22 When a paraphrase doesn't work

Our congregation is reading "The Purpose Driven Life" which has been on the best seller list. In a women's group I'm reading Max Lucado's "Experiencing the heart of Jesus." Both authors seem to lean rather heavily on "The Message," a Bible paraphrase translation. The Living Bible and The Message are sort of fun to read at a stretch--like for a whole story or book--especially for a fresh view. But for snippets or explanatory verses, give me a straight forward decent translation any day. It's a little like reading someone's "I think it said approximately this. . ."

Lucado himself has an interesting writing style. It has a rhythm and pace, not unlike a really good Bible translation. The Message doesn't have that. And I'm just guessing that the passages that fall flat for me are from The Message. His book doesn't tell you which of 6 versions of the Bible he is quoting--he only supplies book chapter and verse.