Reading the Bible can be difficult, and failure is easy

While the Bible and prayer are essential for a growing friendship with Jesus, most Christians struggle to pursue either. For starters, the idea of personal Bible reading is intimidating: the imagined daily time commitment, the variety of Biblical books ("Where to start?"), and the difficulty in understanding these ancient texts combine to discourage time in scripture. A second obstacle is that many would-be disciples believe Jesus is forever disappointed with their attempts to live out their faith. Their failure to establish a daily devotional habit only heightens their sense of His disapproval. Intimidation and shame are poor motivators to spend time with Jesus! 

Success, right from the start!

• Each scripture passage and reflection is roughly 300 words total, allowing a Jesus Text to be read in under two minutes.
• The Gospel of Luke presents the life and teachings of Jesus, while The Gospel of John focuses on the Way of discipleship and deeper friendship with Jesus. The Gospels are the main event—the best place to begin reading the Bible!
• The reflection on each passage provides needed context and an easily understood take-away— a word of encouragement, a challenge, an assurance of Jesus’ love.

Jesus’ daily invitation to life and friendship

Jesus Texts are written as if Jesus is speaking directly to you. The words of scripture in these daily readings appear in quotation marks (NLT). The reflection that follows the Bible passage are not Jesus’ actual words, but align with the truth Jesus wants us to hear in that verse, and with what we know of Jesus from scripture as a whole. It’s the words, heart and tone of Jesus—the loving “voice” of Jesus—that so many desperately need to hear. Even Jesus’ hard teachings extend an invitation to a life of deeper friendship, peace and purpose as we surrender to His love.

Theological perspective   
Bible commentaries by the following theologically evangelical scholars—each committed to the timeless truth of the Gospel—were essential in understanding the context, capturing the meaning and identifying an application in these Gospels: James Edwards, NT Wright, Dale Bruner, William Barclay, and Leon Norris. John Mark Comer’s books and podcast teachings have also been a source of new understanding. The goal was to take what these trustworthy guides have observed in that day’s passage, and distill those insights down to a key take-away.

Endorsements:  
F. Dale Bruner…  World-renowned Bible teacher, theologian and acclaimed Bible commentator, including The Gospel of John: A Commentary (Eerdmans): 

Andy Sonneland loves Jesus Christ, and he loves to share him with his campers, staff, and adult guests at his remarkable Camp Spalding, where he has been the director for decades. I'm grateful too, of course, that he has found my commentaries helpful. But my commentaries are pretty academic; Andy's writings are personal and practical and earthy. Andy helps the Biblical words to become modern words. I warmly recommend him to you, his privileged readers! Really, Dale Bruner

James R. Edwards... Acclaimed Bible teacher, theologian and author of numerous books and Bible commentaries, including The Gospel According to Luke (Eerdmans): 

Jesus Texts “meet a current need and will have broad appeal by offering brief daily devotions that give a crisp and positive Bible exposition. Andy Sonneland's three decades of successful Christian camp leadership give him the pulse of disciples both young and old. This work promises to expand his daily catechism from camp to the broader Christian community.”

Author’s Note: the Purpose of Jesus Texts

For 35 years, it’s been my privilege to serve as director of a thriving Christian camp and conference center north of Spokane, WA. Like any director of a theologically evangelical camp, I’ve seen countless teen campers who—having experienced the life-giving presence of Jesus during a week at camp—head home determined to stay connected to Him during the year ahead. But by the time October comes, those commitments have typically taken a hit, with many students finding that reading the Bible is difficult, and failure is easy. To address that challenge, I began writing and sending daily Jesus Texts to the nearly 400 high school students, college staff and adult guests who signed-up at camp to receive them (check-out their reviews at the Testimonials link). 

Jesus Texts are intended to be an accessible on-ramp for establishing a daily habit of scripture reading and prayer. The goal is not simply to attain greater Biblical knowledge, but through each passage and reflection, to help the reader come more fully alive as Jesus’ faithful apprentice, experiencing His love ever-more deeply as the felt presence of Jesus’ close friendship.

Andy Sonneland