WARRIORS IN THE WORD
Last year we challenged readers to take our Truth Challenge: Read the entire Bible in 2004. Congrats to all of you who accomplished the goal. Check out these words on the Word from a few who made it through.

Hidden Treasures
I am so excited to finally complete the whole Bible. This has really boosted my confidence. I have tried several times to read the Bible straight through, but I would get to Numbers and the psych would die off. With the Breakaway reading plan, I could mark off the Scriptures as I went. The alternating readings between books kept me interested.

I have grown closer to God as I see Him from a better perspective. There seemed to always be a message to meditate on during the day. I found great Scriptures such as Zephaniah 3:17 tucked away in places I would have never read.

—Mugambi Mwendia, Nairobi, Kenya

Oasis in the Desert
When I picked up the Breakaway Bible reading schedule, I unknowingly stumbled into the greatest adventure of my life. I knew the Bible was the Word of God, but it was only head knowledge. My heart partly viewed the Bible as a great desert of words on a page. But a little faithfulness can go a long way. This year, God did things that I could never have imagined. He mightily fulfilled His promise in James 4:8: “Come near to God and he will come near to you.” The desert turned into a majestic encounter with God. I fell in love with Jesus all over again. If I learned so much about God in one year, imagine how much more another year will bring! No matter where you are with God, keep going because it will be more than worth it in the end.

—Ben Shyong, San Jose, Calif.

His Story
I’d always casually read the Bible, but never consistently. Reading from four different sections of the Bible each day was tough at first, but after the first two weeks it was practically second nature. Reading through the Bible has helped me grow closer to God. He taught me so much this past year, most importantly is that even though we can’t always see or fathom it, everything happens for a reason as part of God’s plan. Life doesn’t always make sense because we can’t see the big picture, but we must have faith that God knows what He’s doing. This has helped me to stop worrying about certain things and to rely on God more than myself. Another thing I noticed was how much the Bible references itself. I enjoyed reading about the Israelites in one book, then in the Psalms on the same day. It made the Bible more real to me. My parents bought me a cake when I finished. Whoohoo!

—Stephen Mlinarcik, Medina, Ohio

Favorite Mix
I like the way the daily Bible readings mixed Old and New Testament passages as well as Psalms and Proverbs. I had tried to read the Bible in a year, but I usually got bogged down in all the genealogies and priestly rituals. This time, I stuck with it all year. I missed some days, but I caught up and finished the last verse on Jan. 1. I’ve started again, hopefully to make it through another year.

—David Christopher, Moore, S.C.

Behind the Music
This year I gave up something vital for Lent [the 40 weekdays between Ash Wednesday and Easter]. I gave up music.
I hadn’t realized before that I was addicted to music. I woke up to music. I slept to music. I listened to music doing my schoolwork, running, eating and thinking. I probably listened to music 10 out of 16 waking hours a day.
Giving up music was as much an experiment as a fast. I learned a lot about myself. I realized that lyrics really matter; they affect me even if I think I’m just listening to the tune. A word, a phrase, a hint — even the radio commercials — can open me up to the world’s temptations, especially sexual ones.
I always ran with my iPod. It kept me occupied. In a way, my iPod opened me up, but in another way, it shut me out. When I put my earbuds in, I put myself in a cage. As I ran one day without my iPod, I saw Mrs. Markely. I talked to her and she congratulated me on my success with a school presentation. If I’d had my iPod, I wouldn’t have paid attention to her.
I’d never noticed before how quiet running is. Without music, I didn’t hear anything but birds, wind, the gurgle of the river and the soft plodding of my shoes in the mud and snow. The quiet helped me think a lot.
One day while running, I realized I felt alone without my music and one of my greatest fears is loneliness. But while music kept me from feeling lonely, it also kept me in my loneliness. Then something spectacular happened. I looked up and saw the sky — I hadn’t done that in a while — and I realized there was something there. God. A flood of emotion overwhelmed me, and I realized that I’d been using music to hide. I’m not alone. I never will be. There’s always Someone watching me, loving me, crying with me, laughing with me, thinking with me. Because He became a human, He knows the bitter cold, empty feeling of loneliness. I’ll talk to Him.
—Marshall Sharpe, Easthampton, N.J.