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The Amish Voice 7
Can You Find Sixteen Books Of The Bible?
I once made a re
MARK
about the hidden books of the Bible. It was a f
LUKE
. It kept people loo
KING S
o hard for f
ACTS
and other s it was a
REVELATION
. Some were in a
JAM, ES
pecially since they were not capatilzed. But the t
RUTH
finally str uck home for
NUMBERS
of r eader s. To others it was a real
JOB
.
We want it to be
A MOS
t
fascinating few moments for you. Y
ES THER
e will be some really easy ones to spot. Others may require
JUDGES
to
help them. I will quickly admi
T IT US
ually takes a minister to find one of them and there will be a
LAMENTATIONS
when it is found. A little lady says s
HE BREWS
a cup of tea so she can concentrate better. See how well you can com
PETE. R
elax now for ther e r eally ar e sixteen names of the books of the Bible in this stor y.
A Puzzling Situation Answers
(Continued from page 4)
Matthew 3:1-3:
In those days came
John the Baptist, preaching in the
wilderness of Judea, and saying,
Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven
is at hand. For this is he that was
spoken of by the prophet Esaias,
saying, The voice of one crying in the
wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the
Lord, make his paths straight.
When John the Baptist began his
ministry, he went around preaching
repentance. Common people whom we
might call simple received his message.
However, there were those who did not
receive it. These were the Scribes,
Pharisees, and teachers of the law. Their
concept of repentance was probably that
others needed to repent, but they
themselves had life under control, and
therefore did not need to repent.
Even though we know and would whole-
heartily agree that we are all sinners by
birth, we feel good about ourselves after
confessing and staying clear of misdeeds
for a while. And the Scribes, Pharisees,
and teachers of the law likewise
wondered what the call to repentance was
about. Yet, you and I know that they, too,
needed to repent. It all comes down to the
question, “What does repentance mean?”
That is the intent of this writing.
Like new wine aging to perfection
produces gas, the new covenant took
some understanding of the fact that
thinking had to change for those who
desired to become a part of it. New wine
would burst old wineskins, and new
thinking will burst old ways of thinking.
The new covenant will stretch your mind
and cannot fit into the old way, which is
the system of laws and punishment for
disobedience.
When Israel was liberated from Egypt,
they went from slavery to being a free
nation all in one day. The adjustment is
well documented in the Old Testament.
For a moment I shall digress. When I was
young, I often had the privilege of seeing
a field newly plowed. I would marvel at
how clean it looked when it was just
finished. What had been growing
yesterday was now clean and ready to
receive new seed. What was turned under
was not only weeds, but grass that might
have produced hay if allowed to grow.
Not only are weeds turned down, but also
valuable plants.
Not only is sin turned down when we
repent, but the old thinking that stood in
the way. Some of that thinking was not
evil in itself; it just stood in the way. And
that is why Scribes and Pharisees could
not repent. Repentance was for evil
people.
Likewise we, too, have difficulty
adjusting to being set free under Christ.
The question immediately pops up,
“What drives people to obey if the law is
not
compelling
and
threatening
punishment?” It seems dangerous.
When a slave is set free, he has to learn to
live free. No one tells you what you have
to do. Sleep late? After all if you can’t
sleep till 9, are you free? It may not be a
good idea, but others will certainly
notice. And we do notice when other
believers do things that are unwise. What
then moves us to serve Jesus? The answer
has to be love.
When I first knew beyond a doubt that I
was born again, I also knew that God
loved me absolutely and truly. Now my
degree of serving matches my degree of
loving him, also. You can determine how
much you love God by how you serve.
Jesus teaches that if I don’t love my
brother and even think that I love God,
then I am a liar and only fool myself.
Repentance teaches me not only to reject
sin, but also to live in freedom. That is
hard when you love the perks
of slavery (See Numbers 11:5).
END
What is This Thing Called Repentance?
—By Eli Stutzman
Have We
Forgotten
How to
Repent?