October 2011 – Page 2 – LOVE | ACCEPT

More Than Just Turning the Pages

According to Wycliffe Bible Translators, there are 168,000 bibles sold or given away each day. Over the course of a year, that amounts to sixty one million, three hundred and twenty thousand bibles that make their way into peoples hands annually.

The Gutenberg Bible was the first major book printed with movable type, starting a revolution in publishing and society that changed history.

The Barna polling organization says that 92% of American households have a Bible in them.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth…The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen (Genesis 1:1 .. Revelation 22:21 – the first and last verses in the Bible)

There are thousands of interesting facts about the Bible. For example, it has 66 books written by 40 different authors over a span of about 1,500 years. These may be important facts to hold in our heads, they point out an important distinction that we need to bring to our bible reading. Knowing about the Bible is not the same as knowing the Bible.

Bible reading takes many forms in the church family, from not reading at all to those who have the Good Book virtually memorized, breaking down the text into a series of bible verses. The scope of the reading varies as well. Some read the Bible from cover to cover repeatedly, some never venture outside of New Testament while still others read only specific bible verses as they proof-text their way to the truth. While all reading of the Bible is beneficial, not all methods lead to the kind of spiritual growth we are meant to enjoy.

We’re interested in the kind of reading that adds to our spiritual depth and strength. For some of us, this is going to take the form of establishing a regular schedule of scripture reading. For others, a slower pace is required, perhaps camping on a single passage or verse for a few days or weeks and letting God speak meaning into our lives through the words. The important thing is that our reading becomes more than just turning the pages after the words have moved under our eyes. We’re seeking an encounter with God every time we open the book.

We’ll start in the next post with getting in the habit and sticking with it.

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Digging In

It is impossible to enslave mentally or socially a Bible-reading people. The principles of the Bible are the groundwork for human freedom.

Horace Greeley

The foundation of all spiritual development is rooted in the Scriptures. It is on the pages of the Bible that we learn who we are and where we came from. Our need for redemption is established and the great gift of mercy in Jesus is recorded from a number of perspectives. God’s principles for living together are spelled out and explained. Although it is often portrayed as constrictive, the Word is our freedom.

Bible reading is the first of the spiritual habits that we are going to explore and seek to apprehend. We are not going to read simply to turn the pages and for the sense of accomplishment. God speaks to us through the Word. He lives in the pages, displaying His character for us, and recording His interactions with those who came before us. We will be reading to hear Him speak to us so that we are shaped by His hand, rather than by the dominant culture.

We’ll start with establishing a reading plan and getting into the habit. Do you currently follow a plan? Are you more of a free-form reader? I look forward to hearing from you.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119:105)

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The First Step on a Lifelong Journey

We all remember it, even if the name escapes us. The ‘abdominator’ or ‘muscleizer’ or something of that nature. It was a wide, flexible belt with electrodes attached to it that you wrapped around your expanding stomach. Turning it on, if you dared, sent electrical signals to your abdominal muscles causing them to dance and jerk, exercising themselves. Through this miracle device, you could remain slouched in your Lazyboy in front of the television with your favorite beverage and, with enough time and twitches, you would emerge with rock-hard abs. All gain, no pain!

Except, it never worked. You were still flabby and thirty dollars poorer.

If you want to get in better physical condition you have to move. You have to get off the couch, put down the soda and chips and take the dog for a walk. There is no magical way to have the physique and health that you want, you have to work for it. Late-night television and the glossy images on the newsstand will attempt to tell you otherwise, but the facts can’t be disputed. A healthy body requires a healthy life.

Christians often labor under a similar misconception. We think that by appearing in church on Sunday, consuming a sermon and then returning to life we will be transformed. We want a faith like the people we hear about in those bible stories, a faith that can carry us through the tough times. Every so often, we even feel a little tug to change the world.

Except, it doesn’t work.

Rather than a trim, powerful, world-changing faith, we have a soft, casual, private religion that affects our lives very little, and the world even less. The faith we want and that we were intended to have doesn’t come through osmosis. It doesn’t mystically appear by listening to sermons or listening to radio programs. It takes work and devotion, and there are no shortcuts.

That’s why you’re here.

The gift of salvation that you have received is much more than a fire insurance policy. It is meant to be transformative in your life so that you, in turn, will be transformative to the world around you. The Spirit within you craves solid food. He does not want to continue to subsist on milk alone, and His urgings will not let you simply ‘be’.

Together, we’re going to begin a renewed journey of spiritual strength training. We’re going to be exploring the variety of spiritual tools and practices that have proven to produce fruit through the centuries. We’ll talk about and create community around it. You and I will praise Him for the growth we see, and He will be pleased at the transformation we bring to the world. We will be what He intended for us to be.

Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 1 Corinthians 9:24-25

Therefore Go

Our Last Great Hope by Ronnie Floyd

A fair percentage of the people sitting in our pews on Sunday morning would claim at least a passing familiarity with the Great Commission. A smaller percentage would be able to correctly locate it at the end of Matthew’s gospel. Fewer still would understand the far-reaching implications of these verses.

And only a handful would see the words of Jesus as applying to them personally.

This lack of apprehension lies at the core of Ronnie Floyd’s latest book, Our Last Great Hope. Pastor Floyd seeks to spark a renewed fervor for the mission of the Church in its call as the final hope of the world. Moreover, he wants to personalize the mission to individual believers. So many times, the church views this commission as applying only to the pros: the missionaries, pastors and other spiritual mentors. Pastor Floyd dispels this thinking throughout the book, speaking directly to the reader and imploring them to own the commission.

Floyd writes with a pastor’s heart for the lost and in a preacher’s exhortative voice. The pages ring with the active language of a Sunday sermon and the eyes of the pastor pointed directly at you. As the Christian mission is dissected, Pastor Floyd lays it in your lap and challenges you to claim that reaching the lost isn’t your responsibility. Good luck.

Floyd’s approach to awakening the Church contributes to the success of the book. Rather than a step-by-step, theological-practical treatise, the pastor writes about reorganizing our lives in ways that place us in the perfect position to step up and fulfill our calling. Instead of confronting the reader with the bottomless needs of the city, for example, pastor speaks to the transformation of our families that will naturally encourage engagement in the mission.

Ronnie Floyd has given us a fine book for sparking a renewal of the Mission. Irenic in tone, Our Last Great Hope is nonetheless urgent in proclaiming the need. Read this book and then go.

I am grateful to Thomas Nelson who provided this book for review.