May I make a suggestion?

Posted byChico’s MomPosted inUncategorizedTags:, , ,

What books do you want to read?

Please hear me out before you roll your eyes at me. It’s too hard. Or it’s soooo boring. I would like to suggest The Bible. Even if you don’t practice Christianity, The Bible has it all.

Murder: Genesis 4 – This story takes sibling rivalry to a whole new level. 10 The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.”

Stories that make you WHAT? Judges 19 “29 When he reached home, he got a knife. He cut up his concubine. He cut her into 12 pieces. He sent them into all the territories of Israel.” Yes, you read that right. He cut his concubine up into 12 pieces. I’ll let you read the whole story to find out why.

Love: The Song of Solomon is a love poem. All the mushy gushy lovey stuff.

Lust: 2 Samuel 11 2 “One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful,”. King David saw, liked, got and had a man killed because he couldn’t keep his lust under control.

More things that make you got HMMM: Genesis 19: 33 “That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and slept with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.”

This is just the Old Testament.

There is so much in The Bible that I completely (as a Christian) don’t understand. Parts that make so mad. Hurt my feels. And as a woman, offended. But isn’t that the hallmark of a great book? They make us feel things.

Do you have a favorite story from the Bible? Feel free to share in the comments.

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50 thoughts on “May I make a suggestion?”

      1. Good question, the answer is yes. But this is the case through reading the Bible prayerfully; asking for God to guide and bless me as I read. In this I read slowly and deliberately, just as one would listen attentively to the words of a loved one.
        God bless you today 🙏

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  2. Chico’s mom. I want to tell you that Joseph must go to Egypt by force and nothing will stop him, but not his will. And the family of Jacob will never die in hunger. As a result Joseph must Dream Dreams, he must be talkative, his brethren must hate him, must lies against him, his father must mourn for his death, they must threw him inside pit, they must sold him to Ismealites, he must go to Egypt unknowingly to him, he must serve Potipher’s business and family. Potipher’s wife must accused him of rape, he must be in prison, he must be Dreams’ interpreter in prison, he must have contact with Pharoah’s servant, he cry cry in prison, Pharoah’s servant must remember Joseph, Pharoah must dream freightened dreams, he must need the Interpretations by force. And Pharoah must sent for Joseph and make him King after him. The family of Jacob must go to Egypt…
    God bless you more than your expectations in Jesus name Amen

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  3. My favorite is when Christ met Saul on the Damascus road and changed his heart of stone from persecuting Christians to becoming a great Apostle of the Gentiles

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      1. Unfortunately Mel sort of poisoned his image after that, but life is complicated. So why wouldn’t the Bible be complicated too? I do have problems with the parts that okay the killing of another person. I don’t think there’s ever a need or reason for that, but the world obviously believes otherwise.

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      3. That’s because there is no god involved. It is written by some people for other people. And for sure only for their tribe. Or as my grandfather used to say: Religion appeared when the first thief met the first stupid.

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  8. Being raised in a Christian protestant way, i was very familiar with the stories and teachings of the bible. As a young adult, i abandoned the church, but not my quest for a deeper understanding.

    Over a period of years, i dug into practices, experiences and teachings that greatly expanded my perceptions of God and the spiritual worlds of heaven and hell, along with the world we experience as living mortals.
    From Native American rituals and prayers, to Buddhism, Sufism, and Pagan theologies, i formed a wider lens to view religion through.

    My understanding of Christianity was heavily influenced by Edmond Szekely’s translation of the Essene Gospels, Osho’s rendering of the Gospel Thomas in The Mustard Seed, and Danial Quinn’s masterful work, Ishmael. At length, I emerged feeling a mature understanding of Christianity that is neither an endorsement, nor a rejection.. but rather an incorporation.

    I landed on the belief that Jesus lived with no intention to start a church, or to have his life written as a book, but rather to demonstrate what is possible with the gifts already within us. It is startling to me however, that the prince of peace has inspired so much violence against non christians over the centuries that followed.

    From there, i don’t quite know how to make peace with the church or organized religion as a whole. The Bible feels quite incomplete to me, as a series of stories selected for a specific purpose by a group of old men long dead, establishing a church in order to wield power over the masses.
    As a historical reference it is a valuable asset. As a book to guide my life, not so much.

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    1. Thanks for telling me your story.

      I’m not really sure how to phrase this; raised in a Christian household? We went to church. Then when I was 9, we got kicked out of church. For 21 years of my life, I hated God, religion, faith. I wanted nothing to do with it. I didn’t read about any of it. My best friend introduced me to her Christ. I hadn’t met him before. Her brother, who is a good friend of mine, is going to seminary and is sharing his knowledge with us. There is so much in the Bible to understand, I’m still a wondering lamb.

      Organized religion leaves me scratching my head. It is all about money, power, and prestige. That was not Jesus’s way. He kicked the money changers out of church. He wanted us to take care of the orphans and widows. But we kick homeless people out of church in 0 degree weather. We build compounds instead of communities. Sin changes us. Changed us. Unspeakable things have been done in the name of religion. Sin wrapped in virtue. In my opinion, organized religion treats sinners like a plague while Jesus sought out sinners.

      Now, I read C.S. Lewis a lot. I like him because he doesn’t claim to be a theologian. He never claimed to have any of the answers. He was just a man trying to find his way through Christianity. And Max Lucado, his writing is simple. Easy to read. And even better, easy to relate to.

      All throughout history; every civilization has worshiped something(s) or someone (people), there is a built in longing inside us to seek a higher power. Something greater than ourselves. Sin (Satan) knows this and uses it. All you have to do is pick up a history book. My how he’s used it.

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      1. I should’ve included CS Lewis as an influential author as well.. the Chronicles of Narnia were something of a life boat for me at one time. I can wrap my mind around the concepts of good and evil much more readily than i can try to understand concepts of God and Satan. It feels to me like a single fish trying to understand the entire ocean.

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    2. While working on the reply I just sent you, I started to cry. A question popped into my mind. A question I have been asking myself for years. You just helped me find a possible answer. I hadn’t laid out the pieces side by side before.

      Thank you.

      10

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      1. I’d be happy to carry on this or any other conversation with you using email. Just apply my ozarkwaterpal to a g and mail. I’ve appreciated all our exchanges and look forward to more.

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  10. You’ve definitely piqued my interest with those Bible excerpts! Talk about a plot twist! 📖😱 And you’re absolutely right – great books are supposed to stir up all sorts of emotions, even if they leave us scratching our heads or feeling a bit scandalized. Thanks for this post.

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  11. Yeah ,i have read story of Adam and Eve that gives theme of individuality , love ,punishment of disobeying your lord,and many others that gives us message to control our self .

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  12. I’m loving the perspectives you’ve drafted from the bible. And even in the comments, the bible is still a mystery book to all, so is Christianity. Differentiating between Christ and Religion is always the task, but I’m definitely diving deeper into the bible after this.

    Thank you for opening my mind.

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  14. Books that bring me closer to God, that is the books that contains His acts such as Exodus and Jesus acts also.
    Such books Teach you how good, powerful and evil God is. That’s God is a good God and evil God. If you do good you will see His good side and if evil you will see His evil side of him without delay

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    1. I’m going to disagree with you here. I don’t believe God has an evil side. In the Old Testament, God used any means to bring his children back to him. Sin makes things and people evil.

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  16. I’m not really into the delusional fantasy fiction genre.Particularly those penned by evil demonic forces. How about a few suggestions to wake one up rather than to introduce mental anaesthesia in thine brain stem. The Book of the NEW SUN series by Gene Wolfe might fall into a fantasy fiction category, it has 4 books and has generated its own CON-Lang dictionary. For real Blood Lust check out the Judge in Cormack McCarthy’s BLOOD MERIDIAN, or for humor in the hell of war – Joseph Heller’s Catch 22. Another great one would be Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban. I suggest Burning any and all abortions of any text noted as a bibble, babble…whatever. Think for yourself. NOW.

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  17. It’s an excellent suggestion. Even non-Christians find it worthwhile to read the Bible for its literary merit. It’s a bibliography of genres after all. There are more allusions to it than even the Greek and Roman myths, which they say are the basis of any story ever told in modern times. The Bible’s insight into human nature is profound, and the wisdom gleaned from it is practical. 🙂

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