In this episode, Alan Huth discusses the challenges many face when it comes to consistent Bible engagement. Despite the busy lives we lead, there’s an important discussion on carving out time for spiritual growth. Alan shares valuable insights from the American Bible Society’s State of the Bible report and explains how adopting disciplined Bible reading methods can impact one’s spiritual life. Whether you are a morning or night person, Alan emphasizes the importance of finding a time that works for you and sticking to a plan. Explore the resources offered by the Ezra Project and begin a transformative journey
Well, hey, it’s Mike Triem with Alan Huth. Alan’s the president of the Ezra Project and AdBible. AdBible’s heard numerous times on KLTT and KLDC. And what I would encourage you to do is to go ahead and go to the website, 670KLTT.com. You’ll get all those times. Alan, we’re getting into the new year. By the time people hear this, we’re probably in the new year. What are some of the excuses that people use, we use, for not getting in the Bible?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, Mike, thank you for having me again, and I don’t know how many years we’ve done this in a row now, and we shouldn’t have to anymore. I know. Because we’re talking to Christians on your stations, primarily, and maybe some others, but you’d think that Christians would be in the habit of Bible reading. And I think when Barna Research does their research, they say Bible engagement is like once maybe a month or something, which is amazing to me. So people in the Ezra Project, our whole purpose is to connect God’s people to God’s word. And we’ve been doing it now for over 23 years. I want to be out of business. I don’t want to have to encourage Christians to ever read their Bibles again. I think it should just be a habit like many other daily habits.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah. I’ve heard… Don’t have enough time. That’s probably number one if we did the list, right? Don’t have enough time. Too busy. You know, I do an online devotional. Not the worst. You know, Ad Bible, we kind of have that online component, but it’s specifically designed to be a devotional, so that’s different. Just a lot of people have a lot of different reasons, right?
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, you’re right. The number one is I don’t have time, which… If we say as Christians that God is the most important part of our life, and then we say we don’t have time to be with him with this word, it just doesn’t make sense to me. So it’s one, I don’t have time. Two, I don’t understand it. And three, it doesn’t apply to my life. It’s an old dusty book for years gone by. Well, I’ve not experienced any of those things in my own life. I started reading my Bible when I was 15 years old after a tragic car accident. And I’d say I probably have read the Bible 99 percent of the days since I was 15 years old.
SPEAKER 01 :
Wow. Wow. And do you think the one on the end that you talked about, the Bible doesn’t relate to my life anymore or never did? You know, some people probably never did. Do you think that’s because they haven’t really delved into the Bible? Ad Bible is such a convenient way. You know, it’s not just about convenience for us. You know, we want to be faithful to God’s word. And we are with Ad Bible. But still, you know, once you get into it, you start to realize, oh, OK, that does apply. Oh, and that does apply. Oh, that one, that does apply.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, I can’t remember who said this, but it said something like, it’s not what I don’t understand in the Bible that bothers me, it’s what I do understand that bothers me. So, you know, yes, the Bible is, it’s not convicting, it’s loving. But there’s a lot of sin that we all deal with, and the Lord deals with sin throughout the Bible. So my encouragement for all of us in 2025 is to make a New Year’s resolution. And I know most people have quit those things. So I think you make one that you can do, like gain 15 pounds in 2025. That’s one you can do, right? Instead of lose weight. But on the spiritual side, it’s amazing to me. We can just have a spiritual New Year’s resolution. And that would be read my Bible each day in 2025. And why is that harder than other daily habits like brushing your teeth or combing your hair or eating or checking your email or texting? We do many things every day. We don’t even think about. That’s good. And the Bible reading should be the same. It should be not something I have to schedule, not something you have to fit in. It should be just something you do every day because the Lord is the most important part of our lives. And he will be there every day. That’s another thing that amazes me. If you meet with him, he’ll meet with you every day. He’s not too busy. He always has time through his word to meet with us.
SPEAKER 01 :
Alan, we’re speaking with Alan Huth, president of the Ezra Project and the voice that you hear most of at Bible programs on our stations, specifically 670 KLTT and KLDC, 1220 AM. And Alan, talk to us about How to do that? Is that having the same time each day? Is morning better than night? What do you find works for people?
SPEAKER 02 :
You know, there’s studies, Mike, every year. This one is American Bible Society’s State of the Bible 2024, which, of course, now was last year. But They say this, spiritual vitality is linked with disciplined Bible reading methods. And here’s the quote. So if you’re looking to grow up spiritually, perhaps it would help to get a Bible study app. And that will prompt you each day or to start reading full chapters rather than select verses. And then here’s the key to what you just asked me. According to the report, Bible engagement success consists of four things, using a commentary or a study guide, because we sometimes have trouble understanding it. Okay, get some help. Secondly, do it the same time each day. Third, follow a schedule or a plan. And fourth, reading one or more chapters, not just a few verses. So that’s the success formula from the State of the Bible report in 2024. So if you struggle, think about those four things. Get a study guide or a commentary, and you can do that through the Ezra Project with AdBible or our Day by Day through the Bible series. And by the way, I just saw somebody recently who bought the whole series. It covers all the books of the Bible, Day by Day through the Bible, all 66 books, 11 books that we have that does that. This guy said, I’ve read the Bible many times in my life and never understood it. But with the day-by-day books, he said, I’m getting revelation knowledge that I’ve never had before in reading the Bible. Why do you think that is? Well, just because I think sometimes people need some help. They need some insight. Yeah. And I’ve read the Bible so long, and I’ve journaled, and I just share my journal insights, and then I think it triggers their thoughts. So one, get a commentary. Yes, do it at the same time every day. When I started, I read at night when I was a teenager, but I moved to first fruits. I do it in the morning. Some of us are morning people. Some of us are night people. So pick the time, but be consistent. Don’t just try to fit it in during your day, or you won’t get it done. And then third, follow a schedule or a plan. Well, we’re offering a plan, the Ezra Project. You can find it at EzraProject.net. You’ll hear it on the radio here on this station. And we’re going to start January 1 with the writings. of the historical books. We’re going to start with Job, chapter 1 on January 1. We’re going to do Job, then we’re going to do Ruth, then 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles. You can say, oh, no, those are boring books. I’ll never get through them. You will get through them with the Ad Bible program on the radio or by the day-by-day book series. Then we’re going to go to the New Testament in 2025 with the readings the writings of Mark, Peter, James, Jude, and Hebrews. Then in the summer or later, we’re going to go to the writings of the minor prophets, cover all the minor prophets, and finish the year with the writings of Paul. Now that sounds amazing. That’s all going to be on the radio station. Every day, if you stay with us every day or you do it through a day-by-day through the Bible book, you’re going to read 44 of the 66 books this year.
SPEAKER 01 :
That’s amazing for most Christians. That’s huge progress, right? And that’s just, to be very clear, that’s only 12 to 14 minutes a day for AdBible. And then… Do the day-by-day study, which I would encourage people to do because I think you just get different revelation. You get different thoughts, different spurs, different things by having the written plus the audio, both.
SPEAKER 02 :
Right. If you’re an audio learner, you’re going to like it on the radio. But if you like it in writing, get the day-by-day book. Get the historical. Go to the Ezra Project, ezraproject.net. Order the book. It’s on sale right now. So you can start, and then you can get the other books. The whole set is on sale right now because it’s what we’re going to do through 2025. And there’s places to write your own thoughts in those books. They’re elaborate journals. Right. So you can get something out of it, and all of these, whether it’s by writing or by AdBible, We have an application. Almost every broadcast, we have an application. How does this apply to your life? So we can solve all these problems this year by using an Ezra Project resource because that’s our mission, Mike. That’s all we’ve ever done is try to connect God’s people to God’s Word and make resources that do that easily.
SPEAKER 01 :
Super different than a ministry that has so many other things going on, or even a church. You know, respectfully… You’re invested in one thing. Your whole team is, your whole staff, the website, the radio program, everything is invested in reading God’s Word and making that part of your life.
SPEAKER 02 :
Amen. Because I believe it’s the number one issue facing a Christian. It’s the challenge. And why is it the challenge? Because if Satan had a game plan for 2025, his game plan would be keep Christians out of the Bible. and out of church and he does pretty good at that yeah think about you the listener how often do you avoid or miss your daily bible reading because you got too busy or because something happened or because something went on and it doesn’t matter if you skip a day those are all excuses from the enemy you know i know we’re all better off when we’re in the word of god daily and I mean, it touches my life. It’s changed my life over all these years. I can’t imagine what my life would have been like without daily Bible reading.
SPEAKER 01 :
Protecting that time. Isn’t that part of what we’re talking about is making sure that no matter what, you protect that time. Even if you’re on the road, you’re with family, you’re on vacation, you can find time. If you really want to, you can find time.
SPEAKER 02 :
You can, and you find time for all the priorities of your life. And this hopefully is a priority for Christians. And yet we just came out of Christmas season, and you know, you’re listening, the audience is listening and saying, What goes away in the busyness of the Christmas season, summer, holidays, is Bible reading. People get too busy and they set aside the most important thing, even in a Christian holiday like Christmas, you set aside Bible reading. So I just hope that you’ll join us with Read with Ezra in 2025. The historical books, the writings of some New Testament authors, the minor prophets, all of the minor prophets, and all of the writings of Paul. 44 books out of the 66 complete this year if you just stay with us with the Ezra Project and on those radio programs here.
SPEAKER 01 :
It’s Ezra, E-Z-R-A project dot net. Right. Right. For the Web site. Easy to find. Go to your respective stations Web site. And we have on all of our Crawford stations, we have ad Bible on the Web site. Easy to find in their numerous places. We’re giving you multiple times per day, especially during the week and weekend to be able to listen. And don’t forget. Weekend, fresh programs. That means Saturday and Sunday, we’re continuing your journey through the Bible. So make sure and take the time to find where Ezra Project is on your station Saturday and Sunday and listen.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, and again, it’s only 10 to 15 minutes a day. Whether you listen on the radio, listen to AdBible, or get a day-by-day through the Bible book. Now, I enhance that myself with prayer and other applications of things. But if you can just spare 10 to 15 minutes a day, actually 30 minutes a day with the Lord is only 2% of your 24-hour day. Can you give God 2% of the day he gives you every day? And you’ll be encouraged.
SPEAKER 01 :
You won’t have that dry feeling. You’ll have God’s word feeding you every day. And that’s just a different deal, isn’t it, in your life?
SPEAKER 02 :
You know, I mentioned that guy. He lives up in the mountains. He bought the series. I saw him and he is just he’s excited. He’s more excited than he’s ever been because he’s reading the Bible and getting something out of it. And that’s what we want in 2025. We do.
SPEAKER 01 :
We want our listeners, all of them, to have that feeling. Again, go to your station’s website, your Crawford station. It’ll have all the AdBible airings and it’ll have replays of all the AdBible programs. So if you miss a piece of AdBible, don’t sweat it. Just go to the station website for the replay page or some of the stations say podcasts and you’ll have all of it there. Alan Huth, president of the Ezra Project and the speaker on AdBible. Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thanks, Mike. Thanks for having me again. Happy New Year.
