{"id":5509,"date":"2026-09-16T15:54:56","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T19:54:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/?p=5509"},"modified":"2026-09-16T15:54:58","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T19:54:58","slug":"prioritizing-public-reading-of-scripture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/?p=5509","title":{"rendered":"Prioritizing Public Reading of Scripture"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/805784036_10101210209713642_5326074524036323009_n.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"834\" src=\"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/805784036_10101210209713642_5326074524036323009_n-1024x834.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5510\" srcset=\"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/805784036_10101210209713642_5326074524036323009_n-1024x834.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/805784036_10101210209713642_5326074524036323009_n-300x244.jpg 300w, http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/805784036_10101210209713642_5326074524036323009_n-768x625.jpg 768w, http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/805784036_10101210209713642_5326074524036323009_n-730x594.jpg 730w, http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/805784036_10101210209713642_5326074524036323009_n.jpg 1045w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I have written from time to time here on <a href=\"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/?s=public+reading\">the importance of the public reading of Scripture<\/a>. So, when Lifeway Research asked me about writing an article for them on this topic, I was happy to agree. This is an area where churches in my circles are regrettably weak. But, we can make significant improvements rather easily. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This article basically grows out of a presentation I originally gave at a church in Scotland while we lived there. I briefly argue that the Bible tells us to have public Scripture reading and then point to a few helps for getting started. When my family and I returned to the States, I was asked to give this presentation at a church. The next Sunday that church had multiple Scripture readings, and the church hasn&#8217;t looked back. This is eminently doable and richly beneficial. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I have written from time to time here on the importance of the public reading of Scripture. So, when Lifeway Research asked me about writing an article for them on this topic, I was happy to agree. This is an area where churches in my circles are regrettably weak. But, we can make significant improvements &#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/?p=5509\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading &lsquo;Prioritizing Public Reading of Scripture&rsquo; &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[61,350,351],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5509"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5509"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5509\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5511,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5509\/revisions\/5511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}