A group of California retailers is launching a Bible-reading campaign among customers that it hopes is picked up by other stores across the country.

The Gospel Challenge starting Jan. 1 is the brainchild of Brian Hill, co-owner of Lighthouse Christian Supply in Dublin, who was inspired to encourage shoppers to read God's Word more after attending Munce Group's fall trade show in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

There he heard author Jim George speak about how stores' success was dependent on how successful their customers were, "by which he meant their spiritual success, if they are growing spiritually and in their relationship with Christ." That "started me thinking maybe we need to redefine our purpose," Hill said.

He decided to challenge customers to commit to more regular Bible reading, creating a Facebook page—www.facebook.com/gospelchallenge—where a daily Scripture passage will be posted and participants are encouraged to add their comments and reflections. He has created bookmarks to hand out, promoting the effort.

Hill mentioned the idea to representatives of other stores in the area with whom he meets on a regular basis and they asked to join the promotion. Now they are hoping that other stores will join in, too.

The Gospel Challenge invites people to regular Bible reading that will take them through the four Gospels four times in the year. Participants will be encouraged to use one of four translations—the NIV (New International Version, the NLT (New Living Translation), the NKJV (New King James Version) and the ESV (English Standard Version)—with publishers offering free copies for occasional giveaways.

"The point is not to drive sales," said Hill. "That may come out of it, if they read out of one of the other translations and they like it, they might come back to get one, but it's really just more about making them 'successful,' " he added, "getting customers spending more time in the Bible."

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