Kenneth Boa - The 52 Greatest Stories of the Bible. A Devotional Study

2008 Kenneth Boa and John Alan Turner.
Published in association with the literary agency of Wolgemuth &Associates, Inc.

Published by Baker Books
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakerbooks.com

Baker Books edition published 2014

ISBN 978-1-4412-2368-5

Previously published by Regal Books

Ebook edition originally created 2011

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, Todays New International Version TNIV. Copyright 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of International Bible Society. All rights requested worldwide.

Other version used is NIVScripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Gods plan for humanity has always involved community, so its no surprise that writing, like life, is best done in that context. That being the case, there are a number of people I must thank.

I had a small army of people who agreed to read the stories as I was writing them (to make sure I stayed on track): David Blackwell, Rick Hazelip, Tony Myles, Kevin West, Andy Sikora, Jeff Sandstrom, Bruce Hopler, Erich Robinson, Melanie Williams, Jennifer Nahrstadt, Daniel Cline, Christopher Green, Craig Jenkins, Marquis Laughlin, Lori Royals, Cindy Bailey, Bobby Valentine, Dee Andrews, Angi Aymond, John Dobbs, Damon DeLillo, Wade Hodges, Keith Brenton, Steven Allen and Sandra Morales. Thanks for your feedback and wise counsel.

Ken and I would both like to express how valuable Andrew Wolge-muth and the rest of the staff at Wolgemuth &Associates have been. You took care of the business side of this project so that we could focus on the writing.

Thanks to Kim Bangs, Alex Field and the rest of the folks at Regal for believing in this project and being flexible with the deadline.

There are a couple of guys who simply operate as sanity maintenance for me: Dane Booth and Hal Runkel. Thanks for the Monday Night Football and the Tuesday Night Tennis.

My mom and dad, J.J. and Isabel TurnerIt was from you that I first heard many of these stories. I am proud to be your son.

Dr. B.I always leave your presence feeling better than I did before. I am honored to have my name associated with yours on a project such as this, and I treasure our friendship.

And then theres my wife, JillYou are simply the most amazing woman Ive ever met. Youre not only my editor; youre my best friend and partner in all things.

A generation ago, public discourse was littered with biblical references. Someone who endured painful circumstances without giving in to resignation and despair was said to have the patience of Job. Someone who demonstrated an uncanny ability to see the true nature of things was said to have the wisdom of Solomon. Great stories like David and Goliath, Daniel in the lions den and Balaams talking donkey were mentioned in stories and songsboth religious and popular. Everyone was at least somewhat familiar with them. But that isnt the case anymore.

Nowadays, people dont know many of the great stories of the Bible. They dont know about the call of Abram from Ur or Ruth from Moab. Theyve never heard of Elijah, Josiah, Hezekiah or Nehemiah. They dont know much about John the Baptist or Jesus parents or Pauls conversion on the road to Damascus. These used to be stories everyone knew. But the sad truth is that now, as our society (and our churches) become increasingly biblically illiterate, many people (Christian and non-Christian) simply arent familiar with them.

The greatest call of the Christian life is to know God and to help others to know Him, too. But where do you begin the task of communicating the gospel to a group of people who do not know the basics? How do you approach people who arent even sure who God is, what sin is, who Christ is or what a Bible is for? Even more, how do you do these things when youre not sure of their meaning yourself?