Welcome to 30 days through Philippians! The “30 days” refers to the 30 days of April—it’s Wednesday, April 1st (no April Fools here) until Thursday, April 30th. But I’m kind of cheating, because it won’t really be all 30 days. There will be an installment every day Monday through Friday, but not on the weekends. So we’ll be at 22 days in total.
It is, in short, a Bible study through Philippians, but only kinda. It’s not your standard “let’s read the Bible and talk about what was interesting to us” Bible study, but is kind of a Bible study-quiet time mashup. I plan to weave in a number of features, including:
- Written Prayers
- Prompts for praying
- Challenges for Living
- Explanation of Greek (the original language) words
- Historical Background
- Character Profiles
- Theological Explanations
- Pictures of my coffee mug
- …and more!
Maybe a better way to describe 30 Days Through Philippians is then “30 days of whatever I want to say, mostly about Paul’s letter to the Philippians.” So it’s a little hard to describe. If you’re curious, I’d encourage you to check it out below and see what it’s like!
How will it work?
On Monday through Friday, we’ll release a post which covers a few verses of Philippians. Sometimes just a verse! You can then read through it or, ideally, weave it into a daily time with God. But since it’s a Bible study, and one we’re embarking on together, I want to allow for interaction. If you have questions about the text as we’re moving along, send them to me at [email protected]. Every Friday, if I’ve gotten some questions, I’ll spend some of the time answering them.
So who am I?
My name is Derek and I help out around Christian Student Fellowship (CSF) every now and then. You might occasionally see me up on stage at Synergy or roaming around with my buddy C. J. on Mondays and Fridays. If you are in a core group and enjoy the curriculum, I help write those. If you don’t enjoy the curriculum, I didn’t write that part. I’m also a Ph.D. candidate at the University of St Andrews (in Scotland) in Theology. I hope to be finished by next May (2021) and begin working full-time with Lewis House. Since this seems like an appropriate time to name drop, I studied under N. T. Wright while living in Scotland, so clearly all of his expertise about Philippians has transferred over to me.
Here are some other facts about me: I’m committed to Jesus, I love my wife Bethany, I like good books and movies, I enjoy board games (nerdier the better), I delight in the outdoors, I’m fond of baseball, I admire C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, and I’m keen on fun conversations.
This is just a brief intro to me and what you should expect. If you’re still a little confused, turn in tomorrow for the first post. Bring a Bible and an open mind…a pen and journal might be nice too.
Grace and peace, see you tomorrow!
