........eation ! "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1) ..."So, God created man in his own image"(Genesis 1:27), then after proofing his rough draft, God created woman !!.... Ok, so I made that part up, but you know what? If God didn't appreciate a sense of humor, He wouldn't have given it to us !!

I know what you all are thinking. I can't believe she has the Balsams to review the Holy Bible. Why not? It's one of the most published, most read pieces of literature in history. And, besides, who would you rather hear it from; me, or someone who's going to thump you over the head with it?!?!?

Now, don't get me wrong. This is by no means a negative review. As a matter of fact, I'll tell you right away that this is one of my favorite Books, and I highly recommend it to absolutely everyone. Yes, this includes Pharisees, Levites, and Sinners alike. Trust me, God is not going to fry you with 20 million volts of electricity because this is the first time you've picked up a Bible. He might give you the hic-ups or something, but..... NO, just kidding !!!!

This particular version of the Bible is the New International Version (NIV), and was published by Zondervan publishing. It's a small, personal size Bible that is bound in the softest, most supple leather (soft as a baby's.... well, you know). The pages are embossed on the edges with gold, though with frequency of use, the gold has started to wear off.

I like the NIV best because it's easy to read and comprehend. Yes, there are those out there that will tell you that only the King James Version (KJV) has the truest, most accurate translation, but the way I look at it.... completely accurate translation or not, if I can't understand what I'm reading, then what good is it doing me? Take these passages for example (and yes, I do own both the NIV and KJV, both published by Zondervan publishing):

"All the brethren of the poor do hate him, how much more do his friends go far from him. He pursueth them with words, yet they are wanting to him." (Proverbs 19:7 King James Version)

or....

"A poor man is shunned by all his relatives, how much more do his friends avoid him! Though he pursues them with pleading, they are nowhere to be found. (Proverbs 19:7 New International Version)

and how about:

" Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out; so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth" (Proverbs 26:20 King James Version)

or....

"Without wood, a fire goes out; without gossip, a quarrel dies down." (Proverbs 26:20 New International Version)

Tell me, which one could you understand better? (I thought so!)

Not that I'm into any ultra modern day translations or anything (I've seen them in the stores ick!!). Can you imagine????? The NIV says (Jesus speaking): "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace." (Mark 5:34)

How about a:
70's version: "Peace man.... more love to you."
80's version: "Yo homey, you be chillin'. "
90's version: "What up dawg, peace out !"

Ummmm.... NO. But I do appreciate being able to actually understand what it is that I'm reading!!

So, what else can you expect to find in this particular version published by Zondervan publishing? Well, I'm glad you asked !

In the back of this Bible, you will find a Table of Weights and Measures. This can actually come in quite handy. As your reading along... He built the most Holy Place, it's length corresponding to the width of the temple - twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide". (2 Chronicles 3:8) Ya, okay... how long was it? What's a cubit? Ah ha .... let's check out the Table of Weights and Measures: Cubit = 18 inches in length or 0.5 meters. Oh... ok, I get it. It was about (20 times 18 equals 360, divided by 12.....) 30 feet long and 30 feet wide !

Also, in the back of this Bible, you will find a handy section that will lead you to just the right place, if you're looking for something specific to pray about. "Oh, I'm so mad at that jerk for smashing into my car. I just want to.... oh, what should I do?" Hmmm, let's look up ANGER. There it is, it says I should read: "Psalm 38:8, Refrain from anger and from wrath: do not fret, it leads only to evil."

And finally, the last thing listed in this Book is a Dictionary-Concordance. Let's say you're reading along, and you come across a word that you don't know, or you're not quite sure of it's meaning... Everything they do is done for men to see. They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long." (Matthew 23:5). What on earth is a phylactery? Trusty Dictionary-Concordance to the rescue. Phylactery: a small leather box containing verses from the Old Testament.

The Holy Bible itself is made up of 66 individual Books, which are broken down into two main sections: The Old Testament, and the New Testament. Of the two, the New Testament is my favorite. Why? Well.... although necessary, I find that the Old Testament is rather loaded with Wrath and Fear. And the New Testament? Basically, Jesus taught Love, Kindness, Sharing and Compassion. (Come on.... If you had a choice between wrath or love, which would you prefer?????).

Now that we have the components of this wonderful Book in perspective, let's discuss it's content.

The Bible is the story of God's dealings with His often misbehaving children. Just like our own kids, God's children love Him, but often decide that they know everything, and refuse to take the advice of their Father.

Throughout the Old Testament, God's children displayed, time after time, their disobedience to Him. Even from the beginning. No sooner did God finish all His hard work and sit down to take a rest, when His first two kids started to act up. The one thing that they were forbidden to do, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." (Genesis 2:16).... You guessed it, they did it anyway ! "Tommy, go grab yourself and your friend a snack in the kitchen, but what ever you do, don't touch the chocolate chip cookies I just baked!" An hour later, you go to wrap up the cookies that have cooled, they're no where to be found !! "Tommy... what did I tell you?" "It's his fault, he made me do it!" Well, Adam had that exact same response: "The woman you put here with me, she gave me some of the fruit.." (Genesis 3:12).

And so it continued, God's children doing what ever they wanted to do, disobeying His commands. God got fed up. Time after time, He watched them misbehave, and He dished out His punishments. From Noah and the Great Flood (can you imagine the stench on that vessel, with all those animals and humans bottled up together for 40 days and 40 nights? Yikes!), to Moses & Aaron and the ungrateful individuals who just wanted to party. "When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, "come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him"."(Exodus 32:1). So, Aaron made them a golden calf out of their jewelry, and they proceeded to throw themselves a big party. Ohhh... big mistake! They all caught themselves a nasty plague, as punishment for that one !!

God later found favor in David (even though he messed up a couple times, too) and his family, and especially in his son Solomon. God gave Solomon great wisdom, and Solomon kept his dad's pact with God, and built God a grand temple. The people lived in peace under Solomon's rule. Of course, mankind being as they are, the "juvenile delinquents" of generations to come would later vandalize and trash this eloquent place of worship. Yes, many, many years later it would get re-built, but I doubt it was ever the same again.

With so much going on in the Old Testament, I could go on for ever. But, since this is just a review and not a dissertation, I'm going to skip ahead to the New Testament (if you want to know what else happened in the Old Testament, well.. you're just going to have to read it for yourself, now aren't you?).

Alas, God had finally decided to ultimately forgive his children. Jesus Christ was born into this world just for this reason. His purpose here was not only for the forgiveness of our sins, but to also be our finest teacher. After all, God figured that if He's going to forgive us, He'd better make sure that we know where we stand and how to behave..

Of course, not all of us pesky little humans could see that. There were those who were just plain jealous of Jesus, and some that were afraid that He wanted their jobs. So, they set out to bump him off. Little did they know that this was all part of God's plan!

Jesus traveled the land and taught people about God's word and His ways. He liked to tell His lessons by using parables. He put it in a way that they could understand and remember.

Honestly, who really likes to be preached at? Someone just blatantly tells you what you can and what you cant do, it's going to go in one ear and out the other. So instead of saying "Don't be greedy and hoard everything to yourself, help those in need", He told them: "How hard is it for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." (Luke 18:24-25)

Yes, even Jesus had a sense of humor. Do you think that they remembered the parable more then they would remember a preached order? (Obviously, they did, because it wasn't until many years after His death that these books of the Bible were written.)

Or, how about: "Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed." ( Luke 20:18) Basically he's saying "Hey, life's tough and bad things may make you stumble and fall, messing up stuff in your life. Just pick up the pieces and move on. But if you're the one causing the bad things to happen, then forget it, your done for !!"

Ya, I think I'd remember the "visual" of the smashing stones more easily then the preachy "be good or else" command.

And so it goes on. Jesus taught people to love each other, to share with others in need, and to respect one another. Jesus also taught folks to love God, and follow His wishes. He told them parables that showed them how wrong it was to discriminate, to steal, or to be jealous.

The more Jesus taught, the more the "human" powers that be got jealous and envious. Eventually, one of Jesus' "right hand men" would turn on Him, and turn Him into the authorities who couldn't wait remove this "distraction" from their lives.

Off to execution they dragged Him. They even made fun of Him, saying "if you really are who you say you are, then why don't you just poof yourself out of this mess?" "He saved others", they said, "but he can't save himself? He's the King of Israel !Let him come down now from the cross and we will believe in him." (Matthew 27:42)

That would not happen, because Jesus knew about God's bigger plan. So, they all thought that they had gotten rid of Him, once and for all. But God and Jesus got the last laugh !! Because of Jesus' death, people's love for God and Jesus' teachings became even more powerful.

What is the underlying moral of all these stories??? Well.... morals for starters. And, God isn't just up there, kicking back with His feet up getting a few chuckles while He's watching a TV soap opera called "As the Creation Spins". He really cares about us. He really wants to see His children succeed in life. And, He really to wants help.

Unfortunately, far to many of us refuse to ask Him for help! Why? Well, like the typical teenager, we think we know it all ! That is, until we crack up the fender on Dad's new sports car. Then who's gonna pick up the pieces?.... God, of course (but you've got to tell Him what you did first, before you can ask Him to "fix it".)

Recommended: Yes