In honor of the United States’ 250th birthday, Christians Engaged hosted America Reads the Bible April 18-25 at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. The national event sought to celebrate the nation’s biblical foundations by hosting speakers to read the entire Bible during the week.
Around 500 leaders from all over America were scheduled to read chapters from the Bible. Some of the readers included President Donald J. Trump, Victoria Cobb, Speaker Mike Johnson, Candace Cameron Bure, Allie Beth Stuckey and Franklin Graham.
Christians Engaged is an organization that seeks to “awaken, educate and empower” believers across the U.S. to pray, vote and engage. Founder and President of Christians Engaged Bunni Pounds started the nonprofit on Dec. 10, 2019, to help citizens of the United States approach politics through a biblical worldview.
Pounds’ vision for this event began two years ago as a call for Americans to return to Scripture.
According to the America Reads the Bible vision statement, “Having the vision for this movement over two years, Bunni Pounds, the founder and president of Christians Engaged has stepped out by faith to join the Body of Christ for the purpose of encouraging people to go back to the Bible.”
In an interview with Great American Media, Pounds shared she prayed that through the reading of scripture, leaders and citizens alike will begin to live it out.
“I am praying for those who proclaim the name of Christ, those that claim to be believers, that complacency and apathy related to this book would be broken off our hearts,” Pounds said. “I pray that every Christian would come away with this … I am going to actually open up this book every day and ask God to speak to me through it.”
Among the many readers was Liberty University President Dondi Costin, who read Acts 10-11. The passages highlight the instruction from God to Peter to not rely on spiritual tradition but rather rely specifically on what the gospel says.
“Don’t base your life and your understanding on tradition; base it on what God says about how you ought to live,” Costin said.
The president also shared that it was important for Liberty to participate in this event to lead by example.
“It’s often said that leaders should lead from the front,” Costin said. “I could think of no better front on which to lead than representing Liberty University in reading the Bible as part of this event. In this case, leading from the front meant reading from the front.”
He also added that America Reads the Bible reflects Liberty’s mission and identity as a Christian institution by Training Champions for Christ.
“Paul emphasizes that God uses his inspired Word to train believers in righteousness so they can be equipped for every good work,” Costin said, referencing 2 Timothy 3:16-17. “Because our mission is and always has been Training Champions for Christ, it would be impossible to accomplish our mission without relying on the Bible as our ultimate guide. Since God’s Word never returns void, there’s no better source to Train Champions for Christ than this God-given, 3,500-year-old book.”
The president of the Family Foundation of Virginia Victoria Cobb, read Acts 14-15, which fortifies the act of prioritizing faith over stature and position. She shared that America Reads the Bible is a call to Americans to recognize their sin and turn to Jesus Christ.
“Imagine if even just a little part of Virginia saw Scripture and went back and literally wept and said, ‘Wow, how have we gotten this far away?’” Cobb said. “If the commonwealth or the whole nation actually had that moment of how we have lost it and that we need to restore.”
Vice President of Government Relations at the Family Foundation Todd Gathje read Acts 12-13. The chapters describe how the church prayed for Paul while he was in prison being persecuted for his faith. Through the prayers of the church, his chains were broken, and he was set free.
“It just reminded me of just the kind of world we live in right now, that we want to pray for them,” Gathje said. “We want to make sure that through his Word, that their chains can be broken, and they can receive true liberty and freedom. That is what makes today, about America Reads the Bible so foundational, so important.”
Grant May, a Liberty alumnus and Standing for Freedom Center communications specialist, said he hoped this event will only echo truth. He read Lamentations 5 and Ezekiel 1 on Thursday, April 23.
“As Scripture was read over our nation’s capital this week, one truth stood clear: America’s future will only be secured by a return to the Word of God that gave her life,” May said.
The week of Bible reading concluded on April 25 with a goal to inspire Christians around the nation and world to continue reading Scripture as a daily habit.
For more information about America Reads the Bible or to rewatch the readings, visit americareadsthebible.com.
Gathje is the assistant feature editor for the Liberty Champion.