3 Bible Bill

If you go to biblegateway.com you will see that there is just a ton of different translations of the bible. While reading Sacred Parenting I found a reference to Micah 6:8. The author was focused on the phrase “love grace” in that passage. My main Bible, English Standard Version, says “love kindness.”

Whenever I run into this or I’m having a hard time understanding something in the Bible I’ll pick up the Message. It’s a modern “translation” of the bible by a pastor named Eugene Peterson. I put quotes around translation because Peterson tries more to get the message across than an actual word for word translation. The Message says,” be compassionate and loyal in your love.”

Feeling befuddled I went to the King James Version. The old red bible Steve gave me. Obviously it was the translation the author of Sacred Parenting was reading.

This blog started out as just a funny post about the fact that I’m carrying three bibles around with me now. When I was with Larry last week I had them all with me. I’m often sitting up in bed as Kay and I are going to sleep referring to all three of them. I just find it really funny that I was an atheist Buddhist and now I have three bibles stacked beside my bed.

As I write this though I feel a non-Christian will be asking why there are so many differences between translations. During my devout atheist days I was all about the apparent mistakes in the Bible. God creates light on the first day and the sun on the third day. How does that work? All I can say is that when I read the Bible through I found its message amazingly consistent. CS Lewis viewed the Bible as a blueprint for humanities relationship with God. A blueprint is a representation of a building. It is not the building. As an Architect I can tell you that the best set of drawings will never be a perfect representation of a building.

I invite everyone to read the Bible through. I’d suggest the Victory Reading Plan and the NIV or English Standard versions of the Bible. If you do not believe after that at least you can say you read the thing. That’s why I did it.

My Little Picasso

Larry Update

My Mom came to stay with Larry Wednesday night, and I came back to Austin. I talked to her today and Larry is doing well. He's off the morphine drip and switching to pain pills. He was able to sit on the edge of the bed briefly. Still has a chest tube draining blood off. So, we have no thoughts on when he will be able to go home.

I missed two fractures in my recount of injuries yesterday - sternum and elbow. Although today Mom said they might have mistaken an old surgery on his elbow for a new injury. So, hopefully nothing is wrong with the elbow.

Before I left Dallas yesterday we got the police report. A pick-up truck turned in front of him on a two lane road. The driver was cited for failure to yield. So, his insurance should cover everything. This is very good news since Larry only has liability on the bike.

Please keep praying for us as I believe some tough times are ahead. Larry is not one to sit still and this recovery is going to be hard on him...

Larry

As I write this I’m sitting next to a hospital bed where my bother Larry is sleeping. He wrecked his motorcycle on Monday. He doesn’t remember what happened at all. The last thing he remembers is coming up on a semi-truck that was moving kind of slow. Next thing he’s being put on a helicopter to be flown here.

He has a few broken ribs, a broken collar bone, two fractured/crushed vertebrae, and a fractured shoulder blade. Please pray from him. While surgery will not be required I believe it is going to be a tough haul to full recovery.

Survey Says!

I’m working on a blog titled Abundant Misconceptions. It focuses on how my pre-Christian perceptions of Christianity were almost completely wrong. There is a depth to Christianity that I never understood. This all became very clear to me when I actually read the Bible through and immersed myself in Jesus’ teaching. I tell you our brainwashing program really works. Just kidding.

It’s been so long since I changed my perceptions I’m afraid I’m missing some. I’m asking for perceptions of Christianity. Right or wrong. Just what does everyone perceive? Mostly looking for negatives that I can use for my blog, but all comments are welcome. Please post here or email me. Thanks, bp!

Dustin Off the Old Blog

I believe life is cyclical. I’m not saying I believe in reincarnation or anything. I will take this opportunity to quote my favorite Ray Wylie Hubbard line though, “It’s not any stranger to be born twice than it is to be born once.”

What I’m talking about is more like the seasons of the year. During the Winter things hibernate. Spring is the season of birth and growth. Summer is the time for exploration and movement. As Fall progresses things return to stillness. I think some, if not all, humans are tied to this cycle. Some are even deeply affected on a daily basis by a cycle. Some people are very productive in the morning and useless as evening approaches. I probably haven’t done a good job of getting what I’m saying across, but if the thought interests you I’d recommend listening to this little sermon/ lecture.
http://www.plumblineministries.com/three_kinds_of_time

All this is too explain my large periods of dead air on the blog. My life is very cyclical. I’ll get a burst of energy and move in every direction and do a thousand things. Then there will be nothing. So far in my life there has been far more nothing than productivity. When the pulse comes it is briefly sustained at best. As I study myself I hope to recognize these periods of time and draw on them more effectively.

Am I in one of those periods of time now? I don’t know. I wrote the first part of this a week ago and I can feel the energy waning already. So there may not be a glut of blogs coming, but maybe there will be. Stay tuned to find out…

Rock of the Lord

I have set my foundation on the solid rock of God
Dug the footings down to stone
Let the tempest come
I stand with the Lord at my side
Strong and courageous
Knowing my salvation rests in Him