I started reading the Bible when I was 17. I was given this bible at at youth retreat. I read it until I was given another bible as a groom’s gift when I was in a friends wedding. Then in seminary I bought this Bible and have been using it since. I also have a handful of other bibles that I’ve picked up along the way, including computer ones.

Two recent experiences highlighted to me how I have been reading the bible for the last few years and what I might be missing.

One was 2 days ago. Teresa and I are in a dinner group at church. Once a month we eat dinner together, then discuss something that we’ve read in the bible. This month we read Mark 1-8. I sat down 2 days ago and read through all 8 chapters in one sitting. As I read I had an unusual experience. The whole thing felt like a frenzy of activity. The first few chapters are very short, quick stories. I noticed patterns that I was vaguely aware of before, but never noticed myself and which I wouldn’t have noticed except by reading it all at once.

The other experience was a few months ago. I taught a class on how to read the bible. When teaching about the epistles I taught that since they are letters they are meant to be read in one sitting, just like any letter you might receive today. After I read Mark I thought back to that teaching and realized that it isn’t often that I read large chunks of the Bible in one sitting.

In fact, most of my Bible reading for the last few years has been in less than a chapter bits. In my church we follow a lectionary. That means on Sundays we have 4 short reading from several books of the bible. There is also a lectionary for daily personal reading. It too has 4 short readings from several books of the bible. That is how I’ve been reading the Bible, in short bits.

Reading short bits means you can focus in on the details. You can delve deep into a short bit. When you read in short bits you can really study every word and phrase and connection and possible meaning. I like reading short bits. I typically preach from short bits.

But reading 8 chapters in Mark gave me a taste of what I miss by only reading short bits. Great chunks give a bigger picture. It’s in great chunks that patterns and themes develop. I short bits every detail is important. In great chunks patterns and pace are important.

For instance, in Mark 1-8 the pace is frenetic. But there are moments that it slows down. There are times when a chapter has 6 stories and others where it only has 1. You’re supposed to pay attention when it slows down. It’s only in great chunks that you feel the pace speed up and slow down.

Additionally, in Mark 1-8 Jesus heals a lot of people and deals with a bunch of demons. You don’t see how much time Jesus spends in those activities when you read it in short bits. Most people I know like that Jesus heals, but are uncomfortable with the demons. But Jesus deals with demons about as much as he deals with sickness.

I noticed one final thing. Mark was likely written to gentile, roman Christians. So every time he gets to a Jewish tradition he explains it. There is a pattern of it that you miss if you read in small bits.

I tend to think of short bits as being about the details and great chunks as the big picture. But reading Mark in one sitting I got details that I would have missed in short bits. Reading big chunks in one sitting takes time. I read Mark 1-8 in an hour or so. So I’m not going to do it every day. But I realized that I’m missing something if I don’t add big chunks back into my bible reading.

During college my friend, Eric McLaughlin, introduced me to the books of Stephen Lawhead. I started with the Pendragon Cycle, a 5-book series about King Arthur and moved on to his other books. Lately I’ve been reading The Dragon King Trilogy, a fantasy series. When people ask me about my favorite books I always mention Lawhead’s Pendragon Cycle in the same breath as Lord of the Rings and CS Lewis’ Space Trilogy. I’ve read each of those multiple times.

I’ve been thinking lately about why I love Lawhead’s writings so much. It is probably partly the subject matter. He often takes well known stories and reworks them and gives them new life for me. He’s taken on King Arthur, Robin Hood, and the crusades. In each case he strips away the myth I have and replaces it with some real and mystical. There is intrigue, but something greater is always at work than machinations of the characters.

That something greater is the redemptive work of God.

In the Pendragon Cycle the story plays out so that Merlin is a wizard, a bard, and a Christian mystic. He is a kind of Gandolf character – wise, patient, and long-sighted. But there is something earthier about him. His power doesn’t come from himself nor from simple magic. It comes from as a gift and is enhanced by prayer.

It would be easy for an author to ruin these stories by ‘christianizing’ them. I would expect them to be cheesy and trite. But nearly every time I read one of Lawhead’s books I am surprised how thoughtful and engaging they are. Instead of feeling like he writes with an agenda, the matters of faith are just part of the fabric of the story. God’s work in the world is assumed in the same way most the science fiction I’ve been reading assumes He can’t be.

When I read Lawhead’s books I am inspired. Of course his stories are grand and full of adventure. But there is more to it. I find human characters full of pride, doubt, and their own agendas. Yet at the same time they have a deep sense of God’s presence and activity. I find characters who grow and change as I turn the pages. The stories inspire me to want to live my faith more deeply. I want the confidence of God’s presence and activity that they have. I want the change that I see in them.

That has been true over the first 200 pages of The Dragonking Trilogy. The characters head off on an adventure and find themselves in trouble. But they are also just learning of this god who is above all other gods. Unlike the other gods he cares about human affairs and truth, good, and justice. And somehow during the darkest trial he is worth trusting. He is at work even when they don’t see it.

I want to see my world from that lens more than I do now. That is the real reason I keep coming back to these books.