I recently began a year of knowing about Jesus and knowing Jesus. The way I am doing this is:
- I am going to read and re-read and re-read etc. the 4 gospels for a year. Just reading Matthew-Mark-Luke-John over and over and over.
- I began a new journal in which I will record my thoughts, insights, and questions about Jesus and the things of Jesus.
- I will also be doing ongoing Jesus research, using texts I already have on Jesus and probably some new texts. I have a decent, scholarly personal library in the area of Christology that I'll be going back to. One of my areas of doctoral study was in this area.
- My personal goals in all of this are: to get the Jesus story into me. To know about the Real Jesus and to know the Real Jesus.
- For my church - I will begin preaching through the 4 gospels on Sept. 18. A goal: that my congregation becomes "Jesus literate."
- I believe it is extremely important for Christians today to read the real thing - not just books about Jesus, but the actual gospels.