Clash of Cultures

Photo: President Lincoln's Bible

My Words...

Some news stories put you in mind of Bible verses. For example, Matthew 24:35, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away." Consider this story.

Temperatures so hot that fire fighters were concerned about the safety of their fire trucks and thousands of shells of exploding ammunition gutted an old Historic home in Lindale early Monday morning...

Through all of the heat and fire that left the structure in ruins, Brannon was able to dig out an old family Bible from the charred mess that was miraculously undamaged.

Exhibit of early New World Bibles

In school, much is made of secular reasons for the European exploration of the new world. They came for gold, silver, land, political freedom, etc. But we often forget how many came hoping to evangelize the native peoples. A new exhibit in Notre Dame collects together many of the first Bibles produced in the New World. Most of them were aimed at providing the Bible to Native Americans in some approximation of their own language.

The first Scripture translated in America was the Nahuatl (or Aztec) Lectionary prepared by Bernardino de Sahagún in 1532, just a few years after the arrival of Cortes in Mexico. The manuscript of this work disappeared after the death of its author and was recovered and published only in 1858. In the British colonies of North America, Scripture translation began with the spectacular achievement of John Eliot, who crafted a complete version of the Bible in the language of the Massachusetts Indians and had it printed in Cambridge in 1663. Bible translation in America came to a halt after Eliot's Indian Bible and was resumed only in the nineteenth century by the British and Foreign Bible Society and the American Bible Society. The BFBS was founded in 1804 and its first publication, issued before the end of the year, was a translation of John's Gospel in Mohawk. For Latin America, the first BFBS Scripture was Luke in Aymara, issued in 1829, while the first ABS Scripture was the book of Acts in Arawak, completed in 1850.

"Find a Bible"

It is easy to find an English Bible. We have many translations, paraphrases, interlinears, etc. In fact, we have so many different kinds of Bibles that for Quizzing, we have to specify the exact translation to use (NIV, not TNIV or ESV or KJV). But that is not the case for many others whose language is not one of the majority. So, what do you do if your first language is not English, and you can't read 1st-century Greek? The Forum of Bible Agencies has introduced "Find a Bible", a new interactive website for locating translations and resources (online or otherwise) for virtually any language the translators have gotten to. Click on over and check it out. It is amazing to see just how many languages it covers for the USA alone!

HUMOR: Skepticism & Belief

A boy was sitting on a park bench with one hand resting on an open Bible. He was loudly exclaiming his praise to God. "Hallelujah! Hallelujah! God is great!" he yelled without worrying whether anyone heard him or not.
Shortly after, along came a man who had recently completed some studies at a local university. Feeling himself very enlightened in the ways of truth and very eager to show this enlightenment, he asked the boy about the source of his joy.
"Hey" asked the boy in return with a bright laugh, "Don't you have any idea what God is able to do? I just read that God opened up the waves of the Red Sea and led the whole nation of Israel right through the middle."
The enlightened man laughed lightly, sat down next to the boy and began to try to open his eyes to the "realities" of the miracles of the Bible. "That can all be very easily explained. Modern scholarship has shown that the Red Sea in that area was only 10-inches deep at that time. It was no problem for the Israelites to wade across."
The boy was stumped. His eyes wandered from the man back to the Bible laying open in his lap. The man, content that he had enlightened a poor, naive young person to the finer points of scientific insight, turned to go. Scarcely had he taken two steps when the boy began to rejoice and praise louder than before. The man turned to ask the reason for this resumed jubilation.
"Wow!" Exclaimed the boy happily, "God is greater than I thought! Not only did He lead the whole nation of Israel through the Red Sea, He topped it off by drowning the whole Egyptian army in 10 inches of water!"

Bible Word Search

Here's another way to keep your mind sharp during the school vacation. See if you can work out this word search. Click on the image for the large size.

Sword of the Spirit

Photo: A Good Reminder

Rare hymnal gets preserved

One of the great treasures of the Church is the songs we have written to praise our Lord. The great hymnal of the Hebrew people is even preserved as part of the Bible itself - Psalms! So, it is nice to see people working to preserve historic hymnals so that generations to come can see how past generations praised God.

A church is donating a rare 1502 hymnal to a Manchester University library, where church members say it can receive better care.

The Latin hymnal was published in London by Wynken de Worde, who was among the first to popularize printed works. The hymnal will be stored at The John Rylands University Library along with a trove of other books that have been kept in a church tower in the town of Nantwich since about 1695.

The library at St. Mary's Church, one of many set up in parish churches around England, apparently was well used for about a century before falling into neglect.

Funny Church Signs

Our church doesn't have one, but it is a tradition among many small churches to have a sign out front which can be set up with a new inspirational message each week. Here are a few of the funnier options that pastors or deacons have chosen.

Flashback: Calvary Teen Choir

This one was taken by our own Coach Matt.

HUMOR: It's All About Timing

A preacher was completing a temperance sermon. With great expression he said, "If I had all the beer in the world, I'd take it and throw it into the river!" The congregation nodded their approval. With even greater emphasis he added, "And if I had all the wine in the world, I'd take it and throw it into the river, too!" The people clapped and were saying "Amen." And then finally, he concluded, "And if I had all the whiskey in the world, I'd take it and throw it into the river!"
As he sat down, the song leader then stood up quite cautiously and announced, "For our closing song, let us sing Hymn #365: "Shall We Gather at the River."

Bible Hangman

Looking for a way to stay sharp for Quiz Team over the summer? Maybe just looking for a way to pass the long, summer-vacation days? Consider checking out Bible Hangman It is a fun little game. Be aware that it has some sound effects, though, that might wake up anyone trying to take a nap.

The 11th Commandment

Photo: Robo-Scribe

What is the relevance of this picture? This is a robot which is re-writing Luther's Bible in German in calligraphy! Even the machines want to be part of the Bible.

Trumbull in top 100 small towns

Okay, this is not Bible-related, but this is the site of the Trumbull Bible Quiz team. Well, it appears our beloved small town has broken into CNN's top 100 small towns in America!

Once a farming town, Trumbull has preserved the largest amount of open space per capita in Connecticut.

The school district is among the best in the state. Trumbull is an hour away from New York City, making daily commutes possible and increasing the variety of jobs available to residents.

Hand-Inscribed Bibles in 100 Languages

Most of the Bibles that we see are printed by machines. A few of us who are lucky may see an illuminated manuscript from the Middle Ages. Now, the Bible Valley Society is working from Jerusalem to produce 100 hand-inscribed Bibles written in 100 languages.

To date, thousands of people from 31 countries have participated in the project, dubbed "People of the World Inscribe the Bible."

Accord to organizers' plans, each community hand-inscribes the 23,127 verses of the Jewish Bible, with the goal being to inscribe 100 Bibles in 100 languages.

Among the 31 countries represented so far are Panama, Costa Rica, Brazil, the United States, Argentina, Denmark, India, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Greece, Israel, Poland, Singapore, Finland, Canada, Britain, Germany, Switzerland, Latvia and Ukraine.

Young Especially Ignorant of the Bible?

It is no secret that Bible literacy is not all that common in Western culture anymore, but it seems that surveys show it is especially a problem for the young, who often feel that the Bible has no relevance to modern life.

But the survey, funded by a consortium of national churches, charitable trusts and Bible agencies, also found few among the young troubled by their ignorance...

The National Biblical Literacy Survey 2009 also revealed that 40% did not know that the tradition of giving Christmas gifts came from the story of the Wise Men bringing gold, frankincense and myrrh to the baby Jesus.

One respondent said David and Goliath was the name of a ship while another thought Daniel - who survived being thrown into the lions' den - was The Lion King.
Despite the success of the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, more than half (57%) of those polled knew nothing about Joseph and his brothers.

HUMOR: What Would Jesus Do?

A pastor’s wife was preparing pancakes for her young sons. The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. Their Mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson. If Jesus were sitting here, He would say, "Let my brother have the first pancake. I can wait." The oldest boy turned to his younger brother and said, "You be Jesus."

Bible Verses on Economic Issues

These days, the economy is being talked about everywhere. We hear words like layoffs, recessions, sub-prime mortgages, etc. But what does God have to say about money and economics? This article covers 12 verses about money and debt.

Read them thru and see what God may be telling you about your money, and your plans for the future. He has words for both the rich and the poor.

Choices

World's Oldest Bible goes online Monday

In a move that is sure to excite Bible scholars, the world's oldest Bible is being put online as soon as Monday. The Codex Sinaticus (link will fail until Monday) will present scans of the entire original Greek manuscripts for scholars to examine and research.

The manuscript contains the Christian Bible in Greek, including the oldest complete copy of the New Testament. (A copy held at the Vatican dates from about the same period.) Older copies of individual portions of the Christian Bible exist, but not as part of a complete text.

The Codex also includes much of the Old Testament that was adopted by early Greek-speaking Christians.

That portion includes books not found in the Hebrew Bible and regarded in the Protestant tradition as apocryphal, such as 2 Esdras, Tobit, Judith, 1 & 4 Maccabees, Wisdom and Sirach.

The New Testament portion includes the Epistle of Barnabas and The Shepherd of Hermas.

As it survives today, Codex Sinaiticus comprises just over 400 large leaves of parchment -- prepared animal skin -- each of which measures 15 inches by 13.6 inches (380 mm by 345 mm).

Let's hope this is the beginning of a trend, to allow the Bible to be studied by anyone worldwide who is seeking truth and God.

Photography: Fireworks

Before we launch into the meat of the summer with some introductions to 1 and 2 Corinthians, I thought we might enjoy a few more days of "light" posts. Coach Matt and I recently attended the annual Derby/Shelton fireworks on July 2. Click on the image below to see my pictures from the fun event.

Is Beta Coming to Church?

Will Beta be coming to church soon? One church in Austin, Texas has started letting their attenders bring their dogs to services. The idea started when the church, which meets in a local restaurant started handing dog treats out to dogs that were with joggers on Sunday mornings. The joggers started asking if they could attend services with their dogs. A new idea was born and dogs were blessed.

Happy Birthday Coach Mark

Today we celebrate the birthday of a great coach, brother and man. Send him an e-mail or leave birthday wishes in the comments section below.

HUMOR: Politics and Heaven

At the pearly gates, St. Peter greeted a minister and congressman and gave them their room assignments.
"Pastor, here are the keys to one of our nicest efficiency units. And for you, Mr. Congressman, the keys to our finest penthouse suite."
"This is unfair!" cried the minister.
"Listen," St. Peter said, "ministers are a dime a dozen up here, but this is the first congressman we've ever seen."

Happy Independence Day!

Fishers of... what?

Book Recommendation: "Make Love, Make War"

Since I have bought WAY too many gadgets and books from Amazon.Com - and reviewed them - I am now part of the Amazon Vine program where they send you unreleased books and ask you to review them. One of the recent finds is Brian Doerksen's Make Love, Make War: NOW Is the Time to Worship. Those of you who pay attention to the copyright notices at the bottom of the song slides at church may recognize that Brian Doerksen has written many of the most popular worship choruses in the Church today. This little book is a combination devotional and tip book for new songwriters that walks through the biblical and life story behind many of his hits. Definitely worth a read, if you are interested in meditating on the greatness of God, or want to understand the mindset of the modern worship movement. It comes to stores in August.

Photography: Light of the World