Some Thoughts On The Bible

The Bible is the way God speaks to us. When we pray we communicate with God.

I think of the bible as the book of life.. I very much enjoyed your post and thoughts..

Excellent object lesson. I love the fact that he had a sermon for the kids. I believe that the content is sacred, not the object.

What a wonderful sermon, and how simple he made it for children to understand. Which comes to prove that anyone can be a minister, but not all ministers are the same. When I was a kid back in Portugal I was part of the sunday school - which was not on sundays, by the way :) - and then I was a catechist myself. They were a church a bit more modern than most in Portugal. They knew how to keep us teenagers interested, both by promoting us to higher ranks, by making us part of the main projects - like summer camp etc. , and by keeping a youth center where we could learn everything from photography to playing guitar. We attended mass every sunday, but that was the low part of the deal... until this new priest came in. He had a way of talk about things we had learned for so many years that made them make so much more sense. He could translate old passages from the bible to examples of our present that we could understand. He got us closer to God than any other priest had in all the years that I had been there. Well.. yeah he also changed many things in the church, including adapting the choir so we would be playing our guitars and other instruments to accompany the singing, and he was one of the first ones in my city, using music from known pop songs and gospel songs( which we didn't know what it was at that time ) and adapting the traditional lyrics to fit the music. We really enjoyed going to mass at that time. Of course he was looked down by other more traditional priests, and in time he was sent somewhere remote, a small village in the north of Portugal - almost as a punishment - instead of being given a prize for being able to get all the young kids in the neighborhood to participate in church and volunteer for every single event and project they had for the two years he was there. He got us working with the youth centers in the poorest parts of Lisbon, and to volunteer to help whenever help was needed. He helped us feel the joy of giving and helping others at an age where kids tend to be quite selfish - ah the teen years!!! - and more than that he got us reading the Bible. As opposed to his predecessors who didn't like us to ask question, he welcomed any questions we had and was always able to , if not answer to our content, at least leave us thinking about what we wanted to know and finding answers. Ok maybe he went a bit to far for such a traditional religion. He was the one who told us the Bible was a wonderful book, but it was only a book. Written by men. A book that had many truths, but that was more than anything a book that could tell us a lot about the customs of that time, the way people lived, and.. that .. because it had been written by men. It could have some mistakes. But it was a wonderful book all the same. I will never forget him and how he was part of what shaped me to who I am today. Not like the old ladies that used to spend all their time at the church, cleaning up, bringing flowers.. and gossiping like crazy. Not like the ones that felt that they were above everyone else. Not like the ones that thought that just by going to church each sunday they were just perfect. But someone who respects others, is understanding and forgiving, prefers not to act or think as if above everyone else, and is ready to help the ones that need help. Isn't that what is important? Sorry for the long post, but reading about that minister in your church, reminded me of all this. Thanks for posting and have a wonderful week.

the Bible is God's way of talking to us. it also tells us how to live our lives and you are right! its how we use the Bible that is important! so is this new minister a keeper?

Sounds like a good introduction from this potential pastor. I feel that the bible is a book to some people and an instruction manual for others. Depending on what you believe, the Old Testament or the New Testament we each are searching for answers. Sometimes they are black and white just like the text in the bible but sometimes they are lessons learned from experiences. You have to look at your life in conjunction with the people in the bible, not contrast. There will not be any great stories written about me and that's okay, the application of others peoples lives who lived in those times are what gives me direction.

Sounds like you have found a good preacher.I am not Christian so I see the Bible as the rule book. If you want or need to contact G-d , you start talking and He'll hear you.As for being humble. I believe you are naturally humble or you are not.You can try to be more humble but to trulky not boast is something you are born with.

hm... i guess you're referring to the new testament when you say "bible". Most people do. Well, in that case, note that most than half of the globe's population does not agree with you (i assume you're some sort of christian or something like that). Then, does this mean that those people, who do not believe in Jesus, and do not think that He is the Saviour, go to hell? That's just plain stupid. Your new minister is quite a smart guy. But, i would have compared the Bible to an instruction manual. It's not the product itself, and you can use the product without the instruction manual, but if you read and obey the instruction manual, you'll get the most out of the bought product. That's the way i see the Bible. You don't have to stay on your knees or face some statue or some painting to pray and go to Heaven. If God consideres these things over the way we act, then i'd rather go to hell (which, by the way, can't be worse than earth these days). You have to be a better person, and not consider people of other religions enemies or even stupid because they believe what they believe. I really hope God considers this. :) Peace.