For You, For Free, For August

Have you ever understood, far less enjoyed, the second half of the book of Daniel (the part after the lions’ den)? No? Me neither.

Or at least, I hadn’t until I was able to edit David Helm’s series in Daniel for the Explore daily Bible studies. With an expert guide metaphorically sitting next to me as I read through it, helping me with the context, suggesting how it applies today, and asking questions to get me thinking—well, it didn’t all become clear, but enough of it did to enable me to see what God is saying to his people, then and now.

That’s part of the beauty of Explore, I think. It lets Scripture set the agenda—because it works through the Bible roughly every seven years, it walks us through the harder, less-travelled paths. And it lets Scripture speak for itself—a trusted Bible teacher sits alongside you, but doesn’t tell you what to think (that’s for the Holy Spirit).

There are so many ways to read the Bible. You can read large chunks of it, unaided (except the help of the Spirit). You can read a commentary alongside it and go really deep into the details. Some people find a way that works for them and stick with it for decades; others prefer mixing it up and varying it every few months (I’m one of those).

If you struggle to read the Bible regularly (and anonymous church surveys suggest that’s far more common than we like to admit)—or if you struggle to read all of the Bible expectantly—Explore might be part of the answer. Not the whole answer, or always the answer—but a good place to go if you’re stuck in a Bible-reading rut, or if you’re out of the habit.

Free Gift

The summer is a great time to take time to look through the Bible. Maybe you have a holiday coming up in August, or work’s a little lighter, or the kids are away for a little while.

So we’d like to offer you a gift—Explore, for free, for August, on the Explore app. Simply search in the App Store or Google Play for “Explore Bible”, download the app, select “Free August” in the in-app library, and get going. If you’re not an app kind of person, then we’ll also be putting the studies up daily on this blog. Here’s a sneak preview of tomorrow’s first study:

So there’s nothing to lose, and possibly a long-term habit of Bible-reading to gain, or re-gain.

Watch, erm, me talking a bit more about the approach Explore takes here:

And if you get stuck into Daniel and want to go into more depth, you can get David Helm’s Daniel For You.

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