Devotions with me on Twitter

In my role as a ministry coach and consultant, I am always working with pastors and youth pastors and others in ministry worldwide who struggle in their personal devotional time. It just isn't consistent. I know we are all aware that keeping our personal devotions is vital to ministry health. To help this along, I have begun a novel way of sharing devotions on the 'net and would like to invite you all to join with me in this.

I was initially inspired by Wayne Cordeiro's book "The Divine Mentor". This is an amazing book that, if you have not already read it, every person in ministry should! Ps. Wayne goes deep into discovering the amazing array of mentors that God has given us through the Scriptures, and encourages reading the Bible seeking the Holy Spirit on what His fresh bread is for us that day. He also goes into the S.O.A.P Bible reading method as a way of journalling and getting into us what God has wanted us to receive that day from our reading. As I said, it's about getting 'fresh bread' from God rather than using devotionals that 'tell' you what you should pick up on and think about scripture.

The deal is this. In his book and on his church website, (link below), there is a reading outline that covers about 4 chapters a day. Basically, over the course of a year we will be reading the OT through once and the NT through twice. On each day, you are asked to do the following:
- Spend some time reading the scriptures for the day. As you read, ask the Holy Spirit to highlight a scripture for you to reflect on. Somtimes, I get that verse in the first reading. Other times, I read the lot, go back and then see it.
- Once you have pinpointed the verse(s) that the Lord seems to want you to reflect on, meditate on them. Then do the following in a notebook:
a) S = Scripture: write out the verse(s) that God has drawn you to that day.
b) O = Observation: Write down your thoughts and observations from that passage.
c) A = Application: write down how you think you should apply this to your life.
d) P = Prayer: write out your prayer to God based on what you have read, what he has shown you and how you need to apply it.

Ps. Wayne has outlined this on the churches website also. Check out http://www.enewhope.org/firststeps/journaling/ to see what they do. While we will be reading "together", we do NOT have to reflect on the same verse. That's the cool thing. What you receive from God that day may not be from the same verse I reflected on. And it doesn't matter when in the day you do it, just that you do (even if you only read one passage and reflect on that - better than nothing!)

Nearly all of Cordeiro's church do this. Many meet in groups that they call 20/20/20 life groups. These groups will often meet in public places. The first 40 minutes is spent on your own, reading the passages (first 20min) and writing your journal entries (second 20min). Then in the last 20 minutes they come together to share what God brought to them that day.

I was looking for a way to do the latter. Many of my friends have different jobs and body clocks to give God their best, so coming up with a mutual time was difficult. That's how I got the idea of doing so online on Twitter. What made that even more appealling is that you have to condense what God has spoken to you that day into 140 characters! What a great way to solidify the message into something memorable!

So, here is how you can join in. First of all, let me know you are joining us by sending me a note via the contact tab at http://www.markgladman.com/ - your info will not be shared but if I send out a group e-mail update, I can make sure that you stay in the loop. Put #DV7 or Twitter Devotions in the subject line so I know what the message is about.

Then, get an understanding of what the S.O.A.P. method is all about and how you might journal using that. This is especially important since the sharing is not about delivering a message as much as it is sharing how God has personally challenged you or personally comforted you from the reading that day. And remember, you are looking for the 1 passage, 1 idea, 1 verse that The Holy Spirit brings out for you. Visit http://www.enewhope.org/firststeps/journaling/ for info from Wayne Cordeiro on this.

Then, get into the reading plan. Go to http://www.lifejournal.cc/bible/ click on the Bible there and it will take you to a page on BibleGateway.com with that days readings in any Bible version you choose. Keep in mind though that if you do not live in the US you will need to set the date in the top right hand corner of the http://www.lifejournal.cc/bible/ page before you click the Bible.

Then, once you have journalled, jump into http://www.twitter.com/ (if you are not a member, you will need to join). In the "What are you doing?" box, break your devotion down into a 140 character Tweet. Start with the verse you used and end your tweet with #DV7. That is a special link that will enable us to read each others Tweets. If you then put #DV7 in the search box on the right and hit enter, you will be taken to all of the other people who have tweeted with #DV7 as a tag. This enables us to read each other's Tweets. But the cool thing is that, a little like the 20/20/20 group with open Bibles spread throughout a cafe, we are also sharing in a public forum since people who are following you will get your tweet too.

If you'd like to take a look at my tweets, go to http://www.twitter.com/markgladman and scroll through my Tweets to see the links with #DV7 in them to get an idea.

You don't have to do this every day, but if you did so even 3 or 4 times a week, I am sure that it will enhance your commitment and accountability to personal devotions and hearing from God for the day. I hope that you will join me in sharing what God is doing in our lives together. And please feel free to forward this article to others. Have them contact me and get on board - the more the merrier. I look forward to journeying with you, and to the conversations I am sure that will emerge.

Cheers and Peace,

Mark G