The Bible… Yet Again

SAT., AUG. 26, 1995, 10:06 PM
FARM, STUDY

Tomorrow may begin another adventure in Bible study and in teaching. It will be interesting to see how many folks choose to come to such an advertised Forum. I know, of course, how it shall be, but I shall not reveal this to you, leaving it in a “maybe” state. But whatever the “count” you need the instruction I can give at this “Andy” time.

The Bible is “My Book”, the best single source for the answer to spiritual questions. Yet it is a strange book, as books are judged in your culture. It tells what I call a single story, through a series of stories, often unrelated. Sometimes it seems to be consistent, and at other times one portion seems to contradict another. That’s part of My story. I am both consistent and inconsistent. I judge and I show mercy. I punish and I forgive. There is a time to love and a time to hate… but “what time is it now?”

Mostly the Bible is about Jews, a few of whom became Christians. One great unanswered question is raised by these Scriptures, in toto: do I continue to love these Jews who still look for another Messiah? Are they really your spiritual ancestors, given this lack of willingness to accept Me, as a Triune God? And, fortunately, you don’t have to come up with a definite answer to such a query before this class begins.

I want you to emphasize that you… and anyone… can know Me through the Creation that is Mine. The season is about to change, and you shall experience another evidence of My creativity. It shall seem as though life is fading, but you know it is just a rest. There is beauty and there is wonder in all that I have created directly and what I have allowed, through human ingenuity. Observation of all of this and contemplation of its complexity can easily bring you to Me… and appreciation for My great ways.

And of course you know Me through experiences. This is certainly a unique and ongoing one, but there have been others, and you will continue to have others. One of these experiences is in reading and studying these Scriptures of Mine and in crafting this Forum around various passages that tell important parts of My story. You cannot “have” this experience for others, and you can’t even “make it happen”. You can just do your part, as a teacher and as a servant of Mine. I’ll do the rest, if there is more to be done.

This idea of having participants indicate interests in some selected stories is a good one, but we’ll see if this really helps in deciding which ones to select.

Remember the focus I want you to maintain: what does this story mean to you… to each of you, and what do you hear others saying that it means to them? No story has to mean the same to everyone who hears it. I have allowed individuals to develop differently, and these Holy Scriptures can have quite a range of meaning, even among devoted Christians. I want you to try to convince participants that this is one important way in which these stories are superb. (Now, lest you lose the joy of early morning with Me, I’ll have you finish in the morning. 10:46 PM)

8/27 6:50