July Bible Reading Plan

(Still) Slow-Reading the Gospel of John

Christ Washing The Feet Of His Disciples, Nicolas Bertin, 1730

Hello Everyone,

Below you’ll find the Scripture readings for the month of June. If you’re new here, I’d like to invite you join our community in committing to five simple practices for re-embodying your faith. Here’s a quick synopsis of the five practices with some links to get you started:

1. SCRIPTURE: We share a common reading schedule, usually one passage from the Old Testament, one from the New Testament, and a Psalm each day. Learn more: How To Read The Bible

2. PRAYER: We pray on our knees the first minute we get out of bed and the last minute before our head hits the pillow. Learn more: How To Pray

3. FASTING: Fasting makes space for God. We do it in different ways in different seasons (e.g. internet fast on Sundays; no meat or dairy on Fridays; special alms-giving in summer). Learn more: Why We Fast

4. CHURCH: Make a commitment to physically go and worship with other Christians at a local church every Sunday. Learn more: Losing Our Religion

5. AUTHORITY: Begin to ask God for a trustworthy pastor, priest, or spiritual leader. Then approach that person and give them authority in your life. Learn more: What Is A Priest?

For more on the integration of Christian faith and practice check out: Creeds, Deeds, & Needs.

The July Plan

The readings for this month are as follows. If you’re the analog type, you can access the reading plan here and print it out or bookmark it on your phone or computer. We also have a personalized plan on the Dwell app (FREE for you!), which automatically loads each new day’s Bible passages. You can read or listen right on the app. It’s pretty awesome. You have to create an account to get started, but once you’re in, it’s free thanks to VB Fellows footing the bill (we welcome your donations to help keep it going).

If you’ve been following along for a while, you may notice we’re changing it up this summer. Usually the reading plan consists of three readings: a Psalm, an Old Testament passage, and a New Testament passage each day. But for the months of June and July, we are scaling it back a bit and doing a deep dive into the Gospel of John (along with the regular Psalm readings). You could spend a lifetime on this one Gospel and never get to the bottom of it. So we’re spending two months! Some passages are so deep, I have us repeat-reading them two days in a row. Take this summer season to ruminate deeply on the words and ministry of Jesus Christ. It may change your life. As usual, I highly recommend the excellent Bible Project video introduction linked below.

— Ross

Also, in case you missed it, here are my two most recent essays: