How to Tear Up a Bible
Mike Hampshire leads our Deacon team. The deacons focus on visiting shut-ins, ministering to widows, serving communion, and taking on various service projects for the church. I often say the Deacons are the frontlines of unity in our church, because a church that knows how to humbly serve one another is less likely to become divided over non-essential issues.
Mike sends out regular updates to the Deacons and other leaders in the church about the work of the Deacons. I loved what Mike said about the power of God’s Word in his June Newsletter:
There are at least two ways to wear out a Bible. There’s the way I did it once, and then there’s the way you probably do it. I remember pulling into the church parking lot one Sunday morning before life group. After parking, when I turned to get my Bible, it was missing. We looked all around the car but couldn’t find it. I distinctly remembered bringing it into the garage, so why couldn’t we find it? Then it hit me that I probably had put it on the roof of my car and drove off.
I started back home, looking for it along the way. Sure enough, there it was lying by the side of the road at an intersection near our house. It looked pretty beat up. That’s one way to wear out a Bible, but there’s a much better, and slower, way. It’s the way Larry Peercy wears out his. I recently saw his Bible sitting on a table in the chapel. It had tattered pages, a faded and cracked cover and spine, and tarnished gold gilding on the sides. It was obvious he is a man who cherishes and studies God’s Word. In 1 Timothy 3:9, Paul tells Timothy that deacons “must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.” There is simply no way to hold the mystery of the faith apart from serious Scripture study. May we love God’s Word the way Larry Peercy does and wear out our copies of it the right way.
Our theme for July is Grow. Colby shared Sunday about the process of sanctification, or growth in holiness. One of the ways we hope to grow as a church is in our character. From what I’ve seen, I don’t think there are any shortcuts to growing in character. Probably the most effective way to build character is to get God’s Word in our hearts and, like Larry Peercy, tear up our Bible. None of us are there yet, but we hope to keep growing every day.
This month we’re memorizing Romans 5:1-5 together. Keep working at it, as this will help set us up for our study of I Peter starting in August. Also be praying for our kids who are at camp this week. Pray especially for the leaders and for sleep! I’m so grateful for each of you and the way you pray for our church. Speaking of prayer, my effort to grow in adding a new prayer time to my day has improved, making time three of the last five days. That’s an improvement over zero! May God give you wisdom as you seek to grow this summer, and may He open doors for our church to be a light to all of the South End of Louisville!