Connect the Testaments: A 365-Day Devotional with Bible Reading Plan

by John D. Barry, Rebecca Van Noord

Discover how individual passages of Scripture relate to the whole as you read through the Bible in a year. Every day, you'll read a selection from the Old Testament, the New Testament, and poetic literature, along with a devotional tying them together. The application-focused content provides insight into the text, answers to theological questions, and explanations for difficult passages of Scripture. And thought-provoking questions help you live out each passage in your everyday life.

Genres: Devotional, Reference

384 pages, Paperback

First published October 4, 2013

About the author

Rev. John D. Barry is an author, chaplain, nonprofit founder, and Bible scholar. John’s writing and speaking draws on his unique experience in biblical studies, alleviating poverty, entrepreneurship, and pastoral ministry. John is the author or editor of 30 books, including the widely endorsed Jesus’ Economy: A Biblical View of Poverty, the popular daily devotional Connect the Testaments, multiple Not Your Average Bible Study volumes, and the Bible commentaries Cutting Ties with Darkness and Resurrected Servant. He is the general editor of Faithlife Study Bible and Lexham Bible Dictionary, used by over one million people, and the former editor-in-chief of Bible Study Magazine, a product he launched. John’s video curriculum, DIY Bible Study, has taught thousands how to study the Bible. Today, John’s time is dedicated to chaplaincy.

John and his wife, Kalene, founded and led Jesus’ Economy, an innovative 501(c)(3) nonprofit that created jobs and churches in the developing world from 2012–2020. John and Kalene also served as missionaries with Resurrect Church Movement, the domestic division of Jesus’ Economy that equipped U.S. churches to effectively alleviate poverty and bring people to Jesus. In a primarily unchurched area of the U.S., John has served as: missional pastor for an established church; founder of an outreach and pastoral care ministry; president of a church plant; and in chapel and executive leadership for a large homeless shelter. As a public speaker, John has been featured by national radio shows, offered multiple keynote addresses, and presented at national theological conferences. Formerly, John also served as founding publisher of Lexham Press, an imprint of Faithlife Corporation / Logos Bible Software.

John is originally from “the last great frontier,” Alaska, and spent much of his life in “the city of subdued excitement” in Northwest Washington state—a fact evident in his love of gray skies, good coffee, mountain hiking, sea kayaking, road tripping, and “being off the beaten path” with his wife, Kalene, and their dog Milton. Learn more at JohnDBarry.com.

Reviews

[Ánder · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the devotional I chose to accompany my reading of Scripture all throughout this year. The principle behind the book is to arrange the readings in a way that connect the readings of the Old Testament with the New Testament.

PROS:
- The daily entries are short and easy to read.
- There is a good number of real-life scenarios and stories that serve as examples of application for the teaching of the day.
- At the end of every entry there are a few questions that can serve as triggers for prayer or personal reflection time.

CONS:
- The devotional is written for a very specific audience: Many of the examples include references to American culture (America meaning The United States) and history.
- It is also written for a very specific time: There are plenty of references to social networking (e.g. Twitter) and things that are very relevant today, but that very likely will be outdated in the near future from now.
- This devotional offers daily readings in three different sections of the Bible (One from the NT and two from the OT). Without exception the second reading of the OT is the shortest every day. This makes it difficult for the reader for several reasons (it's harder to follow the story in three different places than in one or two; you only read a very few verses in this section so it breaks the unity of the book; it also breaks the idea behind the connection of the testaments, as there is always one text that is almost totally ignored in order to highlight the relationship between the other two sections of the daily reading.

CONCLUSION:
The proposal of this devotional book is very attractive and indeed it fulfilled it in several occasions. However, after reading it all throughout the year it becomes apparent that the authors are forcing the structure and many times there is no evident connection between the readings for the day. This becomes even more complicated due to the inclusion of a third small reading from the Old Testament. In conclusion, this is a good devotional book, but not the best and it is so culturally and chronologically bound that it is very unlikely for it to become a "Morning and Evening" or "My Utmost for His Highest."

[Pam Larson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the reading plan in this devotional. Every day you read a section from the Old Testament historical & prophetic books, a section from the New Testament, and a section from Old Testament poetry. Within each section you read an entire book before going on to the next, but the order does not necessarily follow the biblical order. You start with Genesis/Matthew/Ecclesiastes. You end with Lamentations/Romans/Proverbs. An interesting way to switch things up for daily read-the-Bible-in-a-year plans.
The two authors, a man and a woman, alternate in the devotionals. In some cases the devotionals will connect the OT and NT readings, in others they focus on just one of the readings. I don't usually get much out of devotionals, but I found a lot of helpful insights in this one.

[B J · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a Blessing!!!

Giving God all the praise the glory and the honor for leading me to this wonderful book that "connected" the Old and New Testament with a taste of "poetry" each day. The daily "lessons" helped to explain how the different passages were indeed connected. Thank you for guiding me through this 365 -day journey to read the Word of my Lord and Savior. "I have set the Lord always before me, because He is at my right side, I shall not be moved!"

[Jerry Woods · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding Devotional

I really enjoyed going through the Bible in a year with this devotional. The way it is designed is unique because it is not your typical from Genesis to Revelation, straight through devotional and that keeps one surprised at they finish one book of the Bible and move on to what is next. The devotional was exactly what I was looking for in showing me how the old testament and the new testament connect.

[Donald Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent way for meaningfully work through enough of the Scriptures in one year with introspective application to come away with a more profound sense of God’s word as a whole. Thankfully, unlike many devotionals (and, perhaps, this volume should not be so classified) the amount of Scripture is one of its great virtues. It is worth the time!

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first devotional following from past weeks. For me it's good ..I am reading in logos bible app..

[Joseph Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful devotional book that really encourages you to connect the dots of Scripture

[Bob Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read as part of my daily quiet time using Logos resources. Insightful comments on at least one of three daily readings.

[Angie Ferguson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the daily bible study devotional Dennis and I read together in 2013. I loved that it dug deeper to explore our innermost intentions and the readings weren't just a couple verses that can be taken out of context. There was definitely a lot of meat here, so much that we may do this devotional again in the future.

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

Seems to have been quickly thrown together. No logic to breaks in the Bible readings on some days merely stopping after so many verses instead at a paragraph or chapter break. The connections between Old and New Testament readings seem tenuous at best.