Bumper Sticker II

The other day I was driving down the road and saw another interesting bumper sticker.

On the surface, this bumper sticker seems completely harmless and even a bit good, but the more I thought about it the more it disturbed me.

It was one of those oval stickers that mimics the OBX stickers but gives support for something else other than the Outer Banks. This one, too, was just three letters...

KJV

For those of you that may not know, KJV stand for King James Version. It is a version of the Bible. Now I am not a fan of that version for a number of reasons, but I also have no real issues with the version itself. It has brought the gospel message to millions of people over the years.

What bothers me is the attitude that comes from putting "KJV" on the back of your car.

Yes, it's a harmless support for God's word, but if you wanted to share your support for God's word then why not just have these three letters? G, O, D, or only two... J, C, or put one of those fish symbols on your car (you know the one's that the early Christians used to identify each other by drawing them in the dirt...).

By putting KJV on your car you do the following, you confuse those that have no idea what KJV means, you exclaim to the world that the version of YOUR Bible is more important than the message in it and you condemn those that don't use KJV by choosing sides that were not meant to be drawn.

I grew up with King James, I read it in my youth
I read it in my Sunday school, It's how I learned the truth
Learning to decipher Elizabethan voice
Newer versions came along and now I have a choice!

Growin' up with King James
Learning "thees" and "thous"
Learning the unwritten rules that the church allows
Growin' up with King James
Hard to understand what the language means to me
Say who is this man? King James

Back when it was brand new the lingo it was prime
It's safe to say that century was way before my time
When it comes to versions, which is the one for me?
I can honestly declare, It's not the KJV!

No, we are not sayin' The KJV is bad
Countless souls came to the Lord
The only choice they had
If you're tryin' to tell me that's it's the only one
That would mean Jehovah God would be an Englishman

"Growin' Up With King James" - Keith Lancaster

"...Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and he is a foreigner to me." 1 Corinthians 14:9-11

Bumper Sticker

I saw something incredibly sad the other day while driving down the road.

There was a lady in front of me...maybe 45-50 years old...in a little beat up Ford Fiesta. That's a bit sad, but not that sad. What was really sad was her bumper sticker...it read...

"God is a Myth"

My first reaction to reading that bumper sticker was that I must have read it wrong. The words God and Myth were big and the rest were small so I inched up to I could re-read it. To my amazement I had read it correctly the first time.

The bumper sticker was faded and old and I wondered if it had just come with the car. However, it occurred to me that if you bought a used car with that bumper sticker on it, even if you didn't have any deep feelings about God you would most likely remove it unless that's how you felt.

Once I realized that the bumper sticker said exactly what I thought it said I had to get a look at who would make such a statement to the driving world. Probably some goofy kid that doesn't know any better...just as I was thinking that I realized it was a full-fledged adult.

What does it take to make someone turn their back on God? To deny their existence? To look around at this ordered universe and say...oh it just happened?

I can't imagine a life without God, it would be empty, void, cold, dark...hopeless. Sure, as humans we sometimes have doubt or questions in our minds and sometimes we even express these thoughts. But to proclaim to the world that God is a myth...

I can only imagine what sort of terrible thing happens to someone to make them turn their back on God. I pray that she turns around...because He will still be there waiting for her and if she takes just one step she'll be in his arms, his warm, loving arms.

"...But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was
filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him...the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate. Matthew 5:20,22,23