40 Inspirational Classics for Lent

I’m doing my best to read through the entire Bible during 2011. I want to make this “read through” a yearly habit. But sometimes I get to some book of the Bible, and I just don’t get it. What is this part of Scripture about? Why is it in here? What does it mean?

That’s where Henrietta Mears’ little book about the books of the Bible is a great help. In the book, Ms. Mears takes each book of the Bible in order and explains the main themes of the book, a summary of its contents, the characters, the historical background, the type of literature, key teachings, and the book’s relationship to the life and mission of Jesus.

“The work for which she is best known, What the Bible is All About, a survey of the Old and New Testaments, was a revision of one year of her high school Sunday school lessons taken from her teaching notes. At four million copies this is one of the most popular study books on the Bible ever printed; it has been revised twice and produced in a number of editions. In this work, Mears clearly communicates the Scripture and shows one of the chief reasons her students’ favorite name for her was ‘Teacher.'”

Ms. Mears was the Christian Education director for Hollywood Presbyterian Church, and in her position she influenced many young people who went on to bring the message of Christ to the world. Some of her students and disciples included Billy Graham, Bill and Vonette Bright, founders of Campus Crusade for Christ, Richard Halverson, chaplain of the U.S. Senate, and Jim Rayburn, founder of Young Life.

Read more about Henrietta Mears:
Christianity Today: Henrietta Mears, she loved outrageous hats and teaching Sunday School.
Historical Renewal: Henrietta Mears
Henrietta Mears by Cherie Miller.
Henrietta Cornelia Mears by Richard J. Leyda.