Stop press: the Bible encourages us to have sex outside marriage.
Or at least one Bible translation did—the so-called "Wicked Bible", a 1631 edition of the King James Version which managed to miss the word "not" out of the seventh commandments.
It's going on display, along with a lot of other very old (and much more correct!) Bibles, at Cambridge University.
Got me thinking: first, were there any happily-married 17th-century readers who immediately ran out of the house to obey the command?!
And second, what Bible verse today do we most often act as though it said something very different? Mine would probably be replacing the word "pure" with "zero" in James 1 v 2.
There were a hundred people on the platform, and only about 20 spaces left on the train. So there I was jostling with everyone else, trying to get through the doors before they shut. I even managed to dodge in front of a woman who'd been queuing in front of me. I was going to make it!
Then, for some unknown reason (actually, it was probably the Holy Spirit), these words popped into my head:
“Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve” (Mark 10 v 44-45).
I was trying to get myself to a position higher (nearer the doors) than I deserved by my queuing. Jesus would not only have not done that, he would have have got himself to a position lower, further away from the doors, than He deserved.That's what greatness looks like in His kingdom.
Occasionally I make some big, obvious act of service (usually in church, usually where people can see). But how often have I jostled on the platform? How regularly do I miss the opportunity, in all sorts of circumstances, to become a “slave of all”, and do what's best for others and not for me?
So, next time the signals are down and there's a mass scramble for the train, I'm going to try to let those words of Christ affect my behaviour. Even train queues are a chance to be Christlike.
I must be missing loads of others. All suggestions for other situations welcome – comment below!
Are you being productive?
The hole in the bag of muesli spilled a small pile of grain to the floor. A small collection of random fluff and objects is found gathered into a nest behind the sofa. Our worst fears are realised. Mickey's come to town.
After much searching, the mousetrap is finally found and set (with chocolate as the bait). We bed down for the night to wait what the morning will bring. It brings a tiny corpse, a problem solved, but also some conflicting emotions.
I know they are filthy and unhygenic. But as I stare at Jerry in the trap, I am overwhelmed by just how beautiful he looks. No other word to describe. Even in his squashed and lifeless state, the eyes shine, the feet are tiny works of perfection, the glossy nose and the feathery whiskers are a miracle of design and construction. I mourn for this glorious piece of God's handiwork that I had squished the life out of, for the sake of homeland security.
"Don't show it to me" says the beloved. "it was only trying to get along and to live". (She was the one who'd ordered the execution, but it wasn't the moment to mention that.) Daughters variously fascinated, appalled, bemused.
As the dog sniffs interestedly, and not-so-speedy Gonzales is placed in a crumpled Sainsbury's bag and committed to the deep of the dustbin, I wonder at the value of my own life and its passing.
“All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall...” says Peter.
I am nothing, small as a mouse when compared to the span of history and the breadth of the cosmos: and yet, and yet:
... but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.
Through the Gospel message I can endure forever. Humbled. Inspired.
That's the challenge a senior editor at American Christian publisher Crossway gave to 25 ministers and scholars.
It makes for some interesting reading. The longest sentence is 132 words—the shortest is just four!
Why not add your summary by commenting below?
“Everybody thinks about death every day. You try and avoid it, but it's such a big thing that you can't. It's like everything you do in life is pointless if you just take a step back and look at it.”
Damien Hirst, the artist of dead cow/diamond-encrusted skull fame, in the Daily Telegraph, with commendable honesty. Death renders everything “pointless” — death mocks all our ambitions and achievements.
Which pretty much sums up the message of Ecclesiastes: “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless!” (Ecclesiastes 1 v 2).
Hirst concludes: “You've got to find a reason to live. We need to find hope wherever we can.”
He finds reason for living in his art, which is “a celebration of something”. But how does art remove the pointlessness from life that the reality of death brings? How does art bring hope to a man who knows death will come?
If you struggle with the thought of mortality or perhaps death is preying on your mind; there is good news for you.
Jesus said: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11 v 25-26).
Here's the man who would enable you to say "Life: there really isn't anything else".
And here's something well worth celebrating in art.
Every now and then we come across a review of one of our resources which explains it far better than we do! Matt Smethurst's review of our Ephesians Good Book Guide on the Gospel Coalition site is a case in point. Really helpful as an overview of the series as well as the Ephesians guide itself.
http://tgcreviews.com/reviews/ephesians-god’s-big-plan-for-christ’s-new-people/
How can we serve the church of Jesus Christ in their work for the Gospel?
At The Good Book Company, all our thinking about what we do is based on this simple question. We've never seen ourselves simply as publishers, booksellers or conference organisers.
And that's what's behind this new website and blog combo that you are looking at now. The website will help us offer you more resources, more efficiently, and with more special offers than before.
And this blog is not a thinly disguised attempt to put an extra book in your hand, or take an extra pound from your pocket. Nor is it a platform for us to show off our Bible learning, or to impress you with our sharp mindedness (you probably wouldn't be very impressed anyway!).
It is about trying to be an online community of ordinary Christians: a forum where we can serve one another with the gifts and connections God has given us. Connections with what's going on in the news and in our culture; connections with ideas for practical ministry, whether it's in the pulpit, at Sunday School or over coffee with a friend; connections with other resources and encouragements online; but above all connections with the Bible and our daily lives.
So please come back and be part of the community that this blog will start to create. Read, comment, contribute as you like! Sign up to the RSS feed. We'd love you to help us, as we try to help you, as we aim to serve Christ together.
It's not too late to start your bible reading plan for 2011. Justin Taylor has very helpfully collated a brilliant list of many many different options and resources.
