Stories from previous Josiah Project Participants

When I first heard that the Journey was going to read the bible in two years...I thought that it sounded intimidating but also something I thought would be fascinating.  For me, growing up in Church forced me to do a lot of things...funny thing is we never read the bible from cover to cover. It sort of was a strange revelation to me when I thought about how many hours I spent in church and never really engaged with the entire Bible this way. I have to say that I learned a lot. I also realized how incredibly complex the bible is and at its core it's all about loving God and loving people. For me, what I will remember the most is the hours of conversations, multiple debates and very few moments of complete clarity at the Lowe’s house every week. However, I now appreciate the incredible complexity of the verses, the idea that it's okay to have a different opinion, laughing at random passages, being inspired and most importantly challenged to be a part of God's grand narrative. Thank You Journey Church Community!
Gary M.

I was raised going to church and learned about the Bible. However, I had never studied it cover to cover. After studying The Josiah Project for the past two years, I discovered that I didn't know the scriptures like I thought (big surprise)! I'm so glad I studied with my group, though, I learned so much more by asking questions and gaining other perspectives throughout the study.
Jess M.

When I got married, there were a bunch of things I was nervous about, things I thought would be difficult to deal with or hard to work through. I was very surprised to find that most of the things I was worried about were actually not that difficult, many of them were actually easy! Instead, there were a whoooole lot of things that I never would have thought about, and if I had thought about them I would have thought they'd be a breeze. My experience during The Josiah Project has been exactly like that. Having never read the majority of The Old Testament before this, I had tons of expectations, things I thought would be "stumbling blocks" to me, passages I thought would be difficult to wrestle with. It turned out most of those things, like "why are there 2 creation stories?" and "was the flood local or global?" actually didn't matter much to me. Instead, all these unexpected questions (like "where did Elijah go?") came to me. But the best part is that among those unexpected difficulties, there were sooo many unexpected encouragements! No one ever consciously taught me that the "Old Testament God" was "mean," but somehow I had picked that up. Reading through books like Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Hosea showed me how unbelievably gracious, generous, kind and just God is and has always been. The Josiah Project has allowed me to have a more rounded view on God (I CERTAINLY wouldn't say a more "complete" view...) and I am SO glad I engaged with God and His Scriptures in community for the last 2 years!
Bonnie N.