Sheila Joiner
My favorite things to write about are the Bible, God's love for those we often overlook, and how we can rest in God’s character and faithfulness.
Free Resources
Living Upside Down Substack
A free newsletter straight to your inbox twice a month with reflections on the ways that we are called as followers of Jesus to live upside down from the norms of empire, consumerism, and self-promotion. If you’re passionate about pursuing a life of justice and living an abundant life embodying the love of Christ, this newsletter is for you!
Hebrew Bible Reading Plan
If you’re looking for a guided reading plan to spend intentional time in the Bible this year, but struggle to follow a daily reading plan or find the pace intimidating to read the whole Bible in a year, this could be a good fit for you!
This free download provides a weekly reading checklist to complete the Old Testament, also known as the Hebrew Bible, within one year. The dates on this plan were formatted to begin on January 1, 2025, but feel free to adapt in whatever way works for you. The schedule is designed with flexibility to pace your reading weekly rather than daily, so you can spread the reading across multiple days or set aside a larger block of time to complete the reading in one sitting.
You may notice that the reading order in this plan is a bit different than others you may have seen, which is intentional! Did you know that the order of our Protestant Bibles today is not the same as what Jesus and other 1st century Jewish readers would have used? There is certainly nothing wrong with reading them in the modern order, but this year I wanted to try something new and read the books that were in Jesus’s Bible in the order that scholars believe he would have read them: The Torah, The Prophets, and the Writings. The Bible Project has a great overview video and article if you would like to dig deeper into this history, and I also recommend checking out the Bible Project’s free guides for each book of the Bible as we read together throughout the year.
I hope that this guide can be a helpful companion in diving deeper into Scripture this year!
Jesus and the Vulnerable Advent Study
This free download includes 6 weeks of reflections to include the 4 weeks of Advent as well as the preceding and following weeks. Each week includes a reading from one of the gospels as we relive the events around Jesus’ birth, followed by a reflection on passages from the Hebrew Bible, which would be the Scripture that Jesus grew up reading and memorizing. As we read these passages, we’ll reflect on how Jesus brings hope, peace, joy and love to vulnerable people groups and to all of us.
Personal writing
My most recent writing can be found on my Substack, Living Upside Down, but here’s a collection of some of my favorites over the years: