A small church in Florida has made international headlines. Their pastor plans to burn the Koran on September 11th. There are so many things to say about this. However, I’m never shocked when people do crazy things. I am shocked that anything that a pastor of a small church in an even smaller town in Florida is doing has garnered so much media attention. Who cares?
All the hype started me thinking …
I’m less concerned about a fringe pastor burning the Koran and more concerned that our church family read their Bibles.
“Begin reading your Bible this very day. The way to do a thing is to do it, and the way to read the Bible is actually to read it. It is not meaning, or wishing, or resolving, or intending, or thinking about it; that will not advance you one step. You must positively read. There is no royal road in this matter, any more than in the matter of prayer. If you cannot read yourself, you must persuade somebody else to read to you. But one way or another, through eyes or ears, the words of Scripture must actually pass before your mind.” J. C. Ryle, 1816-1900
Check out the E100 Challenge. They claim that over 90 percent of U.S. households own a Bible and yet less than 20 percent of people who own Bibles will ever read them in their lifetime. The E100 Challenge begins September 12th. The E100 kit costs $50 and may assist you by establishing a regular pattern of Bible-reading. If $50 is too much for you to spend, just try opening the Bible to page 1. This Sunday we start a new sermon series entitled In the Beginning … We will spend the next 11 weeks in the book of Genesis. If you average a chapter a day, Monday to Friday, for the next 11 weeks you will read the entire book of Genesis. Once you get started you will not be able to stop at a chapter per day!
Forget about burning the Koran. Spend your energy reading the Bible. Start today.
Upon reading it you will be less concerned with burning the Koran and more likely to just shine your light into the darkness. Excellent commentary R.D.
If there was a restaurant dish called Pasta Terry Jones I would expect it to be, similarly, full of baloney.
I don’t attend St. George’s but have enjoyed reading the blogs and listening online.
I wanted to respond to this blog, I am shocked as well that a crazy person received world wide attention over this issue. Some good insights about the subject and mentioning an application.