A Bible's Journey across America

God always has a purpose for His Word, and it should come as no surprise that sometimes it is a lot bigger than sitting on our bookshelf. Consider this story about a Bible given as a gift which is making its way across the country.

The promise in Isaiah 55:11 that God’s Word “will not return to me empty,” is evident to Jane Peacock, a member of Baldwin Avenue Baptist Church in DeFuniak Springs.

A Bible she once owned is making its way from city to city and is fulfilling the rest of the promise in Isaiah: His Word “will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it,” she told Florida Baptist Witness.

If you ever wondered if the Bible could make you hungry...

Nationals Photos

Thanks to Coach Michelina for getting us a few photos from Nationals. If you got any more photos from the big event, please let us know and/or send them our way. If all you have is old-fashioned print photos, no problem! We have a scanner.

Year End Party is tonight

The party is on for tonight at the Brakes' house. We're looking forward to seeing you there!

Charity begins at home

Bible-themed Arboretum

The Bible and its stories are deeply embedded in Western Culture. So much so, in fact, that many of our plants were named for Bible stories or with Bible stories in mind. One arboretum in Texas is using the Bible as a starting point to teach about the plants around us and the Bible stories they may relate to.

There are six shrubs and trees known as "crucifixion thorn" in North America. None could have actually been the thorns used to crown the crucified Christ, according to David Oberpriller, who guides a Plants of the Bible tour at Boyce Thompson Arboretum.
"We don't know what plant it actually was, but none of these plants are found in the Middle East, so there's no way it could be them," he says. "But someone saw it and thought 'That looks like it could be it,' so that's what it's called."
Common knowledge of biblical plants is full of such conjecture, says Oberpriller, a retired Boeing engineer from Mesa who started leading the tour five years ago. Some plants - olives, dates and pomegranates - mentioned in the Bible are easy to identify, he says, while others ("thorny plant") are impossible.
"With a lot of Bible plants we don't know what they were," he said. "Translators weren't botanists. It didn't matter from a doctrinal standpoint if it was this species or that species."

If you are down that way, it could be an interesting way to connect what we'll be learning next year in Luke to the plants and animals around you.

Literally

Have you RSVP'd for the party?

The Quiz Team Year End Party is Monday night. Have you RSVP'd yet? If not, please contact Coach Jim by the Yahoo eVite or phone ASAP. We're hoping to see all of you there, if possible!

World's oldest Bible goes ONLINE

Don't worry, we won't make anyone quiz in the original Hebrew or Greek. But soon you *WILL* be able to view the world's oldest Bible online which will allow anyone to explore the history of scripture.

The remaining fragments of the Codex Sinaiticus, which are stored in Britain, Russia, Germany and a monastery in Egypt's Sinai Desert, will be scanned and made available for viewing for the first time since their discovery.

"I think it's just fantastic that thanks to technology we can now make the oldest cultural artifacts -- ones that were once so precious you couldn't show them to anyone -- accessible to everyone, in really high quality," Ulrich Johannes Schneider, director of Leipzig University Library, which holds part of the manuscript, told Reuters.

A preview, containing the Book of Psalms and the Gospel of Mark will be put online on Thursday and the full text should be available by next July.

This is one of the great ways that the digital age can be useful in harkening back to past ages and helping us to understand what came before.

Memorize Scripture with Music!

Hat tip today to Coach Phil from Clinton Corners and his Scripture Memory Challenge website. If you are looking to memorize scripture one tool that many people forget about is music. If you think about it, while many of us struggle to remember written text, we have no problem remembering a song we heard when we were 5 years old! The brain seems to be built for music, and there are sites like this one which offer CDs of scripture transformed into songs. Click on thru and listen to see if it is something your or your family would like to check out.

Be aware, they have nothing up from Luke yet, so this is purely for personal enrichment, and not for quizzing.

Wycliffe speaks "Pijin"?

Besides the major languages of the world, there are a number of so-called "pidin" languages in the world. Mostly located in colonial situations (where a major culture conquers a lesser one through war or economic means) these languages are combinations of a major language (like English or French) and local languages. Sometimes they sound very much like the major language, but an outsider would have a hard time figuring it out. Now, Wycliffe Bible Translators is producing Bibles in these pijin languages, so that God's truth can truly be heard in every tongue.

And Andrew VanAndel, a Canadian with a BA in linguistics, stated, "I enjoy learning new languages ‘an distaem mi save staka abaotim Pijin’.”
Jen Quist, another Canadian said: "My favorite part of the Pijin launch was when they said that now God speaks Pijin."
The team plans to hold another SALT course on Santa Cruz Island following the 20 July launch of the Natqgu NT, Psalms and Ruth.
Then they will join with Natqgu Language Project members for distribution tours around Santa Cruz Island.

Signs and Wonders

Perspectives on Giving

End-of-Year Party!

We are very proud of everything the team accomplished this year in both the regular and post-season. You both achieved great things and showed great character in doing so. To celebrate a great year, we're going to have a year-end part on Monday, July 28. Check your e-mail for an eVite and/or contact Coach Jim for more detail.

Scripture Art

If you are a visual artist, here is another way that your art can be used to illustrate scripture.

Audio Bible wins "Christian Book of the Year"

It is not every year that an AudioBook manages to win an award typically set aside for paper books. But this year The Word of Promise has managed to do so.

The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) announced on Sunday evening, July 13, the six category winners of the 2008 Christian Book Awards and the "Christian Book of the Year" during the International Christian Retail Show (ICRS) in Orlando.
For the first time in the award program's 30-year history, a Bible and an audio product has won the "Christian Book of the Year" honor: The Word of Promise(TM) New Testament Audio Bible (Thomas Nelson) features the talents of actors such as Jim Caviezel ("The Passion of the Christ"), Golden Globe winner Stacy Keach, Academy Award and Golden Globe winner Lou Gossett, Jr., and Academy Award winner Marisa Tomei, in a scripted dramatization of the New King James Version (NKJV) of the New Testament.

Please note, this is not the NIV version, and thus not useful for EFCA Bible Quizzing, but it is still useful for personal study and evangelism!

NOT the way to play

Many parents know that a Quiz Team tradition on our trips is the claw machines at places like Fuddruckers. The coaches want to assure them that this is NOT the way we play it.

More Quizzers in the Wilderness Photos

We want to thank Jim's private paparazzi troupe for having covered the Deerfoot Father and Son hike so well. In addition to those photos posted earlier, we have a few more for your viewing pleasure. Click on thru for the whole set.

Calvary 2 Softball Photos

After the Calvary 1 Softball game, Calvary 2 came out to play against Custom Air Systems, including Coach Matt. Click on thru for the whole set.

Calvary 1 Softball Photos

This past Tuesday, I had a chance to see the Calvary 1 team in action. You may recognize a parent or past quizzer amongst the players. Click on the image below to see the whole set.

Getting in your two cents

Colin reports for duty (well, education, anyway)!

Our friend Colin from Essex Fells is now officially a Plebe at the Naval Academy. He thought we might enjoy a photo from his opening weekend.

Look out below!

China plans giveaway of Olympic Bibles

China has been long known for persecuting Christians - at least those who are not members of the local church. And the first draft of rules given out for athletes competing in the Olympic games this summer indicated that Bibles would be banned. But now China is claiming they will be giving out free Bibles to anyone who wants them at the games.

Athletes and visitors alike will be able to obtain free copies of the Bible, New Testament and booklets with the four Gospels during the Games next month, the China Daily reports...

“This is especially significant (because) as far as I know, this is the first time an Olympics logo will be used on a religious booklet,” Rev. Xu Xiaohong, who oversees publications for the China Christian Council, told China Daily. “The Olympic spirit and the spirit of living a ‘purpose-driven life’ that Christians believe in come together in the combination.”

Is this truly a step toward religious freedom in China, or simply a publicity stunt to blunt international criticism? Only time will tell.

Quizzers in the Wilderness

This past weekend was Father-and-Son weekend at Deerfoot, and several Quizzers and fathers were up there for the event.

Wireless connection

When I saw this online, I couldn't resist reposting.

No Bible-Free Summers

The Eagle has landed!

Michelina just called to report the kids are on the ground and driving back to the church now. They are looking forward to seeing their families.

Happy Independence Day!

NATIONALS UPDATE: Team Totals

Michelina called with the summaries of points for individual quizzers for Nationals Quizzing.

Chit-Chat: 160 points
Hopper/Thomas: 150 points
Lisa: 110 points
Bronx Box: 100 points
Super K: 90 points

They had a total of 40 team points (i.e. 4 and 5 chair bonuses) and 650 points total for all quizzes.

Go team! We are VERY proud of you, and hope you are having a GREAT time out there!

Video Streams from Nationals Rallys are available online

Were you aware that you can see the rallys that the kids have been enjoying at Nationals? The Challenge 2008 blog has links for each day. They actually go up each night as the rally is running, so you can actually watch them live, if you wish! Click on thru to share the experience with our brave quizzers.

NATIONALS UPDATE: Third place

There was a three-way quizoff for first place. Trumbull came in third, but still quizzed very well.

NATIONALS UPDATE: Three-way tie for first!

Multiple sources have called the coaches here in CT to report that Trumbull won both its quizzes today and is in a three-way tie for FIRST at Nationals! They are working out the tie-breaker now. Hopefully, we will have more news later.

EFCA adopts a new Statement of Faith

After 50 years, the EFCA just adopted a new statement of faith. The statement of faith is an attempt to distill down the bedrock beliefs of the churches that make up our denomination to their essentials. For example, quizzers may be interested in the section on the Bible.

2. We believe that God has spoken in the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, through the words of human authors. As the verbally inspired Word of God, the Bible is without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for salvation, and the ultimate authority by which every realm of human knowledge and endeavor should be judged. Therefore, it is to be believed in all that it teaches, obeyed in all that it requires, and trusted in all that it promises.

The statement of faith is worth reading over and comparing against scripture, to see the high regard that the EFCA gives to the Word of God.