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A fantastic book ...

Wednesday, June 11, 2014. The bible is a fantastic book. It is full of stories, it is full of life, and it is full of the spirit of God! The way things are phrased here is of a depth we barely expect …

Well phrased! …

Recently, we tried to phrase some text in our church … and one of the sentences was not good. We discussed it, and the arguments went back and forth. At some point our pastor said: but this is just from Corinthians. And he came with the full citation. Our response: in the letter of Corinthians it sounds ok, it is phrased differently. Let us take the original words from the bible, they are much better …

The above experience points us to an important point. The bible is more than just a book. It is “the word of God”. There is the spirit of God in these stories, in the way things are phrased, even in more difficult parts of the Old Testament.

Often, we try to explain the bible - and that is important. We try to communicate it. But we can never replace it. We might be able to translate it in a better way, but the content and the wording in the original texts are just amazing! They show a balance and depth, a breadth and kindness, which is unparalleled. They show a seriousness, with calmness at the same time, which is just unbelievable.

The book of life …

The bible is the book of life. It is the book of faith. It is the book of eternal love, of eternal truth, of great practical relevance, here and now. It is highly relevant for yesterday, for today and for tomorrow.

There are so many ways to read the bible. But it talks by itself. We can try to re-interpret it. We can try to criticize and ignore it. But it is a book full of life, since it is the spirit of God who chose to speak here. He spoke to the people of Israel through the Old Testament. He spoke to the world through the books of Moses, the prophetic books, the historical books, the books of wisdom. And he is speaking today through all of them: speaking to you as well! Listen, now.

It is up to you to listen. You can ignore the Lord, or you can start to listen, start to follow, and start to discover life, forgiveness, truth, kindness, love, friendliness and the blessing which only the Lord is able to give. And it is good to go back to him again and again. It is good to renew your faith day by day - which is based on his promise that his grace is new every morning. Try it out, it is! (Roland Potthast) ... more texts