Here’s a schedule for reading the New Testament over the course of a year. For the most part, it tracks pretty closely with Lee Irons’ excellent schedule for reading the Greek New Testament in a year. My plan, however, varies a little bit. Because John’s writing is simpler Greek, my schedule goes through John’s Gospel at a faster pace than Irons’. As a result, there are no readings scheduled at the end of the year from Christmas Eve to New Year’s Eve. These open dates at the end can be used as catch-up days. The schedule is given in two formats below.

In years past, my customary mode for reading the Bible through every year involved starting in Genesis and reading right through to Revelation. I estimated that about four chapters per day would get me through in under a year’s time. The method worked reasonably well, but it wasn’t without its problems. Sometimes I would miss a day (or days) and get behind, and I had no way to keep up with my progress. I needed a schedule so that I could keep myself accountable for finishing in a year. In 2009, therefore, I did something I had never done before. I followed a Bible reading plan. I adopted Robert Murray…

Here’s the lede from Politico.com: A slight majority of Americans do not want assault weapons banned in the aftermath of the Newtown, Conn., elementary school shooting, though a clear majority said they support stricter gun laws in general, according to a USA Today/Gallup poll out Wednesday. Specifically on an assault weapons ban, 51 percent of respondents were against the measure, while 44 percent said they support it, the poll said. That remains largely unchanged from an October 2011 poll that had 43 percent for and 51 percent against a ban. Read the rest here. Read USA Today‘s coverage of the poll here.

Joe Rigney has a lengthy piece at the Desiring God website reflecting on God’s Sovereignty and the problem of evil. The essay is, of course, written in light of recent events in Connecticut. Here’s a bit from the introduction: Does disaster befall a city unless the Lord has done it (Amos 3:6)? What about a school? I don’t say that lightly. I realize what I’m saying. Or rather, I know what the Scriptures are saying. I’ve wept with parents as they watched their child die slowly of an incurable disease. I’ve watched dementia rob me of my father, taunting me and my family with his slow death. I realize that…

Heath Lambert has an outstanding article in the most recent issue of JBMW. The article is about the problem of pornography, and Lambert’s take on the whole issue is particularly practical and helpful. He opens with this: Pornography is the defining sexual sin of our day. In Christian circles adultery and homosexuality often capture more headlines, but I am persuaded that in terms of sheer numbers they cannot hold a candle to the devastation of pornography. Last year I counseled six people struggling with homosexuality and around eighteen caught in adultery and fornication. I don’t know exactly how many I helped who were locked in pornography, but the number is…

The Fall 2012 issue of JBMW has some fantastic resources in it, and it is available now for free from the CBMW website. Contributors include John Piper, Tim Challies, Tony Reinke, Heath Lambert and more. I’ll be highlighting some of the articles here in days to come. For now, you can download the entire journal here or link to specific articles within it below. The table of contents is below.

As far as New Testament scholars go, Tom Schreiner is the best of the best in my view. Those of you who are attending The Gospel Coalition conference this Spring will have the opportunity to study with Schreiner in a special course offered in conjunction with the meeting. You can earn six hours of transferable course credit through Southern Seminary [view syllabus]. Students will attend exclusive lectures, panel discussions, and events featuring renowned professors and pastors throughout the conference. For more about this opportunity and an interview with Schreiner about the course read here.

The guys at Igniter Media produced this year before last, and I still like it.

Doug Wilson adds a postscript to his earlier remarks about N. T. Wright’s misinterpretation of key biblical texts concerning gender roles. In particular, Wilson turns his guns on Wright’s translation of 1 Timothy 2:12, and in light of this I would add a postscript to my earlier remarks as well. According to a 2004 conference address, Wright offers this translation: I’m not saying that women should teach men, or try to dictate to them; they should be left undisturbed (1 Tim. 2:12). My main point of contention here is that Wright employs an English idiom that has no basis in the Greek text. The idiom is the one that starts…