By Ken Stalls, BCM/D President and Pastor of South End Baptist Church
Ken Stalls
September is a month we associate with a return to school for the children. It is a time for hopefully refocusing on education. Why should that be any different for those of us who are adults? I have been reminded of something interesting that can combine education and God’s Word. Anything that gets us into God’s Word is a good thing. Long ago, I ran across an interesting puzzle of sorts. The paragraph below contains the names of 25 books of the Bible. You have probably seen it, but it never hurts to stretch your brain as you do this search. Why not give it a try? See how quickly you can find them. Hint: They are all there.
This is a most remarkable puzzle. Someone found it in the seat pocket on a flight from Dallas to Honolulu, keeping himself occupied for hours. One man from Illinois worked on this while fishing from his john boat. Roy Clark studied it while playing his banjo. Elaine Victs mentioned it in her column once. One woman judges the job to be so involving, she brews a cup of tea to help calm her nerves. There will be some names that are really easy to spot…that’s a fact. Some people will soon find themselves in a jam, especially since the book names are not necessarily capitalized. The truth is, from answers we get, we are forced to admit it usually takes a pastor or a scholar to see some of them at the worst. Something in our genes is responsible from those who have to be shown. Those able to find all of them will hear great lamentations from those who have to be shown. One revelation may help. Books like Timothy and Samuel may occur without their numbers. Punctuation or spaces in the middle are normal. A chipper attitude will help you compete. Remember, there are 25 books of the Bible lurking somewhere in this paragraph.
I hope you enjoy working on this puzzle. While you are at it, try reading at least 10 verses from each of the books as you find them. It certainly will not hurt any of us.
May your September be blessed as you are a blessing to others around you.