Why is the Bible Still Here?

Hello, I'm Clarence, I'm the preacher. Life is the greatest thing before sliced bread, and the greatest thing after sliced bread. It is a gift from God. Many people are so enthralled by life that they don't want it to end.

https://youtu.be/NzCxls71KZs

Ponce de Leon (1460-1521) searched for the fountain of youth. He did not want life to end.

Even more impressive is that God gave us the information we need to enjoy life. I mean that God gave us the secrets to really max out life. The entire bible is the success manual for this earthly pilgrimage.

The problem is not that we don't have the information. The problem is that the information is not the magical shortcut, the effortless path, that most people want. They have looked at the Bible and said, "No, I don't want to do it that way. I think there is a better way." But over the last 6000 years of civilization, no one has found a better way.

At the very core of God's success manual is love. Paul would tell us that without love, we are nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). Jesus told us to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matt. 22:39).

Love is at the core of our spiritual success. Because we love God with all our being. And God is love (1 John 4:8)

I think that is awesome. Think about the religious system God established. It's all about love. The bible defines love and the bible encourages love. It's a little puzzling why people reject a system that is to full of love.

I can think of a couple of reason why people reject a system that is totally centered on love.

First, real love, bible love, is about giving. Think John 3:16. Because Jesus loved us so much, He gave his life. Far too many people think of love as primarily receiving. They have a selfish idea of love, and thus don't want the bible way.

Second, most of us know stories where Christian's behaved in ways that were anything but loving. I'm not talking about tough love, tough love is part of the bible way. I'm talking about people claiming to follow God and acting in outright hateful ways. It's no surprise to me that many people reject religion, because many people have never seen a group striving to really practice bible love.

#shorts