Hero's and saints

As some of you may know I am currently on two Bible reading projects at the moment. To read the Street Bible and to read the whole Bible cover to cover. While reading through these I have reread many of the stories I was taught as a young child which had to a certain extent become no different to the fairy stories I heard.

The advantage of rereading them after so long and with the benefit of new experiences is that I am seeing them in a new way. As I am reading the stories I am seeing that these huge figures in the Bible such as Noah, Isaac and Jacob in the Old Testament through to people like Peter and Paul in the New Testament were in many ways far from perfect.

The stories we see in the Bible about these people are not about how great they were, how perfect they were or even how well they always served God. Because in many ways these people were highly flawed and did not always follow God's plans or even live in a way God would approve of. These stories are about God, His power and ability to work with any human despite our flawed nature. We learn time and again that there is nothing that we can do that will stop God from loving us or cause Him to abandon us.

I have no doubt that as I continue reading on through the Bible I will learn many many new things. There are new lessons in there even for someone who has read the Bible hundreds of times. All relationships are based on communication and one of the ways God has communicated with us is through this amazing book. Reading the Bible and spending time in prayer with God increases the communication between us and God and will only make our relationship stronger and more productive.

God gave us the Bible for a reason, it is His word to us and we should always remember that. Through it He gives us the messages and lessons we need to live our lives in the way that He wants us to live them. But in it He also tells us that no matter what He is always there for us. That no matter how bad we think that we are He can work with us and do amazing things through us. The Bible is the most amazing book and is personally written for you and for me.

Wealth of wisdom

I was reading my daily bible verse as supplied by my phone today and decided to take a closer look. The verse today was;

Proverbs 20:9 (KJV)  

    Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin? 

Now it is not so much the verse that I want to talk about today, rather the whole book of Proverbs and the Bible. This book is such a fantastic collection of wisdom that has been  handed down to us, but how many of us are actually aware of much that is in there? It is one of those books that I know about, I know what it is, but in reality I know next to nothing about it. I know it is a collection of sayings from Old Testament times, I know that many are thought to be written by Solomon but my knowledge ends there. 

As those who have followed this blog for a while know I am reading my way through the Street Bible and have at times mentioned it in passing. Well Proverbs was one of those books that while reading through caught my attention. I have never really paid it much attention and have never really heard anyone talk about it much. And for me that covers some big sections of the Bible, I know a little about it but just surface facts. When reading the Street Bible I realised there was much in the Bible I needed to reread in its entirety. 

I have currently a significant collection of books that I am trying to read through and this has meant I have squeezed in extra reading time into my schedule to try and get through these books quicker. There is so much that I want to know, reading and learning it is becoming a mammoth task. Even so I am going to make myself a new commitment, I will read the whole Bible, cover to cover. I know that I will not be able to start this until at least next week due to my busy weekend but it is something I feel is essential. I know parts of the Bible very well and have studied sections in detail but I have never read it as I would any other book. In the past I have dipped in and out of the Bible but never just read it as I would any other book.

So from a simple daily verse I am committing myself to yet another project that will take up a considerable part of my life for some time to come. However as with my other commitments like this blog and the Soldiers Challenge there is so much I am learning and gaining from them that they have ceased to be a burden and are now thoroughly incorporated into my life. If this is what it takes to make me find space in my life to do regular and consistent Bible study then it can only be a good thing.

How come so calm?

Psalm 62:1-8 (TSB)

MY soul's serene when I rest in your arms,

Like no other time.

Peacetime arrives when I switch off my drives

And float in your ocean sublime.

You're where I run to when there's war at my door,

You're where I come to when I just need more -

My security force, my passport to peace.

How come so calm? You're why.

When all the world is falling apart and everything seems to be going crazy how should we act? Most of the time people get swamped under the worlds pressures and get worn down by the world's pressures. But what we should really be doing is calling on God's strength to help us. We should be sheltering in God's awesome presence.

Psalm 71:1-3

        I run for dear life to God,

            I'll never live to regret it. 

        Do what you do so well:

            get me out of this mess and up on my feet.

        Put your ear to the ground and listen,

            give me space for salvation. 

        Be a guest room where I can retreat;

            you said your door was always open!

        You're my salvation-my vast, granite fortress.

We know that God is our protector and our stronghold, that he is powerful enough to save us from anything. Yet when the going gets tough so often we forget to go to Him for help. We forget to call on His name for our protection. It should be the case that when everything seems to be falling round our ears and the world asks of us "why so calm?"  we are able to respond "He is why".

Shut up... Shut off... Shut out...

Psalm 46:10 (TSB)
Shut up... Shut off... Shut out...
and in the silence... sense God!

As people who have been following this blog will know I have been reading the Street Bible (or as it is now known "The Word On The Street"). I have been trying to finish it for a little while but things seem to be against me and so far I have only reached the Psalms. I don't want to review it yet as I have not even finished it. I think I will review it in two parts first the Old Testament then the New Testament as I finish them.

So anyway as I was reading through my copy of the Street Bible the other day I came across this verse. It was one of those moments that just absolutely stops you in your tracks, like a kick to the chest. It made me really think about my life recently. I have had so much to do, so many chores and I have been running from pillar to post trying to do this and that. In addition I have begun a new job as well as gallivanting around the country visiting people. So when I found time to sit down and spend time reading this paraphrase it was quite striking.

Part of the reason I use the Message as much as I do is because I find it easy to read, easy to understand and I feel I hear God's voice clearest through it. A number of times while reading the Message in my daily studies I have stumbled across a passage that has hit me in a powerful way. I have become somewhat hooked on using the Message, sometimes in a detrimental way due to my lack of follow up in other translations. Because of this the message I found in the verse above was that bit more powerful.

In the midst of all the hustle and bustle in my life, while reading a paraphrase I was sure I would get nothing out of, God spoke to me. He chose that moment to say "Sam, stop, be still and just connect with me". It wasn't listen to me or talk to me, it was be with me, connect with me. It is something that I can forget about the relationship we should have with God, it is just that, a relationship. It is not a conversation, although that is an important aspect, it is a relationship. Sometimes that means we need to just spend time with God. We may not have anything we want to say to God and He may not be talking to you just then, but why does that mean we should not spend time with Him. I know that all good relationships are built on communication, and the best are built on regular clear communication. But some of my happiest times spent with the people I have loved most have been just time spent in each others company, why should it be any different with God.

Off to the grindstone

So today is my first day at my new job. I have been looking forward to starting ever since my interview and the phone call I received afterwards. I decided before I started work I would visit my little brother at university so that if things become hectic with work and trying to live my life too I would still have visited him once this year. So after visiting my new employer on Thursday I packed my things, booked a train ticket and prepared to visit my brother for the weekend. It is a 4 hour journey to get from home to where my brother is and so  decided I would spend the time constructively and try to finish reading the street bible, that however did not happen, despite the 8 hour round trip I am still only up to the Psalms, however I will review this paraphrase fully once I finish it. When I finally got there it was not quite time to relax, my brother had requested that I cook for him and his flatmates. I agreed mostly because I love cooking, and eating, but also because I know how hard it is moving away from home for the first time and a little home comfort makes all the difference. I had a great time meeting and getting to know the new people my brother is living with. Over the course of the weekend we have eaten together, enjoyed DVD's and been out to the pub enjoying each others company and having a lot of fun.

After the fun of Friday and Saturday we decided to have a mode sedate Sunday, it is after all the day of rest for Christians. So we got up in time to go to my brothers local Church and attend the meeting there. It was an interesting experience to worship with this new group of people, it was different to many Churches I have been to. It was not loud and vibrant, but it also was not quiet and sedate. There was a nice feel to the worship and the whole place emanated friendliness. It made me very happy to see that my brother will hopefully be part of such a warm and inviting fellowship while he is away from home. After this I took my brother out for lunch which while not being the traditional Sunday roast was a great time shared together. We had a good meal, good conversation and even managed to watch the F1 Grand Prix while at the pub, definitely a good day all round.

The journey home was one of mixed feelings, I get on very well with my little brother, at times he is more like a best friend than a brother and I am missing him not being at home. While I have been away from home for 5 years it is strange to now be at home and him not to be there. However I know he is having a great time at university and he has made some great friends both in his halls and at his new Church.

Now I am at home I am preparing myself for my first day at work. I am both excited and apprehensive about this new job in a way I have never been about previous jobs. All the jobs I have worked in the past have been relatively easy in that they required only that I think a bit and generally sell things to people who didn't really want or need them. This job however is hugely different, not only is it not what I have trained to work as but I also have little to no experience in this environment. Saying this though I do feel that this job is what I should be doing right now, I feel as though God has directed me to it and put me in this place at this time for a reason. I am pretty sure I know what the reason is and although it is quite scary it is also liberating and exciting too. Since I have started to pursue this new direction in my life I have felt happier in myself, less pressured and less stressed about the future. I think that handing over control to God has been the best decision I have ever made and hope that I can continue to trust Him as He does have the best plan already worked out. Well that is pretty much all for now, I will try and work something together from my first day at work for tonight to let you guys know how it went. Until then hope you all have a great day, and please pray for me embarking on this new adventure.

The Street Bible

Despite my dislike of this book in the past a sufficiently large number of people have told my that it is worth a read for me to take another look. So while browsing at my local Bible shop today I decided to fork out the £10 for it and see what all the fuss was about. I will admit now that I have not even finished reading Genesis in it yet so my decision on it may change, but I doubt it. Before I say anything negative I will begin with some positives. It is easy to read and it is a bit of a page turner. It may not be the most lyrical paraphrase I have read but it does have a little punch about it, enough to keep you reading it anyway. However I do find that it tries too hard to be "down with the kids" and comes across to me as The Bible Lite. I know that it does not claim to be The Bible and admits that it skips chunks too, but when I am reading it I feel that it is missing something. There is a lack of connection that exists with other paraphrases and translations. The mystery, majesty and wonder is not there. Fair enough there may be action, adventure and gripping story lines, but then that is all there in The Bible anyway. The poetry and literary styles of the books of the Bible do not come through for me in this paraphrase.

I wont knock it too much however because I think that for some people it may be the right introduction to the faith. As long as no one tries to use this as a replacement for the bible. I did say that I had not finished reading it yet and so I may be making judgements before all the evidence is in. Because of that I intend to stick it out and finish reading it, at which point I will write another post to let you know if my thoughts and feelings on it change or remain the same.