Last year, I successfully completed my second pass at reading through the entire Bible in a year, this time following along with an on-line discussion at One Year Bible Blog (ATOM). This year, I’ve started again, but I’m following a different plan. This one is chronological (RSS), in that it attempts to order the readings so that we’re basically moving forward in time as the year goes on. My hope is that this will help to give me a better perspective on how everything fits together, primarily in the Old Testament.
I like using an RSS feed for my readings, as it provides a daily reminder to actually do it, as opposed to a printed listing of scriptures for the day, which I need to remember to look at. 
Thus far, we’ve covered the first 7 chapters of Genesis (so it will be easy to catch up, if you want to start.) The thing that has impressed me most, again, is how must story is there, rather than history. If you get caught up with the Bible as history and science text, then you run into all sorts of difficulties, such as the multiple creation accounts, and a new one I saw today, which had Jabal, Jubal, and Tubal-cain, who were the ancestors of those who live in tents, play the lute and lyre, and make bronze and iron tools, respectively. But three chapters later they’re all wiped out in the flood (since they’re not part of Noah’s line). But looking at it as a story which tells something about the people telling it eliminates such problems as unimportant.
(Those of you who like to stone blasphemers and heretics might want start looking for rocks)
I think that people who go off searching for the remains of Noah’s ark are missing the point. I don’t think they’ll ever find the ark, because I don’t believe it ever actually existed. Not as a physical ship with people and animals aboard as described in the text. Noah and the flood, in my opinion, is a story meant to illustrate the fallen-ness of the world, the pain that causes God, and the lengths that God will follow to redeem it.
Thanks to everyone who came to our party last night. It was great seeing so many people getting together to have a good time. At last count, I think we had 32 people here over the course of the evening, toasting marshmallows, playing Charades, eating, talking around the fire, comparing the various fireworks displays going on around us, or sitting in the hot tub.
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