The Greatest Book of All Time! Part 2 of 2
Book Reviews December 15th, 2009
Yesterday in Part 1 of this review, I outlined briefly my experience with reading the Bible as well as the many heroes written in it to learn from. This second part explores a few more areas I particularly valued.
Great Teaching Through Stories
I love storytelling and I know its a powerful way to teach and convey a message. This is definitely one of the reasons the Bible has as much impact on so many as it does, its full of hundreds of incredible short stories all weaved together in the greatest Love story of all time. That is of God sending his only Son to suffer and die on the Cross to pay for sins of all people through all of time. So of course that over arching story has deep meaning for me as a Christian, but most people will likely connect more with individual stories from the bible and what is taught in them.
When it comes to story telling, Jesus used stories and parables more than any other teacher and He did so with such a deep understanding, sometimes the message He sends with each story cannot be fully comprehended simply hearing it once. Some of Jesus’ stories and the messages He shared can really take years of study to fully understand. In fact, there are scholars and teachers still dissecting the meaning of each story today, 2000 years after the stories were originally told. Now I don’t know about you, but if I’m able to ever tell a story profound enough that even one person retells it I’ll be ecstatic, let alone millions of people teaching it 2 millenium later.
There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death; there is no discharge in that war.
Ecclesiastes, 8. 8
What Matters in Life
Another significant thing the Bible does like no other book is trigger many, many reflective questions about the things that matter most in life. Contemplating some of the stories and instructions from God does much to activate these questions in a hope to understand more of what mattes in our own lives in comparison to some of the heroes, villains and variety of people from the Bible. The example of how Jesus lived his live with servant hood and perfect obedience to God forces one to ponder if any of those same things matter in your own life. Are material possessions and temporary things on Earth getting in the way of you knowing and living the life you truly desire? What about the effort put into your relationships and serving others? Do you have a purpose and what is getting in the way of living it?
Personally, those questions really matter to me and so does the context of them. Of course its still a daily struggle to escape the undesirable and temptations I face, yet I find myself continually spiraling closer and closer to what always seems like a more defined purpose. Yet with each loop of this spiral it seems to morph into more of a funnel and I find the questions taking me deeper and deeper into the funnel. I’ve deepened my beliefs and faith in serving greatly by reflecting on all the stories and examples and by learning so much more through study. There are so many great references, teachings, messages and stories to ponder you can’t help but look at where applying that in your own life is valuable. Also, the moral foundation is so easy to apply to great relationships, true honesty, continual integrity and love for others.
Connections To Personal Development
All these beautiful ways to learn present a huge opportunity to improve oneself and that is where it connects deeply to most areas of personal development in today’s writings, teachings and courses. Many of the books, quotes and role models in personal development today have moral foundations, beliefs and a servant attitude that stems from the Bible. Whether its an intentional connection or not, much of what we study in personal development is a result of both old testament teachings and Jesus’ life here on Earth.
Whether your looking for examples of moral leadership, trust, integrity or friendships, its all here. From the beginning to the end (pun intended), its the Word of God. You’ll find nearly every area of personal development and a challenge to explore your own character to a level beyond what most would ever dare to start. Beautiful examples of the golden rule, servant hood, obedience, purpose and true faith are here in the one book nearly everyone has but seldom reads. It’s by far the best book I’ve ever read and is so profound I could put all other books away and just continue to learn by rereading this; the greatest book of all time.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
Mark 12: 31-32
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Mike King
December 15th, 2009 at 10:02 PM
I appreciate your willingness to post about this on your blog. I know it can be difficult to talk about this in a public setting… some people would rather not hear about it.
It’s a life changer though. I just read today that you supposedly read the whole Bible in one year just reading 12.5 minutes per day. That seems insanely short. I’ve done it before, but it seems like it took a lot longer than 12.5 minutes per day. What about you, though… how was your reading schedule to actually complete it in eight months?
-Marshall Jones Jr.
December 16th, 2009 at 2:20 AM
I agree with you that the best education, best form of storytelling and best example on how to live a content life is through the teachings of Christ. We don’t have to searach far in order to seek the best educational methods; thank you for pointing that out, it’s very easy to forget.
December 16th, 2009 at 3:20 AM
Its amazing how many personal development philosophies can be found in the bible. I am always amazed when I read a book that has a biblical principle in it but is passed off as a new concept.
Great post! Thanks for doing two parts.
December 16th, 2009 at 9:14 AM
@Marshall – Thanks for the comments. Life changer for sure. I couldn’t imagine NOT posting about it once I was even part way through reading. It has so much alignment with everything else I’ve learned in personal development, I was shocked really. So many great books I thought were somewhat of their own content stem back to the Bible in many ways. I was amazed at this and at all the incredible stories and teachings.
As for getting through it, I listened to quite a bit on audio and read chapters. I’m a huge audible listener so I can take much more in through hearing a book than reading on I find. However, I listened at least 5 days a week for about 20-30 minutes. Sometimes less, sometimes more. I wasn’t consistent though every day as I read a couple other books in between various books from the Bible. I listen many times while doing work, dishes, riding my bike to work, etc. That time adds up fast and is how I get through most of my books. I believe the 12.5 minutes a day if you were consistent, it adds up fast.
@Hripsime – So true. If only more people realized how much there is to learn from the Bible, it could have even more impact. I hope my review and these comments on it help a few more people to seek it for learning.
@Ralph – Great to hear and thanks for your comment, its always nice to reinforce what personal development content that can be learned.
December 16th, 2009 at 8:30 PM
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December 16th, 2009 at 11:44 PM
Hi Mike.
I like the part here about storytelling. My messages do much better when I add stories in, because stories are what we are about. Each event comes with a story. Also, in relation to what you say here, a story from many years ago can still be very valid, as our standard processes don’t change much at all.
On the note about bringing up what matters, this is what some of the best folks do that relates to what you mentioned here about the Bible messages. I know when I think of some great folks, a big thing about them is that they focus highly on that which matters. Things that don’t matter much bother them to even talk about, as they see it as a waste of their time, which I agree with, but I don’t always realize it until a later time.
I know someone right now who knows what matters, and it isn’t until I don’t talk to her for a bit that her focus was on important things, and influenced me to remain on important things.
Cool concept extraction here.
December 16th, 2009 at 11:57 PM
@Armen, thanks for your comments. You’re latest story about finding ARMEN at twitter as a user is a perfect example on your blog of how story telling is so effective. Loved it!
Thanks for the your thoughts on getting to what matters and the content from extracting concept here from the Bible. It is truly so massive its hard to dissect into some overarching themes and methods to learn, yet the more I think about it, the more strongly I believe these few areas I have outlined. Glad to see some confirmation on that. Thanks!
December 17th, 2009 at 7:20 AM
to be honest, I don’t normally like it when the religion issues are implemented into our social or political life. However, if it comes to the principles I am absolutely for it! Nowadays kids seem to have no principles at all.
December 20th, 2009 at 1:16 PM
We don’t have to searach far in order to seek the best educational methods; thank you for pointing that out, it’s very easy to forget.
December 20th, 2009 at 4:36 PM
Mike – how could I not comment? I really appreciated your genuine thoughts on the Bible and the lessons we can learn from it. Not just personally, but from a training / leading perspective as well. Like you and Ralph said, I too have often been amazed at how many modern principles are simply restatements of Biblical principles.
Your post got me thinking about why stories are so effective and it occurred to me that they are one of the few teaching methods where you can, with a little work, have your cake and eat it to. They (a) entertain those who aren’t as interested in the topic, while (b) force those that are interested to dig in and think things over. Clearly Jesus was a great model of this as he had thousands of people listening (and unfortunately many who were not affected), while impacting others enough to forever change the course of humanity. It must be hard as a teacher to maintain the balance between these two as I can see that many of todays self help programs, books, and churches have begun to focus a little too much on the former.
Congratulations on getting through so quickly.
December 22nd, 2009 at 10:36 PM
Hi Mike, I commend your latest undertaking. I have read the Bible cover to cover several times. In fact, over the years it has proven to be my greatest source of wisdom and guidance. I know that many feel that the Bible is full of contradictions. Let me assure you, ALL such seeming contradictions vanish as your understanding grows. The same is true in the natural world. I encourage you Mike, don’t just read the Bible, study it. Yes. it’s a long term commitment, but it is the most worthwhile thing you will ever do.
December 22nd, 2009 at 10:56 PM
Thanks for the words of encouragement on progress with this undertaking Jonathan, and yes, it is not a book I’ll leave on the shelf that is for sure. I’ve already re-read Mark for study and looked back quite a bit at Jeremiah. So much to learn and I love your message on how the contradictions vanish. I’ve just started to see that as I know I had some doubts to some things long before reading it and they are not even a remote thought any longer. I’m sure more will crop up as I learn but now I know where I’ll be looking to answer them… Thanks for your continued support!
December 23rd, 2009 at 12:19 AM
Great post Mike.
Yes, the Bible is the greatest Self help, motivational Book of all time. It never surprises me when I hear many promotional speakers, how a lot of their processes and points are all contained within the Bible. Only thing is that they have taken God out the picture. Well that don’t help does it.
I remember reading through the Bible at Bible College, on of the requirements. Must admit that at times I did not feel like reading, and it did not mean much to me. Remember going through Leviticus, all those laws, wow. And numbers and the generations.
I am preaching through the Bible in our church. Been through Genesis, Matthew, Romans. Thats taken us more than 5 years. Hope I live long enough to go through the whole bible.
December 23rd, 2009 at 1:21 AM
Thanks Robert! It’s so great to connect with more people who understand the roots of personal development and are willing to express it and use in their lives still today. You are right, many take God out of it and still hope to get some value from that. I guess there is value still in living that way, but without the purpose of living that way, its kind of empty.
I was quite surprised actually reading through it, I was very very enthralled with the content even in areas repeated messages and long winded passages. Of course I had a few tough books myself, Isaiah and Psalms though were the toughest for me. 5 years is a long time on 3 books so obviously you are getting into quite a deep study of them. Like Jonathan recommended above, don’t just read them, study them. Clearly you are doing that with your Church. You will likely have to move a bit faster through the books than your current rate if you want to finish it alive though. wink, wink 😉
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment and encourage this source for all personal development readers.
December 30th, 2009 at 5:13 AM
Part of the Bible’s appeal to people is that it is classified as a non fiction work. But is it a bit funny that people of different religions read the same book but have different understandings?
December 30th, 2009 at 10:08 PM
@Career – everybook has people take away different understandings from it. Its a huge book with so many stories, messages and content it literally takes years of study to even begin to really understand it, so this doesn’t surprise me one bit. Even after my first full read, there are things I learned and changed my understanding of since reading bits and pieces of it previously or as a kid. I’m sure those will change again as I continue to study it. Its not a book you simply read and say, ahh, I get it. There is just too much to fully understand and its easy to take pieces out without full context for whatever purposes you like. As with any book really. All I can do is encourage you to read it and find out for yourself what your understandings of it are. It can be shared with people, but understanding can’t be forced.
December 31st, 2009 at 10:10 AM
I just discovered this site and I appreciate the insightful commentary. It seems I am always in the middle of 4-5 christian books but lately I have felt so… unfed. I have come to realize it’s because I have been placing too much reliance on books about the word and need to be cultivating my own relationship instead of hearing the interpretations of the christian leaders of the day. I do believe the Lord led me to this post and I appreciate it.
January 8th, 2010 at 1:13 PM
Nice job getting through the entire book Mike! It’s been a long time since I’ve read it cover to cover in a year.
Almost all good principles found in business books can be traced to something either the Bible has spoken about (or against!). A couple of thoughts about reading the book that I continue to find exciting:
One – it’s my story. It’s not just history or theology it’s me. More and more I find myself and my struggles and longings in the Bible. I don’t just read it – it reads me.
Two – there is always more. Because I change and life changes I can come back to the same stories and there is always more to ponder, to use and to keep shaping me. The more I read the more I realize that the Book is richer and thicker and deeper than I thought!
This year along with reading and journalling each day I am also using “The Divine Hours” to guide my biblical journey. You can find more here: http://www.annarborvineyard.org/tdh/tdh.cfm and here:http://www.phyllistickle.com
January 9th, 2010 at 8:07 AM
Thanks so much Steve for your thoughts. Very interesting how you relate so much of the bible to your own life and experiences. I can’t say I’m there yet or have felt that but perhaps its more since I feel I learn so much in it I haven’t yet experienced those same things, but there are always some stories one can relate to where you do feel that. The idea that the whole story relates is quite intriguing. I’ll definitely be reading it again as I learned more from it than any other book and there is infinitely more to apply, a better set of examples and actions to put into place and it provokes so much more study and learning compared to any other books I’ve ever read. BTW: Really looking forward to the new re:image work series at the Church as well. It’s an area constantly on my mind. Martin brought a great quote out (don’t remember who it was) about how Christians are a force that presents the kingdom of God to others. Doing that at work is a great opportunity and one I am fortunately enough to do on a regular basis. Excited to explore that from new angles! See ya tomorrow!
February 9th, 2010 at 3:36 PM
as an avid book reader the Bible is the best book and best selling book of all time. I recently found it on audiobook to share with my friends that don’t read as much.