The Cliff's Notes Bible

The "Cliff's notes" version of the entire Bible:

GENESIS

God: "All right, you two, don't do the one thing. Other than that, have fun."

Adam & Eve: "Okay."

Satan: "You ssssssshould do the thing."

Adam & Eve: "Okay."

God: "What happened!?"

Adam & Eve: "We did the thing."

God: "Guys..."

THE REST OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

God: "You are my people, and you should not do the things."

People: "We won't do the things."

God: "Good."

People: "We did the things."

God: "Guys..."

THE GOSPELS

Jesus: "I am the Son of God, and even though you have done the things, the Father and I still love you and want you to live. Don't do the things anymore."

Healed people:" Okay! Thank you!"

Other people: "We've never seen him do the things, but he probably does the things when no one is looking."

Jesus: "I have never done the things."

Other people: "We're going to put you on trial for doing the things."

Pilate: "Did you do the things?"

Jesus: No.

Pilate: "He didn't do the things."

Other people: "Kill him anyway."

Pilate: "Okay."

Jesus: "Guys..."

PAUL'S LETTERS PART I

People: "We did the things."

Paul: "Jesus still loves you, and because you love Him, you have to stop doing the things."

People: "Okay."

PAUL'S LETTERS PART II

People: "We did the things again."

Paul: "Guys..."

REVELATION

John: "When Jesus comes back, there will be no more people who do the things. In the meantime....STOP DOING THE THINGS!!!"

THE END

The Longest Book in the Bible

Everyone knows it's the Book of Psalms, right? Guess again! Read this:

"What Is the Longest Book in the Bible? – Justin Taylor" 

Would you believe it's Jeremiah?

Checking Messages

What To Do With Your Bible

Well, here are 14 ideas (actually commands from the Bible itself)

1. Read it. Nehemiah 8:8. And may I suggest that it be read slowly, carefully, prayerfully, in large portions, repeatedly, reverently and with a willing spirit to follow its precepts.

2. Believe it. Romans 10:8. Because it is the Word of faith. It has been given to increase our faith in God and His working in the Universe.

3. Receive it. James 1:21. Here it is the engrafted word that is to be received as the soil received the seed, or the tree receives the graft. Taking the Word of God in our heart life, allowing it to grow and bear its own fruit in motives and actions.

4. Taste it. Proverbs 19:10. For it is the good Word of God. Some seem to be afraid of the Bible for fear it will require them to do something they do not wish to do. Be not afraid; it is good and right in all its requirements.

5. Eat it. Jeremiah 15:16. This process suggests that we not merely taste but actually live by it, as Jesus said, “Ye shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4.

6. Hold it fast. Titus 1:9. It is a faithful word. All its promises are true; all its history is true; and its statements are truth. Therefore we are to rest our faith upon it.

7. Hold it forth. Philippians 2:16. Because it is the Word of Life. All who come under its beneficent rays feel its life giving power.

Drip....Drip....Drip

"The nature of water is soft, that of stone is hard; but if a bottle is hung above the stone, allowing the water to fall drop by drop, it wears away the stone. So it is with the word of God; it is soft, and our heart is hard, but the one who hears the word of God often, opens his heart to the fear of God."

  -Quote from  Abba Poemen, excerpted from The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, page 183, 162

Books of the Bible - A Periodic Table

From Visual Theology at Challies.Com.   Click to enlarge.

Thankful for Your Bible? Help Give Bibles Away!

For those of you who use Facebook, here's an easy way to  give Bibles to some people who really need them via Crossway Books:

That’s why this Thanksgiving week, as a way to raise awareness for how important books are in passing truth on to the next generation, Crossway is inviting you to help send Study Bibles to leaders in the Global South (in partnership with our friends at Desiring God).

It’s super easy.

Through next Monday (11/28), for every new “Like” on our Facebook page, Crossway will give $1 worth of Study Bibles through Desiring God’s International Outreach initiative. Every Study Bible given will go directly to our brothers and sisters in the Global South, many of whom are hungry for tools to better understand, apply, and share God’s Word.

Homo Unius Libri

"I want to know one thing--the way to heaven; how to land safe on that happy shore. God himself has condescended to teach the way. . . . He hath written it down in a book! O give me that book! At any price, give me the Book of God!

I have it: here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be homo unius libri. . . . I sit down alone: only God is here. In his presence I open, I read his book; for this end, to find the way to heaven. . . . I meditate thereon, with all the attention and earnestness of which my mind is capable."

--John Wesley, 'Preface,' in The Works of John Wesley (London: Thomas Cordeux, 1811), 7:4-5 ('homo unius libri' = 'a man of one book')

Hat Tip: Strawberry-Rhubarb Theology: O Give Me That Book!:

Is Yours Dusty?

Fire Your Gun!

“Many Christians treat the Bible like a gun collector.  Holding it studying it & admiring it but never going to war & firing it”

      -From Mark Driscoll’s Twitter Feed

Want to Transform Your Bible Reading?

The excerpts below are from a piece at The Resurgence by Dane Ortlund on how to Transform Your Bible Reading:

A biblical theology lens trains us to place any given passage in the sweep of the single story. This way of reading the Bible gladly acknowledges the various genres in Scripture—narrative, poetry, prophecy, letters. Yet while the Bible is not uniform, it is unified.

Biblical theology reads the Bible as an unfolding drama, taking place in real-world time and space, that culminates in a man named Jesus—who himself said that “everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms”—shorthand for the whole Old Testament—“must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44)....

....A biblical theology approach takes the Bible on its own terms—namely, that “all the promises of God find their ‘Yes’ in Jesus” (2 Corinthians 1:20). Result: transforming reading.

Biblical theology invites you to read the Bible by plotting any passage in the overarching narrative that culminates in Christ. The Bible is not mainly commands with stories of grace sprinkled in. It is mainly a story of grace with commands sprinkled in....

...Imagine jumping into the middle of a novel, reading a sentence, and trying to understand all that the sentence means without placing it in the sweep of the novel as a whole. That would confuse the reader, obscure the meaning, and insult the author.

The Bible is God’s autobiographical account of his personal rescue mission to restore a lost world through his Son. Every verse contributes to that message.

The Bible is not a pep talk. It is good news.

You can read it all at the link above. Good Stuff!

Correction:  In the first draft of this post I had attributed the article to Mark Driscoll instead of Dane Ortlund. I have corrected that error above. Both good guys, but want to give proper attribution and credit where credit is due!

Bible Reading Plans for 2011

Want to read the Bible through in 2011? Need a new Bible reading plan for the new year?

Justin Taylor has a good sampling of Bible Reading Plans with links to various plan web pages and reading plan documents. I will be using a Bible reading plan for 2011 that my church congregation is using so that we are all reading together.

Happy Bible reading in 2011!

A Must Have

"We do not wish to abolish teaching and to make every man his own master, but if the curates will not teach the gospel, the layman must have the Scripture, and read it for himself, taking God for his teacher."

    - William Tyndale (1494-1536)

Tyndale was one of the earliest translators of the Bible into English, and died a martyr for doing so.

Hat Tip: Diane R. at Crossroads: Where Faith and Inquiry Meet

Counteroffensive

“The Bible is the story of God’s counteroffensive against sin. It is the grand narrative of how God made it right, how he is making it right, and how he will one day make it right finally and forever.”

- Greg Gilbert, What is the Gospel? (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 2010), 61.

Hat Tip:  Of First Importance

Bible Interpretation In a Nutshell

Picture/Chart above is from a great post by Michael Patton at Parchment and Pen entitled  "Bible Interpretation In a Nutshell".  The topic of discussion is:

"...a practical guide to biblical interpretation following a three step process that I have used for years. The Bible is two-thousand years old and often seems very archaic. This makes it hard to know how it applies to us. It can be very frustrating as all Christians are encouraged to read their Bible daily but often are at a loss as to how to understand it and apply the message to their own lives. This process has served me well and I believe it is representative of the best way to interpret the ancient word of God and apply it to today. I hope that it will alleviate some of the “Bible interpretation anxiety” that is out there, allowing the Bible to become real and relevant to your life."

I like it! Recommended for your perusal and study.

Supporting Actors

"The Bible is not a collection of timeless principles offering a gentile thought for the day. It is not a resource for our self-improvement. Rather, it is a dramatic story that unfolds from promise to fulfillment, with Christ at the center. Its focus is God and his action. Gos is not a supporting actor in our drama; it is the other way around. God does not exist to make sure that we are happy and fulfilled. Rather, we exist to glorify God and enjoy him forever."

- The Gospel Driven Life, Michael Horton, page 26

Bible Boring?

Have you ever found the Bible boring?

Oh, come on, admit it. Everyone has a hard time in Leviticus or in one of the long genealogies.

If so, check out this post by Lisa Robinson at Parchment and Pen: Seven Possible Reasons We Find the Bible Boring

The De-Stabilizing Force of the Bible

"Scripture . . . builds the church up by breaking the church open, and therefore in large measure by breaking the church down . . . Scripture is as much a de-stabilising feature of the life of the church as it is a factor in its cohesion and continuity . . . Through Scripture the church is constantly exposed to interruption. Being the hearing church is . . . the church's readiness 'that its whole life should be assailed, convulsed, revolutionised and reshaped.'"

John Webster, Holy Scripture: A Dogmatic Sketch. Cambridge: CUP, 2003, pp. 46-47.

Hat Tip: Robin Parry at Theological Scribbles: Webster's Wisdom 2

A "Bible Reading Plan for Shirkers and Slackers"

Yeah, I'm talking to you. If the title of this post drew you in, you probably need this!

I found this "Bible Reading Plan for Shirkers and Slackers at Justin Taylor, quoting Andy Perry.

"Therefore, let me suggest a new kind of reading plan for 2010, one that writer Margie Haack calls ‘The Bible Reading Plan for Slackers and Shirkers’ (I love that title!). Advantages to this plan include:

Removing the pressure to ‘keep up’ with getting through the entire Bible in a year.
Providing variety throughout the week by alternating genres.
Providing continuity by reading the same genre each day of the week.

In a nutshell, here’s how it works:

Sundays: Poetry
Mondays: Penteteuch (Genesis through Deuteronomy)
Tuesdays: Old Testament history
Wednesdays: Old Testament history
Thursdays: Old Testament prophets
Fridays: New Testament history
Saturdays: New Testament epistles (letters)

The advantage of this plan is that it provides guidance as we read each day but does not put us on an internal guilt trip if we miss a day – we just pick up with the next reading on the day it happens to be. Also, this plan allows us to see the many interconnections between sections of Scripture. So, as Margie puts it, on the same day you may be reading about God’s covenant with Abraham in Genesis and a few days later read Paul’s commentary on the Abrahamic covenant in Romans."

Sounds like a good idea! If nothing else is working for you, or you want to try a new plan for 2010, you might try this.

Feeding on the Word

Interesting discussion by Dr. Ben Witherington on the sacremental (grace imparting) role of Bible reading.

If a sacrament is a means of grace, by which is meant a means of divine influence and change in a person's life, then surely the Word of God and its proclamation, reading, hearing learning, memorizing is a sacrament. We just don't tend to call it that. Consider however what is said about the Word of God in the NT at various junctures. The Word of God is seen as something living which dwells richly in the believer once received, probing and changing the person inwardly.

I grew up in the Baptist tradition where we denied the existence of sacraments, and called communion and baptism "ordinances." However, we frequently talked of Bible reading and study as feeding our souls. Is that not a sacramental function?

Read the rest of the discussion at Feed on the Word - Ben Witherington on the Bible and Culture