Calvary 2 Softball vs CHS on Tuesday

If you are a student at Christian Heritage School and an attender of Calvary Church, it is time to find out where your real loyalties lie. Calvary 2 Softball will be playing CHS's softball team in a battle to the... well... bragging rights. The game will be at 6:30 PM on Tuesday at Long Hill Field. Come on out and cheer on both teams!

Posted because this is an ACTS reference

Can you imagine hand-writing your own copy of the Bible?

Before the printing press was invented, every copy of the Bible was hand-written - copied lovingly by scribes and monks generation after generation. But since Gutenberg printed the first Bible, such manuscripts are few and far between. But apparently for some it is not quite a lost art.

Each page of the five-volume Bible is filled with Vernon Henson's careful script, written with fountain pen on lined notebook paper.
The volumes represent a 40-year labor of love for the 71-year-old Henson, who began the project when he was 18 years old...He started with the New Testament, beginning with the Gospel of Matthew, then Mark, then Luke. Then he came to the Gospel of John.

"I cried several times when I was copying it," he said, still choking up at the memory.

In 1964, 11 years after he started, he finished the entire New Testament, as well as Psalms and Proverbs from the Old Testament. He began to wonder what to do with the sheaves of paper when a friend suggested having it bound.

It cost him $4.50 to have the first black hardback book made.

There are many different ways to learn the Bible. Quizzing is just one, and sometimes copying is a way of putting the Bible into your body and mind that is far more effective than just reading it.

DID YOU KNOW: What was the earliest of Pauls letters?

As school comes to an end, and we start to look to the new year, it is logical to start thinking about the books we will be studying in the next year. Last year was Acts - the story of the young Christian church from the Ascension of Jesus to Paul's journey to Rome. This coming year will be 5 books written by Paul to churches and people that he met during his travels in Acts: Galatians, Ephesians, Phillipians, Collossians, and Philemon.

Our "DID YOU KNOW?" series for the summer asks the simple question, "What was the earliest of Paul's letters?"

Any thoughts? Well, consider what you read at the Sarris Bible Get-Togethers. Galatians, uniquely among these letters, addresses a topic specifically talked about in the book of Acts: whether one needs to be a Christian in order to be a believer. Sound familiar?

Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: "Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved." This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.
Acts 15:1-2

[Paul speaking]
It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.
Acts 15:19-21

Compare this with some words from Galatians.

So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.
Galatians 3:25-25

This, along with other internal evidence, leads scholars to believe that Galatians is in fact the earliest of the letters of Paul to be found in scripture.

Pssst! Be sure to make a note of these "DID YOU KNOW?" features, because there may be a bonus quiz at or around the kickoff to see who was paying attention.

Bible Quizzing at Bible Camp

While our church tends to keep Bible Quizzing to the teens, not all churches choose to do so. And as our younger brothers an sistsers have shown us, sometimes they do better than we do! One Bible Camp is putting that to the test by adding to archery, knot-tying, and other traditional camp activities, Bible Quizzing!

Another group was seated inside a building on the 100-acre campus about a mile southwest of Brown City. Staff member L. Lynn Adams read questions about the third chapter of the Gospel of John.

"Over what had an argument developed?" she asked.
Jacob Myers, 10, of Walled Lake was the first to stand up: "Over ceremonial washing?"...One participant in the Bible quiz competition "gets to put a pie in my face at the end of the week," Adams of East Jordan said.

Hmmm... Suddenly, I have an idea for a new motivational tool for next year's Quiz Team.

Former Quizzer Makes the Huntington Herald

Former Quizzer and former Quizzing Mom, Kim Bensen, has made the Huntington Herald regarding a new product she is selling.

Kim's Light Bagels are pro-duced in the former Lender's Bagels building in West Haven, the site of the first bagel factory in the United States in 1927, ac-cording to Benson. "I'm proud that it's in Connecticut," Ben-son said of where her bagels are baked.
Benson counts points, based on calories, as part of her Weight Watchers diet, and it was her personal struggle with weight loss that sparked the idea of starting Kim's Light Bagels.
"I love bagels, but I don't want to spend a quarter of my daily calories on it," Benson said. "I wanted a bagel that was only 100 to 110 calories. I worked with a baker on it and tried different bagel recipes. There's no other bagel on the market that's one point; even the Weight Watchers bagels are two points."

I know Kim mentions how much God helped her in every interview, and how her faith drove her to success in weight loss as well.

Pictures from the Spring Banquet

Pictures from the Spring Banquet of the Calvary Evangelical Free Church Youth Group are now up and ready for our viewing. Click on the image below to see the whole set.

Shooting Star Game

Today seems like a good day for a goof-off opportunity. Click on over to the shooting star game and see how many shooting stars you can string together to light up the night sky. Soothing music and challenging puzzles! The game is based in Flash, so it should run in most browsers.

He hears them all

Sir Isaac Newton was also a Bible Scholar

Sir Isaac Newton is known for defining the first Law of Gravity, but it is less known that he was also a devout believer who studied the Bible relentlessly.

Manuscripts written 300 years ago by Isaac Newton, now on display for the first time in Jerusalem, show that he searched the Bible as intently as he studied nature.

As a scientist, Newton laid the groundwork for modern physics, astronomy, math and optics.

But as a theologian, Newton used the Bible's book of Daniel to calculate the date for the Apocalypse, reaching the conclusion that the world would end no earlier than the year 2060.

He also interpreted Biblical prophecies to mean that the Jews would have to return to the Holy Land before then, and calculated the exact dimensions of the ancient Jewish temple.

eBible Website

I am a big fan of BibleGateway, but it is hardly the only free Bible-search website out there. A new one on the block is eBible which contains BOTH a searchable form of the NIV translation AND a set of commentaries to use with notes on just about every verse in the Bible. If you are really looking for a website to help with a study in-depth as well as in breadth, this may be a great resource for you.

Calvary2 vs Wildcats Pics

Calvary2 played the Wildcats (the 2006 champions) last night at Indian Ledge Field. It was a hard-fought battle, with the score close every step of the way, and Calvary 2 up by as much as 4 points at times. But in the end, the champs went ahead and won with a score of 12-8. Click on the picture to see the whole game in photos.

Next week's game on THURSDAY, will be Calvary 1 vs Calvary 2. Come on out and cheer for all of our softball-playing men! This is your one chance to be sure to see a Calvary team win, no matter what happens.

Narnia Movie 2 Interview with Douglas Gresham

The second "Chronicles of Narnia" movie is in the works with a May 2008 release date. C.S. Lewis's step-son Douglas Gresham was recently interviewed by NarniaWeb about the upcoming movie.

NW: How is the filming going? In fact, where are you right now?

DG: I am in Prague at the set of Prince Caspian. I am here to catch up with some of my favourite people who are the cast and crew, and with the footage that has been filmed since I was with the team in New Zealand - and of course to look at one of the most fabulous sets ever built, Miraz’s Castle, which is what we are filming right now. I can tell you that the footage we have so far looks spectacularly good, even richer and somehow stronger than LWW. Also the increased maturity of the children and their acting skills is remarkable. This is going to be one seriously great movie.

...

NW: What is the rationale behind putting a minotaur (Asterius), a creature associated with evil in LWW, as someone on Caspian’s side?

DG: There are several reasons for that. Firstly, we felt that we needed to show that in Narnia as here, old foes can be forgiven and can reconcile and work together, given the will to do so. Secondly, that in Narnia as also it is here, a common adversary will bring even the worst of enemies together and unite them. Also, that the shapes and colours of a species’ body do not necessarily denote their character, that just because someone is a Minotaur does not have to mean that they are all bad. Finally, we kind of like Minotaurs.

I really enjoyed the first movie and am a big C.S. Lewis fan. I am very much looking forward to the next one.

Happy Fathers Day!

We here at the Quizzers Pad want to wish all of the fathers of our quizzers a VERY happy Fathers Day (even though I couldn't find pictures of all of you). Without you to drive us to practice, teach us about discipline, and show us what strength really means, our team would be far poorer.







Also, a hearty congratulations to John and Barbara Wong on the birth of Hanah Kailyn. We hope she one day is a quizzer.

Congratulations to Pastors Ward and Metty!

Today, Coach Matt and I are down in Maryland for the ordination of his college roommate, Ward. Our sincere congraulations to him, and to his wife Metty as well!

Send me a sign!

The Brakes are famous!

I'll bet you did not know that Coach Jim's family are now famous furniture models. It is true! Click on through for their new fashion spread for the Spudbag... which appears to be some kind of beanbag chair which would definitely have insufficient lumbar support for me.

Way of the Master

Has anyone else out there heard of Way of the Master? It is an interesting radio show with a web-based presence which seems fairly rich with content on Salvation and Evangelism. Click on through for lots of interesting tools and some thought-provoking videos.

Calvary 2 Softball is TONIGHT!

WHAT: Calvary 2 Softball Team plays Custom Air

WHEN: Today at 6:30 PM

WHERE: Indian Ledge Field in Trumbull, CT

COST: $0 - i.e. FREE!

WHAT ELSE: There are bleachers on the field, or bring your own lawn chair.

Chinese Bible Ministry exhibit... in Germany

In Communist China, the Bible is sometimes tolerated, but never encouraged. Now, a new exhibit in Germany is exporing the underground Bible ministries in China, as Christ has reached into this closed country.

Protestants visiting the exhibition of China's Bible ministry held in West Germany on the German Protestant Church Day, were deeply impressed by the presence of church in China and the related exhibits.

"This is my first time to see such an exhibition," said Janie Lagdn.

"What an exciting exhibition," said a professor from Amsterdam, giving his name as Martiece.

"It's good to see how the words come all over the world, crossing borders of language and things like this," writes one visitor at the message book, adding with it a few Chinese characters of numbers.

Bless you!

Bible Drill Winners!

Our Biblical competitive outlet is Bible Quizzing, but for some others it is "Bible Drill". In Atlanta, it is all the rage.

The Baptist General Convention of Texas coordinates Texas Baptist Bible Drill competition each year.
Jessie captured the Texas junior high Bible Drill title in her fifth year of competition.
Tanner, who plays on his high school’s football and basketball teams as well as in the band, has learned the importance of discipline. This strategy paid off in Bible Drill, as he won first place in the state high school division.
It marks his second time at the national competition. In 2004, he competed for the national championship at the junior high level.
“We’re tickled to death and very, very proud of him,” said Sherri Shirley, his mother.

Congratulations to the new champions!

Just Checking In

Students read the Bible from Cover to Cover in 70 Hours

As quizzers, you may feel proud of your Bible knowledge and literacy. But have you ever read the whole Bible? Have you ever wondered how long it would take? Well, some students in Columbia actually did it and it took 70 hours!

It took just 70 hours for hundreds of students at Colombian Adventist University (CAU) in Medellin, Colombia to read the Bible from cover to cover. The historic reading, which was streamed live on the Internet, was one of many events scheduled this year to celebrate the university's 70th anniversary.

Very cool, and definitely a way to find parts of the Bible that you may have never know even existed! Any takers if we were to do the same thing at Calvary EFC?

Calvary 2 vs Affinion Pics

Last night's game against Affinion was Calvary 2's first win of the year. Unfortunately, it won't be counted because technically Calvary 2 did not have enough players. Sigh. But click on through for pictures from the game, anyway, which was definitely the best they have played so far, and a lot of fun all around!

The next game will be Tuesday, June 12 at 6:30 AM at Indian Ledge Field against Custom Air. Come on out and cheer on the team!

History of the NIV

For EFCA Bible Quizzing, we always use the NIV (New International Version). Over the years, some quizzers have accidentally studied other translations of the Bible, leading them to wonder "What is so special about the NIV?" Click on through for a brief history of this version, and some of its distinctives.

From the beginning of the project, the Committee on Bible Translation held to certain goals for the New International Version: that it would be an accurate translation and one that would have clarity and literary quality and so prove suitable for public and private reading, teaching, preaching, memorizing and liturgical use. The Committee also sought to preserve some measure of continuity with the long tradition of translating the Scriptures into English.

When you can't always go back to the Greek (can you imagine quizzing in a different language?) you have to choose a translation, and the NIV is one of the best for preserving the original intent, while still being readable for modern English speakers.

Calvary 2 Softball is tomorrow

What: Calvary 2 Softball vs Affinion
When: Tuesday, June 5 at 6:30 PM
Where; Long Hill Field in Trumbull, CT
Cost: Free!
Who: Come one, come all! Quizzers, siblings, and parents alike are welcome to come on out and cheer on our men in blue!

Fallout Flashback III

How has the Bible changed your life?

Many view the BIble as just another book - a collection of random stories by one small people group in Palestine. But the Bible is more than that and can transform lives. Considr this story collected from a woman from South Korea (whose English is not the best) who came to America and now works with orphans.

That's how I changed my life. When I read that Bible verse, I started to cry. I forget about payback and revenge. I decided to forgive them. I try to do good things. I ask God, maybe I will be an orphan's mom. During war time, a lot of kids don't have parents. The orphanages are huge. It's kind of (a) really painful memory. Without God, I would become still really angry woman.

The Bible is not just a history, but God's word which can transform lives.

Time for a Vacation?