Keng Tiong Ng is an engineer turned indie writer that took a couple of groups through a one-year Bible reading plan. During the process, he shared his daily journal with the groups. They benefitted from the daily journal and felt that others would too, so they suggested that he put his journals into print.
These Bible Daily Reading Journals include three volumes:
1. The New Testament in 77 Days
2. The Old Testament: The Law & The Prophets in 187 Days
3. The Old Testament: The Writings in 87 Days
Scriptures are taken from the KJV or are paraphrased by the author.
Purpose of the Bible Daily Reading Journals
The goals of the reading journals are to make daily Bible reading achievable through a systematic process while introducing the reader to each book of the Bible with an overview and structure of each book. This gives the reader an idea of the book before reading and supplements the reading with insights and questions to ponder. This also has the added benefit of improving retention.
Bible Daily Reading Journals Content
Each book starts with an introduction of how to use the book. It discusses the major sections of the book and gives a brief introduction to the types of books that it covers, the benefits of knowing about that section of books, and about the features of the journal.
Each of the three volumes includes a reading index. The index shows the major divisions of the books with the page number where that division starts and provides a checkbox, the numbered day, and the book name and chapter numbers for that day.
Each of the major divisions has a summary that describes the type of books that are in that division. Several include line drawings that relate to the content.
Each book of the Bible includes a short title, an introduction, a detailed outline, the key verses printed, the journal reading for a numbered day of the year, and questions to ponder or interesting facts. The reading starts with the New Testament. Volume 2 covers the Law and the Prophets. Volume 3 covers the Writings.
Thoughts on Using the Bible Daily Reading Journals
The books do stick to the goal of providing an overview rather than detailed commentary. This gives them a non-denominational devotional quality, but rather than focus on a key verse with a relatable story they focus on overall themes. With this method, readers are encouraged to read the entire Bible both systematically and devotionally instead of picking and choosing verses or passages. This keeps Scripture in context and teaches solid interpretation. With that said, it does have a little bit of theology here and there. As always, I recommend that you use it as a reference and do your own study.
The journal notes provide a succinct summary. Summarizing and pondering on what you’ve read is one of those tools that aid in memorization and understanding. These summaries help do that work for you. With that in mind, I found them helpful in retaining what I had read for the day.
Ponder and Meditate leaves you with something to think about based on the reading. Sometimes the Ponder and Meditate sections take you outside of the book you’re in. For example, the section for Mark 14-16 ponders on Paul with references to Philippians and 2 Timothy. I still found them interesting and applicable.
The volumes on the Old Testament provide insights into why the OT is still relevant. The OT volumes include some teachings on the Hebrew text including phrases, word studies, the Hebrew book divisions, etc. I found these extremely interesting and insightful. I always looked forward to seeing Interesting Facts. They weren’t trivia. Instead, they provide solid information that helped understand the settings pr background.
Buying all three volumes gets you through the Bible in one year. I like that the journals are separated into three volumes. This makes it easier to purchase over a period of time. You can purchase the book you need when you need it.
I too have an engineering background and was interested in seeing how these books were structured and written. As I expected, Keng Tiong Ng’s Bible Daily Reading Journals are well-written, well-structured, and easy to follow. They’re not dry and boring. I found them to be an interesting and fun read. They’re easy to recommend to anyone that want’s a little guidance in reading the Bible through and understanding the main points of the text in its proper context and getting some interesting facts along the way.
Where to Purchase the Bible Daily Reading Journals
The books are available on Amazon in print and on Kindle (contains affiliate links):
1. The New Testament in 77 Days
2. The Old Testament: The Law & The Prophets in 187 Days
3. The Old Testament: The Writings in 87 Days
Also be sure to check out the publisher’s blog.
The author provided these books in exchange for an honest review.