A weeklong Bible reading marathon is underway at the Museum of the Bible in Washington DC.
It began at 9 a.m. yesterday and will continue for 12 hours each day, ending this next Saturday at 9 p.m.
Nearly 500 religious and political leaders, as well as prominent celebrities, are taking turns reading the Bible from cover to cover.
The event seeks to “call the American people back to daily Bible reading for the well-being of our country.”
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, along with other elected officials, is joining actress Candace Cameron Bure and other committed Christian celebrities to publicly read through the Bible.
The Bible reading event is spearheaded by Bunni Pounds of the "Christians Engaged" organization.
The event seeks to “call the American people back to daily Bible reading for the well-being of our country.”
It also hopes to inspire millions of Christians to read the Bible.
Be encouraged and inspired.
Most, but not all, of the following is taken from the Christian Post.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., was 12 years old when he realized that the promises of Scripture are "so true."
His father, James, a firefighter, was “involved in an explosion in the line of duty” that left him with third-degree burns on 80% of his body.
“My father was burned so badly and so severely, he was permanently disabled in the fire, but at the time, he had a 5% chance to live,” Johnson recalled at the opening celebration for the weeklong “America Reads the Bible” marathon at National Community Church on Saturday.
“When I was age 12, I got down on my face before the Lord, and I pleaded for the life of my father.”
“He spared my father’s life, and he went on to live another 30-plus years," Johnson said.
Johnson said the teaching in Proverbs 30:5 — that “Every word of God is true” — came into “vivid focus” for him at that young age.
“That event, that moment in my life, made the promises of Scripture so true,” he continued. “I actually saw a miracle. It’s a long story. There’s actually a book written about this experience with my father. It was a miraculous set of circumstances, and God answered our prayers. And to me, from the time I was 12 years old, I knew that God’s Word is flawless and true, that these are real promises, that we can rely upon it.”
Johnson, a devout Baptist, joined several faith leaders and Christian celebrities to share the significance of the Bible in their personal lives and in American history at the opening celebration.
Candace Cameron Bure,
Cameron Bure, a Christian known for her role in the sitcom "Full House" and a number of Hallmark movies, said that reading the "entire book of the Bible multiple times chronologically" has changed her life.
"I cannot imagine a day going by without it. I need it. I want it. I crave it," Bure said. "It is my time with God. The Bible shows us who God is. He is such a patient God. He is so merciful. He is so kind. And He, most of all, is so loving. And the Bible is the greatest love story you will ever read and know in your entire life.”
She said that her faith “has cost opportunities and relationships" but has no regrets.
“I kept asking myself, ‘Do those things matter more than my relationship with God?’ And the answer has always been no. I’m going to stand before God on judgment day, not anybody else.”
“I will choose Him every single time,” she vowed.
David Barton
David Barton, president of WallBuilders, highlighted a study conducted by professors at the University of Houston examining “15,000 writings of the Founding Fathers in the founding era.”
“They looked for quote marks inside those writings where the founders were quoting someone, and they found 3,154 direct quotes. It took them 10 years, but they tracked each of those quotes back to its original source," Barton said.
Barton said 34% of the direct quotes came from the Bible. He attributed the success of the United States as a constitutional republic that has endured for nearly 250 years, ... to its foundation by “people who were versed in the Bible, who understood the Bible, who applied the Bible to every aspect of life.”
Indeed.
- Patrick Henry, Virginia orator and patriot of the American Revolution, said, “The Bible is worth all other books which have ever been printed.”
- Herbert C. Hoover, 31st president of the United States, said, “The whole inspiration of our civilization springs from the teachings of Christ and the lessons of the prophets. To read the Bible for these fundamentals is a necessity of American life.”
- Andrew Jackson, hero of the Battle of New Orleans and 7th president of the United States, said, “That book, sir, is the rock on which our republic rests.”
- Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President and U.S. President during the American Civil War said, “In regard to this Great Book, I have but to say, I believe the Bible is the best gift God has given to man. All the good the Savior gave to the world was communicated through this Book. But for this Book, we could not know right from wrong. All things most desirable for man’s welfare, here and hereafter, are to be found portrayed in it.”
- Theodore Roosevelt, 26th president of the United States, said, “A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education.”
Billy Hallowell of the Christian Broadcasting Network, who also hosts podcasts for The Christian Post, shared how daily Bible reading can be helpful in contemporary culture.
“We are in a spiritual battle. We can’t understand our lives, our politics, our society, our culture if we do not understand that reality," he said. "It’s not us versus them. It is spiritual. And the thing is, the enemy is very crafty. He’s trying to distract us right now. And that’s nothing new, but right now we’re seeing a lot of that with misinformation and chaos. Now is the time to be smarter and keener than ever.”
Kyle Lance Martin, founder of Time to Revive, attributed the state of contemporary culture to the fact that churches “slowly just let the enemy creep in.” He lamented that “the Church has strayed away from the Word of God,” identifying this development as “the real issue in our country.”
“When the Church is in the Word, our country looks different,” he insisted. “Real fruit will occur in our great nation, not when the government changes. It’s when the body of Christ embraces the Word of God.”
Bunni Pounds
“The Bible is His book right here that I hold in my hands, is connected to a God who’s alive. He loves you, and He’s really all you need. We look for fulfillment and happiness in everything else, my friends. But this is really what we need. Nothing more, nothing less," she said.
“If every American hearing the sound of my voice would humble themselves daily and consume this book, we would no longer be a nation full of confusion, fear, anxiety, depression, and hatred toward one another because we would be full of Jesus. Can you imagine a nation where citizens everywhere are submitting themselves daily to a rulership of a God who brings order into chaos? Can you imagine that, America? Can you imagine what would happen?”
Be Inspired. Be Motivated. Be Engaged. Be Prayerful.
Read the Bible.