On Sunday I spoke at Valleydale Church in Birmingham, Alabama.  Filling the pulpit for Valleydale’s senior pastor, Calvin Kelly, was a pleasure.  It is nice on occasion to engage those who are eager to hear the Word.  Following the service, people gathered in the sanctuary for an hour-long question and answer session.  The latter audience consisted mostly of students and students often ask the best questions.  I was not disappointed.  Their questions ranged from the reliability of the Bible to its relevance in the modern world.  This was not a hostile crowd, but one genuinely seeking answers.

As I travel around the world I am increasingly struck by the fact that the Bible is not only true, it is relevant.  The more I test it, the more I am shored up in my confidence that it is a book like no other.  Too often Christians, thinking that they do God a favor, avoid using the Bible in their conversations and ministry.  They are embarrassed by it.  They doubt its veracity.  They think God a poor marketer and in need of their wisdom.  But they are wrong.  Spurgeon had it right.  The word of God is like a caged lion.  It needs no defending.  It needs only to be set loose.