more bible

a recent industry poll indicates that 55% of people in churches
want to understand the bible in greater depth

over half
of the people
already in church
have a desire
to know
the bible
better

this news excites me
this news disturbes me

it excites me because i am a bible teacher
i love to teach the bible
all levels of the bible
last year i taught two survey courses in the bible
one old testament
one new testament
the classes were exciting
people were reading portions of the bible they had never read before
yes, we covered the minor prophets
yes, we covered numbers
yes, we covered revelation
yes, it was fun, it was exciting, it was energizing to me the teacher

but the news disturbes me
does it mean that my compatriots (other bible teachers) and i are not doing a good enough job
the bible is the biggest selling book in this country and in the world
it outsells everything
yes, even after all this time, more bibles were sold last year than any other book
more copies of the bible were purchased than copies of the newest harry potter book or newest grisham novel or lastest self-help tome
i know this because "wife of fish" is now in the bible selling business, at least the editing portion
the bible is still an interesting book to many, many, many people

there is an old, very old, country song adamsfishyodor learned once upon a time while spending a weekend in athens, ohio
the song is titled, "dust on the bible"

dust on the bible
dust on the holy word
the teachings of the prophets
and the sayings of our lord
so get the dust off your bible
and redeem your poor soul

during the early years of his ministry
billy graham gave out specially made bibles with red Moroccan leather covers
the color was chosen because he believed the bible needed to be "read"
perhaps a bit corny, but it was the early '50's

even after 30 years of teaching the bible
there is still work to do