Don’t Be Intimidated

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“What’s in the lunch bag?” He asked in a deep husky voice that billowed across the playground. His eyes were locked in on the younger kid who was suddenly all alone. Cornering him against the monkey bars the bully mercilessly snatched the bag away, leaving the boy stunned and powerless. All of the onlookers stood in silence as the latest victim sluggishly walked towards the safety of the classroom. It was at that moment the little boy vowed to himself that tomorrow would be different. He would no longer be intimidated. He was going to be prepared. 

Like the kid in the story, we’ve all felt intimidated at times but unfortunately, for so many Christians the source of intimidation isn’t a bully. It’s the Bible. Hey, I get why some Christians feel uneasy about reading the Bible. It’s a big, thought provoking book and you might not even know where to start, let alone try to understand what it’s all about. The best way to overcome any trepidation is to be prepared so before opening its pages you should get an overview of the Bible and how it’s organized. 


The Bible is actually a collection of 66 books that are housed in either the Old Testament (OT) or the New Testament (NT). For the sake of time and the fact that we live according to the NT we’ll focus on it today. The NT begins with four books called the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). They chronicle Jesus' life, teachings, death and resurrection from four different perspectives. The following two books, Acts (written by Luke) and Romans (written by Paul) , deal with the start of the church and Paul's ministry in Rome. The next eight books (1 Corinthians- 2 Thessalonians) were also written by Paul. Did you know you the first few verses in each book shows which church Paul was writing to as he traveled? 


For example, Corinthians was written to the church in Corinth and Galatians was written to the churches in Galatia. If you want to learn about issues concerning the church such as spiritual gifts and taking communion, these eight books would be a good place to start. The next four books are first and second Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. They’re written by Paul to church officials imploring them to fight against false doctrine and to stay true to the gospel. In the books from Hebrews to Jude you’ll find topics ranging from the deity of Jesus to encouragement for Christians to keep the faith as the early church was heavily persecuted. These books were also written by the apostles and named accordingly (except Hebrews). 


The final book, Revelation, was authored by John and its overall message is that good will ultimately prevail over evil. It’s a book filled with symbolism and should be studied with a mature Christian to help you understand their meanings. I hope this quick overview of the New Testament helps. The Bible is inspiring, comforting and educational on so many levels. You owe it to yourself to see why it’s the best selling book of all time. 


Think about it.

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For a really good overview of the Bible and all of its books I encourage you to download the YouVersion Bible app and search under videos. 


If you need help or have questions, please email me at TheRealistBlogspot@gmail.com

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