The Bible Challenge

Hello friends in cyberspace.  Ash Wednesday is almost here, and I'm gearing up for Lent.  I've frozen a lot of the cookies I got for my birthday so they're ready for Easter (or as I call it Fat Sunday), and I'm getting ready for 40 days and 40 nights of intense reflection, prayer, and self-sacrifice.  I know Lent has sort of a downer quality about it what with all the gloom and doom and giving things up, but I've always found it an incredibly strengthening experience.  I actually look forward to simplifying life and focusing on Christ's message.  It's good to give yourself a discipline of any type, which is why every year I not only give up something, but try to take something on.  Some years I made it exercise, one year I studied the lives of saints, and one year I simply added daily readings of Evening Prayer.  All of these things, in addition to drawing me nearer God, helped me organize my life and gave me a great sense of peace in the ritual.

This year I'm really excited to join others in my church (Emmanuel Church, Newport) in what we're calling The Bible Challenge.  We're giving ourselves one year to read the entire Bible from cover to cover.  Ok, that means my Lenten devotion will go much longer than 40 days and 40 nights, but I think the point of Lent is to refocus yourself for the year.  This will definitely do that!  Every week I get an email from the church with the readings for Monday through Saturday.  On Sunday we listen to the readings at church from the Revised Common Lectionary.  I've been attending Bible Study every Sunday since I moved back to Newport in August, and I've found that there's an embarrassingly large amount of the Bible I don't know.  Since I was raised in a Southern Baptist Church (no I don't hate gays, dancing, or drinking...I'm an Episcopalian now), I grew up quoting the Bible.  Those quotes, however, are worthless if you have no idea of the context.  Call me a nerd, but I'm ecstatic that I found and Oxford Annotated New Revised Standard Bible at the library book sale for $5.  It has tons of footnotes that help me with the historical context and some scholarship.

So why am I sharing all of this with anyone foolish enough to read my blog?  Because I need help.  I find that I don't retain anything I read unless I discuss it with other people.  I'm pledging to post something here every day for the next year about what I've read, and my hope is that you will join me in this journey.  I make no claims of being a preacher or a Bible scholar, but I feel that the Bible is a book for everyone.  We can all pull lessons from it that relate to our own lives.  The idea of the blog is not for me to preach to anyone, but for as many of us as are interested to engage in conversation.  Ask questions.  Be wrong.  Let's figure it out together!

If you're interested in joining me all you have to do is check the blog.  I'll post the assigned readings here and anyone can comment.  Easy.  What's stopping you?  Go dust off your Bible, download a copy to your kindle or iphone, read online, or go buy one (you can get a KJV at the Dollar Tree for a dollar).

Excited?  I am!

This week's readings:
Day 1 - Genesis 1-3; Psalm 1; Matthew 1
Day 2 - Genesis 4-6; Psalm 2; Matthew 2
Day 3 - Genesis 7-9; Psalm 3; Matthew 3
Day 4 - Genesis 10-12; Psalm 4; Matthew 4
Day 5 - Genesis 13-15; Psalm 5; Matthew 5
Day 6 - Genesis 16-18; Psalm 6; Matthew 6
Day 7 - Enjoy hearing the Scriptures read aloud in church