Sunday night was a great evening for our community called Crash.  We worshiped together, with Carol leading us in a new song, “He is Lord” by Hillsong.  You can watch a video of the writers of the song here.

I continued our January series entitled, “I Don’t Know Where to Start”, with a conversation on the Scriptures.  I really enjoyed this talk and it was a very personal message.  As I have shared before, I had a great struggle with my lack of desire to read the Scriptures in seminary and I had a great experience this fall reading the Scriptures as a part of the B90X plan.  Our church took on the challenge of reading the Scriptures in 2010 together.

Some of my thoughts related to this question are listed below:

-God wants to transform us as we read the Scriptures.

-The Scriptures are filled with powerful timeless narratives, with flawed, honest, real characters.

-The Scriptures would be rated R or NC-17 if they were converted into a movie for language, sex, and violence.

-The Scriptures embody the openness of our faith.  Open to all people, regardless of race, culture, language, social or economic background.  There is no privileged language or culture to the Christian faith.  The Scriptures are the most translated book in history.  Unlike other sacred texts, you don’t have to learn a new language to read it.

-Christianity arose in the Ancient Near East.  Its origins are a Middle Eastern faith, not an American one.  Moses spoke Hebrew and Jesus spoke Aramaic.  Paul spoke Greek and Augustine Latin.  Luther spoke German and now we speak English.  And by 2050, the majority of Christians will live below the equator (that one didn’t make the talk, but its the majority projection).

-I encounter God when I read the Scriptures.  And God transforms me, not the Bible.  I don’t worship the Bible, I worship the God who inspired it.  When I read the Scriptures, I realize God can take me at my best and worst, just like Job, the writer of Ecclesiastes, and the many who wrote the Psalms.

-God continues to use the Scriptures to transform, correct and direct me.  If I read the Scriptures for knowledge, I have missed it.  Because “knowledge – action = pride” EVERY TIME.  I must read and respond to what God shows me as I read the Scriptures.

So I would urge you to join us in reading the Scriptures in 2010.  You can use your computer or smart phone by going to www.youversion.com and selecting the Robert Roberts reading plan.  It takes about 15-20 minutes a day.  I think you should read the Scriptures because God can and will use it to transform your life.