So hi...

A note before you go any further... I am a non-believer, specifically a Pantheist. As a kid, I didn't learn much beyond the basics of generic protestant Christianity. I did a brief stint as a Catholic (I even put on nice clothes and went to church every Sunday for over a year).... but my views are much more liberal and that didn't stick.

Still, every New Year I decide I'm going to read the Bible. People are so passionate about it. They quote it, hold up signs at football games, argue about it, post inspirational Facebook pictures, and base their entire lives around its teachings... I'd like to understand what it says.

But every year I start reading, I get about 1/3 of the way through Genesis and I get all hung up in the begats and begots and give up. Yes, I could skim it or skip over it, but that would mean I'm not actually reading it. Of course, the same thing happened this year...  I got to the begats and wandered off...

I checked iTunes podcasts and lo and behold... Jesus Christ Saves Ministries (JCSM) has each book as a podcast in the iTunes shop! I downloaded Genesis, skipped up to the part where I'd gotten stuck, and continued on.

I am so glad I did! Once I broke that "begat barrier," the story gets more and more awesome. But I really feel like I needed to write a cliff notes version in my own words, asking my own questions, summarizing things so I can remember them and refer back. Thus the blog.

I've also just found out that Pennsylvania's House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution (H.R. 535) declaring 2012 the “Year of the Bible.” I'm not in PA, but I could practically throw a rock and hit it, so close enough. So there's where the blog name came from.

I am using a combination of the JCSM iTunes podcasts (I think it's the NIV translation, though they have the NKJV on their website), and a free Kindle ESV from CrosswayBibles. Sometimes I just read, sometimes I just listen. Sometimes (like on the treadmill) I do both, even though the texts don't exactly mesh word for word, it's pretty close. I'm also referring to several Bible study websites (both religious and secular) to better understand parts that I am not exactly sure about. I'll provide links and references as I go along.

I would love intelligent comments giving thoughtful debate, opinions, and explanations of things that I don't understand or misinterpret.

As of this post, I'm about 75% of the way through Joshua, and according to my Kindle, that's about 20% through the whole thing. I'm going to have to go back and re-cap my thoughts on Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers.

I will start at the very beginning...

So.... In the beginning....