When Dave and I composed this photo, we did not see the branches outside the window which formed the shape of a cross. What a nice surprise...the shadow of a cross...and how appropriate. For is was because of Calvary's cross that so many paid so much to put the English Bible into the hands of the common man.
When I teach the amazing history of the Bible, I love to pull out items I have collected through the years, such as:
- A Replica of the Rosetta Stone.
- Sheets of papyrus from Egypt.
- A Gutenberg Press replica, built-to-scale by my husband, Dave.
- A facsimile page from a Gutenberg Bible, printed in the workshop of the Gutenberg-Museum of Mainz, and purchased during a Germany vacation. (That was my most favorite field trip ever!)
- A huge Gutenberg Bible page, actually printed by my son years ago, on a replica press, here in Houston at our wonderful Museum of Printing History.
Sometimes I will:
- Use flash paper for a dramatic attention-getter when teaching about those who were burned at the stake.
- Show Biblical paintings of the great masters, not always Scripturally correct, but nonetheless used as the only source of Bible stories for masses of people (who needed the Scriptures in their own hands, in their own language...not chained up in the churches, and read by only the well-educated).
I could go on and on, for I get so excited just thinking about this subject! However, there is a thought that will not leave me.
In those days gone by, people had to be "told" what the Scriptures said. Can you imagine the joy of a true believer upon receiving his first Bible, and reading God's inspired Word for himself?
Today, we need not wait around for someone to "tell" us what the Scriptures mean. We can read and study them for ourselves. Studying the Bible has changed my life! (Author of The Heavenly Man, Chinese Bro. Yun says, "You can never really know the Scriptures until you are willing to be changed by them.") That's why I encourage Inductive Bible Study through Precept Ministries, International. This method encourages you to examine God's Word on your own, and let God do the speaking...and teaching.
Yes, we will have to pay a bit of a price. We will need to "lay down our life," rearranging our priorities... in order to gain more of Christ.
Unfortunately, it appears that even today's masses, with numerous Bibles at our fingertips, and despite the great cost our forefathers paid to give us the Scriptures in our language, still depend upon someone else to inform them what God's Word means. A "dark ages" mentality, I call it. Now...might that be a reason for the lack of power within our churches these days?
