Some days when you open your Bible, hope and forgiveness come pouring out.  The awesomeness of God's power is seen clearly on display, or a familiar story reminds you how faithfully he keeps his promises.

Some days, however, it's like going under the knife.

The process of how the biblical writings came together to form our present-day Bible might seem (to the cynical observer) fraught with manipulation and disagreement. Quite the contrary. The BC-era attempts at formalizing the contents of Scripture (our Old Testament), as well as the various councils of the early AD years that canonized the New Testament, were remarkably unanimous in their decisions. The same providence that enabled God to speak His Word to the actual writers of Scripture is also at work in its preservation as a whole.

The Bible has a reputation for being an other-worldly book. And certainly God has given it to us so that we can see beyond ourselves, beyond today-so that we believers can live with hope of a brighter age to come. But no book has more to say about how we are meant to live and conduct ourselves on this earth, covering every aspect of who we are.

Some people believe the NFL's sudden-death format for overtime play should gravitate more toward the model they use in college, giving each team at least one shot at scoring on offense. That's an opinion, not a right or wrong.

Hard to boil these down, but here is a sampling:

God as creator. The first words of Scripture, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1), are more foundational to our lives than we realize. The Bible reveals why it matters that everything-time, the universe, our relationships, our very beings-all belong to Him.

On to our ministry update…I want to mention a couple of dates coming up when I will be speaking.  I'll be speaking in Raleigh, NC on March 23rd; Tampa Bay, FL on April 28th; Concord, NC on May 28th; and Atlanta, GA on June 29th.  Maybe through one of the committees in those cities, you will have a chance to attend one of these events. 

First of all, lets talk about racing!  That's what we do around here.  We have 100 events a year between our Cup Racing, Nationwide series, and Motocross team so we are criss-crossing the country all the time.  So, lets start off with a little cup update. 

We've never been to a funeral, no matter how tragic or expected the person's death, when much of the service and the conversations surrounding it didn't center on memories of his or her life. We recall happier times we spent together. We reflect on what this individual was like. We regret that we won't be able to enjoy their smile or laughter anymore on earth.

Though designed by God to speak to all people in all times and places, the Bible contains His dealings with man at specific points in history. It is a real-world book. Written by dozens of people over hundreds of years, the intention was not to create a best-seller. The Bible is primarily meant to be a reflection of God's nature and character-His revelation of Himself to mankind-not a storybook saga.

To learn more about Chuck Colson, click here.

I'd like you to see watch this powerful video. - Joe Gibbs

We definitely live in a celebrity culture. How many industries-from sports talk to memorabilia sales-are manufactured on the backs of a culture that can't get enough scoop or goods on today's headline makers? We know they're just people, but somehow we're willing to let them be larger-than-life. It's in our cultural DNA.

Can the Bible be trusted?

As far as the Bible goes, perhaps all you'd be willing to say is that you have a basic respect for it. You know it means a lot to some people, and you have no problem with that. You're happy for them. But for you-it just doesn't seem all that relevant to what you deal with on a daily basis. The times you've tried reading it, you can hardly understand what it says. Besides, who can claim with 100% confidence that the Bible says exactly what God said it was supposed to say?

One of the things you get in Game Plan for Life is some straight talk on some real stuff. But as sort of a bonus, you also get (here and there) a little ancient philosophy to go with your modern advice-like this, from the Greek thinker Socrates: "The unexamined life is not worth living."