Our church just started this new program called Bible in 90 days. The goal is to have the whole church rally together and each person read the bible in 90 days, about 12 chapters a day. To be honest, I’m a little worn out on “new church programs” ever since I went through “40 days of purpose” three different times. I don’t know what it is about church programs but it seems that you can make millions of dollars if you just come up with a different subject and slap a certain amount of days on it. my next book: “365 days as a really bad sinner, subtitle: Jesus help us all”.
Even after rehabbing from “40 days of purpose”, I have decided to go ahead with my churches program and try reading the bible in 90 days. Who knows maybe it because its the new year, and I also committed to trying to run a marathon, lose 30 pounds, and travel around the world with my family, I thought might as well fail at reading the whole bible while I’m at it.
I just finished reading (listen to some British actor read) day one, the first 16 chapters of Genesis. The sad news is I’m already a day behind schedule, but the good news my wife Lauren and I thought we might as well try to do this whole 90 day thing together. After finishing chapter 16, I found myself unable to fall asleep because I had a lot of questions about the first part of Genesis.
Maybe because I was inspired by the new girly movie I watched last week, Julia and Julia (which when I’m honest, and not around a bunch of guys, I have to admit I like it…and added “learning to cook” to my on going list of new year goals) or maybe I’m just longing to find a way to honestly process all the stuff I’m going to read this next 90 days. But I decided I going to blog my way through the bible. So here we go… day 1:
I think the strangest things I found while reading the first 16 chapters of Genesis, was the many different “gods” that make an appearance. There is the great God of creation, the God that is “walking in the garden”, the pissed off God that kicks yells at Adam and Eve, shuns Cain, and kills all humanity but Noah’s family, the God that keeps using the words “let us” like he is part of some Greek council of gods, and the one the wacked me out the most that God that on the surfaced seems threated by humanity.
Since I was a kid I have wondered why God didn’t want Adam and Eve to eat from the tree of knowledge. In Genesis it seems to paint a picture of a God that is afraid that man will become to knowledgeable or powerful (like in the story of Babel, where God says, “nothing that humanity propose to do will now be impossible for them…Come, let us go down and confuse their language.”) What is God afraid of?
I think when I was in professional ministry, i was always afraid to ask these questions, because I was scared someone would discover that I didn’t have the answer, or maybe I was even afraid that God didn’t have the answers. But now i find it excited to ask questions I don’t have a clue how to answer, and to be honest, I don’t even think there is an answer. I use to read the bible to find answers, but i think this time I may read it to hear the story of God.
