Why Your Team Should Do a 90 Day Bible Reading Challenge (& How!) with Mary DeMuth

Welcome back to the unSeminary podcast. We’re talking with Mary DeMuth today, an international speaker, podcaster, and author of nearly fifty books.

You may have read through the Bible in a year, but have you considered reading the entirety of scripture in just 90 days? In today’s conversation, Mary shares how this 90-day challenge started as a personal practice for her and has since revolutionized her life. Tune in to hear how you can use this practice with your staff and your church to increase biblical literacy, reorient hearts, and jumpstart spiritual growth.

* An overarching view of scripture. // Many people tend to pick up bits and pieces of the Bible rather than exploring the book as a whole. Reading the Bible in its entirety over a short period of time can help people understand that it’s not just a collection of isolated sayings, but a cohesive whole that tells the story of God. Mary’s new book, “The 90 Day Bible Reading Challenge” gives us the tools to read all of scripture in only three months.

* Three times day. // The 90 day challenge is broken into a morning, noon, and night approach, and includes a daily devotional as well. It’s a chronological read through the Bible so you get a good idea of the story of scripture, and the readings are designed to take about an hour each day.

* Listen to scripture. // Mary suggests engaging with the Word in a format that suits you, whether you read or listen to it. By listening to scripture, you can take advantage of your time commuting to work or while out on a walk. Mary recommends listening to the Bible on 1.5 or 2.0 speed because the scriptures are usually read slowly.

* Create space for time and focus. // To make room for this discipline, Mary had to take some things off her plate. We fill our lives with so many things that take up our time and focus. Participants will need to set aside time for reading that might otherwise be devoted to other activities, for example social media or entertainment, effectively helping them fast from the world’s standards and ways of thinking.

* Try a new translation. // It’s convenient to read the digital version of the Bible as we go about our busy lives. But Mary suggests that it can be an interesting practice to have a printed Bible in a translation that you haven’t read before in order to break away from familiarity and engage more deeply with the text. She also encourages journaling and writing down questions and insights while reading, either on a separate piece of paper or in a wide-margin Bible, so you can return to them later. 

* Increase biblical literacy. // Scripture is clear that believers need to move from consuming milk to meat, therefore engaging with God’s Word needs to be active rather than passive. Chew on what you are reading and really think about the words. If we know the Word we’ll become a lot better at discerning truth from error.

* Join the challenge. // Mary is kicking off a group 90 Day Bible Reading Challenge in the new year. It can be easy to start strong and then fall behind in big goals so Mary has created a FaceBook group where participants can encourage one another and discuss what they are reading each day. Working through this practice with a group can make a significant difference in a person’s consistency and motivation.

You can find out more about Mary and her book “The 90 Day Bible Reading Challenge” at www.marydemuth.com. Plus, click here to participate in the group challenge this January.