MARATHON

A&E: 12 episodes of Cold Case Files.
AMC: John Wayne movies all day.
Discovery Channel: 14 episodes of MythBusters.
Sci Fi: 22 episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
TBS: 24 hours of A Christmas Story.
USA: 13 episodes of House.

These are just some of the shows you could have caught yesterday. One website counted about 18 television stations running such Christmas Marathons. Based on this programming guide, 'tis the season of the rerun!

Somewhere between the 18th hour of "the soft glow of electric sex gleaming in the window" (the leg-lamp from A Christmas Story), and trying to figure out how 13 episodes of an atheist doctor (House) help to celebrate the newborn King, an idea came to me. Why don't I have a New Testament Marathon? I've actually thought of this before, so it's a rerun!

New Testament Marathon
Each year people around the world make the goal of reading through the Bible one of their New Year resolutions. I've actually done it a couple of times! The Lighthouse Christian Center website has a link to the One Year Bible weekly schedule - with a few other helpful links. Click here if you're interested!

My plan is simple:
Read the New Testament 12 times this year; once every month in a different version.

The idea is to make myself a New Testament Christian. Part of that plan means making 2009 a New Testament Marathon! Two months is plenty of time to get through, with some room for prayerful reflection and note-taking. Imagine the benefits of investing in God's Word next year!

Reading Plan
Here's a plan I "borrowed" from elsewhere:
Start with #1 on Day 1 and read through Matthew 9, then with #2 on Day 2 and read through Matthew 15, etc.

1. Matthew 1
2. Matthew 10
3. Matthew 16
4. Matthew 23
5. Mark 1
6. Mark 9
7. Luke 1
8. Luke 7
9. Luke 12
10. Luke 19
11. John 1
12. John 8
13. John 14
14. Acts 1
15. Acts 8
16. Acts 15
17. Acts 22
18. Romans 1
19. Romans 9
20. 1 Corinthians 1
21. 1 Corinthians 10
22. 2 Corinthians
23. Galatians
24. Philippians
25. 1 Timothy
26. Hebrews
27. James
28. 1 John
29. Revelation 1
30. Revelation 12

Audio
Listening to the Word is a great way to get it inside! The Bible is published in various audio formats and versions such as cd's, mp3's, web streaming and downloads. Click here and here for more info!

Bible Versions
Here are some possible Bible versions to read:

1. King James Version (KJV)
2. English Standard Version (ESV)
3. New International Version (NIV)
4. Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
5. New Living Translation (NLT)
6. God's Word (GW)
7. New English Translation (NET)
8. Amplified (AMP)
9. Contemporary English Version (CEV)
10. The Message (Message)
11. Today's New International Version (TNIV)
12. Wycliffe - Good, but Hard to Read. Alternative: New American Standard

All of these versions can be found here, or here, with the exception of NET Bible which is here. If this sounds like too much, it could be divided into 6 times, once every two months. You do the math!

Let's the Read the Word in 2009!