A Puritan evangelist, John Rogers, warned his congregation against neglecting Scripture by telling them what God might say: "I have trusted you so long with my Bible - it lies in some houses all covered with dust and cobwebs, you care not to listen to it. Do you use my Bible that way? Well, you shall have my Bible no longer". Rogers then picked up his Bible and started walking away from the pulpit. Then he stopped, fell on his knees, and took on the voice of the people, who pleaded, "Lord, whatever Thou dost to us, take not Thy Bible from us; kill our children, burn our houses, destroy our goods; only spare us Thy Bible, take not away Thy Bible". "Say you so?" the minister replied, impersonating what God might say: "Well, I will try you a while longer; and here is my Bible for you. I will see how you use it, whether you will search it more, love it more, observe it more, and live more according to it".
Thomas Goodwin was so moved by Rogers's presentation that when he left church he wept upon his horse's neck for fifteen minutes before he felt strong enough to mount it.
What a contrast that is with today's liberals who attack the bible with higher criticism, the Emerging Church which so often assaults the truth of the Bible, and Seeker-Centered churches which crowd-out the preached Word with pop-psychology.
Here is one more contrasting reminder of the value placed on the bible,
by Christians in other times and other places:
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