One of the most important training tools I learned to use
when I was teaching workshops to college students was a box of scented markers.
I would divide the students into small groups and give them an assignment. I
gave each group an easel with newsprint and a box of the markers. The markers
turned them into kids again, as they uncapped each color and waved them under
their noses to see if the smells were authentic . . . purple grape, green
apple, brown cinnamon, blue blueberry, cherry red and lemon yellow. When they
were ready to focus on the task, I explained that they were to write their
ideas and thoughts on the newsprint, using different colors for different parts
of it. Although they thought this was for fun, it was critical to the
communication process. Writing their words on the newsprint made the
conversation visible.
God has made His conversation with us visible.
He’s written it down in the Bible. All of it, of course, is
His Word, but in some places we read the words He spoke to a particular person
or group. Those parts could be put in quotation marks. Red letter Bibles use
color instead of quotation marks for the words of Jesus. How exciting to turn
to the Gospels and see Jesus’ conversations jump out at you. But what if you
could see lots of colors on the pages; would it turn you into a kid again?
Now there’s a <a href="http://www.godspeaksbible.com/">Bible</a>
that might just do that. The <a href="http://www.godspeaksbible.com/">God
Speaks Bible</a> highlights <a href="http://www.godspeaksbible.com/">God
speaking,</a> in both the Old and the New Testaments. Jesus’ words are
still in red, but God speaking is in purple. And to make it even clearer, when men
speak God’s words in the third person their words are brown and passages about God
speaking are in green. To round out the palette, God’s messages through angels,
visions or dreams are in blue and God’s miracles are in gold.
Reading this Bible could turn you into a kid again, as if
you were reading God’s Word for the first time. Like my students you could
uncap each color to smell the sweet message from your Creator, then focus on
the work of making it visible in your own life. The God Speaks Bible could
become one of the most important spiritual training tools on your bookshelf.
Want to help promote the reading of God's Word and encourage
people to learn how to hear God's voice? Imagine a color coded study Bible and multi-media
application highlighting when God speaks to you. Operation Light Force (OLF) is
a ministry devoted to equipping people to do what Jesus did, setting captives
free, healing and preaching. Richard Mull is the President and Founder of OLF
and the General Editor of the God Speaks Bible and many other books and was
featured on TV and media. Help us spread the word.
