I listened to a sermon this morning by a man named Lew Newsom. He is the RUF campus minister at Ole Miss, and if you ever have an urge to hear a good sermon, download ANYTHING of his... he is solid and I always come away challenged and encouraged.
The sermon I listened to this morning was about The Transfiguration. I learned a lot, since that's a passage and event I have never really understood at all, and the sermon gave me some food for thought. But the part I loved the most was when he started talking about times when we wish we lived during Bible times- either old or new testament. I often have... just in thinking how amazing it would be to see Jesus do the miracles right before me... how much easier it would be to believe if I were listening to Jeremiah deliver messages from God or standing by Moses when the Red Sea was parted.

But the truth of the matter is that in 2 Peter 1:12, when Peter is discussing his experience of the transfiguration, he informs the recipients of the letter that they're better off, that they/we can be MORE certain in our faith now than ever before - and the reason is simple. We have in our midst the authoritative, precious, infallible, complete Word of Truth.

I hugged my Bible. And then I started thinking seriously about what I would do if I couldn't have one... if they were outlawed here like they are in China... and how devastated I'd be. And whether most Christian Americans would be devastated if they were told they couldn't possess a Bible.

It made me think of those "What if...?" questions that we ask as ice-breakers. "If you were stranded on a desert island for the rest of your life, what three items would you bring with you?" I wonder how many people would include the Word of God in the small list. I wonder if I would.

It's a question that deserves an honest answer from everyone who claims the name of Christ.