Q: How long should I plan on reading?
Plan on an hour. But, because we all read at different speeds and some passages of the Bible are harder than others, it may take you longer or shorter than that time frame. If you have blocked off an hour to read, you won’t feel rushed.
Q: I don’t have time for that much reading!
We can do this – together – by giving just one hour (total) each day. We may have to change our routines – watch a little less TV, be intentional about how we schedule our time for reading. But we can all find one hour a day.
Q: What if I get behind?
Let’s be honest: it will happen at some point. We will miss a day, or two, and have to catch up. Try not to skip any pages – the point is to read the whole Bible. Instead, set aside some extra time to catch up. And, if you find yourself with some extra time, you could even read ahead. Nothing says you can read for ONLY an hour each day.
Q: Really, every word? What about the genealogies?
Yes, the goal is to read every single word. One thing we will discover is that some parts of the Bible are more exciting than others. But we are going to read it all – because it is all a gift from God.
Q: What if I don’t understand it all?
Spoiler alert: You won’t. There will be parts that all of us struggle with at different points. That’s ok. Try not to get bogged down in the places that you find it harder to understand. Keep reading. Mark the page or the passage or make a note of it in your Participant Journal. Bring the passage to your reading group – see if others also struggled with it, and maybe together you can shed some light on it.
Q: Ok, I’m in. What Bible should I use?
Any Bible will work! We will provide a list of each day’s readings, so you can follow along with the verse numbers in any Bible. I recommend using a Bible that does not have study notes – when our Bible has study notes, we tend to spend time reading them as we try and gain a deeper understanding of the text. If our goal is to read from cover to cover, any study notes will slow us down. In worship we use the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), and there is some advantage to using the same translation we use in worship. But any translation will work, and it can actually be insightful in our reading groups to note how the different translations handle certain text.
Q: What if I didn't start on time?
You saw the materials for B90 and thought you couldn’t do it, or maybe you didn’t see them until after we started. No problem! Start now. Download the schedule, start with today’s reading, and read with us for the rest of the challenge.
