Joshua J Masters is a Christian speaker and a graduate of the Christian & Missionary Alliance Ministerial Study Program. Josh currently serves as the Creative Director with the Worship and Arts Department at Essex Alliance Church, and is working on several Christian books.
Josh also serves in the Worship & Arts Department as a Director of Service, Video Director, and Choir member.
Josh was accredited by the Christian Missionary Alliance June 1, 2011.
He is currently available for speaking engagements and as a candidate for ministry positions.
11 BOOKS OF THE NIB (New Island Bible)
By Joshua J Masters
One of the best and most well known Christian blogs, Stuff Christians Like, recently had a guest post by Bryan Allain which posed a rather contrived hypothetical question about being on a deserted island and only having one sixth of the Bible with you. Since contrived hypothetical questions are my favorite kind of question (primarily because my answers can’t be wrong,) I thought bringing the problem home to my blog was worth while. Here’s what it all boils down to… your plane is going down and you split your Bible with five other people who somehow land on different islands. Now that’s a rough landing… and I don’t think your “floatation device” seat cushion is going to help in that situation, but let’s just go with it.
Which 11 books (assuming your selfish enough to keep the ones you want and stick
someone else with Haggai,) do you take? It’s not an easy question. Here are my initial
thoughts:
Proverbs. To be honest, I don’t really enjoy reading Proverbs. (I know… what kind of pastor is he going to make?) I find it hard to get through because it contains so much wisdom. There’s no narrative, so you can spend days pondering each verse before you’re ready to move on. [That gives me an idea… they have “Read Through the Bible in a Year” books… I’m going to write “Read Through Proverbs in a Year.”]
In any case, I’ll have plenty of time to ponder them while on the deserted island,
so my current problem with Proverbs could become a blessing.
Romans. This is a fairly obvious choice since it pretty much summarizes the rest of the Bible. Maybe that’s cheating, but it will give me all the basics of the faith I need and a lot to think about. Plus… if I’m lucky enough to land on an island with a lost settlement of Jews it will make for some really great discussions.
Ephesians. This is a no-
I’ve watched a lot of movies in my life and if there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s
that you’re never really alone on a desert island. There are always others and they
will eventually come. (Okay… I know Tom Hanks was alone, but he had Wilson and UPS
boxes to sift through. He’s the exception to the rule) Anyway, when the “others”
come, I would create an order of knights based on Ephesians 6. Kind of like a Lord
of the Flies that goes well.
Revelation. Not just because it was written on an island and would be ironic, but because it’s such a valuable book. In all seriousness, I cried the first time I truly grasped the meaning (if not all the symbolism) of Revelation. [This is where my wife makes fun of me for crying at Extreme Home Makeover and the Biggest Loser,] but it’s true. Revelation is the culmination of God’s redemptive plan. It is the final victory of good over evil. It represents the redemption of Israel and the reward of His followers. Death has already been defeated, but here we see it destroyed. You don’t get much better than that.
The problem with choosing Revelation is that it forces some of your other choices. It won’t do you much good to have it with you if you can’t understand it. So the remainders of my choices are based on that... [MORE]
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