Sunday Salon #23

Current Bibles

BSB: Numbers; Deuteronomy 1-21; Psalms 83-122; Luke 13-24; John 1-7; Isaiah 40-66; Jeremiah 1-13; 1 Corinthians; 2 Corinthians;

NASB 2020: Genesis 6-50; Exodus 1-10; Matthew 5-28; Mark 1

Living Student Life Application: Genesis; Exodus 1-4; Psalms 1-20; Song of Songs; Hosea; Joel; Amos; Obadiah; Jonah; Micah; Nahum; Mark; Matthew 1-4;

KJV Open Bible: Genesis 1-4; Ezra 1-4; Psalms 1-4; Matthew 1-4; Acts 1-4;

1 Year KJV (which I finished!!!) Ezekiel through Malachi; Hebrews 3 through Revelation 22; Psalms 104-150; Proverbs 26-31;

KJV 544B (which I finished!!!) 1 Kings; 2 Kings; 1 Chronicles; 2 Chronicles; Psalms 31-56; Hosea; Joel; Amos; Obadiah; Jonah; Micah; Nahum; Habakkuk; Zephaniah; Haggai; Zechariah; Malachi; Matthew 20-28; Mark 1-5; Acts 1-7; Revelation 20-22; 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Sixteen Years of Operation Actually Read Bible

Does it feel like my youngest blog should be turning sixteen? No. Am I happy that it is? Yes. These are sixteen years where I've prioritized reading the Word of God in a consistent way. 

My first post was called THE MISSION.

My goal--obvious as it may be--is to actually read the Bible. You might think that I've not read it. But that wouldn't be the case. I've read it a dozen or so times over the past twenty years. However, I've not been in the habit of reading it lately. For the past three or four years, my reading of the Bible has been pitiful to nil. I know--rationally speaking--that I NEED to read the Bible...that I NEED to study and read and pray. But it's not a part of my daily routine. Hence why I'm challenging myself to ACTUALLY read the Bible instead of just talking about how I need to start one day soon.

I usually look back on the past year by sharing posts from June 9, 2023 through June 8, 2024

Bible Readers' Bill of Rights

Super Glutton Bible Reading Plan 

M'Cheyne Horner Bookmark Plan 

Seven Days for Any Book of the Bible?!

Bible review: Revised Berkeley (Gideon's Bible)

Movie review: Journey to Bethlehem

Book review: Ladies of the Lake. Cathy Gohlke. 2023. [July] 384 pages. [Source: Review copy]

Rambling thoughts on Manifest

Book review: Elisabeth Elliot: A Life. Lucy S.R. Austen. 2023. Crossway. 624 pages. [Source: Review copy] [adult nonfiction; biography]

True or False with Tozer

Book review: Five Lies of Our Anti-Christian Age 

Book review: The Deconstruction of Christianity 

Transitional Tunes 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

32. Who Are You? A Little Book About Your Big Identity

Who are You? A Little Book About Your Big Identity.  Christina Fox. Illustrated by Daron Parton. 2024. 32 pages. [Source: Review copy] 

First sentence: Who are you? What really makes you...you?

Who Are You? is a Christian picture book for families to share with little ones. It asks a big question--a question that seems to be becoming bigger and bigger in recent years. The question? Who are you? What makes you you? Are you WHAT you do? Are you WHAT you like? Are you WHAT others say about you? Are you WHAT you feel? Are you WHAT you look like? NO, NO, NO. 

The picture book celebrates that humanity is made in the IMAGE OF GOD. We as humans have a CREATOR. Not just a creator--far, distant, aloof. But a LOVING, caring, faithful Creator who sent his son, his one and only Son, his only begotten Son, to die for us, to atone for our sins, to reconcile us with our Father in heaven. 

The book provides a Christian [biblical] answer to the question, who are you. It also touches on how knowing who we are--in Christ--impacts how we should live. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

13. King James Version, Giant Print, 544B

Thomas Nelson, KJV Giant Print, Red Letter, 544B. [Thumb-indexed] God. 1976. 1900 pages [best guess]  Source: Bought

First sentence: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

I really enjoy finding "vintage" Bibles. This one is from 1976 and is published by Thomas Nelson. It is a giant print, double column, words of Christ in red. It is "self-pronouncing" which means longer words [and/or proper nouns] are broken into syllables and may feature symbols to aid in pronunciation. It is the King James Version. The "helps" include a bible reading plan, a concordance, and summaries for each book of the Bible. It also features some color maps. At the end of some verses, more obscure words are defined--very briefly. 

I used a modified M'Cheyne-Horner Bible bookmark reading plan. I read this one in about a month. I did start some bookmarks over again. I used five bookmarks this time instead of four. It would have evened out better perhaps sticking with just four. 

What I loved most about this one was the SIZE of this one. You get a GIANT-print bible without a giant bible. It is probably a little larger than a personal Bible, but, smaller that many Bibles. The font size was lovely. The font type was not "modern" nor ancient. In other words, far from the modern-day "comfort print" fonts that publishers take such pride in. Yet not hard to read on the eyes. I also love how DARK or even bold the text of the Bible is. One of my biggest pet peeves with modern publishing is the text color a variant of gray--very light. This, I suppose, is to "help" with ghosting. But gray text doesn't really fix that problem without introducing other problems. Does this one have ghosting? YES. Unfortunately. It isn't a huge distraction, but it is a slight one. It's the type of ghosting where you see lines bleed through but you can't necessarily make out individual letters or words. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

31. NKJV Spurgeon and the Psalms

NKJV Spurgeon and the Psalms, Maclaren Series, Thomas Nelson. Devotions by Charles Spurgeon. Psalms by God. 2022. 548 pages. [Source: Borrowed]

First sentence: Blessed is the man

Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

What I didn't love.....

The pages are VERY thin. There is a LOT of ghosting. Depending on the length of the psalm on the page, you can read other psalms through the paper. Thomas Nelson has published some great Bibles with minimal ghosting. I know that it is possible for them to design a Bible well, with minimal ghosting and beautiful layout.

These are short devotions. Do not expect Treasury of David. Just don't. If you've read even a little of Treasury of David you might expect something substantive and meaty about each psalm. These are short, concise devotions. Not exactly fluffy and superficial but not as substantive as reading other Spurgeon books.

What I loved....

Each psalm gets its own page. Each psalm has a "devotion" by Charles Spurgeon. I absolutely love the premise of a stand-alone book of psalms. I love the light-weight, take-it-with-you notion of reading and rereading Psalms. Psalms are meant to be read again-again-again. The book of Psalms should be SO familiar and beloved by Christians. This book does encourage you to make psalms part of your daily life.

It uses the New King James Version. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

12. The One Year Bible for Women, KJV

The One Year Bible for Women, KJV. God. 2023. Tyndale. 1136 pages. [Source: Bought]

First sentence: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

To clarify the five stars is because it is the Bible--the very Word of God--and it is also the King James Version which is one of my favorite translations of the Bible. 

What you should know:

1) It is a DAILY Bible. It has OT selection, NT selection, a Psalm, a [tiny bit of] Proverbs. It does take readers through the book of Psalms twice. However just one read through of Proverbs. As you can imagine it chops up Proverbs into ridiculously small sections to make it last 365 days. 

2) It is two column, black letter. 

3) It is "for women." Why??? Nobody knows. Not really. I suppose because the 100 word devotions that accompany each of the readings was written by a woman. 

4) It is paperback. I am not sure if it's available in other bindings--hardcover, fake leather, leather, etc. But many daily bibles are just available in paperback.

5) It is the King James translation. I believe this is one of many translations available for the "One Year Bible for Women" line of Bibles. 

6) It is the King James Version. It is verse by verse--like many KJV--and it does NOT have "self-pronouncing" text [aka syllables broken down. 

7) The "attractive layout" is listed as one of the main benefits of this one on the back of the Bible. I do like the green border on the pages. It provides a color frame for seeing Scripture. 

I found this one at a thrift shop--still in plastic--for two or three dollars. It was definitely worth that price. Is it worth the list price???? It depends on YOU the potential reader. There are better ways to get the King James Version in my opinion.

I am not necessarily a fan of daily Bibles. I think I could be if there was a way to adapt them. I am contemplating trying to pair a hymn per day with the reading plan. I think adding something a little more would make it better. I actually love the idea of singing a hymn per day as part of daily devotions. 

My "dream" daily Bible would have you go through the book of Psalms at least six times per year. [No, I'd actually really LOVE to see it twelve times per year. But I know the book of common prayer offers two ways to read the Psalms--a one month schedule and a two month schedule.] Proverbs definitely needs a LOT of help in this reading plan. There's no reason why you couldn't read one Proverb a day OR at the very least four or five whole Proverbs for a seven day period. To divide a book with thirty-one chapters into 365 readings is silly. I also wish that the reading plan didn't break up readings in the middle of chapters. Rarely does that make sense for reading meaning into the text. Occasionally it does. Sometimes there are natural stops in the middle of a chapter. But these are rarely why the reading plan stops when it stops. I think human beings should have more to do with the creating of reading plans and less math. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Sunday Salon #22

Current Bibles

BSB: Exodus; Leviticus; Psalms 42-82; Proverbs; Ecclesiastes; Song of Songs; Isaiah 1-39; Mark; Luke 1-12; Acts 20-28; Romans

KJV 544B: Deuteronomy 15-34; Joshua; Judges; 1 Samuel; 2 Samuel; Psalms 1-30; Jeremiah; Lamentations; Ezekiel; Daniel; Matthew 1-19; 1 Peter; 2 Peter; 1 John; 2 John; 3 John; Jude; Revelation 1-19

NASB 2020 Giant Print: Genesis 1-5; Matthew 1-4

1 Year KJV Bible for Women: Isaiah 57-66; Jeremiah; Lamentations; Philippians; Colossians; 1 Thessalonians; 2 Thessalonians; 1 Timothy; 2 Timothy; Titus; Philemon; Hebrews 1-2; Psalms 71-103; Proverbs 24:9 through Proverbs 26:23.

NIV Daily Bible (NiV 2011): November 25 through December 31.

 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible