VERBAL VITAMIN 10 ... The B.I.B.L.E

Verbal Vitamin 10 the B.I.B.L.E


Not just a track on the GZA Classic...Liquid Swords.
But there are Basic Instructions before leaving earth contained within the pages of the world’s most sold-debated-loved-hated book...The Holy Bible.


My own personal journey with the Bible is something I am figuring out.


I grew up going to church with my Grandmother (maw maw R.I.P) and then my mother and when I moved to Texas from W.Va and found my earliest friend, Mike Blume, His mother Bea took us kids to church on a somewhat regular basis...She would pull up in her car to wherever we were playing at and pile us in and take us to church...So this lady would walk in with 3 or 4 sweaty kids wearing Ozzy and Motley Crue shirts, But she didn’t care... (Or at least didn’t show it), what she cared about was these kids learning who Jesus was and is and making sure we had some knowledge of GOD.
(Then afterwards...It was PANCHOS time, a few of ya'll have raised the flag :)

I knew in my heart I had a calling at this early age, But when I fell into those teenage years I went WAY LEFT...We all did.

It took me getting stabbed and going through all of that drama to pick up my Bible again.
And so from the age of 17 to my mid 20's I read the Bible on a pretty regular basis.
At one point I would carry that lil red book in my back pocket...I was learning scripture , I was teaching people what I knew , I was even memorizing revelation...Then all the stuff happened with me and the church and I just slowly chilled out on it for almost a decade...

During these last few years I have been on a journey for truth...
I began speaking to God in a manner that some might find offensive...I questioned him.
I questioned him often, because my friends, you don't get answers until you question.

My argument always was and is, if I am supposed to dedicate my entire life to you and rep you, then your going to need to speak with and guide me.
I am not gonna claim you and put in work if your not doing the same for me.
In other words, a true relationship is needed….50/50.

This means I want the TRUTH about you...

I had already heard the Bible was full of contradictions...I heard this when I was young.

And as I grew more spiritual I began to question things myself...Like why GOD would want women to keep their mouth shut or to not be teachers in church...This did not make logical sense to me.

I figured, if you’re GOD and your main goal is to let people know about you and that they need to
Accept in and believe in your son in order to get to the Promised Land, You would take anyone willing to step out like that, as long as there intentions are pure and truthful, why would it matter the gender?

Then I started understanding that the words written in the Bible were written by men.
A man wrote this and if a man wrote this, due to my experience with human beings, it was a pretty safe bet there was mistakes in it.

Not only mistakes but personal views and opinions...So I began looking at how things were written, Ok, Did JESUS say this? Or did the author say this? Because if this is something the author said and didn’t say that it came from God himself, then that tells me that this is HIS interpretation and views on the matter...

So after my Dad died in September of 08, I again, Picked up the Bible.
My Father in law, Martin, would always come over to my house and quote proverbs to me.
This got me interested in reading proverbs and understanding them for myself.

So I challenged myself to read a few a night...and I genuinely began seeking knowledge and wisdom.
I began seriously praying for and seeking it and this other mental level started for me when I began to take proverbs and knowledge seriously.

PROVERBS 8
10. Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold; 11. For wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her. 12. I, wisdom, dwell in prudence, and I find knowledge and discretion. 13. The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate. 14. I have counsel and sound wisdom, I have insight, I have strength. 15. by me kings reign, and rulers decree what is just; 16. By me prince’s rule and nobles govern the earth. 17. I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me. 18. Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and prosperity. 19. My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield than choice silver. 20. I walk in the way of righteousness, in the paths of justice, 21. Endowing with wealth those who love me, and filling their treasuries.

32. And now, my sons listen to me: happy are those who keep my ways. 33. Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it. 34. Happy is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. 35. for he who finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord; 36. But he who misses me injures himself; all who hate me love death."


Reading proverbs daily changed me and took me to another level.

All the while though, my verbal communication was STILL more than what I was reading.

So I accepted the Bible and knew it was a powerful tool but at the same time, I knew there were some things wrong with it.

One night we went to Borders and as I was walking by the religious aisle, a book caught my eye...
"Misquoting Jesus, Who changed the Bible and why"...by Bart D.Ehrman
Wow, this is exactly what I have been dwelling on ...This book can hold some truth...BUT, I didn’t get it.
Some time went by and the Book was still heavy on my heart...
(That is how God works, with me at least; He will keep something heavy on my spirit until I do what he is leading me to do)
SO, I went back and got the book...

I read a little bit of it and then sat it down....for many months...

After finishing Violent Faith, I sought The Lord as to what to do next...READ, work out and Practice was what I was told…

So I picked this book up again, and finished it a few days ago.
I will now share with you, some of the truth discovered within these pages.

Everything I am quoting is from "Misquoting Jesus, Who changed the Bible and why"


Let me start with the Women.

“Modern Scholars have come to recognize that disputes over the role of women in the early church occurred precisely because women HAD a role – Often a significant and publicly high profile role. Moreover, this was the case from the very beginning, starting with the ministry of Jesus himself.”

“For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free; there is not male and female; for all of you are one in Jesus Christ.”
(Gal. 3:27-28)

“The equality in Christ may have manifested itself in the actual worship services of the Pauline communities. Rather than being silent “Hearers of the word,” women appear to have been actively involved in the weekly fellowship meetings , participating , for example, by praying and prophesying, much as the men did (1 Corinthians 11)”

“In some churches it was the equality in Christ that was emphasized; in others it was the need for women to remain subservient to men. And so in some churches women played very important, leadership roles; in others, their roles were diminished and their voices quieted.
Reading later documents associated with Paul’s churches, after his death, we can see that disputes arose about the roles women should play; eventually there came an effort to suppress the role of women in the churches altogether.

“This becomes evident in a letter that was written IN PAUL’S NAME.
Scholars today are by and large convinced that 1 Timothy was not written by Paul but by one of his later, second-generation followers.”

“11. Let a woman quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. 12. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. 13. For it was Adam who was first created, [and] then Eve. 14. And [it was] not Adam [who] was deceived, but the woman being quite deceived, fell into transgression. 15. But [women] shall be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.”
1 Tim. 2:11-15

And also

1 Corinthians 14:34-35

“34. Let the women keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but let them subject themselves, just as the Law also says. 35. And if they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to speak in church.”

And so on the basis of a combination of evidence – several manuscripts that shuffle the verses around , the immediate literary context, and the context within 1 Corinthians as a whole – it appears that Paul did not write 1 Cor. 14:34-35
One would have to assume, then, that these verses are a scribal alteration of the text, originally made, perhaps as a marginal note and then eventually, at an early stage of the copying of 1 Corinthians, placed in the text itself.

This view came to be incorporated into the text itself, by means of textual alteration.”

And they also tried to take out the only place in the New Testament where a woman was referred to as an apostle.

Romans 16:7

Paul is referring to a woman named Junia; even though in some modern English Bibles translators continue to refer to this female apostle as if she were a man named Junias.”


Pretty Wild Right?


This was important for me to share with the ladies , I have always heard growing up that a woman shouldn’t preach, This always tripped me out when I saw female preachers…I wondered did they ignore that part or what?

Then like I said, I started questioning things and when I read all of that in the book, I wanted to share. I wanted to enlighten those ignorant to facts, just like I have been enlightened.
Don’t ever let a man tell you that you can’t worship or speak your knowledge on Christ.
If you feel it within, Step out boldly!

I also learned that MARK is the oldest of the Gospels and Mark was the template for Matthew and Luke.
John is a completely different and radical gospel in itself.

I also learned the last 12 verses of Mark were added later.

So I am now reading Mark and studying it and getting a better idea of who Jesus was from the oldest of the gospels, the most accurate of them according to textual critics.
and I am trippin out and questioning why Jesus always told the demons to shut up and would not let them speak , Because as it is written , The demons knew his identity...The son of God. Why didn't Jesus want this known? My opinion right now is that the demons may have helped convince everyone in Christ and everyone couldnt be convinced because the crucifixion HAD to happen....As of right now , These are my thoughts on that.


And Finally I will leave you with the Top Ten verses that were not originally in the New Testament.
I am not typing them for you, I have copied enough J
DO SOME RESEARCH!

1. 1 John 5:7
2. John 8:7
3. John 8:11
4. Luke 22:44
5. Luke 22:20
6. Mark 16:17
7. Mark 16:18
8. John 5:4
9. Luke 24:12
10. Luke 24:51

Also from the book
" To be sure, of all the hundreds of thousands of textual changes found among our manuscripts, most of them are completely insignificant , immaterial , of no real imporatance for anything other than showing that scribes could not spell or keep focused any better than the rest of us."

He follows this by speaking on the importance of the interpretation of the scriptures that HAVE been changed...
Which I have given you the most profound ones...

Once again, “Misquoting Jesus” was a very interesting read for me and part of my journey I am on. I recommend it.

Once the author really started discovering and researching the manuscripts and from reading them in Hebrew and Greek, He saw so much he didn’t like, He lost faith in the Lord.

And I could easily see how discovering some of these additions and what they omitted would shake a person…Make them question their faith.

But for me, it has increased my faith and relationship and brought me a step closer to the truth.
I WELCOME science with my faith...And I welcome discovering the deeper truth.

For one, there is nothing changed within the Bible that takes away from the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This is obviously very important to any believer…

And for my other obvious reason, books and programs that “Reveal” the bible, always leave out the most important element…The Spiritual Element…

Yes the Bible is not PERFECT in a scientific way or a literary way and probably other ways I dont know of , But if you lose faith because of this , this personally tells me that you may have great knowledge of the scripture but you seriously lack a personal relationship with God...Your ears are not sensitive to the spirit within you.
You are a textbook believer...and not a spiritual being...

DESPITE the "Mistakes" there is absolutely no way to deny that the words contained within the Bible have completely transformed countless lives.
As I have pointed out before , This book contains timeless knowledge and wisdom...Timeless

These people leave out the impact it has on a personal/ Spiritual level.
How you can pick it up and read for a lil while and something inside of you will begin speaking to you...
Or the times you read and what you read dealt directly with an issue you were facing or described you or someone you know...
Or the feelings of comfort and peace they can bring to a crushed heart or broken spirit...
How the words can empower you and give you hope...
How they can open up your mind to a higher level of knowledge..
or how sometimes the Lord will tell you to read a scripture and it's EXACTLY what you needed or how he will tell someone else to tell you to read a certain scripture or he tells you to tell someone else...Whoever / However , someone is going to be impacted by the words contained.

So never allow the physical to override the supernatural that comes along with this book.

Often times when your reading , this is the best time to hear God's voice , This is where the spirit starts teaching you...
SO , the word is the doorway...The word is the doorway.

Even though I had not read the word on a regular basis in a very long time and I grew leaps and bounds from the verbal , I had to ask myself honestly how I got to that point.

Rom 10:17
So faith [comes] from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

If I had never heard the Word (from the Bible AND my inner spirit) , I would have never knew God.
So there again , I couldnt deny the power of the Bible , Because if I hadn't heard or read first , I would have never gained the faith to be where I am today.

So my conclusion is this.
No matter what is revealed about the Bible , There is no way the spiritual and Wisdom and supernatural power can be denied...
IF you spend time and seek...This book will elevate every area of your life.
there is a deeper level that comes after the Bible but the Bible is your "Ground Zero".

I had previously said that the author had recommended the HOLMON Study Bible .( which I have and is excellent at being as acurate as possible )
I have to correct my mistake , The Author says the Harper Collins Study Bible is his reccomendation.

Whatever Bible you possess , It wont do you a bit of Good till you crack it open and apply it to your life...
Out of those words , God speaks...I do not fully understand how...But I do understand it brings understanding :)

I highly suggest to anyone who would like to help me start the trend of intelligence to start by reading your proverbs...

God Bless you all and Thanks for reading and please believe I will always do my best to give you the honest truth...
I seek it and I am hungry for it and he is revealing things to me , which in turn , I reveal to those interested.

As always , If you have knowledge , Please share.

Peace and Blessings
Scott Johnson
11-12-09
3:51 AM

P.S.
I felt led to remind the reader , That these are my views and opinions and I sincerely try to present them to you in a way that cannot be argued against.
A way so logical that everyone can see the truth I speak.

But in the end , This is my interpretation...Everyone takes something different from the word of God , which is why we have so many religions and false doctrines now.
So my mission is to get rid of all disctractions and find out what exactly Jesus said to do and follow THAT.
And from my knowledge up to this point , THAT IS ... LOVE
Love Yourself , Love your neighbor , Do not exalt anything in your life to a God like status other than God himself.
If you really think about , The majority of us follow the ten commandments....I believe the enemy comes in and distracts believers with so much religion and Dogma they fail to see the simplicity of the message...LOVE.

We get tied up in trying to out shine each other instead of elevating each other...
We are covered by Grace...Accept , Believe , Love and everything else will into place in your life.
If what your doing is not right , You will lose the desire to do it and you wont even miss it when it's gone.
You can't buy your way in , donate your way in , dress your way in , etc...
Just BELIEVE and LOVE.

Point is , These are my beliefs and I give them to you. Accept them or not..
I believe I am right....Then again , So do suicide Bombers...
Find out Your truth , do your research and Never tell me it aint real if you havent sincerely spent some time with it.



SEEK AND YOU WILL FIND!