Albany Church of Christ, First Assembly of God, First Baptist, First Christian, First United Methodist, Friendship Baptist, Matthews Memorial Presbyterian, and Trinity Covenant Fellowship. More are expected to announce their participation. The churches are also encouraging those in the community who are not currently a member of a particular church to participate in the program, which will begin on January 1, 2008.
The number one reason that people give for not reading the Bible is lack of time. Which begs the question: who gave us time? Do you think He might want us to spend some of the time He gave us reading the book He gave us? Please join us on December 2 at 6:00 PM at the Whitney to discover how to participate in an initiative that can not only change your life… but the whole town's!
See also: Waterville OH
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