This week in our congregation in Milford we've had a group of young people helping us out. One of their jobs has been to help us give out magazines to homes in the area – perhaps a copy has made it's way through your letterbox.

The magazine is called 4you.ie and it contains a number of articles you may find interesting. This issue asks the question: “Has science got all the answers?”. Many people today question the relevance of traditional bible teaching in this age of vastly increased scientific knowledge. This article attempts to show that while science has undoubtedly played an important role in improving our lives, it still leaves some questions unanswered.

The problem of drug abuse is a more common one than we realize. It seems to offer a means of escape, but only ends up imprisoning its users. One of the articles is the story of an Irish woman who, with God's help, managed to transform her life after getting caught up in drug addiction.

The magazine carries a number of articles that you may find useful. Perhaps you have experienced the privilege of having kids; albeit a privilege that comes with enormous responsibility that can be very daunting. If so, you may be interested in an article that examines the guidance the bible has to offer when it comes to raising children.

At times the bible can seem intimidating to a first time reader, and some of the words can be quite baffling. This issue has two articles that are particularly helpful. One article takes several of these tricky words and tries to clear up what they mean. This is an extremely worthwhile exercise, because the rich truths that lie behind these words can bring enormous comfort to us as we go through life.

The other gives some helpful advice on how to go about reading the bible, something you may find helpful if you want to find out more about what God has to say about himself, us, and his offer of hope for ordinary people like you and me.

We hope to give out magazines to as many houses as possible, because we strongly believe that it will be interesting and useful to people who receive it. But sadly it just isn't possible to reach every home in the area. If you don't get a copy of the magazine this week, please get in touch and we'll get one to you.

One of the questions I get asked from time to time is, “Do you take the Bible literally?” It really depends on what the person means. If they mean “Do you believe every word of the Bible?’ then the answer is “Yes”. If they mean do you take every word to mean what it literally says, the answer is “No”.

What’s the difference, I hear you ask. Am I just splitting hairs or playing word games? Consider this from Psalm 98, “Let the rivers clap their hands, Let the mountains sing together for joy”. Do I take it literally—and expect Mount Errigal to break forth in a beautiful tenor voice? Or do I understand that the style of writing here is poetry, and understand this poetically? Different genres (styles of writing) have different rules, and when we read the Bible we need to be aware of them.

We don’t read history the same way we read instruction. Just because something is recorded in the Bible doesn’t mean that God approves. It is, after all, a record of his dealings with sinful people—so we should expect to see an honest record of the sort of messed up people he deals with.

But we do read history as history—this isn’t a back door method to explain away creation, miracles or the resurrection.

We need to read the Bible in context. And this applies, not just to styles of writing, but to individual verses as well. This answers one of the old chestnuts that gets thrown about—that the Bible can be used to prove anything. True, but so could your words, if someone was ungracious enough to take them out of context.

This is one of the most important rules in reading the Bible. When we come to read a verse, we need to read the surrounding verses to see what it is getting at. The Bible isn’t a collection of random sayings stitched together any old way. It is made up of sentences and paragraphs that connect. For example, one of the most misused verses is: “Do not judge, or you too will be judged” (Matt 7:1).

It is brought up when anyone dares to point the finger at something wrong. But even a casual glance at the context shows that Jesus isn’t speaking about judging per se, but hypocrisy. He goes on to say, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? … You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.”

Jesus doesn’t say, “How dare you point out that speck”, he says, “Point it out, but make sure you don’t have one yourself first”.

And in the wider context, a few verses later Jesus tells us to judge a tree (meaning a person) by its fruits. Judging itself isn’t wrong, but double standards are.

Understanding this simple rule of context will help us understand much of what the Bible is saying.