In 1986 I completely dedicated my life to Christ. I was so blown away that God would want anything to do with a guy like me that I signed up for the full ride. I dedicated my life’s work to furthering the Gospel, advancing the Kingdom and generally trying to be useful somehow. Consequently, I became a Bible thumper.
Now I wasn’t always like that. There was a day when the Bible looked more like a Chinese tech manual than anything actually worth reading. Stephen King had taught me how to read giant novels. I’ve been blessed with a good reading aptitude so I didn’t think reading the bible would be any problem. It wasn’t that easy.
Carrying My Security Bible
Volunteering for an outreach ministry in Dallas, a friend suggested that reading the Bible could “save my life”. I had no idea what he was talking about. Less than a week later I went to a James Roberson convention in downtown Dallas and survived an attempted robbery in the parking lot by slamming my King James up side the head of the perpetrator.
Now I wasn’t always like that. There was a day when the Bible looked more like a Chinese tech manual than anything actually worth reading. Stephen King had taught me how to read giant novels. I’ve been blessed with a good reading aptitude so I didn’t think reading the bible would be any problem. It wasn’t that easy.
Carrying My Security Bible
Volunteering for an outreach ministry in Dallas, a friend suggested that reading the Bible could “save my life”. I had no idea what he was talking about. Less than a week later I went to a James Roberson convention in downtown Dallas and survived an attempted robbery in the parking lot by slamming my King James up side the head of the perpetrator.
I was only 19. Sitting in the nosebleed section of the Dallas Convention Center I looked at my bible and thought, “This thing really CAN save your life”.
I started taking it with me everywhere I went. I struggled through the “thee’s” and “thou’s”. I learned to focus on the red letters. I began to comb through the Commentary and Biblical history books. Slowly, the light began to come on.
It’s not the black ink on the white pages. Its not the actual book itself but rather what the book testifies of. I am amazed at what happens when “the book” gets into the hands of the average Joe.
This book combined with the power of the Holy Spirit, changes lives, families, lifestyles, society, nations and entire generations.
There Goes The Neighborhood
The Bible transformed the entire world when the early Christians startled the pagan world of Rome by their unselfish love and caring for the poor, the sick and the hopeless. The Romans didn’t know what to do with this bunch, so they tried to snuff them out.
Despite the overwhelming wealth of the Roman Empire, Historians have not found one single example that these societies had a single hospital, housing for the poor, orphanage, or old folks home. There were not even universities for the masses. This great example of worldly civilization didn’t give a rip about the betterment of others until people with the book showed up.
The Egyptian empire, the Babylonian empire and the Syrian empire were the same way. Nations never had any of these things until the Bible got into the hands of common people.
The Greeks and the Spartans prided themselves on the being the “light of advancing wisdom and higher thought.” These same people threw infants off of cliffs for having birthmarks.
The idea of taking on the cause of the betterment of ordinary people didn’t show up until the idea of equality showed up. The value of life and the cause of the helpless are Biblical principles. The dark ages and the atrocities of that time didn’t end until the common European had access the Bible in his common language. Hundreds of thousands died during the 1500’s so the average Joe could get his hands on the book.
Say Uncle
One person that stood up for his faith and conscience during that terrible time was my ancestral Uncle, Robert Farrar. We recently discovered that his family was an important part of the modern Brewer bunch. He was a Bishop of St David’s and Protestant martyr that was burned at the stake in London in 1555. He wanted people to have access to what was written about in the book.
Ironically, somebody was quoting the Bible wile they set him on fire. I know that some of the meanest people on earth have thumped their bibles while living hate-filled lives. I also know this; people that study the Bible either allow it to change them and they become world changers, or they remain the same and use the Bible to somehow support their evil agenda.
Loving the Author
This tells me that the book is not enough. There have been and still are today, people that love that book but do not love the Lord the book is testifying of. There are people that love to study the track but do not care a bit about the foot that actually made the track.
The Bible is awesome because Jesus is awesome. As soon as we get away from that, we get into big trouble.
“I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given man. All the good from the Savior of the world, is communicated through the book.”
Abraham Lincoln
I started taking it with me everywhere I went. I struggled through the “thee’s” and “thou’s”. I learned to focus on the red letters. I began to comb through the Commentary and Biblical history books. Slowly, the light began to come on.
It’s not the black ink on the white pages. Its not the actual book itself but rather what the book testifies of. I am amazed at what happens when “the book” gets into the hands of the average Joe.
This book combined with the power of the Holy Spirit, changes lives, families, lifestyles, society, nations and entire generations.
There Goes The Neighborhood
The Bible transformed the entire world when the early Christians startled the pagan world of Rome by their unselfish love and caring for the poor, the sick and the hopeless. The Romans didn’t know what to do with this bunch, so they tried to snuff them out.
Despite the overwhelming wealth of the Roman Empire, Historians have not found one single example that these societies had a single hospital, housing for the poor, orphanage, or old folks home. There were not even universities for the masses. This great example of worldly civilization didn’t give a rip about the betterment of others until people with the book showed up.
The Egyptian empire, the Babylonian empire and the Syrian empire were the same way. Nations never had any of these things until the Bible got into the hands of common people.
The Greeks and the Spartans prided themselves on the being the “light of advancing wisdom and higher thought.” These same people threw infants off of cliffs for having birthmarks.
The idea of taking on the cause of the betterment of ordinary people didn’t show up until the idea of equality showed up. The value of life and the cause of the helpless are Biblical principles. The dark ages and the atrocities of that time didn’t end until the common European had access the Bible in his common language. Hundreds of thousands died during the 1500’s so the average Joe could get his hands on the book.
Say Uncle
One person that stood up for his faith and conscience during that terrible time was my ancestral Uncle, Robert Farrar. We recently discovered that his family was an important part of the modern Brewer bunch. He was a Bishop of St David’s and Protestant martyr that was burned at the stake in London in 1555. He wanted people to have access to what was written about in the book.
Ironically, somebody was quoting the Bible wile they set him on fire. I know that some of the meanest people on earth have thumped their bibles while living hate-filled lives. I also know this; people that study the Bible either allow it to change them and they become world changers, or they remain the same and use the Bible to somehow support their evil agenda.
Loving the Author
This tells me that the book is not enough. There have been and still are today, people that love that book but do not love the Lord the book is testifying of. There are people that love to study the track but do not care a bit about the foot that actually made the track.
The Bible is awesome because Jesus is awesome. As soon as we get away from that, we get into big trouble.
“I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given man. All the good from the Savior of the world, is communicated through the book.”
Abraham Lincoln
1 comment:
In 1996 I dedicated myself to reading the Bible. Over that year I read it twice entirely and the NT once again. I had more questions than what I knew to do with and no answers forthcoming.
Over the last 11 years I’ve found aids and Bibles that made reading easier. I’ve contacted Biblical scholars that read Koine Greek, Greek, Latin and Hebrew. But problems persisted. I began to read Christian apologists who try to fix the contradictions, and fatal flaws that I and others found within scripture.
Seat belts and fire alarms save lives. But if Mr. Brewer reads the ‘red’ print, what happened to Mat 5: 39-41 and Luke 6: 27-29? Perhaps the Holy Spirit exempted you from these two teachings of Christ and you were allowed to beat off a mugger. Interesting that the Spirit could not find you a better seat at the convention.
I too am amazed when people get their hands on “the book”. This “book”, intended to give inspirational value to humans has instigated wars and mass suicides and hatred as well as charities and peace of mind. There has been a very turbulent history over the stories and letters ambiguously written (filled with atrocities, absurdities, questionable guidelines, precepts, and ethics) over several centuries and compiled in the fourth century CE. It does not read like inspired words of an omnipotent, omniscient and benevolent God.
Your history seems deficient. Many Christians wrongly believe that Christianity raised the world from savagery to civilization. Repeated attempts during 1300 years by the Church to achieve world domination, based upon Augustine’s book The City of God (the Mein Kampf of Christianity) ended in failure. Priests and Christian rulers relied on torture, imprisonment, banishment, the Inquisitors, and intrigue backed by their Crusading armies of cruel and plundering soldiers. How is this different from the Nazi’s or the Soviets?
All one need do is remove God from the above equation to see the similarity between all three; tyrants seeking power, wealth and truth, at the expense of the liberty and happiness of their victims. It is obvious and there is nothing to choose between them. Consider the sad and unfortunate demise of your ancestor, who stood up for his faith while those that burnt him also stood up for theirs. As a Calvinist, you know that Farrar was predestined for his fate at any rate.
People love other books as well. But does this mean that Frodo Baggins, Harry Potter, and Aslan are real? The effect of testimony depends on the intelligence and integrity of the authors and the intelligence of he who reads it. Credulity should be the servant of intelligence. Everyone knows that his desire can never take the place of fact. The greatest honor must be won in honest search in finding the truth and not in hopes or desires.
I cannot accept the quote of Lincoln without a source as Lincoln was not known to be a Christian.
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