The Extreme Bible Reading Spectacular
As those of you who like us on Facebook will know, yesterday Rob and Andy pitted themselves against each other in what turned out to be a competition so spectacular, that it could only be matched if Samson came back and entered himself for the weightlifting at the Olympics.
Rob and Andy’s challenge was to spend the day travelling around the streets of London in an attempt to find the most interesting, strangest or simply the most extreme place where they could read the Bible (bonus points being awarded for reading relevant passages at each location).
9am came and both set off on their challenge. Rob went with a theme, ‘The History of London in a Day’, while Andy’s plan got as far as jumping on the nearest tube and trying to find somewhere interesting.
Luckily enough TFL didn’t disappoint and the tube took Andy straight to North Greenwich and a stop at the Dome followed by a jaunt across the river via the new cable cars. After this Andy headed north to Stratford and the Olympic Park, getting a great view from the balcony of the Holiday Inn; 1 Corinthians 9:24 was most appropriate. After visiting the Queen, and seeing the Olympic Stadium from Godzilla’s point of view, he then moved west, helpfully translating Latin before re-enacting one of his favourite Old Testament stories. The day ended with a trip to Parliament, reading the Psalm written on the floor of the lobby, and leaving everyone with a thought to reflect on.
Rob’s more co-ordinated attempt almost failed to get off the ground when he struggled to decide which Bible to take; eventually going with the most portable. Although going for an historical theme Rob’s journey began with a trip on the cable car (they must have had them in the Garden of Eden). The first historical site visited was the Roman Wall, where Psalm 127 was read to an impressed Emperor Trajan. Next was a lunch time reading of Matthew 14:15-21 by King Alfred’s plaque and a trip to the Tower: not in an Anne Boleyn way! Rob’s next destination was to race through the Tudors, visiting the Golden Hynde and the Globe before spending some time in Stuart England, at the site of the start of the Great Fire of London. He scared some bankers with a reading of Jeremiah 21:10! After ticking off the 18th and 19th Century, stopping to give some Danes a recital of Romans 13 outside Parliament, Rob finally ended the day with a stop at the iconic statue of Churchill in Parliament Square and the centre of modern day London, the Olympic Park.
Our Chair, Stephen Timms MP is currently in the process of making the impossible decision of deciding a winner, and when a decision is reached we’ll post it up on the Facebook page. All the pictures are already up there so take a look, pick your favourite or post your own Extreme Bible Reading attempts. | 
