St. Peter's Church, Auburn, NY (Our hometown) Photo by Sarah R. Marquart (Our granddaughter who is gathering a photograhic porfolio for college. She is to be a H.S. Grad this June 2010)
GOOD SUNDAY MORNING TO YOU!
Today's verse is from Romans 12:3-5 (THE BOOK)
"As God's messenger, I give each of you God's warning: Be honest in your estimate of yourselves, measuring your value by how much faith God has given you. Just as there are many parts to our bodies, so it is with Christ's body. We are all parts of it and it takes every one of us to make it complete, for we each have different work to do. So we belong to each other, and each needs all the others."
I love my old tattered and dog-eared copy of "THE BOOK". I have studied the Bible using many different tools and this is so essential in a comprehensive study that I have ever found. I took a 2 year Bethel Bible course back in the 1980's. I then became certified as a Bethel Bible Teacher and Lay Minister. The theme of Bethel Bible is "Blessed to be a Blessing." The Lord blesses us so that we may bless others. Whatever we experience in life, good or bad, arms us for what we must do next and how we can help others going through the same experiences in life, good, bad or indifferent.
THE BOOK was a gift from my hubby when I first became a born again Christian. Being born again does not mean you are a religious fanatic who has fallen off in the deep end-ha! Born again refers to having a change of heart, beginning a new chapter in your life that brings God and Jesus into your life, an inviting Jesus into your heart. "THE BOOK" is one of the easiest to understand since it is a "thought-for thought translation. Instead of translating the original Hebrew and Greek texts word for word, the ideas are expressed here as ordinary people of the late twentieth centruy would say them, with our idioms, word-pictures, and expressions. With topical and instructional helps to aid your understanding, The Book may be the greatest opportunity you will ever find to read and understand the Bible."
I found myself using this valuable tool while studying as a cross reference. When my mind was jumbled with all the Thee, Thine, Thy venacular, I like finding the same verse in the Book which did not change the essence of whatever verse I was reading but merely put it in a form that I could easily comprehend. I also love that any age can benefit from reading it. A child can read it just as readily as an adult and will not be intimidated by the language of the St. James and other Revised Editions of the Bible.
I also have a Scofield Study Bible that belonged to my father. It is crumbling as it is from the 1800's but the pages are intact and invaluable. The footnotes and margins are filled with explanatory passages. All of my Bibles are tattered except for one that has very tiny print. It is too heavy to hold upright while reading in bed, too, HA!
I hope that you have a copy of "THE BOOK" (a special edition of THE LIVING BIBLE, published by Tinsdale House Publishers, Inc. 1971. If not, please purchase one as they are very reasonably priced and always available at major bookstores. They make a great gift for every occasion and make a wonderful Graduate Gift!
Thank you so much for visiting my little piece of heaven on earth here in Garden City, SC. I love visiting all of your blogs and we each DO need all the others!
Special thanks to all of you who visited Pink Saturday and left such fun, lovely comments. Beverly at How Sweet the Sound surely started a good thing, didn't she? Do visit her blog today for some wonderful inspirational music.
Kerrie 
Posts
