God does not let any moment go to waste… not even listening to an audiobook on a road trip! 

Listening to Francis’ Chan’s book, Letters to the Church, he casually mentioned how a group of his friends got together and read the entire Bible in three days. My ears perked up; that sounded cool! Seemed a little far-fetched though, so I asked God if I could do that down the line, maybe for my 40th birthday (in about 10 years)?

But that little seed planted in my heart sprouted a lot faster than I was anticipating (God and I usually have very different timelines). So, when I got home, I started inquiring to some friends about doing a three-day Bible reading. Since Francis only put about two sentences of the “how” of it happening, I was kind of winging it. But the gist I got was a group of believers gathers together and take turns reading the Bible out loud chapter by chapter. So, a few months later, that is what we did. 

I was wow’d at the event! I couldn’t believe the transformation in my heart from reading the entire Bible. I slept maybe 3-4 hours during the entire 78 hours the event lasted. I didn’t want to go to sleep! I didn’t want to miss out on any of the story that was unfolding. The Bible built off itself in a way I had never grasped it when I’ve done year-long reading plans. I thought we were going to do one event and then be done. But six months later the Lord stirred in my heart to do another one, so I obeyed. The timing of this one was most inconvenient, but I could not shake that it was supposed to be done. Only two people showed up during the whole event! But one of them was a guy named Kinsey and he came for almost the entirety. “That was the coolest thing I’ve ever done in my entire life” Kinsey said as soon as we finished Revelation 22. Kinsey and I became friends and he would always bring up the Bible reading. 

At the end of last year, I felt the Lord tell me to prioritize these Bible reading events. I dragged my feet on that, because I did not really know what that was going to look like. The Lord was so kind and gracious to my lack of enthusiasm. About a month later, Justin Hanneken texted me saying “In my quiet time today, the Lord told me to come to your next Bible reading. When and where is it?” That was the confirmation I needed. We did not have one on the schedule yet, so we decided to do one in Fort Myers at New International’s headquarters (Ends Adventures is a ministry of New International). Around the same time, Kinsey called me and said “Can I take a video of you talking about the Bible readings and build a website for you?” I was so grateful for God using His body to confirm and guide the word He had given me earlier. I stopped dragging my feet and knew I needed to be obedient.

That is when Declare was born. Declare is a three-day Bible reading event for believers to read the Bible out loud, chapter by chapter, in its entirety. There is no added sermon or commentary that comes with it – just the pureness of God’s Word. It is multi-denominational and multi-generational. We have had six-year-old’s reading next to 60-year-old’s – it is so beautiful. Anyone can host a Declare in their community. It is a great way to bring multiple church congregations together. It is usually structured as a come-and-go event. To come full circle, Kinsey hosted his own Declare event earlier this year!

Our first annual Global Declare Event is happening January 2026. We are longing to see multiple Declare events happening simultaneously; how cool would that be?! We will also have our first ever virtual participation option. This link can be used anytime during the event to log on and read or listen to the Declare event. How special would it be for people in different countries reading the Bible in their mother tongue? What a beautiful glimpse of heaven that would be. Join us starting 8 AM January 7th and going through January 10th. 

If you are interested in hosting a Declare or joining the global declare virtually, DeclareTheBible.org. These events are free to participate, signing up just gives us an opportunity to get you important information. 

Come let yourself be transformed by the Word of God as we are obedient to Paul’s command in 1 Timothy 4:13 to “devote yourselves to the public reading of scripture.”