For years believers have been taught good Bible information and have, if they are paying attention, become well versed in the stories and principles of the Bible. This is especially true in North America where we are free to preach the Gospel openly and freely. We have great Bible teachers and preachers in our church pulpits. Television and radio preachers and teachers keep us well versed in biblical truth. And, the internet certainly gives ample opportunity to hear the Word of God, the Bible, taught 24/7.

But, almost all of the teaching is aimed at the head. The way we, the preachers and teachers, were taught in seminary and Bible Schools to teach the Word of God was designed to impart information to the mind. The goal of the preaching style was and is to impart head knowledge. 

So, we know a lot. But knowledge does not transform us. It may renew our way of thinking – our minds (Romans 12:1-2). It may educate us and give us wisdom (Proverbs 2:6) and even understanding (Proverbs 3:5). But, unless the truth of the Word deeply touches our heart it remains no more than mere information. And, we are really not short of information to process in this mass media age in which we live.

We have many believers who know the Bible well and can even quote it. But their lives have not changed in spite of this. One might say that they are hearers of the Word and not doers of the Word (James 1:22). They can quote the Word and pray the Word but their life remains the same – unchanged and not transformed – because they have not applied the Word. Even “renewed” could be questioned and become a big if.

People who are my age and preaching the Word of God need to alter the way we teach. This starts by recognizing that our target must be the heart and not the head. Yes, people need to hear and receive the Word, understanding its implication for every day life. But, we must learn to teach and share the Word in such a way as to actually touch the heart. Because it is out of the abundance of the heart that life flows (Matthew 12:34). The heart must be the target because only as the heart embraces truth can a lifestyle permanently change. So, we need to teach in a different way so as to impart life to people’s spirit (heart). As Jesus said, “My Words are spirit and they are life” (John 6:63). For this to become a reality we must teach to reach the heart.

Because we live in a culture and society that values logical and rational thinking, the preachers have been teaching in a way to communicate truth to the mind, line upon line and precept upon precept. We were taught to do that. But the Scriptures state that we are to “love the Lord God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength” (Matthew 22:37). Heart first. And we have been neglecting this as we aim only for increased knowledge and information (the head). We now need to change the way we teach and preach so as to release “spirit and life” into the heart for then we will see lives transformed, changed, and begin to experience freedom and the abundant life that Jesus promised us (John 10:10). 

And, as we do this, lives will be radically transformed. All life-change starts on the inside and works it way out to alter the way we live life and relate to others and the world around us.

So, it is not either heart or head but both heart and head. A shift is needed in the way the Word is taught and in the expectations of the listeners who hear the Word taught. Then we will begin to see people walking in the fullness of the Spirit and actually showing forth the “new creature in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:17) that they have become when born again and experience eternal life (Romans 6:23b; John 17:3).

THREE TRANSLATIONS

There are three ways to translate the Bible. You can translate it with 1) your mind 2) your heart and 3) your life. 

I think a lot of us settle for the mental translation. But the end result is information. And what happens is this: we learn more, do less, and think we’re growing spiritually. But not if that’s the only translation. 

The second translation is emotional. And the emotional translation may seem more subjective than intellectual translation. But that is when our hearts break for the things that break the heart of God. It’s not just information. It’s transformation. For the record, I think one person with one deeply held conviction will make more of a difference than someone with a hundred good ideas. 

Finally, there is the life translation. That is when we become a “living epistle.” That is when the noun turns into a verb. And that is how we change the world. At the end of the day, Jesus isn’t going to say, “Well thought good and faithful servant.” He’s going to say, “Well done good and faithful servant.” 

Imagine a church filled with people who are translating the Bible with their lives! 

Saw an advertisement for KFC and their “finger lickin’ good” slogan…. And though about what God likes to do with His fingers: run them across the earth out west to form the Grand Canyon. Or pinch some dirt together and form Mount Everest. It’s true! Here’s what the Bible says: “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?”

God is so big that all He needed to create the universe were His fingers.

Actually, He didn’t literally use His fingers to create stuff. David wrote about God’s fingers because He knew that humans cannot really comprehend how big God is, and so he used human characteristics to describe Him. It’s a literary technique called anthropomorphism, something poets used to help us wrap our human minds around the divine. In another psalm, David said that God spoke the universe into existence. I really don’t know how the earth was formed; even the smartest scientists who study these things don’t know for sure. What I do know for sure is that it took a really big God to give us the universe.

Consider this one planet we call home. Scientists estimate the weight of the earth to be six sextillion tons. If you are wondering how much six sextillion is, it’s a six followed by twenty-one zeroes. By any stretch of the imagination, six sextillion tons is heavy. Yet as heavy as the earth is, it’s not plummeting uncontrollably through space. All six sextillion tons is suspended in nothingness, held in place by an unseen force scientists call gravity; but in reality it’s held in place by our big God. According to the Scriptures, “He stretches out the north over the void

and hangs the earth on nothing” (Job 26:7).

And not only does He suspend the earth over nothing, God tilted the earth at a twenty-three degree angle so we can experience winter, spring, summer, and fall. He also spins the earth on an invisible axis at the rate of one thousand miles an hour so we can have night and day. Then He orbits this sextillion ton behemoth we can home around the sun at the rate of sixty-seven thousand miles an hour. At that speed it’s a wonder none of us have been blown off the earth! 

Jupiter, one of our nearest neighbours is more than 390 million miles away. Yet we have discovered that this largest planet in our solar system has sixty-three moons. A few are visible from earth with a telescope. Jupiter and the earth are just two planets in a universe of billions of galaxies that God created and that He suspends over nothingness.

Brennan Manning wrote in his book The Ragamuffin Gospel  that if you held out a dime at arm’s length while gazing at the night sky, the coin would block out 15 million stars from your view, if your eyes had the power to see that far into space. Manning’s observation reminds me of what God said to Abraham: “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them” (Genesis 15:5). After looking up, Abraham surely must have concluded that God is big, and that He has big fingers. 

We worship and serve a big God! An amazing and powerful God! A loving and gentle God who knows each one of us by name! Never let a day go by that you don’t marvel at all that He has created and give Him thanks for still intimately knowing your every thought and feeling. 

Sometimes when we are praying for the same thing day after day  – such as the salvation of a loved one – and nothing seems to change we lose “expectancy.” We may even continue to pray but we really don’t expect much, if anything, to change.

Something pricked my heart recently. I noticed the story in the Bible of the woman with the twelve-year blood issue. She had every reason to give up hope, but apparently she refused to. She wouldn’t lose her expectation that God would change her circumstances, even after twelve years of pleading and prayer and no answer.

The woman fights through the crowd certain that if she simply touches Jesus, she’ll be healed. Well, she is right. After touching his robe, immediately she is healed. Jesus then asks who touched Him. Incredulous, the disciples speak up and say, “You see the people crowding against you … and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched Me?’” (Mark 5:31).

The point being, “Everyone is touching you.”

So everyone is touching Jesus, but only one person received healing from Him.

But what’s the difference between her and the others? She had expectation. I’d even say assumption. So it’s possible to be in the presence of God and receive nothing because we expect nothing.

Theres a saying about why you shouldn’t assume. It makes something out of “u” and “me.” (Think about it – it’s easy to figure out). But God, it seems like He loves when we assume. We tend to assume the worst. Like He’s out to get us or He just doesn’t care. But He has a pattern of showing up when we assume His goodness and His strength. 

Just a couple of examples:

• • Nowhere in the Bible does it say, “If you touch His cloak, you will be healed.” She just assumed. She expected it.

• • David told Goliath that he was going to cut his head off, and he didn’t bring a sword to the fight. That’s a pretty big assumption. (God provided a sword. Goliath’s sword.)

• • The centurion stops Jesus from traveling to heal his servant. He says to just say the word and it’ll be done. He didn’t know that! He just assumed. He expected that kind of power. What was Jesus’s response? After marvelling at him and turning to the crowds, He said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel” (Luke 7:9). The servant is healed.

I think God loves it when we assume the best of His power and character. Like a child who tells every kid in class, “My dad can beat up your dad.” (I don’t know why we do that, sign our dads up for fights. But when we’re young, we do). Although I may not encourage him to say such things, if that were my son, I’d feel like a proud dad. I’d think, My son truly thinks I can do anything! Let me tell you something, God  truly can do anything. So if you’re hitting the point where you feel like He doesn’t care o maybe like He can’t change the situation you are in, remember that He can take a heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh. And be confident that “the Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead He is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). This is a promise we should hold on to especially when we are praying for lost or back-slidden loved on.

Sometimes God is slower than our timing.

Sometimes He is faster than our timing.

But He is always better than our timing.

Just don’t lose hope. Don’t lose expectation. And never stop assuming that He’s a good Father who gives good gifts. He says so in His Word.