What Do You Believe About the Bible?...Continued from page 5

Marvin A. McMickle

There is a second reason why I love the Bible, and that has to do with its breadth. There is no other book on earth that has been translated into as many different languages as the Bible. There is no other book on earth that has been translated into as many different versions as the Bible. There is no other book on earth that has sold as many copies as the Bible. This is not a book just for Christians in America; this is the book for over one billion Christians around the world. It is a universal message that speaks to people on every continent on earth. When a book has existed for as long as the Bible has existed and is in use in as many places around the world as the Bible is, I want to read and learn from and put my faith in that book.

There is a third reason why I trust and love the Bible, and that has to do with the depths to which this book can reach. No other book of which I am aware has as much of an ability to alter the lives and thoughts of those who read from its pages. The Bible is the one book that could alter the present course of our entire planet and every person on it if we would just obey its teachings. If we took the Bible seriously we would not have two million people in prison and over forty five million people without health insurance. If we lived by the deep teachings of the Bible, we would not be battling drug addictions, domestic violence or deficits in our national budget caused by the senseless war in Iraq.

If we followed the teachings of the Bible we would have no hunger in our nation or around the world. If we followed the Bible we would not be facing a skyrocketing rate of teenage pregnancy or an even higher rate of divorce among adults. If we followed the Bible we would have failing schools and crumbling cities in the U.S. while we spend money on war and destruction. If we followed the teachings of the Bible we would be convicted of our sins, convinced of God's grace and compelled to live out our lives in obedience to God's commands. I love and cherish the Bible, because it is a book of great depth and power that can change how people live their lives.

Charles Stanley has an insert in his Leade

rs' Bible - it reports that back in the days when prayer and Bible study were a part of public school life the major problems reported by school teachers were: talking in class, chewing gum, making noise, running in the halls, getting out of line, wearing improper clothing and missing the wastebasket. Today, in a world where the Bible has been dropped from the list of most important and influential literature here is how the list reads from our schools; drug abuse, suicide, alcohol abuse, pregnancy, rape, murder and assault. All of this is going on while students are still reading Shakespeare and Homer but while the Bible has been dropped from the curriculum!