The Word on the Street

by Rob Lacey

Overview

For those who've never read the Bible
and for those who've read it too much.

Lacey's "dangerously real" retelling of Scripture vividly demonstrates that the Bible is packed full of stories, poems, and images that resonate with the big issues of today. This fresh paraphrase-come-running-commentary brings the text alive: Bible stories are retold as mini blockbusters; psalms as song lyrics; epistles as emails; Revelation as seen through a virtual reality headset.

Out with stale religious terms, here's a "Bible" which talks today's language—gritty, earthy, and witty. Enough starting at Genesis with good intentions and getting lost in Leviticus-Lacey succeeds in revitalizing a classic work by focusing on the big picture: fast-forwarding through the "slow-moving" bits with pace, passion, and energy to make the Bible a page turner.

Lacey's tour de force was created during a remarkable personal journey through terminal cancer: the stuff Bible stories are made of. This life-experience injects Lacey's take on Scripture with authenticity and authority—resonating with Bible characters who also wrestled with the big questions.

Purist alert: This is not THE Bible (capital B)-- but it might just get you reaching for one.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780310932253
Publisher:	Zondervan
Publication date:	02/02/2005
Edition description:	New
Pages:	496
Product dimensions:	5.31(w) x 7.87(h) x 1.18(d)

Read an Excerpt

the word on the street

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By Rob Lacey

Zondervan

Copyright © 2004 Rob Lacey
All right reserved.
ISBN: 0-310-93225-4

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Chapter One

Genesis / Stuff Starts Up

Something out of nothing (Genesis 1:1-2:3)

1-2

First off, nothing ... but God. No light, no time, no substance, no matter. Second off, God says the word and WHAP! Stuff everywhere! The cosmos in chaos: no shape, no form, no function - just darkness ... total. And floating above it all, God's Holy Spirit, ready to play.

3-5

Day one: Then God's voice booms out, "Lights!" and, from nowhere, light floods the skies and "night" is swept off the scene. God gives it the big thumbs up, calls it "day".

6-8

Day two: God says, "I want a dome - call it 'sky' - right there between the waters above and below." And it happens.

9-13

Day three: God says, "Too much water! We need something to walk on, a huge lump of it - call it 'land'. Let the 'sea' lick its edges." God smiles, says, "Now we've got us some definition. But it's too plain! It needs colour! Vegetation! Loads of it. A million shades. Now!" And the earth goes wild with trees, bushes, plants, flowers and fungi. "Now give it a growth permit." Seeds appear in every one. "Yesss!" says God.

14-19

Day four: "We need a schedule: let's have a 'sun' for the day, a 'moon' for the night; I want 'seasons', 'years'; and give us'stars', masses of stars - think of a number, add a trillion, then times it by the number of trees and we're getting there: we're talking huge!"

20-23

Day five: "OK, animals: amoeba, crustaceans, insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals ... I want the whole caboodle teeming with a million varieties of each - and let's have some fun with the shapes, sizes, colours, textures!" God tells them all, "You've got a growth permit - use it!" He sits back and smiles, says, "Result!"

24-31

Day six: Then God says, "Let's make people - like us, but human, with flesh and blood, skin and bone. Give them the job of caretakers of the vegetation, game wardens of all the animals." So God makes people, like him, but human. He makes male and female (for the "how", see later). He smiles at them and gives them their job description: "Make babies! Be parents, grandparents, great-grandparents - fill the earth with your families and run the planet well. You've got all the plants to eat from, so have all the animals - plenty for all. Enjoy." God looks at everything he's made, and says, "Fantastic. I love it!"

2:1-3

Day seven: Job done - the cosmos and the earth complete. God takes a bit of well-earned R&R and just enjoys. He makes an announcement: "Let's keep this day of the week special, a day off - a battery-recharge day: Rest Day."

Then we rewind a bit for the detail on people's arrival on the scene. -Rob

First of billions (Genesis 2:7-9)

7

God takes some mud from the ground, and moulds the essential chemicals into the shape of a man. Then he breathes his life into the body and the man starts living.

8-9

God places the guy in the special garden he's planted, called "Eden". God's planted loads of types of trees in the garden - they look great and their fruit tastes great. Smack bang in the middle of the garden are two one-of-a-kind trees: "the tree of life" and "the tree of knowing right from wrong".

We get some detail on the local rivers making the area fertile, and then ... -Rob

Adam needs a partner (Genesis 2:15-25)

15-17

God gives the man a job: warden in the Eden Garden. Job spec - to protect and till it. In God's Contract he clearly states the man has free pickings of anything that grows in the garden, except the tree that tells you the difference between right and wrong. If you eat from that tree, the rules are pretty direct - you'll die.

18

Then God says, "He's doing all this solo and it's wrong. Adam needs a partner."

19-20

God parades all the animals in front of Adam to see what names he'll give them. God doesn't dispute any of his names, no limits on the wacky scale: whatever he calls it, that's its name. Adam gets through the lot - the cattle, the birds, the beasts - but none is anything near partner potential.

21-22

So God puts the man under some sort of divine general anaesthetic, carries out a ribectomy, then closes up the gap in his side. God works on the rib until he's sculpted it into woman-shape, and then he presents her to Adam.

23-24

"Whoa! Now we're talking!" says Adam. "She's like me ... only not. Same bones, same skin, same shape ... only not. She's ... uh ... sexy. If I'm 'man', she's ... uh ... 'woman'." (Which is why when people get married, they leave their parents behind and set up their own family unit. Sex makes them one person: you can't tell where one stops and the other starts.)

25

They're both stark naked, not that they've noticed - they've got no hang-ups about nudity.

Enter "Mess" stage right (Genesis 3:1-24)

1

Now the snake was top of the Animal Cunning League. Undisputed King of Sly among all God's creative work. He sees the woman, slithers up to her and asks, "Are the rumours true? Did God really slap a ban on eating the fruit off these trees?"

2-3

"We can eat what we like," answers the woman, "apart from the fruit off the tree right in the middle. If we eat off that, we'll die."

4-5

"Die?! Unlikely!" sneers the snake. "God well knows that if you eat off that tree, it'll open your eyes to a few things. You'll know the difference between good and evil, just like God does - so you'll be like God!"

6-7

The woman eyes up the fruit and thinks, It does look pretty tasty - especially if it's instant wisdom in a couple of bites. So she grabs herself a juicy one, and takes a large chomp out of it. Then she hands it to Adam, and he takes a mouthful too. Straight off, their eyes are opened and they realize they're stark naked. A new feeling - embarrassment. They stitch together some fig leaves and cover the necessaries.

8-9

Later in the day, the heat has eased off a bit and they hear God's footsteps in the garden. Seconds later they're hiding from him behind some bushes. God calls out, "Adam, where've you got to?"

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from the word on the street by Rob Lacey Copyright © 2004 by Rob Lacey. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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