Fall in love
with the Word
For decades I barely scratched the Bible's surface. Then one morning over coffee, I felt the F.O.G. and nothing was ever the same again.
What is the F.O.G.?
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
Isaiah 40:8
One early morning — I had what can only be described as a coffee with Jesus. To explain, I have to take you back to a little boy in South Africa, kneeling to give his life to Jesus. I was 7 years old. And what followed was a thing of beauty: I'd lock myself in my room for hours on end with my picture book Bible, and be captivated by all the supernatural stories.
So captivated I was — that at times I'd even have to be dragged out my room just to eat lunch. I was a boy hungry and thirsty for the Word that even physical hunger was subdued. I was eating the spiritual manna that Jesus spoke of when He said, "I have food you know not of." John 4:32
Now I don't tell you this to brag, but to paint the picture of what happened next.
The Silence
One day, over the lunch table with my family — seven of us — I was being my usual joyful self. An absolute firecracker, running on nothing but youthful energy and hours with God. And I cannot remember what I said or did at that table that day, but I remember the look on my father's face. And I remember what I said to myself next.
It is better to just keep quiet.
And that is exactly what I did. A complete self-imposed shut down. And gradually that spark and hunger for the Word of God died. And my joy unspeakable was lost.
The Fire
Now fast forward 28 years, and what the enemy meant for my harm — God meant for my good.
It's September 1st, 2022. My father has recently passed on to be with Jesus, and I'm watching a video called “The Father's Blessing“ from one of my mentors, John Paul Jackson. And at the closing of the broadcast, he ended with a prayer, a Father's blessing prayer.
And what happened next I will never forget.
I could feel something rising up from deep down within me — bubbling, fizzing, and then becoming a fire deep within my bones, the way prophets like Jeremiah and Isaiah describe it.
Today I'd call it electric: real electricity, coursing through my veins as the prayer ended. The power of God filled every fibre of my being and put me flat on my face before Him — like I'd been struck by lightning made of Love.
This is the single most intense thing that has ever happened to me. It wasn't scary. It didn't hurt. But it was overwhelming, all-encompassing — His Holy Spirit coming down and doing His work in me.
So much hurt, so many wrong ideas about who He is, and yes, sin itself being obliterated in His presence, right there as I lay flat on my face, bawling my eyes out. And all I was able to say in His presence was:
"Thank You! Thank You!
You are real!"
The Beginning of Wisdom
The F.O.G.
The fear of God that makes you a friend of God.
This experience — and everything that followed — is what I call the F.O.G. — the fear of God that makes you a friend of God. It isn't necessarily scary. But it is certainly confronting, because in that moment you realize just how completely other He is.
He is truly the all-encompassing, fiery One — the God whose very eyes burn like fire, and anything that gets near Him (like His throne guardians the Seraphim and Cherubim) is set ablaze. We all know — get too close to the sun and you'll be incinerated. And He of course made the sun, and blazes infinitely hotter.
Even just being with Him, the way Moses was on Sinai — glimpsing only His back in the cleft of the rock — left his face glowing with glory. And left Moses thankful just to be alive, and on His side. The best place in the world.
I know the feeling Moses!
If He be for me,
who on earth could ever be against me.
That was the overwhelming feeling of it all — not just knowing, undeniably, that He was real, but knowing I was on His side. And if He be for me, who on earth could ever be against me?
And honestly? It also left me a little angry. I kept thinking: what on earth are we Christians actually doing, when this is our Father? What are we doing, selling Him so short? And why did no-one ever tell me this, or talk about Him like this before?
Thank you SO much for the F.O.G. translation, it has answered my prayers to have my hunger for the Word again...HALLELUJAH!!!
The Return
But here's the thing I had to get my head around: our Abba Father will do this, in some shape or form, for every one of His children — not as religious duty, but as Himself, made real to you.
It might not look as dramatic for you as it did for me — maybe it's a quiet certainty that settles in on an ordinary Tuesday, or a single verse that suddenly reads like it was written just for you. But He will always do something personal. Something that's specifically yours, inside your relationship with Jesus.
For me, He knew my head — my mind — was both my biggest obstacle and my biggest blessing, so long as He was truly my Lord. I'd spent years giving Him lip service, all in my head, without ever really giving Him my allegiance. Once that changed — once I knew, for a fact, where I stood — He took me right back to that 7-year-old boy who couldn't put his picture-book Bible down.
And the adult version of that boy was now spending up to 18 hours a day reading one Bible after the next; doing so much study as I tried to wrap my head around what happened to me. So much so, that my Bible started to look like this on every page:
Thank you for a thoughtful, concise and informative overview of the usage of Strong's G4747. It has been of particular help in preparing a message around Colossians 2:8-23.
Not only was I highlighting one Bible, but reading up to 7 Bibles at a time and comparing word for word what they had. I was fascinated by the word choices of the translators as I did original language studies and how gaps in my understanding and even in the translations started filling in for me as I read one Bible after another. We truly have a debt of gratitude we owe to all the scribes and translators over thousands of years who have compiled our Bibles from the original languages for us. And it was the most amazing experience as I kept reading, as more and more He would speak and literally cause words to jump off the page about this wonderful God we serve, and the future we all have together with Him.
The Simple Secret
And through this process I have come to realize that there are a few simple things you can do that will forever change your relationship with God and His Word—and if I had to condense it down to just one thing:
The Key
Savor His Word.
Like a fine meal, sit down and take your time with it. Don't just read the Word for the day and move on — start doing simple things like:
- Read two translations at a time and see how word and phrase differences stand out to you.
- Then do a word study on 1-2 words to see the original meanings.
- Use a highlighter on themes and things that stand out to you as you read. For example—are these words a blessing or a warning from my Father?
- Read a chapter or book of the Bible in one sitting, then do it again with another translation.
- Ask honest questions, and use the text as a starting point for prayer. Be brutally honest, like “Jesus, why did you call a woman a dog?” And as you pray and let the Holy Spirit lead, you will be amazed. I'll give you a hint on this one: 'dog' is not the best translation here. Join coffee club for the full story.
- Embrace the mystery and romance of the Bible by understanding that there is just so much to learn about the ancient Near East context of the Word and how it affects interpreting the Bible. And getting the ancient Hebrew in your head — as Dr. Michael Heiser used to say — starts reprogramming the Greek, Western mindset most of us default to without noticing. For example knowing what Elohim (God) or elohim(s) (gods) meant to the ancients. And no they were not just myths either. More on that later...
And this website has everything you need to get started. With a library of my biblical learnings whilst compiling the new F.O.G. Bibles for you to enjoy for free.
Tell People
And after all this — tell people! The very first thing I wanted to do was tell people how much bigger the story of the Bible and Jesus really is than most of us were ever taught. That desire hasn't faded — it's still just as natural today as it was then.
And when you do, there's a real blessing in it: you're fulfilling Jesus's call to be His witness. It builds its own momentum — the Holy Spirit gives you more to share, the more you keep showing up to spend time with Him.
So I encourage you: share this story, invite your friends and family — even just to this page, or to one of the other 45,000+ pages on this site built to help the Bible come alive again. As a coffee club member, when you invite others in, you'll be connected into Bible study groups so you can read together — working toward the Bible Challenge, a milestone so few Christians ever reach: reading the Bible cover to cover. .
I find this website's wonderful resources so helpful in my ability to stay connected to the Word.
Coffee Club Membership
But you may be wondering what membership to Coffee Club actually is?
And I am so glad you asked, because as the title of this page says, it's so simple: to fall in love with the Word again—to rediscover the beauty and romance of it all, where the very last words literally say the Spirit and the bride say ‘Come!’ to the Lord Jesus, as we eagerly await His glorious return.
To understand what this all means. Why everything this world has to offer right now is such a cheap substitute for what is about to come, so soon. That is what this website is about: to stir up that hunger and thirst for Him, the Word—whilst not being intimidated by some of the ‘weirder‘ parts of living with the Spirit — the same spirit that had people carrying handkerchiefs from Paul's own body to heal the sick, in Acts 19. That's not a metaphor I made up; that's Scripture. And it's exactly the kind of thing I want you to stop being embarrassed by. Hence the name of this website — Paul's Handkerchief.
I don't know how I found this website, but I'm sure glad I did!
Behind The Curtain
And everything that you need to begin the process of savoring the Word for yourself is right behind the curtain.
And I do mean everything:
- Multiple Bible translations—including the new F.O.G. Bibles, where I went word for word through Scripture, comparing multiple translations and commentaries to get a fuller picture of the context. The main tool I used for that word-by-word work was Logos Bible Software.
- A fresh update to the Strong's database of words, to understand the original meanings of Hebrew and Greek.
- A fresh take on highlighting the Word by identifying themes—with a fun twist: emoji highlighters you can personalise to your heart's content..
- A commentary for every book and chapter of the Bible, unlike any other you have ever seen—with a growing collection of short video explainers accompanying them.
- A Bible Challenge to read the Bible cover to cover in a new translation (or translations)—where you don't just read, but interact with what you read by completing a short quiz, crossword, or journal entry to mark the chapter as ‘read’ as part of your challenge.
- And answers to some of the most intriguing and perplexing questions in the Bible—including why the KJV is not the best translation for today, and that ‘dog’ comment of Jesus which to this day is being misunderstood and even preached wrong. I only say this because I had to walk out of one church recently over how a minister was talking about that very passage. Having Spirit-led answers to head-scratchers like this matters. As a member, you can submit your own.
And all of this combined will lead you to fall in love with the Word, and to never read it the same again—as you begin walking more and more fully in the light of His revelation, that only comes from Him as you take the time to sit with Him. What I call having a coffee with Jesus.
And this website has been purpose-built to help you develop this daily habit in a rewarding and fun way as you progress through the Bible—where at the end of it, you will get your certificate of completion, every single time you do the Bible Challenge.
CERTIFICATE
of Completion
This certifies that
John B. Smith
Has completed the Bible for the 7th time in 340 days.
You are going to love it, and I can't wait for you to join and invite all your family and friends on this exciting journey in the Word together.
God bless—and see you on the inside.
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