number 8 wire

A "hurried" generation who "don’t know anything about the Bible - or Christianity" - this week received the most condensed paraphrase of the Bible to date. Author Revd Martin Hinton describes his 57-page The 100-minute Bible as "a gateway to the Bible for everybody". The ex-headmaster dedicated two years to writing a single narrative, spanning Genesis to Revelation. "We have sacrificed poetry to clarity", he admitted, in the aim of presenting anyone "in an overwhelmingly secular society … with the story and what Christianity is all about".

Much of Jesus’ teaching was brought together when, seated on a hillside, he spoke to his disciples about life in the kingdom of God. He taught that true happiness comes from having the right attitudes. Those who are humble, concerned about the world’s sinfulness, gentle, devoted to goodness, merciful, single-minded in God’s service, and peace-lovers will be blessed by God. Those of his followers who are persecuted in this world should rejoice, because they will have a rich reward in the next.

Jesus emphasised that he had not come to destroy the moral demands of the Jewish Law but to fulfil them. He taught that it is not enough not to commit murder; the anger which can lead to murder must be set aside too. It is not enough not to commit adultery; lustful thoughts must be set aside too. It is not enough to keep only our solemn promises; we should always mean what we say.

In the beginning God: Father, Son, and Spirit, made all things. God loved Man like a son, placing eternity in his soul, but Man chose to turn away. Man filled the earth with unspeakable atrocities, so God started again with Noah. Man still ignored God when he spoke through Abraham, Moses, Elijah, and David. So God became a man, to try and draw people to his Father heart. Man killed God, and Satan rejoiced. But this death brought redemption and the Spirit of God to dwell in men. God's kingdom on Earth has begun. Praise the Lord! Amen.

posted by ropata  # 6:42 PM