Well. Wait let me say something here. I may have said it before, but today I’m too
damn lazy to look it up to see for sure.
Did y’all notice how I start a whole bunch of my “stories” with the word
“well”? Well, there is a reason for
it. You see, all through elementary,
junior high, high school and college, teachers taught (no demanded) that I
never, I mean never ever, start a sentence, an article or a book with the word
“well”. So, being the “fall in line”,
“follow the crowd” kinda fella I am (NOT) I just had to start this one with
“well”. So where was I?
Well
bein’ the hard headed, rattle the cage kinda cat I am I am gonna wade into
never, never land once again. Yep, I’m
gonna talk about the Bible and religion.
Heaven forbid right? Hey, and I’m
gonna step on some toes. A bunch of
toes! But me, bein’ me, I cannot resist
and with the way things are right now it might do some good. So here goes.
Folks,
you do not need your Bible! No you
don’t! At least, not in the sense that a
whole bunch of you think you do.
Having
lost my wife, after a multi-year battle with sickness and cancer, has made me
reflect on life in a whole new way. It
has caused me to make my life simpler.
More peaceful. More calm and yes,
even less important. Sure I’m gonna live
my life, but it is my next life which is way more important to me now.
Over
the last five years I have watched as folks have tried to out quote each other
on Bible verses. I observed as countless
thousands have argued about which religion is right and which one is wrong. I have actually seen people come to
blows. I have soon good friends become
enemies. I have seen families break
apart and for what? All in the name of
the Bible and/or religion. That ain’t
right! That is not what God intended and
of this I am sure! So here is my take on
religion, the Bible and what God Almighty intended. And no, this does not include the Muslim’s
“Allah”! That is just evil.
Take
your Bible, whether King James, Catholic, International, New International, or even
most Jewish books and look up the Ten Commandments. Okay, you got that? Now, look up The Lord’s Prayer (Our
Father). These two things are in all of
these books and in many others. Now
completely memorize and take to heart these two writings. Now, you can put your books down because if
you live and pray by these two things you will never have need for a Bible or
religion for anything other than history lessons. Why do you think these two things were
written? For history lessons? No sir!
They were written because these two things will be a way of life
forever. They will follow any time
period. They will follow ALL world
changes. There is no argument in what
they say or mean. It is these two things
which can UNITE us all instead of break us apart like the multitude of
religions and Bible verses taken out of context have.
Think
I’m mistaken? See for yourself amongst
many Bibles:
New
International Version
"This,
then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your
name,
New
Living Translation
Pray
like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.
English
Standard Version
Pray
then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
New
American Standard Bible
"Pray,
then, in this way: 'Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
King
James Bible
After
this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy
name.
Holman
Christian Standard Bible
"Therefore,
you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, Your name be honored as holy.
International
Standard Version
Therefore,
this is how you should pray: 'Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.
NET
Bible
So
pray this way: Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored,
Aramaic
Bible in Plain English
Therefore
pray in this way: 'Our Father who are in Heaven, hallowed be your name,
GOD'S
WORD®BIBLE Translation
"This
is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, let your name be kept holy.
Jubilee
Bible 2000
Ye,
therefore, are to pray like this: Our Father who art in the heavens, Hallowed
be thy name.
King
James 2000 Bible
After
this manner therefore pray: Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name.
American
King James Version
After
this manner therefore pray you: Our Father which are in heaven, Hallowed be
your name.
American
Standard Version
After
this manner therefore pray ye. Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy
name.
Douay-Rheims
Bible
Thus
therefore shall you pray: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Darby
Bible Translation
Thus
therefore pray *ye*: Our Father who art in the heavens, let thy name be sanctified,
English
Revised Version
After
this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy
name.
Webster's
Bible Translation
After
this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy
name.
Weymouth
New Testament
"In
this manner therefore pray: 'Our Father who art in Heaven, may Thy name be kept
holy;
World
English Bible
Pray
like this: 'Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.
Young's
Literal Translation
thus
therefore pray ye: 'Our Father who art in the heavens! Hallowed be Thy name.
The
Bible is the “good” book! No, it is the “best”
book! It was never meant to be a competition,
or a memory contest or an object of division.
It was meant to be the ultimate life guide book! It was meant to be inspirational! It was meant to be about the life of Jesus
and more important, his teachings! Study
it as often as you can, but when it comes to your “life”, do as Moses commanded
and pray as Jesus told you too. Do this
and everything else WILL take care of itself.
So
tonight, when you pray, remember what Jesus instructed us to do and what Moses
brought down from the mount. Seriously,
right now, in order to make the world a better place and get UNITED behind God
Almighty, do we really need anything else?
Okay,
now y’all can pick what I just wrote to pieces and go back to the way you were
and start beaten me up for taking a chance to try to make things better.
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