Thursday, December 31, 2015

Welcome to 2016!



Welcome to 2016!!!
The Reading Notes will remain on this blog in the 2015 archives. If you need them, you can go back to the dates. I will not be posting them "new" as I have before, because those posts were actual revisions and the Reading Notes are now fairly well revised. If I do need to make additions or correct mistakes, I will go back to the individual dates in 2015 and update that post.
On our webpage you can find whole month PDFs of the Reading Notes that you can download and view on your computer or tablet, or you can print them.
Laura and I prefer the hard copies just out of habit, and because we catch and note our (my) mistakes easier. If you use the notes, you might also want to make your own notations in the margins.
As you look at the Reading Note PDFs you'll see "Master 2015" at the end of the most current editions. Soon, all of the Notes will have that notation. Eventually I will probably update this edition since I seem to be gifted at making hidden mistakes. Laura, thankfully, is gifted at slowly finding them. For example, she actually checks the references that I give and informs me when my memory has failed and I'm off a few verses or if I say "1 Samuel" when I should have said "2 Samuel."
The Reading Notes are especially important once you have developed the lifestyle of sitting at the Lord's feet in His Word with Him every day. Every day, at His feet, in His Word, listening to Him, is that one thing that is necessary. You and I need to live that life as disciples. We cannot model and impart what we do not do. Then, if you want to go deeper, the Notes will help. And, when you are guiding others in this process, it will help you answer their questions, or it will alert you to places where you need to supply some other information, like for example, why the message of Zephaniah was important and why it might have been necessary/helpful for Josiah. It is one of those things that not only makes the Word fresh and alive, but it shows us too, why we, ourselves, need everything written in the Word every year.
In the future I will add to the blog, but it will be about practical things the Lord is teaching me about making disciples, who make disciples. Hopefully, what I have to share will be a help to you as you guide others in becoming disciples, who make disciples.
May the Lord bless you as you follow our Savior as His disciple, learning from Him, abiding in His Word, reaching out to the lost and making disciples, who make disciples.
In Christ,
Dan Kachikis
dgkachikis@gmail.com

Below are a couple of comments I have received within the past couple of days. The simplest act of making disciples is to model and guide people through reading the Word. Reading through the Word and reading every day is not easy. It does not work to just tell people, and so disciples need to get into groups with other disciples to encourage one another to do this. The Word is where Jesus meets them and it is a privilege to model and guide people to develop the habit of having that meeting. Once they catch fire with Him in His Word, they see the value, and they can do the same with others. And, you can do this too.

Here's what one person wrote:
"This past year I've been reading through the Bible along with reading these notes by Dan Kachikis. I've learned so much! I understand better how the Old and New Testaments fit together, the mission of the church today, and how it all applies to me. He writes in a conversational style, with encouragement and humor on the journey. I highly recommend it. In fact I'm going to read it all again in 2016 using the ESV. This year I read the NLT for a change. We first met Dan about 30 years ago when we moved to Dallas, and we went to the same church. At the time he was a student at Dallas Theological Seminary. After graduation he and his wife, Beth, and their 4 children went to Germany with Greater Europe Mission as church planters. After many years there, Beth was diagnosed with cancer, and they returned to the U.S. After she went to be with the Lord, he married Laura Andrews Kachikis, and has pastored churches in the U.S. Reading through the Bible along with these notes is like having a personal tour guide through the Scriptures. I looked forward to it every day. My husband is going to use them this year too, and I hope some of you will take the journey with us in 2016! God will bless you through reading His Word."
I received this today:
"Well thanks to you and your encouragement and example I finished reading the One Year Bible this morning. I am looking forward to beginning reading again tomorrow and not just reading, but reading with purpose to be a learner of Christ! I am trusting the Spirit will help me to begin to connect some of the "spiritual dots" as I begin another journey through the Scriptures."
Praise the Lord!

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