This morning Joel was talking about the Bible and how essential it is to our lives, not as a textbook, but as a way to connect with God's song. As I was listening to him speak, I couldn't help but wonder why sometimes it's so difficult for me to keep in the Word. While my heart is refreshed when I read from its pages, fear somehow clouds my vision.

I'm afraid of the Bible.

It feels weird to say that, but it's true. I have heard and seen the Bible scewed in nearly every way possible in the way people treat each other and even in my own life. 800,000 people were slaughtered in an African nation in 1994, often Christian against Christian. Slavery was justified in the United States, because the Bible "supported" it. Just this week I saw a horrific film "inspired" by a Biblical story. I've justified avoiding gay people before, because the Bible teaches that homosexuality is a sin.

I fear going to the Bible at times, because I fear the way I view it.

But that's where the Holy Spirit comes into play. The Bible would be impossible if it were just a textbook. The Bible would be unreadable if it were merely a story. But the Bible is God's breath, God's very words, supported by the Spirit and lived in flesh by His Son.

The Bible is not about the way I view it. The Bible is about Who God is and what He is doing right now. I'm thankful for a God who invades my life today, whenever I step back and let Him speak!

Currently Watching Sometimes in April see related

"How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life, you will have been all of these. " - Washington Carver

Currently Listening I See Things Upside Down By Derek Webb see related

They'll know us by the t-shirts that we wear;

They'll know us by the way we point & stare

At anyone whose sin looks worse than ours

Who cannot hide the scars of this curse that we all bare.

They'll know us by our picket lines and signs.

They'll know us by the pride we hide behind

Like anyone on earth is living right,

And isn't that why Jesus died,

Not to make us think we're right?

When love, love love is what we should be known for.

Love, Love love-- it's the how and it's the why.

We live and breathe and we die.

They'll know us by reasons we divide,

And how we can't seem to unify,

Because we've gotta sing songs a certain style

Or we'll walk right down that aisle

And just leave 'em all behind.

They'll know us by the billboards that we make,

Just turning God's words to cheap cliches.

Says "What part of murder don't you understand?"

But we hate our fellow man

And point a finger at his grave.

They'll know us by the t-shirts that we wear.

They'll know us by the way we point and stare,

Telling them their sins are worse than ours,

Thinking we can hide our scars,

Beneath these t-shirts we wear.

ouch......if only Derek Webb were not old and married...

Currently Playing Streams see related

I couldn't escape their eyes, eyes that pleaded for me to bring them hope, desperately searching for meaning in life. Riding the train during my time in D.C. revealed to me hundreds of dying people. What really sent chills down my spine is how they owned so much, yet possessed so little. They were well dressed, had the privalege of living in America, yet the sorrow in their eyes seemed to crush my very existence.

I wish I could remember the exact quote, but Mother Theresa once made a remark that Americans are some of the neediest people in the world. They have so much, but they totally miss the point. And she's so right-- think about it. Our culture completely revolves around stuff. To celebrate happy occasions, we give people stuff. To show sympathy, we buy flowers. To say thank you, we give gifts. To say "I love you," we buy chocolates. To make someone feel better, we buy them dinner. We pity people who don't have as much stuff as we have. What's going on? When did things begin equaling happiness?

Jesus stated in Luke 18: "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

Earlier in Luke (ch. 6) , He said "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God...But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort...If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back."

I think I'm beginning to see why it is that the rich can't seem to catch sight of God's bigger picture...of His kingdom. We're so blinded by our possessions that we forget about love. Our things seem to cover the ground at the foot of the cross, causing us to stumble. Even though things have never satisfied thus far, we continue to believe that they will heal our insatiable yearning for something bigger.

This addiction that seems to be choking me is so real to so many Americans. What went wrong? How do we get back on track with loving God and loving people?

Currently Reading Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality By Donald Miller see related

"...since the Christian church now attracts respectable types who closely resemble the people most suspicious of Jesus on earth...what has happened to reverse the pattern of Jesus' day? Why don't sinners like being around us?" - Searching for God Knows What

"It's not my fault he won't believe-- the gospel is offensive, you know!" Have you ever heard someone say that and you just can't shake the thought that we are often the ones that make the Gospel offensive by the way that we live? Don't get me wrong, Jesus' message is hard to take sometimes and was hard to take when He first delivered it. But who were the people it offended?

Were the prostitutes offended? What about the tax-collecters? No, the Pharisees were the ones that couldn't stomach the thought of dropping rules and prejudices for true love. Although they were viewed as the most "holy" and "godly" people of their time, they were the ones who rejected the Messiah. The "sinners" clung to His message desperately, sacrificing everything to follow Him.

So who are the ones that are rejecting Jesus today? What if the answer to that question is the same as it was 2,000 years ago. What if we as a church are rejecting His message by forcing "holiness" and "godliness" down the throats of those who just need a loving touch? What if we are the ones that are picking up stones to slaughter Christ's beloved.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that holiness isn't important. If we love God, we will obey His commands. But what if love means more than what we've made it out to be all these years. What if it spans beyond personal preferences and past prejudices to stretch arms wide open to all mankind.

"You know you have made God in your image when He hates the same people you hate."