This blog started circa 2009 as a "reboot" of my christian life. I was spiritually dry so I aimed to rediscover and record the lessons and revelations I had received from the Lord. Not long afterwards, I thought it might prove useful to others so I started blogging.

As part of the journey I asked the Lord, "What (topical) knowledge do I need in order to become a mature, effective Christian?" I was seeking to complement my daily reading which I had been practicing for years. As I read the Word daily, listening for His answer, I began taking scriptures that caught my attention and putting them into "buckets" (I sometimes jokingly refer to them as my "bucket list"). Eventually, I organized the topics and added some personal commentary. It wasn't long before I had over thirty topics I found useful for personal discipleship. The sheer number of topics can seem overwhelming but, while the landscape of God is vast, not to worry -- the Holy Spirit keeps things simple.

After EFHC-1 started, I decided to edit these topics into a format that can serve as a discipleship curriculum for House Churches. Our aim is to make it easier for any one to start a house church of their own without having to worry about what to teach. These topics are not necessarily exhaustive or listed in order of importance, and we will keep them up to date as edits are made or new ones added.

The color key: All scriptures are in red (not just the words of Christ), highlighted portions are in blue, and comments -- each of which can provide a starting point for group discussion -- are in black text. Scripture quotes are typically from either ESV or NASB.

Finally, as just mentioned above, we believe topical study must always be balanced with a narrative reading plan. Our plan is simple: we read a chapter from the New Testament (NT) and one from the Old Testament (OT) EVERY DAY. This approach makes it easy to catch up when a day is missed and leaves plenty room for reflection during the day.

Another important benefit: Based on number of chapters in the OT (929 chapters) and NT (260 chapters), this plan in 2-1/2 years would allow the reader to complete the OT once and the NT 3-1/2 times. This is a good ratio of OT to NT reading. Everyone in EFHC-1 will be challenged to join this plan.