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Measuring Our Success: Sunday Mornings in Plains: Bible Study with Jimmy Carter

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It's pretty interesting to hear the former president give these lessons. Each lesson begins with Jimmy Carter talking about the state of the world at the time of the lesson, including events in his life, and the actual Bible lessons. Carter has been giving Bible studies since he was a midshipman at the Naval Academy.

These lessons are in front of a live audience in various churches. Interaction with the audience has mostly been edited out. Carter was completely at ease and engaging. At times he was very funny and made the crowd laugh. Naturally he makes efforts to relate the lessons from the Gospel of Mark to everyday life.

At the time of the lessons, the U.S. had begun the War in Iraq. Carter expresses his concern as he had considered this an unjust war, but he also expressed in solidarity with the country and his patriotism. At his age, he can say things in a more direct way than at earlier times in his political life.

Jimmy Carter also explains the work of the Carter center. The Carter center is quite active in many countries, advocating human rights and serving in many capacities for good causes. He provides some interesting stories of his travels and interactions with world leaders.

Carter's lessons on the Gospel of Mark were taken from a standardized lesson book, one adopted by his Southern Baptist church. I should point out that Carter sees commonalities between various denominations and he appeals to people across many spectrums. The Gospel of Mark turned out to be far more interesting than I imagined. I was unaware of some of the most significant aspects of this book.

Carter explained the early ministry of Jesus according to this book. Jesus recruited his disciples from the shores of Galilee and kept crossing this sea with his disciples. This is the lowest freshwater lake in the world and the second lowest lake in the world after the Dead Sea. The warm waters of the Sea of Galilee allow various flora and fauna to support plenty of fish life, thereby making extensive fishing possible.

The significance of Jesus crossing this Sea continuously in the early stages of his ministry is covered in the lessons. I didn't know about this and found it interesting. I think discovering the significance of these crossings is enough reason to get this audiobook.