Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

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(Imagine supernatural mist encircling you as you read, and proceed with caution)

             There are two worlds in which we live. The first is a world of color and depth–of beauty and wonder. It is vast and everlasting, including everything that exists anywhere. It is a timeless image satiated by our own experiences, determining how things appear. It is the sum total of all things that can be perceived, or whose effects on other things can be distinguished. It is our very own tangible universe. Alternatively, there is a second world. (More mist) The second world is unseen, unspoken, and unheard. It can be dark, bright, or neither. It is the mystifying terra firma of the infirm: the slippery, yet tacit concept of the mind.  It is true that the second world exists inside the first, but it is truer that the first resides in the second. (Mist clears, allowing everything to soak in)

             An author must continually cross-reference the first world with the second. Without employing the second world (our unique experiences, intellect, or personal panache), writing would be nothing but sterile dictation and tasteless description. But when we empower the second world to make sense of the first, we add to the mix our own distinct flavor. A blender is a neat appliance. I can appreciate how a set of attached rotary blades swivel around when introduced to electricity, but things don’t get rowdy until I throw in my tried and true personal favorites–frozen mangoes, milk, and sugar–to make a kickin’ fruit smoothie. Writing is just that: investigating the unknown, experimenting with the flavors, throwing crap together, and producing some mango-licious verbiage. (The following sentences are important and may require processing) An author writes with the prospect of sculpting his or her truest sensitivity to the world. There is infinite possibility fused with intimate opportunity. One can write about anything, everything, or nothing, but ultimately, any portrait painted with feeling is a portrait not of the sitter, but of the artist.

            So here’s the scoop: I wanted to provide ample background and mental imagery in order to share a necessary bit about the complexity of authorship, and if you are asking yourself, “What the heck is Aaron barking on about?” then 1. You can personally testify to it, 2. We’ll be on the same page, and 3. My battle will be half won. Check it out. If I see a brown mastiff (really big dog) on the street, instantly I am reminded of my own gentle giant. Comfortable nostalgia may sweep over me as I remember the time he followed me onto the elementary school bus, giving almost everyone a good laugh. On the other hand, someone else (let’s say my elementary school bus driver) who is walking down the same street, upon seeing the same dog, might have entirely different associations. She might scream wildly, flail her arms, and yell “YOUR HORSE IS FOLLOWING YOU!”
             Thus, for every sensory perception (really big dog), there are a wide variety of reactions or perspectives (nostalgia versus screaming). The observable world is but the minute tip of a colossal iceberg. This is precisely why if you give two contemporaries a single, straightforward topic on which to write, you will inevitably find two vastly different products in the end. It is only logical that this occurs because what we observe is not at all representative of how we perceive. Following this train of thought, however, leads to one frighteningly alarming and fully awesome exception: the Bible. 
             The authoritative canonical Bible contains not one, but sixty-six documents, written by a host of nearly forty different authors from all walks of life: from shepherds, farmers, tent-makers, physicians, and fishermen, to priests, philosophers, and kings. It was written over a period of some 1,500 years, in thirteen different countries spanning across three continents. Think back to the incredible possibilities and complexity of a single author. Furthermore, the Bible was written in three different languages, and touches upon thousands of controversial issues. Consider the substantial differences over a single perception (big dog). How can such a phenomenon remain so inherently consistent and unified? How can the biblical assembly of diverse authors from dissociated cultures and displaced eras harmoniously collude on such expansive and controversial material? Because there is one God.

             We are fortunate to have such an answer to an otherwise incredibly disturbing enigma to human logic and reasoning. The Bible has one Creator. It is one book. It has one plan of grace, recorded from commencement, through execution, to consummation. (Mist motif replaced with majestic clouds) From predestination to glorification, the Bible is the ultimate chronicle of God redeeming His chosen people for the honor of His praise. It unfolds not as sixty-six separate documents, and not even as two separate testaments, but as one book, by one divine Author, who wrote it all with one overarching theme. It does not deviate. It does not contradict. It is all-inclusive and incontrovertible. Over 2,000 times in the Old Testament alone, the Bible asserts that God spoke what is written within its pages. The Scriptures’ divine inspiration is what Jesus preached. It was the message the apostles taught. It was the message the Gentiles received as preached by Peter. It was the Word the Samaritans received from the apostles in Acts. It was written in Psalms and Proverbs, setting them apart from all other religious teachings.

            
The Bible contains the mind of God, the condition of man, and the path of salvation. It is a lighthouse to guide us home, and a fortress when we are weak. (More majestic clouds) Its laws are binding, its histories are accurate, its verdicts are immutable, and its doctrine is righteous. Its 1189 chapters contain light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you.  It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, and the Christian’s charter. Here heaven is open, and the gates of hell are disclosed. It is a refuge in trouble; a sourcebook for everyday living; and a treasury of insight. It should fill the mind, rule the heart, and guide the hand. It is a wealth of knowledge, health for the soul, and the Living Water. Read it to be wise and believe it to be saved. Pray that the Spirit unveils to you its richest and most personal truths. Cherish each word, for “man does not live by bread alone, but by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:3). It is your story. God wrote it to you, for you. It is about who you were, who you are are now in Christ, and who you may become for eternity. (End)