Reading the Bible is different than reading any other book. It is more than a narrative about God, it is more than a story of broken individuals and the trials they faced. It is more than a set of rules and regulations. It is even more than a love letter. It is the very essence of Jesus. It is about Him, but there is more than that. It is God’s conversation with us. It is alive. It is active. It is a 2-way conversation.
When we need wisdom, insight, guidance, how do we hear what God is saying to us? God has given us the Bible. It’s a powerful and intimate way to listen to Him and it is the primary way God tells us about Himself. In Jesus is Calling You one or more books of the Bible is presented with steps to hearing from God, the plan of salvation and growing in faith. It is my prayer Jesus uses these book to help you hear Him.
Reading the Bible is different than reading any other book. It is more than a narrative about God, it is more than a story of broken individuals and the trials they faced. It is more than a set of rules and regulations. It is even more than a love letter. It is the very essence of Jesus. It is about Him, but there is more than that. It is God’s conversation with us. It is alive. It is active. It is a 2-way conversation.
When we need wisdom, insight, guidance, how do we hear what God is saying to us? God has given us the Bible. It’s a powerful and intimate way to listen to Him and it is the primary way God tells us about Himself. In Jesus is Calling You one or more books of the Bible is presented with steps to hearing from God, the plan of salvation and growing in faith. It is my prayer Jesus uses these books to help you hear Him.
Reading the Bible is different than reading any other book. It is more than a narrative about God, it is more than a story of broken individuals and the trials they faced. It is more than a set of rules and regulations. It is even more than a love letter. It is the very essence of Jesus. It is about Him, but there is more than that. It is God’s conversation with us. It is alive. It is active. It is a 2-way conversation.
When we need wisdom, insight, guidance, how do we hear what God is saying to us? God has given us the Bible. It’s a powerful and intimate way to listen to Him and it is the primary way God tells us about Himself. In Jesus is Calling You one or more books of the Bible is presented with steps to hearing from God, the plan of salvation and growing in faith. It is my prayer Jesus uses these books to help you hear Him.
This second book in the New Testament was written by Mark, also called John Mark, who is the cousin of Barnabas (Colossians 4:10). Mark travelled with the Apostle Paul and Barnabas on their evangelistic journeys and then, for reasons not mentioned in Scripture, abandoned them to return home to Jerusalem. Because of this act Paul was adamant that he would not accompany them on any future trips. Perhaps it was the family tie, or his compassionate heart, but Barnabas vehemently disagreed with Paul on the matter and the two men decided to part ways in their evangelistic ministry (Acts 15:39). Although he never mentioned the matter in his text, we can learn much from Mark’s situation.
The Gospel of Mark was likely written around 70 A.D. which, from a historical perspective, is almost immediately after Jesus’ resurrection. Mark purposefully leaves out details of Jesus’ birth and His genealogy, as his intended audience were likely Romans instead of Jews, and instead he jumps right in to Jesus’ ministry. Of the four Gospels, Mark is the shortest and has been called The Gospel on steroids for Mark’s use of the word, “immediately” (37 times in the Easy to Understand, Read Bible), in describing the acts Jesus performed.
Reading the Bible is different than reading any other book. It is more than a narrative about God, it is more than a story of broken individuals and the trials they faced. It is more than a set of rules and regulations. It is even more than a love letter. It is the very essence of Jesus. It is about Him, but there is more than that. It is God’s conversation with us. It is alive. It is active. It is a 2-way conversation.
Sometime around 70 A.D. the New Testament book of Hebrews was written. It was before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and its audience were Jews who professed their faith in Jesus as the Messiah.
There is a bit of mystery as to the author of Hebrews. Many scholars attribute it to the Apostle Paul due some phrasing and the mention of Timothy in the last chapter. But Martin Luther believed Apollos was the author because of its strong use of the Old Testament and because Apollos was mentioned as an eloquent speaker in Acts. Regardless of authorship, the inspiration for it came from God and as part of Scripture it has helped to teach and encourage Christians for over 2000 years.
The purpose of the book is to show the preeminence of Jesus in all things. As you listen notice all the times the author shows how Jesus is superior to Judaism. It’s clear the intent is to show that with Jesus the end had to come to Old Testament Judaism.
Reading the Bible is different than reading any other book. It is more than a narrative about God, it is more than a story of broken individuals and the trials they faced. It is more than a set of rules and regulations. It is even more than a love letter. It is the very essence of Jesus. It is about Him, but there is more than that. It is God’s conversation with us. It is alive. It is active. It is a 2-way conversation.
When we need wisdom, insight, guidance, how do we hear what God is saying to us? God has given us the Bible. It’s a powerful and intimate way to listen to Him and it is the primary way God tells us about Himself. In Jesus is Calling You one or more books of the Bible is presented with steps to hearing from God, the plan of salvation and growing in faith. It is my prayer Jesus uses each of these book to help you hear Him.
Immediately following the four Gospels in the New Testament is the book of Acts, also known as Acts of the Apostles and Acts of the Holy Spirit. At one point The Gospel of Luke and Acts were joined as one book in 2 volumes. Ancient books were often written on papyrus scrolls. The length of a scroll would be up to 35 feet long. Any longer than this and it would become difficult to transport. So, it is thought that Luke wrote the Gospel of Luke and Acts on two separate scrolls.
Where the Gospels end with the life and works of Jesus, Acts extends by showing His works continue through His followers by way of the Holy Spirit. Over 50 times in the book you will hear about being baptized, filled or led by the Holy Spirit. By this frequency we can see that Luke wants his audience to understand how crucial the Holy Spirit is to successfully living the Christian life.
The book also allows to peek into the formation of the early church and the Apostle Paul’s transformation. From Paul’s experience we see that even those who despise Jesus the most, and forcefully oppose Him, can be overcome and saved by His love. It shows the power of the Gospel to transform people, communities and even countries. For even though the teachings of Jesus came to ordinary, unimpressive people, without any money or earthly power to further its cause, it took root, grew and continues to do so even today over 2000 years later.
Reading the Bible is different than reading any other book. It is more than a narrative about God, it is more than a story of broken individuals and the trials they faced. It is more than a set of rules and regulations. It is even more than a love letter. It is the very essence of Jesus. It is about Him, but there is more than that. It is God’s conversation with us. It is alive. It is active. It is a 2-way conversation.
The Apostle John had been telling people about Jesus Christ, his deeds, his teachings, his death and his resurrection. This infuriated those in authority and he was arrested and shipped off to the island of Patmos where he could no longer proclaim Christ, or so it was thought. Patmos is a volcanic, rocky, treeless island about 20 miles off the west coast of Turkey. It is barren and the Romans would put their prisoners here so they could not escape or cause more trouble. But it is here that John is given visions of things to come. This last book of the New Testament is a record of things John saw and heard.
Reading the Bible is different than reading any other book. It is more than a narrative about God, it is more than a story of broken individuals and the trials they faced. It is more than a set of rules and regulations. It is even more than a love letter. It is the very essence of Jesus. It is about Him, but there is more than that. It is God’s conversation with us. It is alive. It is active. It is a 2-way conversation.
When we need wisdom, insight, guidance, how do we hear what God is saying to us? God has given us the Bible. It’s a powerful and intimate way to listen to Him and it is the primary way God tells us about Himself. In Jesus is Calling You one or more books of the Bible is presented with steps to hearing from God, the plan of salvation and growing in faith. It is my prayer Jesus uses each of these book to help you hear Him.
These four books of the New Testament were written by the Apostle Paul between 50 and 60 A.D. Paul’s intent with his letters to the churches was to clear up doctrine, ensure the message of Jesus was correctly understood and taught and to encourage or rebuke as necessary.
In Galatia some believers were heretically teaching that while Jesus offered salvation, works were also necessary for it. In his letter to the Ephesians he stresses that Christians are saved by grace alone as a gift from God and “not by works so that no one would boast” (Eph 2:9).
The letter to the Philippians has a different tone. Though Paul was a prisoner of Nero while he wrote it, he speaks often of joy and rejoicing. He tells us the secret to joy during trials and encourages us to live in peace despite our circumstances.
With his letter to the Colossians, he again corrects bad theology by combating Gnosticism. He tells about the fullness of God in Jesus (Col 1:19 and 2:9) and warns those who worshipped angels (Col 2:18) that they have lost their connection to God.
Through these 4 books, Christians come to a better of understanding of who Jesus is, what He offers and how to live out our faith in Him.
Reading the Bible is different than reading any other book. It is more than a narrative about God, it is more than a story of broken individuals and the trials they faced. It is more than a set of rules and regulations. It is even more than a love letter. It is the very essence of Jesus. It is about Him, but there is more than that. It is God’s conversation with us. It is alive. It is active. It is a 2-way conversation.
An Easy to Understand, Read Version (EUR) of the Bible. God's Word has the power to change lives. Want to know what's to come? Need to understand who Jesus is? Do you have fear or anxiety? Do you feel empty inside? If you need love, understanding, peace, joy...the Bible holds the answers you need. This New Testament introduces the Easy to Understand, Read (EUR) Bible translation.
This version was created so a new audio recording of the New Testament could be produced without infringing on any other copyrighted versions in existence. The EUR version is based on the World English Bible (WEB) which is in the public domain. The EUR version updates the WEB version with changes to words and sentence structure so the text is easier to understand and read without changing the meaning of the text.
