hiatus over

In an effort get back into the blogosphere, let me offer something of recent experience.

Last Monday night I spoke at the Raleigh area BSU about what Baptist's believe about the Bible. I'm not sure I did what all, or even any, Baptists would be comfortable with, but I really don't care much to do that anyway. What I tried to do was get students to see the Bible and its interpretation in poetic fashion. That is, we should read the Bible with unrestrained freedom as poets. No rules. No boundaries. But, instead community. Loving, intentional communities that are willing to wrestling with these "ancient words." (A really cool song they introduced to me as their closing.) By way of making the experience interactive, I asked a few students to write a few statements that I, on the spot, put into a poem about the Bible. Here's their communal/poetic offering...

When we
read the Bible,
we remember
parents reading the Christmas story.
When we
read the Bible,
its bring hope
from the promises Jesus
made about preparing a place
for us.
The Bible brings us
comfort
and always seems to be encouraging
in our times
of need.
But, we are afraid.
We are afraid
we've missed something major
and got it all wrong.
Yet, we are thankful.
We are thankful that it is
still available
and offers
truth and love.
But, when we
read the Bible,
we struggle
reconciling the judgmental God
with a God who cares and loves.