First Reading Observations

May I add a “Student warning” for you at this point. Thus far, the first two modules were not overly time consuming. In this module and the ones that follow, you will need to invest more time. Honestly, for a class like this, the expectation is for a total of 120 hours of work. That may be upwards of 15 hours per week over a full semester. I have not asked for you to invest that much in either of the two first modules. But now, we need to ramp up your work to learn what you need to become a vibrant interpreter of Scripture. Even more so, for you to become a skilled disciple-maker in the Word. Keep that in mind as we walk through the remaining exercises.

In this module we will discuss how to read entire books of the Bible based upon Chapter 6 of True^North. This is the way the ancient books were meant to be read-understood-applied. For this assignment, I will ask you to read the whole book of Mark and make basic big picture observations. In the end (according to chapter 6), you will write a brief (350 words) summary of what you encountered in Mark. Yes, almost like a journal entry on what you saw (or heard, if you listened to the text being read). It is what True^North calls your “First Reading.” On pages 85-86 I provide an example of my insights from my First Reading.

Please submit your own First Reading Observations.