A little over 20 years ago I was baptized. Immediately afterwards I set aside time in my daily activities to read a chapter of the Bible every evening. I think I got through part of the Gospels before it degraded into reading a chapter…any chapter each night. Consequentally enough I got to know those really short chapters in the epistles really well, without necessarily ever studying the meaning behind it.
It degraded in other ways. Almost in a OCD sort of way I used this Bible reading as a way to prove to myself that I was good enough to get into heaven. The concept of grace hadn’t fully manifested itself in my own mind. I can remember many an awkward time where I had to excuse myself from my friends on overnight high school marching band trips to pull out my Bible and read it like a good soldier. Sometimes I was too tired to really understand what was being studied. Eventually in my mid-twenties I gave up this schedule.
Now at church we are being encouraged to read the Bible through in a year. We’ll all be reading the same schedule with the same set of scripture – Old Testament – New Testament – and Psalms and Proverbs. I’m convinced that it is a good idea to read both the Old and New Testaments at the same time so that one won’t get bogged down in Leviticus or some geneology chapter and quit altogether. I’m being told that each week we will hear some lesson at church about the reading which we were to have read that previous week.
So it’s been good. Yesterday I read about the birth of our Earth in Genesis 1 and the birth of our Savior in Matthew 1. I’m not sure how far I’ll get in it. But I am trying. And I got another easier to read translation – the Message, rather than read the standard NKJV. I feel as though at this point in my life I’m able to distinguish between a core translation (NKJV) and a paraphrase. And yet in my own mind, I feel that for personal study the paraphrase (the Message) works best for me.
And I’m hoping that this won’t turn into some type of salvation game that we all play. I.E. if you don’t read your Bible you’re not a good Christian. Instead I’m hoping that I’ll learn new things about it. Remind me of Bible stories and I hadn’t touched on it a while and bring new things to light which I had never studied.

“He was saved last week at church,” a mother remarked to an acquaintance. It was the kind of thing you’d expect to hear at the place I was in last Friday – a Baptist bookstore. So matter-of-fact-ly, and yet so foreign to how I was raised.
Baptists and other evangelicals tend to put much emphasis on accepting Jesus into your heart. From the televangelists I’ve seen, the invitation to pray Jesus into your heart is given at the end of every sermon. Catholics must put some type of emphasis evenly divided on infant bapism and confirmation….confession fits in there somehow.
The there’s the church of Christ who emphasize baptism, sometimes a little too much…maybe….if only because the rest of the world tends to de-emphasize baptism. As a result, grace, until recent years, was not emphasized within the churches of Christ. It was rare to hear an eintire sermon about grace.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. …”
Ephesians 2:8

Then the question was posed in my adult Bible class yesterday. “Is grace ever cheap?”
“Cheap” can mean how something is manufactured. “Cheap” stuff comes from China and can break easily. Certainly grace wasn’t manufactured cheaply, as blood never comes easily.
“Cheap” can also mean the value of an item. People shop at Wal-mart because things are cheap. In a way, the word “Cheap,” can mean inexpensive in a negative way. As a result some people refuse to shop at Wal-mart and will pay more at a different store.
Consequently grace’s value can’t be measured, after all how much is a soul worth? Our minister offered another arbritrary question a few months ago. “If you were offered a million dollars, the only consequence being that one person would have to be lost and suffer enternal punishment.” To which I asked “How much is a soul worth?”

We spoke at length about forgiveness and reconciliation today during our Bible study this morning.
It only takes one person to forgive and move on. It doesn’t require a second party, yet the transaction is complete once that 2nd person accepts the forgiveness, which helps toward reconclilation.
One thing that I had never studied much was reconcliation…somewhat of a starting over in a relationship sense. Reconciliation occurs when both parties work toward mutual goodwill. Someone in class described it as “refriending.” Reconciliation requires two people, whereas forgiveness can happen with just one person.
And yet I have to ask myself if God will hold me accountable if I choose to forgive but not continue with a relationship with the person who wronged me. “Relationship” in this sense is more or less a close friendship which is much more of relationship compared to the sterile casual business relationship. Does forgiveness require a reconciled relationship? I hope not, but somehow I feel guilty for not allowing those who have hurt me in my life anymore.
What I’ve found that it is much easier to forgive those in the world rather than fellow Christians. You almost expect bad things to happen to you when dealing with non-Christians. But fellow Christians purposely hurting you is supposed to be unheardof. It has happened to me in the past and is bound to happen to me again. Because of this, lately I’m apprehensive about building trust with people. I don’t let people become too close to me for fear of being let down.
We have a tendency to put requirements on forgiveness? On down the road we tend to ask ourselves if that person has truly changed. Typically we have a tendency to end or limit relationships when we see that the person who wronged us has gone back to their old ways.

The church which I attend supports a relief effort in Pearlington, Mississippi, just about a stone’s throw from the Louisana border and about 35 miles from downtown New Orleans. The area got hit hard by Katrina and it still shows. I visited there this week with a very small group from my church to conduct the worship services at Pearlington Church of Christ.
Every other week their regular minister is on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. This leaves them without a preacher those Sundays. We filled the gap this Sunday.
I was asked to lead singing for the congregation. I tried to pick out songs which were common favorites among those we were with. Their church building was constructed this summer. There remains some parking lot paving which needs to be done.
Like many before us, we slept on air matresses with some of us on pews. There was a youth group from Lafayette, TN there to help clean up the area around the church.
The area of Pearlington could be described as swampland to those uninitiated. Large trees with moss hanging from them. Somehow the area could be a great setting for a horror movie.
And yet sometimes I couldn’t tell where the devistation of Katrina began and where the packrat mentality ended. I mean every town has that redneck neighbor that keeps their car up on blocks in the front yard. But somehow it seemed that every house looked junky, except for maybe those really nice houses which were already fixed up. Apparently they had insurance.
Still what goes through my mind is what would compel someone to built their house in a obvious flood plain/recovered swampland. I saw lake front homes built along the coast of their lake where the shoreline came up practically to their backdoor, while on the otherside is marshland. No doubt these houses would be first to go once a major hurricane got near.
I did get to put my feet into the Gulf of Mexico – Gulfport, MS, was a detour for us on the way back. The negative was that I didn’t bring my swim suit. Oh well…next time.

A preacher friend of mine was having a conversation we me. We both agreed that somehow church leaders were over emphasizing the sins of [unscriptural] divorce and somehow under emphasizing premarital sex.
When I was a teenager, my church bible classes emphasized the sin of premartial sex over and over again. And yet today, co-ed 20something living together has almost become the norm rather than the exception.
God hates divorce. (Malachi 2:16). And yet he hates other sins too. Proverbs 6:16-19. Lying….Sowing discord….Among other things. We hear about the sin of divorce because it is so public, and involves legal document(s).
Somehow most of us at one time in our life has lied, or at least withheld information. Is this a reason for refusing church membership? Perhaps not, since lying is a one time act. Divorce has long lasting effects, especially when a divorcee remarries.
As sad as it sounds, I think many of us have refused to share the gospel with a neighbor since they have been divorced. We just don’t want to get into that aspect. “Oh, you were divorced 10 years ago before you became a Christian and knew the biblical teaching on divorce and remarriage?” After all God is no respector of persons. And yet somehow I think [hope] God’s grace would cover that.
We sit around ready to stone the adulterous woman. Jesus tells the woman to go and sin no more. And maybe that means those in unscriptural marrages should disolve that marriage. I’m not the one to make that judgment call.

There is something good about a new Bible. Maybe it’s the way the pages still stick together as if you the reader are the first person to gaze over the pages. Maybe it’s the way the gold edge of the pages shine.
Compared to my old Bible, this new one makes my old one look ancient. On the inside of the Bible, it says it should not be exposed to high humidity, excessive hot or cold temperatures…which pretty much rules out any outside environment in Tennessee.
It is the wide margin Bible I wrote about previously. Initually I got a hardback edition, but the cover screamed “college textbook” instead of the basic black I desired. And just for $5 more, I ended up getting a leather bound Bible.
Bibles were made to be used, so I suppose the newness will gradually wear off, literally if you take into account the gold edges.
Occassionally I’ll glance over my minister’s Bible during Sunday School (I’m fortunate to have him as a teacher). I can see there’s alot of history behind this Bible. Huge portions of text underlined, highlighted, notes in the margins. And I think how much this Bible has been though. From a sermon practically every Sunday to personal Bible studies to merely personal studies. And I think about my old Bible and the history behind it. From those daily Bible classes at Lipscomb, where I first was truly made to study my Bible, to all those weeks at camp…with the heat and humidity. Preparation for a cabin devotional, to studying for a camp wide devotonal….and how I could never find the exact passage I was looking for. Isn’t that always the case in Bible class? Someone will always begin a sentence with “Somewhere in the Bible…I can’t remember the verse it says…” Maybe it will change with the right underlining to it and notations….
I guess in some instances I’m rediscovering the Bible. Maybe its the idea of a new transtion without all the thee’s and thou’s. Maybe its the assurance that I don’t have to use a KJV or NKJV and feel reasonably sure I’m getting an accurate transation and adequate message for my needs.

Dale Jenkins raises some interesting issues in his latest blog post.
Today it seems that baptisms are planned. No so just a few years ago. I can remember being present at a Gospel Meeting in 1987 where 10+ people were baptized during the week because they were provoked into doing it. They didn’t come to the Gospel Meeting thinking that tonight was the night they’d be dunked.
And later on in 1991 I remember being at a church camp where we’d have late night baptisms because somehow they had been cut in their heart to change their life for the better.
No so today. Today baptisms are planned. Invitees are summoned. Just last month there were a few baptism at camp. And yet only certain people from certain cabins and certain churches were invited. Why? I suppose the baptizee’s wanted some type of control on who witnessed it. Maybe they were ashamed of their belief or past sins they were washing away. Maybe it was stage fright.
Our ministers speak against waiting, using verses like Acts 8:36 and Acts 22:16. And yet parents seem to be all about waiting until they are able to present or until it is right time for their child’s baptism.
I’m certain the right time falls somewhere inbetween. Big decisions with baptism shouldn’t be made on split second decisions based on emotion. Too many times we get overly emotional with our beliefs. And yet at the same time we shouldn’t wait to get baptized when we know what we believe.

I’m guilty of coveting Bibles. It seems like such a minor infraction. Lately I’ve been dreaming of those wide margin bibles to write lots of notes. So I got one from Ebay. It hasn’t arrived yet.
There’s a part of me that wants to take detailed notes during sermons and Bible lessons in the margins of the Bible. This new one will help in that endevor. The problem is that I can never find that right verse at the right time when someone is asking a Biblical question…whether it is in class….or in a casual discussion.
The canidates were the NASB and NIV. From my teenaged years and onward I had been warned about the NIV…jokingly called the “Non-inspired Version” within my fellowship. So I managed to get the NASB because I don’t think I could reasonably study the NIV without feeling guilty.
And to some extent I feel guilty if I’m not using the NKJV. Therein lies the conflict. God wants us to understand His Word. Merely to understand the word, one might have to use a contemporary translation which might just be a paraphrase of the original Greek/Hebrew. Preachers have told us forever that one can easily understand the steps to salvation merely by picking up the KJV standard. And yet we all scratch our heads when we read “begotten” or that Mary and Joseph were “betrothed.” Still, for me it takes some explaining by my preacher/minister/elder(s)/Bible class teacher/someone in the know.
Growing up I had heard stories that at my church, Bible class teachers were required to use NKJV, KJV, or some other conservative (read non-paraphrased version). NIV was out.
And yet today, I see “God’s Word” versions as the classroom Bible. And when I ask my class to read, I get all sorts of version…many more version that what we had in my youth. I guess with the advent of more and more Christian bookstores, easy-to-read versions have become the norm, at least among parents who wanted their child groomed for Christianity by reading the Bible. It is merely that they are reading some kind of Bible, not necessarily the one my father used.
And yet should I feel guilty for wanting a Bible that is easy to understand? Possibly not, but I still do. Maybe its all those memory verses I had during VBS and Sunday school, seemingly all learned in standard KJV version. When I hear those verses from my youth being read within some other version, it seems watered down.
The wide margin bible? Still waiting on it to be shipped. It’s a hardback, so I’m not sure of how it’ll look. I’m hoping for a decent cover (read no-flair), but in all likelihood I’ll get one of those ugly designed cover using the latest design tools from Lifeway.
In any case I’m hoping for a tool so that I’ll be able to come up with my own cross references as I study, and not necessarily some other cross reference that some other Biblical scholar thinks is important.

When did life become so complicated? Take for example my church duties. For better or worse I’ve managed to take on quite a bit of responsiblity at church. And now, due to the absence of a fellow churchworker, I’m probably going to have to take on even more responsibilty. I’m nearing burnout.
And yet I look back on what is the most fulfilling worship I always have. It’s the worship I have on the Sunday morning in June before church camp starts. A group of us arrive on Saturday afternoon to get ready for camp. Then on Sunday morning about 20 or so of us worship God. And then the most complicated thing for me that day during that worship service is picking out the songs to sing.
Have we lost sight on what is most important? I don’t know.

“Choose Your Own Adventure” was a set of children’s books geared toward the preteen. I had a few of them, but I always chose the same adventure over and over again.
And yet I look back at my real-life career choices, and things might have gone much differently if I had the mindset I have today. If I had it to do over again, I envision myself as a minister working with a rural congregation, having a part time secular job during the week and preaching on Sundays.
Growing up I was much more of an introvert, with very little speaking skills. And yet today I’ve preached or spoken a dozen times at rural congregations and at youth devotionals. Do I enjoy it? Yes. And yet there is something about the aspect of rural congregations that draw me there. Perhaps its the idea of everyone having a purpose. Everyone knows everybody. And everyone has a job to do.
Why did things turn out as it is now? I guess at that time during those formitable teenaged years I was discouraged by my own self doubt. I saw great speakers around me and thought there would be no way for me to live up to those standards.
And I’ve thought about going back to school to get a graduate degree in Bible. But those passing thoughts never make it further than a blog. No application. No entry. No packing up my stuff and moving to grad school.