Blessings to you, loved ones.  It seems like Spring sprung early this year.  I hope you were able to get out and enjoy it a little before the rain came in.  We almost always need the rain, so I am thankful for that too.  I’m happy to share with you what’s coming next at BBT.

I’m delighted to report that Priscilla plans to be back with us tomorrow.  That’ll brighten up the place whatever the weather.  She is not up to driving the bus yet, but she is getting better.  Kelvin left a message with me yesterday that sounded so sad.  I look forward to the day when we can bring him back.

This morning as I was doing a little research, I was led to a part of the Bible that many may find troubling.  That might be for what it says, or it might be because scholars have cast doubt on whether it belongs in the Bible at all.  I remember the first time I encountered a translation that did not include Mark 16:9-20.  At the time I did not know about the controversy and immediately started asking around who had ever heard of that version and was it reliable?  If we are calling the Bible the word of God, how can there be any question about what goes into it?

Challenges to the authenticity of the Bible are nothing new.  Many have made a career out of them.  Linda enjoys watching programs that explore biblical history, but I don’t.  The reason is that they almost always set about to cast at least some doubt on the reliability of the text.  I’m pleasantly surprised on the rare occasion that someone seems to have been fair in their approach.

But even believers may have questions.  Why so many translations?  How come they don’t always agree?  How can we claim this is the inspired word of God and then say that some verses don’t belong in it?  I hope that by the end of this message you will be a little more confident that what you read is the truth, or if you already have that confidence, that you will be able to share with those who do struggle.  We can argue about whether Mark really wrote that ending, but we can also know that just about every work has backing from other places in scripture and so leaves no reason to doubt the rest.  Don’t let Satan twist God’s word to shake your faith.

Don’t you be missing this Sunday!

Love you all,

Larry