How to Read the Bible in a Year — Charlie and Erika Kirk in 2021
In this throwback episode, Charlie and Erika sit down in December of 2021 to discuss the Sabbath, dating and marriage, and Erika's strategy for reading through the Bible at a reasonable pace. Note: Some of the information here is out of date, so head to proclaim365.com for the most up-to-date information. You can sign up right now for the 10th year of the program and join the quest to read the whole Bible in a year starting on January 5, 2026. Go to proclaim365.com today.Support the show: http://www.charliekirk.com/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
I run the largest pro-American student organization in the country fighting for the future of our republic.
My call is to fight evil and to proclaim truth.
If the most important thing for you is just feeling good, you're going to end up miserable.
But if the most important thing is doing good, you'll end up purposeful.
College is a scam, everybody.
You got to stop sending your kids to college.
You should get married as young as possible and have as many kids as possible.
Go start a Turning Point USA college chapter.
Go start a Turning Point USA high school chapter.
Go find out how your church can get involved.
Sign up and become an activist.
I gave my life to the Lord in fifth grade.
Most important decision I ever made in my life.
And I encourage you to do the same.
Here I am.
Lord, use me.
Buckle up, everybody.
Here we go.
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Hi, everyone.
It's Daisy here from the Charlie Kirk Show.
For this Sunday episode, we have a very special interview from December of 2021 with Charlie and Erica, shortly after they got married.
They touch on a lot, but we did want to provide a quick disclaimer that some of what they have discussed has been updated since 2021.
So head to proclaim365.com for the most up-to-date information.
You can sign up right now for the program they're talking about.
It's the 10th year of the program.
You can read the Bible in a year starting on January 5th, 2026.
Go to proclaim365.com today.
That's proclaim the numbers365.com today.
Hey, everybody.
Special episode of the Charlie Kirk Show.
Very special guest.
Say hello.
It's good to be back.
A lot of things have changed since I've been on the show.
We're married.
We're married.
That's a big development.
It's very we're going to do this as an annual thing every because I think the last time we did it was right around right when we got engaged.
Yeah, that was like November, December last year.
So it's like the yearly roundup.
Some people know you.
Some people don't.
So introduce yourself.
My name's Erica Kirk.
How does that feel?
I love saying that.
I love taking your last name.
No, my name is Erica Kirk.
I have a clothing line, Proclaim Streetwear, and I also am the leader of Bible in 365.
And I am married to my best friend and the love of my life and an amazing human.
Well, likewise.
And that's one of the things that I wanted to talk about, which is the Bible in 365.
So you work so hard on this.
And you have this amazing community of people that you've put together.
And you interact with them.
And basically, you help people read the Bible starting in January for an entire year.
It's actually really cool.
So this started almost six years ago originally in my studio apartment in Brooklyn.
And it eventually has now grown into thousands of people.
And we have readers all over the world.
And the cool thing about it is that we all read the Bible cover to cover together.
It's not you starting at your own pace.
It's not an app where you just, you know, click the little checkbox.
I read my reading for today.
There's a sense of accountability that's built into it.
And that's what I love.
And that's what I found when I first started reading.
I had so many questions because when I was younger, I never read the Bible cover to cover.
And I had so many questions.
And I had, I just wanted to do it along with someone that had also read scripture.
And so, anyways, out came from that a community, Bible in 365.
And basically, you can tailor your plan of like how you receive everything.
And then also, we are launching our branded app that is coming out December 31st or December 30th, I can't remember.
And so people can start anytime throughout the year, but the ideal is to do it January 1.
Because that's when we're all going to be reading as a family.
And some people just do it every year, right?
Yeah.
So we have a lot of returning family members, as we like to call it, because it really is a family.
We pray together.
We praise together.
We have a group called Prayer Warriors where you can sign up and you can be able to share with us what's on your heart, prayer requests, how we can be doing life with you, celebrating with you.
Yeah, it's just, it's an amazing community, and it's beautiful to be able to grow alongside people on this journey.
And there's really nothing more important than digging into God's word.
Well, and people are always giving excuses like, I don't know where to start.
It's too much time.
But you don't just go through like Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.
I mean, you go through every book, but you do do it consecutively.
But you kind of break it up.
You have Psalms, Proverbs, New Testament, Old Testament, right?
And so every day you have a reading from the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs.
And I broke it up that way because I heard the saying goes, unfortunately, is that the Old Testament is where Bible plans go to die because a lot of times.
Once you get to Leviticus.
It's hard.
And then Deuteronomy.
Right.
And a lot of people.
And then Judges.
Right.
They get stuck in.
1 Kings.
2 Kings.
Exactly.
And then by Obadiah, you're done.
I know, but there's you have to, and that's the thing that breaks in my heart is that a lot of Christians are like, I don't need to read the Old Testament.
That really doesn't relate to the New Testament, blah, blah, blah.
And it does.
Literally, Jesus came to fulfill all of the prophecy.
And so if you don't understand the Old Testament, you'll miss a lot of key points in the New Testament.
And just all in general, it's just so important to be familiar with God's Word because His Word never returns void.
And it's, so how do people sign up for it?
So they can go to Bibleon365.com or proclaimstreetwear.com slash Bible in 365.
And you can sign up there.
So what have been some of the things that you've learned by helping other people read the Bible throughout the year?
Just seeing the way God moves in their life and seeing how much more, how do you put it?
How much more they are aware of how alive God's word is and how they're able to incorporate what they're learning in scripture into their life and vice versa.
And the thing that I think is also really powerful is how people are able to spend their time in the morning or they carve out the time in their day where they can spend time with God, just them, one-on-one.
And to know that I can be a part of that journey is extremely humbling.
But they literally are able to sit down and say, you know what, for these 15 minutes, for these 20 minutes, I'm devoting it to God.
And this is my time to just dig deeper into scripture.
Yeah, and I mean, I know a lot of people that have been touched on it through it.
And it's also an accountability thing, right?
Because every day gets sent to you.
How long does it take to do the readings on average a day?
I would say probably 15 minutes, if that.
15 minutes.
But the thing is, okay, we've talked about this.
What happens if the government were to say, or the powers that be were to say, the Bible's no longer allowed?
Burn the Bibles.
Take them away.
Can't read them.
How much of scripture do we have memorized?
And not even to the point where we just have like a few verses, but, and we've talked about this.
How much of scripture do you have memorized to the point where you know where the commas are, the periods are, the pauses?
It's that type of realization that you think to yourself, okay, we need to dig a little bit deeper.
We need to really get into the word, not only just to obviously memorize it and the power of memorizing it, but also to be able to spread the gospel, to be able to be the salt and the light, and just really be able to make a difference while we're here for this short amount of time that we're even alive.
We're honored to be partnering with Alan Jackson Ministries.
And today, I want to point you to their podcast.
It's called Culture in Christianity, the Allen Jackson Podcast.
What makes it unique is Pastor Allen's biblical perspective.
He takes the truth from the Bible and applies it to issues we're facing today: gender confusion, abortion, immigration, Doge, Trump in the White House, issues in the church.
He doesn't just discuss the problems.
In every episode, he gives practical things we can do to make a difference.
His guests have incredible expertise and powerful testimonies.
They've been great friends.
And now you can hear from Charlie in his own words.
Each episode will make you recognize the power of your faith and how God can use your life to impact our world today.
The Culture and Christianity podcast is informative and encouraging.
You could find it on YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss any episodes.
Alan Jackson Ministries is working hard to bring biblical truth back into our culture.
You can find out more about Pastor Allen and the ministry at alanjackson.com forward slash Charlie.
Yeah, and so many people have an interest to do this, and there are a lot of Christians listening, and there's some non-Christians listening.
And it's a challenge, but did you find throughout the year people, you know, they grow in their faith and they want to read even more?
And I mean, breaking it up over a year every day is really important, but it doesn't stop there where people have questions and, you know, talked a little bit about that.
Yeah, so the cool thing about this being a Bible in 365 community is that let's start it from this way.
We've had people who were looking for churches because their church wasn't open in small towns in the middle of nowhere.
We're able to see on our back end where that person's located and be able to say, okay, so are you looking for a church within this mile of radius?
They say yes.
So we're able to then reach out to people within that same community and say, hey, would you be able to connect with XYZ to be able to share which churches are open, which ones that are in alignment with the gospel?
Would you be able to connect?
So I think that's really beautiful is the connection part and the community part because we are made for community and we crave it right now, especially with everything that's gone on with COVID.
When it comes to questions, I love when people reach out and either text or email questions about what's going on in the reading.
We also are big on, obviously the number one resource is the Bible, but we're also really big on sharing other resources and different commentaries that are very helpful to understanding of digging deeper into the word.
So that's really fun.
We incorporate that within the reading as well.
But the thing that's amazing that I love is how many returning people come back every year.
And that's the thing that's so powerful is they say, well, I did it last year, but now this year I invited my sister and my mom and my brother.
And a lot of people are like, oh, is it mostly just women?
No, we have men and women in this.
We have young and old.
Our oldest reader is 82 and our youngest one is 13.
Wow.
It's amazing.
And so it's Biblein365, the number 365.com.
And, you know, you work so hard at this.
I'm so proud of you.
You've changed so many lives through this.
And you have like a very small team.
I haven't.
God has.
God has.
But you've also made the choice to do this.
And you have one person on the team that helps.
For Bible in 365, that just kind of helps put it together.
But this is the time where people make New Year's resolutions.
This is the time where people are reconsidering life choices after drunk nights near Christmas or whatever.
Right.
And they're seeing their high school friends maybe going back home or they're seeing their grandkids and they're like, I got to fix something.
This is a great New Year's resolution.
And it's so much more than that, too, because you're dealing with people's souls.
You know, you want to be the reason why heaven is crowded.
You want to be the reason why people know God or know of Jesus Christ and know what he's done in your life.
And you want to be a part of that journey with people.
And there is so much more to this world than the sinful ways of living that are easy to do out there.
And there's something really powerful and beautiful in obedience to Christ and obedience to the Holy Spirit.
And even too, how we've incorporated that in our life with the Sabbath, like honoring the Sabbath and seeing how that's going to happen.
So you could testify to the audience, I actually do it.
Oh, 100%.
He turns his phone off, puts it in a drawer, doesn't touch it.
Read journal.
This is how it goes.
Friday night, 5.15, no later than 5.30.
The phone goes into the drawer, closes the drawer.
That's it.
That's it.
Saturday, 5.15.
I did 25 hours last weekend.
I know.
I was really proud of you.
Thank you.
I know.
And he pulls it out of the drawer and turns it back on.
That's it.
But during that time, which is beautiful, is that you take the time to read scripture.
And rest.
You rest, you write a note to God.
You write and you just pray and you meditate on God's word.
And I think that's really something that's workout.
I do something restorative.
Yeah.
Go for a walk.
For sure.
And the Sabbath has been amazing.
And I tell people that all the time.
I say it's a gift to us.
I know.
It's something that we have that can actually benefit our lives.
God knows us so well.
And I just want to challenge people, New Year's resolution.
You know, if we can find time to do the Sabbath, we're very busy.
A lot of demands on our time.
People listening can too.
Yes.
And not only that.
And there could be exceptions at times.
Right.
But, you know, with how much spiritual warfare is going on right now, it is palpable.
You can feel it in rooms you walk into, when you're watching the news.
It is surrounding us.
And the only way to fight back is with God's word.
The only way to understand and make sense of it is with God's word.
And if you don't take time to literally quiet your mind from the noise that's inundating you from news articles to press releases to your friend doing something, your family members not allowing you to come to the holidays or whatever,
it's really something that within alignment with the Sabbath and God's word, for you to be able to just take a minute to just breathe, cut out the noise, and just be in alignment with the Spirit and know what's going on and what your role is in all of this.
Yeah, it's beautiful.
So you also run Proclaim.
Talked about that.
Proclaim Streetwear.
Very proud of it.
I'm wearing it.
Yeah.
All over.
I am too.
We're twins.
And it's all made in America.
No Chinese fabrics.
So here's the deal.
A lot of people get this confused.
They think, okay, clothing line equals merch line.
They're two completely separate things.
Clothing line is you literally have tech packs.
Everything is cut and sewn from literally a thread to a full finished garment made in the USA.
We work with a factory in New York and in LA, and we get this done.
And I actually know the people who make my clothing rather than just some slave labor in central China.
And you lived in China for a while.
Chongqing.
Sounds like, yeah.
You know all about it.
Yeah.
I mean, you know about the abuse of workers.
It's so sad.
Yeah.
It's so sad.
So anyways, that was my number one thing.
I was not going to compromise on.
Everything is made in the USA.
Everything is highly quality checked.
All of our threads and fabrics are organic, which is another thing, really making sure that we don't have any toxins in our clothing because your skin is the largest organ that absorbs everything that it touches.
So organic dyes, organic threads.
Super comfy.
Yeah, you're wearing the bamboo threads.
I wear them all the time.
I know.
I know you only.
And I don't get enough of them.
I say, I know.
And I get a couple more.
I know.
I'm sorry.
So that you're wearing the bamboo threads t-shirts.
So, yeah, but the coolest part about all of this is that there's a give back mission attached to it.
So the meaning behind a Proclaimed Streetwear is based off of Isaiah 61, verse 1, and then Luke 3.11.
So.
And business is doing well.
Business is doing really well.
We sold out immediately when we first launched.
Scaling like crazy.
Scaling.
It's amazing.
I'm so grateful.
The joggers are super.
Glory to God.
You're wearing those too.
I do.
Of course I do.
I wear all your stuff.
I love it.
You're my biggest hype man.
I hype it all the time.
I know.
It's really cool to see how even just a piece of clothing can be an opening and a gateway for people to be able to talk about the gospel.
Because someone could see the design on your sleeve and be like, hey, what does that say?
And you're like, well, let me tell you.
And it's Isaiah 61, 1.
The Lord God is upon me.
Upon me.
Yeah.
I was reading it upside down.
Oh.
That's why I was like.
No, it's good.
So it's amazing.
It's been a blessing to see the way God has started it.
And originally, it started in Manhattan in 2018, but a few years prior than that is when I actually started Bible in 365.
And I truly believe that if I did not start Bible in 365, I would not have had the moment for God to reveal to me my functional calling of Proclaim Streetwear.
Primary calling, spreading the gospel, the Great Commission.
That's my primary calling always.
But my functional calling was definitely Proclaimed Streetwear.
We're honored to be partnering with Alan Jackson Ministries.
And today, I want to point you to their podcast.
It's called Culture in Christianity, the Allen Jackson Podcast.
What makes it unique is Pastor Allen's biblical perspective.
He takes the truth from the Bible and applies it to issues we're facing today: gender confusion, abortion, immigration, Doge, Trump in the White House, issues in the church.
He doesn't just discuss the problems.
In every episode, he gives practical things we can do to make a difference.
His guests have incredible expertise and powerful testimonies.
They've been great friends.
And now you can hear from Charlie in his own words.
Each episode will make you recognize the power of your faith and how God can use your life to impact our world today.
The Culture and Christianity podcast is informative and encouraging.
You could find it on YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss any episodes.
Alan Jackson Ministries is working hard to bring biblical truth back into our culture.
You can find out more about Pastor Allen and the ministry at alanjackson.com forward slash Charlie.
So in closing, I want to talk about a lot of the emails we get at freedom at charliekirk.com of people that ask questions and advice about dating advice and marriage.
I don't know if we're ready to comment on marriage expert advice yet.
That probably can come in the years to come, but it's awesome.
And everyone should get married.
I totally agree.
But let's start with like one question.
Charlie, I'm 31.
I'm a Christian woman.
I've had a good career.
I can't find anyone.
I never really comment on the woman side of it.
I always say, talk to my wife.
For the men, get your act together.
Stop being a schlep.
Stop drinking.
Sit up straight with your shoulders back.
You know, go lift weights and, you know, don't be a bum, basically.
Right.
I could say that to young.
What about young women?
What are they supposed to do?
No, it's a good point.
You know, I have a few.
I have, I see both sides of this.
I think there's also a point where young women have this unrealistic checklist that they feel like they have to hit every single point in order for this person to be perfect.
And if they're not every single checkpoint of their own liking versus the desires that God has for them, then that person's totally disregarded.
I think that women need to not literally prioritize their life in a way where you don't have to be partying every single night.
I think it's super unattractive.
You don't have, I know I get a ton of backlash on this, but I really say there's no reason to be on the apps.
Some people are like, I met my love in my life on the app.
Okay, you are very rare.
A lot of the apps have totally changed.
They're now inclusive to all different types of genders, all different types of backgrounds.
They have a tendency to be more an alignment with hookup culture rather than the old school traditional e-harmony where it's like, I'm looking for the love of my life versus now it's like, hey, I'm in Atlanta and I need a drop-off girl.
Like there's different, I feel as if there's different intentions behind the app.
But for women, just wait on the Lord.
And I know that that's hard, but really just wait and take the time to enjoy the season of being single.
God is, God knows what you need.
You're human.
Your husband, my husband, you did not come a second too late or a second too soon.
You came at the exact time in my life.
And I honestly believe because I was right with the Lord.
I was doing everything that I needed to be doing.
I was focusing on obviously God, but career.
And just in a way where I was like, you know what?
When I'm running my race and I'm in a jet stream of healthy things, of having my life together, you came running right alongside me.
So I think a lot of people just get nervous or try to force stuff that doesn't work.
But they shouldn't be hermits.
No.
No.
Right.
They should get out.
Yeah.
I mean, I always say that if you, pastors need to do a better job of trying to arrange people together.
Go to church.
Totally.
Go to the early service.
You know, if you go to the early service and you see other young singles there, they probably got their act together.
Literally.
Seriously, if you go to the 8 a.m., I totally agree.
Then that's probably a good use of your time, right?
Like, wow, that other person is there.
And a lot of churches have singles ministries.
They do.
And I think also too, sometimes a lot of people do avoid the singles groups because there's a lot of pressure in people being like, hey, do you want to go grab coffee?
Do you want to do this?
So there's awkward pressure with that.
I get that.
But for women, I just really believe that we're in such, I mean, Instagram doesn't help at all.
Social media doesn't help at all, but we're in such a culture where people want to have instant gratification and just, trust me, swim in a stream of significance and just wait.
Just wait.
Whether that's sexually, whether that's relationally, just wait.
And I promise you, God will honor that.
We get a lot of very impatient people.
I think, is that fair to say?
Well, yeah, and I get it.
I mean, no one wants to be, you know, past the age where they can't have children.
But at the same time, women too, if you're choosing to live in a city like New York City and have a nine-to-five career job that you're putting before a potential relationship and you're married to your work, that's a whole different story.
So you kind of have to make the decision of, okay, what is more important here?
What is more priority?
Yeah.
And most young men have been completely emasculated and beat down by this culture and by their peers and they have to get their act together.
A lot of young women are complaining, I can't find anyone.
They're all a bunch of losers.
And they're not totally wrong, by the way.
And then, or they're a bunch of jerks, which again, they're not totally wrong.
But at the same time, but then the men complain about women like you wouldn't believe it.
Right, because the women totally emasculate the men.
They're like, they're super aggressive.
And, you know, and I mean, this is why we're seeing the lowest marriage rates in American history.
I don't think our parents' generation really understands this.
They don't understand the numbers.
The numbers are so bad.
I know.
It's the most single generation in American history, the least populated, meaning having less children than ever before, most suicidal, most depressed.
And there's a lot of different contributing factors to that.
And yeah, so people, you know, from a male side, I could, you know, I summarized it kind of quickly.
But yeah, I mean, you have to do something that has purpose and you have to dedicate yourself to that.
And God is the best thing to dedicate yourself in that way.
Totally.
And there's just this kind of idea that I can have an immediately pleasurable life and then also find significance.
It usually doesn't work that way.
No.
And it's super fleeting.
And there's nothing, I mean, that's trying to build a kingdom on sand.
That's just not going to work.
So if you are surrounding yourself with people, I mean, you say it all the time.
You're a lot like the people you spend time with.
You can spend time with.
Exactly.
And so just really spend 2022 getting your life in order in a way where you're prioritizing properly your time in the morning and be so efficient with your time.
I think that's another thing that a lot of people totally disregard is even if you have to go to the point where you are time blocking on your calendar where you say from 6 a.m. to 6.15 a.m., I have my time with the Lord.
And then from 6.15 to 6.30, I'm taking a shower.
Like even if you have to be that regimented with your time, it's such a gift that we even have time here on earth.
And so like really take that time to invest into certain things, not financially.
I'm talking from mind, spirit, body, soul.
Like really take the time to invest quality time into things that really matter.
Yeah.
Really matter.
And for men, you know, starting in January, you're listening to this.
Sign up for Bible in 365, obviously.
Get into the word, but challenge yourself with something that's attainable.
And this speaks more to men than women.
Not to say women don't need to be challenged, but men especially at that age need to be challenged.
And the best way, let's just start with something super easy.
Every young man listening to this can challenge yourself physically.
You just can't, let's just start.
It's so simple.
Even if it's a, even if you're just walking outside.
Yeah, I mean, you could say that, okay, I can only run a mile in 15 minutes, and now I want to run a mile in 12 minutes.
I don't even know how long I run a mile in.
I only run 15 slow, but whatever it is, challenge yourself towards improvement.
Right.
And the physical one's easy because it's super measurable and it doesn't matter where you start.
You could be like, yeah, I can only run a mile in 25 minutes.
Okay, well, then let's get it down to 20.
Or I can only lift 10 pounds.
Well, then go to 30.
And then all of a sudden, a culture and a psychology of improvement will start to set in.
And then all of a sudden, you're like, yeah, I don't feel good when I go drinking anymore.
Right.
It's like, yeah, because you actually want to improve.
Right.
You're like going in the pursuit and the direction of trying to become something better.
Right.
And that's why we were put on this earth to glorify God and everything that we do to the glory of God.
And so if what you're doing does not bring glory to God, don't do it.
So for high schoolers out there, what's your advice?
Oh, gosh.
High schoolers, I know you would say don't go to college.
Well, I would just say learn how to say no about everything around you.
I'd say learn how to think.
I'd say really take, really, really, you have two pairs of eyes.
You have your physical eyes that you see things, and then you have the eyes of your heart.
And you're pretty smart when you're in high school.
I mean, you don't know everything, that's for sure, but you're smart.
And just really think with your heart alongside your eyes and see with both pairs of eyes to really just be able to see what's really going on in the world and how you can fit within the puzzle pieces of the organized chaos of this world.
And how you can really be able to be a solution rather than continually to be adding to the problem or continually being a part of the statistics of TikTok or the statistics of Instagram.
collecting your data, creating a second AI version of you.
Like there's things and ways for you to be able to stand out.
Yeah, I totally agree.
And we get a lot of messages from high school kids that are just so alone and propagandized.
And that's the thing, too, even with the fact of community, just knowing that you have people within your circle.
And even too with Turning Point, when you have, and we were just talking about this with the conferences, people can go to these things and feel so alone.
And then all of a sudden they meet their new best friend that lives maybe across the country.
But at least they're able to meet someone that they can say, hey, now I have someone to text when I'm feeling a little bit down and I need someone to go be alongside me.
It's beautiful.
Biblein365.com.
Everyone sign up.
You can read the whole Bible in a year.
We start the first Monday of January.
January 3rd.
Yes.
We start January 3rd.
Off to the races.
Off to the races.
That way we give people time to enjoy January 1st and the holiday season because it's usually crazy.
A lot of people have always said, I want to read the Bible.
I want to read the whole Bible.
And I tell you, you read the whole Bible, your life will improve.
It's that simple.
You see everything.
It's just people say, Charlie, how do I have what you have?
Well, I don't even know what that means.
But just if you want a better life, read the Bible.
So Biblein365.com.
And if they want to buy this wonderful merchandise, yes.
ProclaimStreetwear.com.
ProclaimStreetwear.com.
I'm very proud of you, and I love you.
Thank you.
I love you too.
And I'm proud of you too.
And congratulations, everything with the Charlie Kirk show.
We're growing very quickly.
I know.
I love it.
And I'm so proud of all of you.
Like, literally, your whole team.
You guys take it on the road.
We've been on the road, what, 300?
320, 30 days.
20 or 30 days or something.
Yeah.
And you know what I'm so proud about is that even if we're in Georgia.