You will note that my blog not only has a new look but also a new address (shayreyner.com). If you have been following my blog over the years you will want to fill in your info over on the right so that you are alerted when I have new posts. All of the posts from my other blog have been imported here so everything is in one location. Thanks for reading and I hope that you are encouraged in your walk with God from time to time.
A new year is upon us and for me that means a new pondering project. I’d love for you to jump in and be a part of it with me. I’m going to tackle the Book of Romans this year. Here is what Martin Luther said about this great epistle in his Preface to the Letter of the Book of Romans:
“This letter is truly the most important piece in the New Testament. It is purest Gospel. It is well worth a Christian’s while not only to memorize it word for word but also to occupy himself with it daily, as though it were the daily bread of the soul. It is impossible to read or to meditate on this letter too much or too well. The more one deals with it, the more precious it becomes and the better it tastes.”
So it is a letter incredibly worthy of intentional pondering. My plan is three-fold. Feel free to be a part of any or all of it…
1) Each week I will have a passage to ponder. I have plotted things out and it will take the full year to get through the book. And that is actually going fast. On Friday of each week I will post my pondering thoughts on the passage. I encourage you to post yours as well and lets learn from each other.
(If you have never pondered passages with me before it may be worth your while to read THIS POST that I wrote a few years ago on How to Ponder a Passage)
2) I am also going to make it my goal to memorize chapter 8 and would love you to do it with me. Romans 8 is one of the greatest single chapters in all of Scripture. There are 39 verses, so it will not even be a verse a week. I will let you know each Friday what verse we are working on.
3) On Monday of each week I am going to post a quote about the passage that we dealt with the previous week by a pastor or by one the the heroes of church history who have also spent time pondering this book. Hopefully their words will stir us to think deeply about the Scripture we are pondering.
So how do we start? For this week I would suggest reading through the Book of Romans (in one sitting if possible) to get a feel for the book as a whole. Perhaps read it through several times. Next Friday I will post some introductory thoughts about the book to give us some background perspective. And I will give the first passage to start pondering as well as the first verse to begin memorizing.
If you are interested in joining me on this adventure please let me know so that a) I know who is along for the ride, and b) who I can encourage along the way when you feel like giving up – and I promise there will be these times. You can email me at sreyner@Ridgecrest.cc to let me know or simply leave a comment here.
Even if you don’t ponder along with me I hope that you will develop your own plan for staying intentionally engaged with God’s Word throughout the year.
Many blessings to you!
I’m in!
Looking forward to this
Count me in!
Shay,
I started following your “ponderings” about the time of your family’s accident. I’ve been greatly encouraged by the things you’ve shared, and the Lord has used your writings to speak directly to me. I’m not certain where I first saw your posts; perhaps it was a friend of a friend. Regardless, I’m glad to have found your writing and would like to continue to receive your emails. I’m even on board to try to memorize as much scripture as I can!
I am in!
Following