The Bible is no ordinary reading.  I believe and affirm that is came to humans by way of the breath of God (inspired—2 Timothy 3:16) into people who encountered God and who wrote what they understood to be a communiqué from God.  Christian people take these communiqués and mold them and are thereby molded by them.  (Remember humans are made of a pliable material, unless the human will hardens it.)  As humans knead the Bible with their minds, hearts, and souls it pollutes the humans with a pollutant called purity restoring the polluted humans to their pre-polluted condition of purity.

One testimony to the kneading of the Bible is its translation into 2300 of the 6909 languages of the world.  The remaining 4609 languages are small, remote populations averaging only a few hundred speakers each.  When the Scriptures were translated and published into English in 1611, they shaped the English-speaking world in significant ways:  share language that unified the masses, shared heritage that formed a common culture.  In the United States the Bible was read and learned by children and adults alike.  The King James was the Bible of choice.  The stories in the Bible entertained the readers and listeners, trained their minds, formed their consciences, and fashioned their societies.  However, because cultures evolve freshness in translations are needed and welcomed by existing populations and citizens.  A fresh retelling of the ancient stories to the new generations is common. 

Individuals and groups have dedicated their best to God and retranslated the Scriptures in fresh ways to new generations of people.  For 1500 years the Scriptures were meticulously hand copied, checked, and rechecked in order to ensure accuracy of transmissions of these books from their original languages.  This transmission at times was done at great risk to their own lives.  William Tyndale (1492-1536) was a first to translate the Scriptures from the original language into the English language; he was tried for heresy and burned at the stake.  He heavily influenced scholars that came after him who would translate the King James Bible.  Today, I use the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 2004 for its Hebrew and The Greek New Testament, 4^th Edition, 1993.  As with all translations a great physical, mental, and emotional struggle is involved to insure accuracy of intent.

The heart of the Christian Scriptures is the story of God’s Covenant with and Promises to the world and his people.  Concerned with the proliferation of evil, sin, and its dire consequences to his good creation, God decided that the best route to reclaim and repair his broken creation was to reveal himself to individuals repeatedly until as much of the world as possible was reclaimed.  Each book in the Bible tells part of the story, at times from a different perspective.  Each chapter fits into the grand scheme.  Each verse contributes some fact, some detail, some nuance to the overall drama.  Some of the same stories are told from different perspectives with unique interests (1 and 2 Samuel; 1 and 2 Kings).

The Bible also tells about the future when all things will be made new.  That is the vision that drives the church and directs its mission.  It reminds us that things are not now as they are supposed to be, nor will be.  It tells us what the world will be like when the One True God finally reigns supremely over a restored creation and all evil, suffering, sin, and death will be eradicated.

The Bible invited us to begin, or continue to deepen our connection with God, repair our relations with others, and take our rightful place as stewards of creation, all the while discovering what we are made to do.  Properly understood the Bible is a book about relationships.  As we hear the ancient stories we are wooed by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  As we immerse ourselves into the ancient stories we find our places in the recreation of the world, which has been going on since Pentecost (Acts 2:1-6).

The Bible ceases to be the inspired word of God when it is reduced to a set of manageable propositions.  The stories are where the power is.  We experience the over-arching drama of love and redemption.  To read part of the story is to know only part of the story, not the grand sweep of sacred history. 

As you read the Bible you are invited to engage the stories, hear the authentic voice of God, and experience the beauty, power, and grace resident in each word, sentence, chapter, and book.  Unlike other stories you may here, the Bible story is completely true.

Effect of Stress Upon Children

"They grow up too fast!"  That is a phrase I have heard all my life; "they" being people who are in hardship living conditions.  Now it has been confirmed scientifically according to Liz Szabo in USA Today(Tuesday, April 24, 2012, page 1).  In the Molecular Psychiarty magazine Dor Idan Shalev tells how studies suggest that violence shortens the life span of a chromosome tip which in turn makes the chromosome die up to 10 years quicker.  Telomeres are special DNA sequences that act like the plastic tips on shoelaces, which prevents a shoestring from unraveling.  These Telomeres get shorter each time a cell divides until a cell can't divide any more, so it dies.  Smoking, radiation, and psychological stresses (early abuse or hostile environment), or tending to a chronically ill.  When exposed to two or more types of violence the telomeres shorten at a greater rate (Duke Institute for Genome Science & Policy in Durham, NC).  This temomere's issue brings on early heartattacks and memory loss 7 to 10 years earlier than their peers. 

The note also affirms that spiritual development, nutrition, exercise, and stress reduction will reverse the damage, an even lengthen the telomeres.

Doctrinal Thought--Phase 1

Doctrinal Thought #4

Scriptural Focus:  Hebrews 11:6 

Now, that we know we do not fall short of God’s grace, let’s carefully consider ‘What faith it is through which we are saved.’

First, it is not the faith of non-believers.  God requires of non-believers to believe ‘that God is and that God is a giver of more gifts to them that diligently seek him’ (Hebrews 11:6), and glorify God by giving thanks for all these blessings (Luke 2:20), and by a careful practice of moral virtue, of justice, mercy, and truth.  All philosophers and all otherwise people have no excuse to not believe.  All people have a sense of God’s existence and attributes, a sense of reward and punishment, and a sense of the obligatory nature of moral virtue.  This is barely the faith of non-believers.

 Nor, secondly, is it the faith of a devil, though this goes actually much further than the faith of non-believers.  For the devil believes, not only that there is a wise and powerful God, gracious to reward and just to punish, but also that Jesus is the Son of God, the Christ, the Savior of the world.  So we find the devil expressing specifically ‘I know you are, the Holy One of God’ (Luke 4:34).  Nor can we doubt but that unhappy spirits believe all those words which came out of the mouth of the Holy One (Acts 16:17).  Therefore we know that the great enemies of God and humankind believe and tremble in the believing that ‘God was made manifest in the flesh’ (1 Timothy 3:16), that God will ‘tread all enemies under his feet’ (I Corinthians 15:25), and that ‘all Scripture was given by inspiration of God (2 Timothy 3:16).  This is all included in the faith of the devil.

Thirdly, the faith through when we are saved is not the pre-resurrection faith of the Apostles either.  Yes, ‘they left all to follow him’ (Mark 10:28), had power to do miracles—heal the sick and diseased (Matthew 10:1), power over devils (Luke 9:1), and sent by Jesus to ‘preach the kingdom of God’ (Luke 9:2).  Yet after their return from doing all these activities Jesus called them “a faithless generation’ (Luke 9:41).  He tells them ‘they could not cast out a devil because of their unbelief’ (Luke 9:40; Mark 6:6).  And even later on in their journey with Jesus, they still asked Jesus to increase their faith to which Jesus responded that their faith does not constitute faith (Luke 17:5-6).

So, what is the faith by which we are saved?  It is faith in Christ.  This faith is not the faith of the non-believers, the devil, or even the pre-resurrection Apostles; it is not a speculative, rational, cold, lifeless assent, a memorized idea, or adopted thought.  It is a disposition of the heart (Romans 10:9-10). 

How this faith differs from the faith of the pre-resurrection Apostles is in this.  Faith acknowledges the necessity and value of Jesus’ death and the power of his resurrection.  It acknowledges his death as the only sufficient means of redemption for people from eternal death and restoration of us all to life and immortality (Romans 4:25).    The salvific faith is as assent to the whole gospel of Christ, a full reliance on the blood of Christ, a trust in the merits of his life, death, and resurrection, reliance upon him for our atonement and our life, as give for us and living in us.  It is a sure confidence which a person has in God, and through the merits of Christ his sins are forgiven, and he is reconciled to the favor of God;  and in consequence it is confidence in the goodness of God, through the Son of his love, living, dying, and interceding for us.  It is an acceptance of him in all his offices as our Prophet, Priest, and King.  He is our wisdom, righteousness, salvation, and redemption (I Corinthians 1:30), or in one word, salvation.

Hebrews 11:6 5-6By an act of faith, Enoch skipped death completely. "They looked all over and couldn't find him because God had taken him." We know on the basis of reliable testimony that before he was taken "he pleased God." It's impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him. The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Luke 2:20 19-20Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they'd been told! The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Luke 4:34 33-34In the meeting place that day there was a man demonically disturbed. He screamed, "Ho! What business do you have here with us, Jesus? Nazarene! I know what you're up to. You're the Holy One of God and you've come to destroy us!" The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Acts 16:17 Beat Up and Thrown in Jail 16-18One day, on our way to the place of prayer, a slave girl ran into us. She was a psychic and, with her fortunetelling, made a lot of money for the people who owned her. She started following Paul around, calling everyone's attention to us by yelling out, "These men are working for the Most High God. They're laying out the road of salvation for you!" She did this for a number of days until Paul, finally fed up with her, turned and commanded the spirit that possessed her, "Out! In the name of Jesus Christ, get out of her!" And it was gone, just like that. The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

1 Timothy 3:16 14-16I hope to visit you soon, but just in case I'm delayed, I'm writing this letter so you'll know how things ought to go in God's household, this God-alive church, bastion of truth. This Christian life is a great mystery, far exceeding our understanding, but some things are clear enough: He appeared in a human body, was proved right by the invisible Spirit, was seen by angels. He was proclaimed among all kinds of peoples, believed in all over the world, taken up into heavenly glory. The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

1 Corinthians 15:25 21-28There is a nice symmetry in this: Death initially came by a man, and resurrection from death came by a man. Everybody dies in Adam; everybody comes alive in Christ. But we have to wait our turn: Christ is first, then those with him at his Coming, the grand consummation when, after crushing the opposition, he hands over his kingdom to God the Father. He won't let up until the last enemy is down—and the very last enemy is death! As the psalmist said, "He laid them low, one and all; he walked all over them." When Scripture says that "he walked all over them," it's obvious that he couldn't at the same time be walked on. When everything and everyone is finally under God's rule, the Son will step down, taking his place with everyone else, showing that God's rule is absolutely comprehensive—a perfect ending! The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

2 Timothy 3:16 14-17But don't let it faze you. Stick with what you learned and believed, sure of the integrity of your teachers—why, you took in the sacred Scriptures with your mother's milk! There's nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God's way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us. The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Mark 10:28 28Peter tried another angle: "We left everything and followed you." The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peter

Matthew 10:1 The Twelve Harvest Hands 1-4 The prayer was no sooner prayed than it was answered. Jesus called twelve of his followers and sent them into the ripe fields. He gave them power to kick out the evil spirits and to tenderly care for the bruised and hurt lives. This is the list of the twelve he sent: Simon (they called him Peter, or "Rock"), Andrew, his brother, James, Zebedee's son, John, his brother, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, the tax man, James, son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon, the Canaanite, Judas Iscariot (who later turned on him). The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Luke 9:1-2 Keep It Simple 1-5Jesus now called the Twelve and gave them authority and power to deal with all the demons and cure diseases. He commissioned them to preach the news of God's kingdom and heal the sick. He said, "Don't load yourselves up with equipment. Keep it simple; you are the equipment. And no luxury inns—get a modest place and be content there until you leave. If you're not welcomed, leave town. Don't make a scene. Shrug your shoulders and move on." The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Luke 9:40-41 37-40When they came down off the mountain the next day, a big crowd was there to meet them. A man called from out of the crowd, "Please, please, Teacher, take a look at my son. He's my only child. Often a spirit seizes him. Suddenly he's screaming, thrown into convulsions, his mouth foaming. And then it beats him black-and-blue before it leaves. I asked your disciples to deliver him but they couldn't." 41Jesus said, "What a generation! No sense of God! No focus to your lives! How many times do I have to go over these things? How much longer do I have to put up with this? Bring your son here." The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Mark 6:6 4-6Jesus told them, "A prophet has little honor in his hometown, among his relatives, on the streets he played in as a child." Jesus wasn't able to do much of anything there—he laid hands on a few sick people and healed them, that's all. He couldn't get over their stubbornness. He left and made a circuit of the other villages, teaching. The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Luke 17:5-6 5The apostles came up and said to the Master, "Give us more faith." 6But the Master said, "You don't need more faith. There is no 'more' or 'less' in faith. If you have a bare kernel of faith, say the size of a poppy seed, you could say to this sycamore tree, 'Go jump in the lake,' and it would do it. The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Romans 10:9-10 4-10The earlier revelation was intended simply to get us ready for the Messiah, who then puts everything right for those who trust him to do it. Moses wrote that anyone who insists on using the law code to live right before God soon discovers it's not so easy—every detail of life regulated by fine print! But trusting God to shape the right living in us is a different story— no precarious climb up to heaven to recruit the Messiah, no dangerous descent into hell to rescue the Messiah. So what exactly was Moses saying? The word that saves is right here, as near as the tongue in your mouth, as close as the heart in your chest. It's the word of faith that welcomes God to go to work and set things right for us. This is the core of our preaching. Say the welcoming word to God—"Jesus is my Master"—embracing, body and soul, God's work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead. That's it. You're not "doing" anything; you're simply calling out to God, trusting him to do it for you. That's salvation. With your whole being you embrace God setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: "God has set everything right between him and me!" The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Romans 4:25 19-25Abraham didn't focus on his own impotence and say, "It's hopeless. This hundred-year-old body could never father a child." Nor did he survey Sarah's decades of infertility and give up. He didn't tiptoe around God's promise asking cautiously skeptical questions. He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what he had said. That's why it is said, "Abraham was declared fit before God by trusting God to set him right." But it's not just Abraham; it's also us! The same thing gets said about us when we embrace and believe the One who brought Jesus to life when the conditions were equally hopeless. The sacrificed Jesus made us fit for God, set us right with God. The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

1 Corinthians 1:30 26-31Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don't see many of "the brightest and the best" among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn't it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these "nobodies" to expose the hollow pretensions of the "somebodies"? That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That's why we have the saying, "If you're going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God." The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Hebrews 11:6 5-6By an act of faith, Enoch skipped death completely. "They looked all over and couldn't find him because God had taken him." We know on the basis of reliable testimony that before he was taken "he pleased God." It's impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him. The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Luke 2:20 19-20Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they'd been told! The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Hebrews 11:6 5-6By an act of faith, Enoch skipped death completely. "They looked all over and couldn't find him because God had taken him." We know on the basis of reliable testimony that before he was taken "he pleased God." It's impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him. The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Luke 2:20 19-20Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they'd been told! The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Luke 4:34 33-34In the meeting place that day there was a man demonically disturbed. He screamed, "Ho! What business do you have here with us, Jesus? Nazarene! I know what you're up to. You're the Holy One of God and you've come to destroy us!" The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Acts 16:17 Beat Up and Thrown in Jail 16-18One day, on our way to the place of prayer, a slave girl ran into us. She was a psychic and, with her fortunetelling, made a lot of money for the people who owned her. She started following Paul around, calling everyone's attention to us by yelling out, "These men are working for the Most High God. They're laying out the road of salvation for you!" She did this for a number of days until Paul, finally fed up with her, turned and commanded the spirit that possessed her, "Out! In the name of Jesus Christ, get out of her!" And it was gone, just like that. The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

1 Timothy 3:16 14-16I hope to visit you soon, but just in case I'm delayed, I'm writing this letter so you'll know how things ought to go in God's household, this God-alive church, bastion of truth. This Christian life is a great mystery, far exceeding our understanding, but some things are clear enough: He appeared in a human body, was proved right by the invisible Spirit, was seen by angels. He was proclaimed among all kinds of peoples, believed in all over the world, taken up into heavenly glory. The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

1 Corinthians 15:25 21-28There is a nice symmetry in this: Death initially came by a man, and resurrection from death came by a man. Everybody dies in Adam; everybody comes alive in Christ. But we have to wait our turn: Christ is first, then those with him at his Coming, the grand consummation when, after crushing the opposition, he hands over his kingdom to God the Father. He won't let up until the last enemy is down—and the very last enemy is death! As the psalmist said, "He laid them low, one and all; he walked all over them." When Scripture says that "he walked all over them," it's obvious that he couldn't at the same time be walked on. When everything and everyone is finally under God's rule, the Son will step down, taking his place with everyone else, showing that God's rule is absolutely comprehensive—a perfect ending! The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

2 Timothy 3:16 14-17But don't let it faze you. Stick with what you learned and believed, sure of the integrity of your teachers—why, you took in the sacred Scriptures with your mother's milk! There's nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God's way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us. The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Mark 10:28 28Peter tried another angle: "We left everything and followed you." The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peter

Matthew 10:1 The Twelve Harvest Hands 1-4 The prayer was no sooner prayed than it was answered. Jesus called twelve of his followers and sent them into the ripe fields. He gave them power to kick out the evil spirits and to tenderly care for the bruised and hurt lives. This is the list of the twelve he sent: Simon (they called him Peter, or "Rock"), Andrew, his brother, James, Zebedee's son, John, his brother, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, the tax man, James, son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon, the Canaanite, Judas Iscariot (who later turned on him). The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Luke 9:1-2 Keep It Simple 1-5Jesus now called the Twelve and gave them authority and power to deal with all the demons and cure diseases. He commissioned them to preach the news of God's kingdom and heal the sick. He said, "Don't load yourselves up with equipment. Keep it simple; you are the equipment. And no luxury inns—get a modest place and be content there until you leave. If you're not welcomed, leave town. Don't make a scene. Shrug your shoulders and move on." The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Luke 9:40-41 37-40When they came down off the mountain the next day, a big crowd was there to meet them. A man called from out of the crowd, "Please, please, Teacher, take a look at my son. He's my only child. Often a spirit seizes him. Suddenly he's screaming, thrown into convulsions, his mouth foaming. And then it beats him black-and-blue before it leaves. I asked your disciples to deliver him but they couldn't." 41Jesus said, "What a generation! No sense of God! No focus to your lives! How many times do I have to go over these things? How much longer do I have to put up with this? Bring your son here." The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Mark 6:6 4-6Jesus told them, "A prophet has little honor in his hometown, among his relatives, on the streets he played in as a child." Jesus wasn't able to do much of anything there—he laid hands on a few sick people and healed them, that's all. He couldn't get over their stubbornness. He left and made a circuit of the other villages, teaching. The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Luke 17:5-6 5The apostles came up and said to the Master, "Give us more faith." 6But the Master said, "You don't need more faith. There is no 'more' or 'less' in faith. If you have a bare kernel of faith, say the size of a poppy seed, you could say to this sycamore tree, 'Go jump in the lake,' and it would do it. The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Romans 10:9-10 4-10The earlier revelation was intended simply to get us ready for the Messiah, who then puts everything right for those who trust him to do it. Moses wrote that anyone who insists on using the law code to live right before God soon discovers it's not so easy—every detail of life regulated by fine print! But trusting God to shape the right living in us is a different story— no precarious climb up to heaven to recruit the Messiah, no dangerous descent into hell to rescue the Messiah. So what exactly was Moses saying? The word that saves is right here, as near as the tongue in your mouth, as close as the heart in your chest. It's the word of faith that welcomes God to go to work and set things right for us. This is the core of our preaching. Say the welcoming word to God—"Jesus is my Master"—embracing, body and soul, God's work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead. That's it. You're not "doing" anything; you're simply calling out to God, trusting him to do it for you. That's salvation. With your whole being you embrace God setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: "God has set everything right between him and me!" The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Romans 4:25 19-25Abraham didn't focus on his own impotence and say, "It's hopeless. This hundred-year-old body could never father a child." Nor did he survey Sarah's decades of infertility and give up. He didn't tiptoe around God's promise asking cautiously skeptical questions. He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what he had said. That's why it is said, "Abraham was declared fit before God by trusting God to set him right." But it's not just Abraham; it's also us! The same thing gets said about us when we embrace and believe the One who brought Jesus to life when the conditions were equally hopeless. The sacrificed Jesus made us fit for God, set us right with God. The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

1 Corinthians 1:30 26-31Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don't see many of "the brightest and the best" among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn't it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these "nobodies" to expose the hollow pretensions of the "somebodies"? That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That's why we have the saying, "If you're going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God." The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson