HOW?
How do I BRAG?
Here’s the basic idea:
You and a few friends decide to start a BRAG. You pick a chapter in the Bible and each start reading a single chapter each day. When you’ve finished reading, you fire up your email program and send a quick email to your Braggers, letting them know that you’ve read today. You may want to add a comment about something that really stood out to you as you read. You may want to add a prayer, or encouragement. But, it doesn’t have to be complicated – just a few lines is all it takes.
Then, your other friends do the same. You know they read today, and they know you did. That’s it! SO simple – yet the daily reading of God’s word will wash you and energize you like you won’t believe. This is POWERFUL stuff! So, get ready!
How do I start?
It starts with YOU. A simple email to friends is a good way to start. Here’s a “blurb” you can copy and paste into an email to your friends to invite them to start Bragging:
Hey, PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO READ THIS ENTIRE EMAIL!!!
I’ve been wanting to be more consistent with my daily Bible reading and I want to start something called “Brag” and I hoped you might be interested in starting a group with me. Basically, it’s an accountability group that we’d do through email with each other every day. I like it because it’s simple and doesn’t require too much time, but I think the benefits will be amazing. Check out the website at Manquarium (Welcome to the Transparent Life) and let me know what you think.
Here’s the basic idea:
We pick a chapter in the Bible and each one of us reads the chapter assigned each day. When we’ve finished reading, we send a quick email to each other to let the others know that we’ve read today’s chapter. We may want to add a comment about something that really stood out to us as we read. It doesn’t have to be complicated – just a few lines is all it takes.
Here are a few ground rules:
1 – The object is to read one chapter in the Bible every day – including weekends and holidays.
2 – This will work best with groups of 7 to 10 people.
3 – Pray before you read that the Holy Spirit opens your eyes to what God would have for you that day.
4 – Set up a distribution list (I will show you how) in your email. Then, email the group daily with your insights and thoughts or even questions (it’s best to share what the Holy Spirit reveals to you, not what your study notes say at the bottom of the page). The exchange can be very insightful.
5 – Encourage your brothers/sisters. If they share something that minsters to you, reply to everyone with your thoughts.
6 – Once you have a group of 7 to 10 people that’s working, it’s best not invite anyone else to join this group. It’s difficult to keep up with more people than that.
7 – If this is not for you, please let the others know. There may be others who want to join the group and are just waiting for an opportunity.
8 – If this discipline is blessing you and you want to start your own group later – great. Some people are a part of two or three groups, and the beauty is that all of the groups can be reading the same chapter every day so that you can focus your time and reading.
9 – If you don’t email the group after a few days, expect the group to send you a few “encouraging” emails. As easy as Brag is, the discipline is not so easy. Some have tried all their lives to read the Bible consistently – Brag is a tool that really works.
10 – One final suggestion – save your thoughts from each chapter in a folder. You will be amazed what the Holy Spirit reveals to you, and you will have folders full of devotions to pull from when the opportunity arises.
Yes it really is that simple. You say you don’t have time….I think you do, especially for God’s Word. Give it a shot.
Then, don’t forget to email me and let me know about your Brag. Send me any questions, feedback, suggestions, etc. Some have started a blog or website, so send me your link and I’ll post it (unless you want to keep it private – and that’s fine, too).
