從虎媽這本書談起 --- 5/26(周六)「親子座談會」與您有約

「媽媽，我愛妳！」(88)            張景祥 牧師

又逢母親節了！去年我以為是今生最後一次可以在母親節時繫紅色康乃馨(這表示母親還健在於世)的時候要結束了；為此，我還自己偷偷地哭了數次。想到自己都已經60多歲了，但一想到母親的愛和我的關係，不但還會哭，而且還哭得像小孩子一樣。我倒可感覺到當兒女的，無論多大，在父母的眼中，永遠是像個長不大的孩子；而兒女們看父母有時也是如此，只是眼見父母愈來愈老，或不在了，就覺得傷感。

我的媽媽自從2010年12月大中風以來已在醫院躺著，又渡過一年半的歲月了！感謝主的帶領和保守，她在台北的陽明醫院「呼吸照護中心」受到很好的照應。她因為中風時傷到腦部，因此癱瘓，終日昏睡。偶而被叫醒或搖醒，眼睛會睜開約十多秒後，又合起來，無法反應。但她有知覺，用力握她的手，有痛的表情。除此之外，身體各部功能都還算健康。她看起來類似「植物人」，但比「植物人」好些，因她略有反應。前天，我妹妹給我打電話說，媽媽略有進步，白天差不多都可以自己呼吸，不用呼吸器了。這是躺了一年半之後，略有進步的現象。當然，我希望主的憐憫，若能漸漸好轉，必定是另外一個神蹟，因她已87歲了！

其實，這種大中風不能動是我媽媽最不期待發生的事。她曾好多次告訴我們當兒女的，萬一有什麼事發生，第一，不要幫她急救；她願意一下子就走，那最好。她自己也如此地祈求主耶穌。可惜偏偏她最不希望煩別人的，現在竟是如此。我們卻不知道主耶穌有什麼旨意？我們只有順服了！雖然從很多人看，她似乎是在過無意義、無品質的生活，但我們不知道上帝的旨意如何？上帝旨意奧妙，誰能全然視透呢？我相信有一天，我們會全然明白。

From The Desk of Pastor Jeff

Series on the Word: The Structure of the Bible

The past few weeks we’ve talked about how to approach the Bible and how to come to a closer understanding when trying to interpret it in the context of specific passages. But how are we to understand the Bible as a whole?  For the next two weeks we are going to examine how we are to approach the Bible as a whole.  This week we will talk about the structure of the Bible.  Next week we will talk about the overarching story of the Bible- otherwise known as the History of Redemption.  

Why is it important to know about the structure of the Bible?  Several years ago, I had a student ask me if I took the Bible literally.  The question I asked him in response was, “Which part?”  When approaching the Bible it is helpful to understand that while the Bible is one book, it is also actually a collection of books.  The word Bible itself means “books”.  It is a collection of books that span over 2000 years that were written by various authors. These authors come from various socio-economic and historical backgrounds and used different genres to communicate spiritual truth.  Some of the writers were kings, some were simple shepherds, while others held the office of prophet or apostle. Some authors lived in times of war, others in times of prosperity, and others in times of danger.  And while these authors speak about various topics, there is an overarching message that these authors are talking about.  Christians have always understood this central message to be about Jesus.

The Structure of the Bible- The Protestant Bible is split into two parts and contains 66 books.  The first part, called the Old Testament, is also known as the Hebrew Scriptures.  It contains 39 books and records the various interactions between God and the people of Israel.  The scope of the Old Testament covers the creation of the world, God’s choosing of Abraham in Genesis 12, the escape of the people of Israel from Egyptian captivity, the history of the kingdom of Israel, the return of the people of Judah from the Babylonian exile and the rebuilding of the second Temple in 516 BC.  

The New Testament contains the remaining 27 books and picks up after the fall of the Persian, Alexandrian and Seleucid Empires.  It begins during the Roman era during the reigns of Herod the Great and Caesar Augustus (Luke 1:5 and 2:1) and tells about the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Christ.  It also contains the history of the early church, letters written by several of the apostles that give instruction to the various churches of the first century and a book about the end of the world. The New Testament begins with anticipation of the imminent arrival of Christ and ends with a description of Christ’s return and the appearing of the Kingdom of God in full glory in the book of Revelation.