Pastor Kris here with a little encouragement for the new year and some vision for the decade ahead of us. First off, a reality check. The reality is this: the vast majority of what happens in your life in the next decade will depend on the habits you keep. We often look at life as a set of circumstances, opportunities, and big decisions. Each of those has their place - and we all encounter the occasional big event that changes everything - but looking back over years past most of us can attest that the days and hours of life are primarily made up of the habits that we keep. Plain and simple. The stuff you do daily is the stuff that guides and directs your life.
So what do we do with that? Here's my challenge for you in 2020.
- If you're new to TTW - start a Bible habit.
- If you already love TTW - share a Bible habit, and start a sharing habit!
How? Simple. Make it your goal to tell one person about Through the Word every week this year. One person a week. Not that hard. One of my favorite things about TTW is how easy it is to share. I know a lot of Bible, but I've always struggled with sharing my faith. It's just really hard for my personality to open those conversations. Some people are amazing at it. For me it's awkward. But telling someone about a great app that I found is easy! I liked it - so maybe you'll like it. And I've found that a lot of people really like the concept of an audio guide for the Bible. I just say, "You know - like the headphones you get at a museum with a friendly voice to walk you around and explain it. It's like that - but for the Bible. And it's free!" Simple as that. No one's ever been offended, and a lot of people think it's a pretty great idea. No pressure - no sales pitch - no awkward. And if they try it - and they get hooked - you just shared a Bible habit. And after years of doing this, I am thoroughly convinced that a Bible habit is a life changer.
Now think about this. If you share Through the Word once a week this year, and let's say only one in four actually gets hooked - or about one a month. That's twelve Bible habits, and twelve lives changed this year, thanks to you! And what if those people start sharing the same way - once a week - with the same results. By the end of 2020, your sharing would change more than 4,000 lives! Keep it up, and by the end of the decade you would reach the whole planet!
Is that realistic? Well, it certainly has some challenges! First of all, we need to upgrade TTW, update more guides, and get TTW into more languages. (And there are many languages that don't even have a Bible - more on that coming soon!). We also need to make TTW more accessible - to the blind, deaf, and others. And of course there is the question of whether each listener would actually start not only a Bible habit but also a sharing habit.
But hold on. Let's not allow excuses keep us from a moment of opportunity! Why not try for amazing. The door stands open before us. The reality of the two thousand twenties is that we have a set of opportunities and tools that no generation before us has ever seen! A decade ago there was no TTW, but there was this amazing new opportunity called mobile apps - so we tried something new - and that crazy idea now reaches 26,000 daily. Why stop here?!
So let's try it: one a week in 2020. Share a Bible habit - and start a sharing habit. And you may be surprised at who’s interested. A lot of people are curious about the Bible - and would really love some help understanding it. So you share a Bible habit - and we’ll keep working on improving the app, making new audio guides - and giving you something great to share! Can't wait to see what God does in the new twenties!
In Christ,
Pastor Kris
