Biblefresh: it could change your world

Please tell us about a time in your life when God spoke to you most vividly and personally through the Bible. Which passage was it and what did it mean to you at the time?

I came to personal faith through reading the New Testament three times in three weeks, having set out to disprove the resurrection……..by the end of the final read, I knew I was wrong and that Jesus Christ is alive and well!  It just seemed natural to keep reading the Bible, though I steered clear of much of the OT because I found it too puzzling.  One night, I read 1 Corinthians 15 over and over, and fell asleep with it ringing through my mind, with all its lovely affirmations of Christ’s triumph over death.  The next morning I learned that my dearly loved older brother had died in a mountaineering accident.  He, too, was a believer.  Through all the grief, it was if the Lord was saying into my heart, ‘It’s alright, I really mean my promise that death is not the end.  Trust me.’  I was only a teenager then, but that same sense of the Lord speaking directly and lovingly (and livingly!) has stayed with me down through all the years since.

In recent years what has helped to keep the Bible fresh for you?

Every day brings fresh experiences, fresh questions.  I find myself constantly asking myself – and the Word – ‘What does the Lord think about this?  What would the Lord say and do here?’   Much of my life has been spent with Christians from other parts of the world, and I am constantly intrigued and stretched by the way they see things in the Bible from a different life context: it enriches my understanding of Scripture.  Sharing the Gospel with non-Christians, of a variety of religious and philosophical backgrounds, also makes the Bible come alive in fresh ways.  I often teach and preach or write, and in all those contexts I need to be studying Scripture closely and prayerfully.  I think the Holy Spirit delights to help us understand and respond!

What does your regular practice of Bible reading look like?

Sometimes I stay with a passage for a long time, sometimes I read long stretches; sometimes I turn to commentaries.  I love finding out more about Bible background, which helps me understand better what the original writer meant.  I try to read a Gospel through at a sitting several times a year, but on the other hand sometimes I chew over just a few verses for several days.  At the moment I am using ‘The Pocket Bible in One Year’, published by OM.  It gives a reading from the OT, one from the NT, and one from either Psalms or Proverbs, for each day of the year.  It’s a good way to ensure you read the whole Bible rather than just your favourite bits!  Sometimes I use a study Bible, with notes and questions to ponder.  I try – not always successfully! – to read first thing in the morning, but don’t feel bad if it doesn’t work like that.  On very busy days with an early start I might simply chew over a verse or two.  When I had young children, I’d grab a moment here and there whenever it was practical.  I use whatever Scripture I am thinking about as the theme of my prayers for people throughout the day as they come to mind or as I meet them.  That keeps my prayer for others always fresh, whether or not I have up-to-date news from them.

What would you say to a Christian who is struggling to read the Bible?

Some people just don’t like reading, or find reading very difficult.  For them, I’d say maybe try to listen to Scripture instead.  The Bible Society among others has a good range of material in audio form.  If you’re just young and funky, download some Scripture on to your mobile or other gadget, and look some up each day.  Sometimes it’s easier to read together with a friend.  The bottom line is that God really does want to talk to us, and we all need to listen to him speaking through the Bible – all of it.  If we ignore that we will be spiritually malnourished and probably find Christian discipleship pretty uphill.  There are good translations in modern language which help.

What is your prayer for the Biblefresh initiative?

An astonishingly high percentage of UK Christians admit they do not read the Bible, and many churches only have short portions read in services.  That is scary, because without the Scripture to keep us on the right track we all become much more vulnerable to every kind of current idea and grow further away from God’s eternal wisdom.  So my prayer for Biblefresh is that up and down the country, young and old will learn or re-learn the joy of listening to God for themselves as they read and listen to Scripture.  Every period of authentic renewal in church history has been accompanied by a hunger to hear and internalize God’s Word.  Today’s church in the UK faces deep challenges.  We need God’s equipping – and the Scripture is an essential part of that.