false 70308 0310919975 9780310919971 11 2 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170725915m/70308.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/70308.Holy_Bible_Zondervan_NIV_Study_Bible 9530 Various 6841 1405 5 2 true Fri Jan 09 11:10:57 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 09 11:14:49 -0800 2009
The Bible is a compass, leading us over mountaintops, into deserts, through rivers and valleys, all along a dangerous and narrow pathway that leads north, to the kingdom of Christ. It is a complex tale of cowardly, messed up, imperfect people filled with confusion, doubt, calamity and apprehension, but also faith. It brings hope and inspiration to a hopeless and desolate land. It is fairy tale and non-fiction, history and biography, romance and suspense.

There is a King, and his Beloved who strays from him. He painfully lets her go because he does not want to force her to love him; he wants her love to be genuine, her own choice. So she goes with barely a glance back, and finds other kings to love. Only she is never satisfied. Though she has betrayed him, the King still loves her and wants what is best for her. When she is in trouble and cries out to him, he helps her. He leads her through the desert and into a fertile land. She rejoices, but then forgets the King's kindness. This happens over and over again. Until one day, the King decides to show the full extent of his love for her once and for all time--by conquering Sin, the vilest of all foes, so that she could finally find the satisfying love that Sin had robbed her of all this time. And he asks her to marry him.

Only, the Beloved does not quite know what to make of this. She is torn: half of her wants to leave all of her prodigal ways behind to love this King who has become her Savior, but the other half cannot, or does not want to, accept his kindness. The story continues as the King waits patiently for his Beloved to make her choice. What's more, we each have a part in the story, whether as a wedding guest preparing for the wedding feast, or someone trying to convince the Beloved that the King is actually a charlatan, and does not really love her afterall. And here come's the suspense: Will she choose to love her King and live with him forever, or will she choose to leave him again, perhaps never to return?

Stay tuned for the conclusion....]]>