PHOTO OF THE WEEK: Districts 2014

MUSICAL INTERLUDE: Risen

QUIZ CHALLENGE: Bible Hangman

This week's Bible Quiz Challenge is a friendly game of hangman.  Can you guess the 15 men of the Old Testament?

HUMOR: Just asking

Not mine.  From here.

Atheist: "Do you honestly believe that Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish?"
Preacher: "I don't know, sir, but when I get to heaven, I'll ask him."
Atheist: "But suppose he isn't in heaven?"
Preacher: "Then you ask him."

GETTING READY: Bible Quiz Meets

While much of the schedule is still hazy, fuzzy, or otherwise wavy, we do have the first two Bible Quiz Meets of the year on the calendar.  Please mark your personal planner, so you don't miss them!

• Saturday, October 4 - Acts 1-4 in Monroe, CT
• Saturday, November 1 - Acts 1-8 in Trumbull, CT

WEEKLY COMIC: Jurassic Boat

GETTING READY: Keywords are ready!

The list of keywords - also known as "once used words" - is ready for your viewing.  Keywords are words that appear in only one verse in the entire book of Acts.  They can be key for identifying where you are in the book when answering a question.  Click here or on the image below or on the link in the sidebar for the whole list.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: Pleasure Reading

MUSICAL INTERLUDE: More of You

QUIZ CHALLENGE: Guide the Light

This week isn't exactly a "Bible Challenge" as in challenging your knowledge of the Bible.  But it is a Bible-themed challenge.  Guide the light from one end of the grid to the other, and be rewarded with a Bible verse.

HUMOR: Be careful what you pray for!

Not mine.  From here.

  A country preacher decided to skip services one Sunday to spend the day hiking in the wilderness. Rounding a sharp bend in the trail, he collided with a bear and was sent tumbling down a steep grade. He landed on a rock and broke both legs.
      With the ferocious bear charging at him from a distance, the preacher prayed, "O Lord, I'm so sorry for skipping services today. Please forgive me and grant me just one wish—make a Christian out of that bear that's coming at me!"
      At that very instant, the bear skidded to a halt, fell to his knees, clasped his paws together, and began to pray aloud at the preacher's feet: "Dear God, please bless this food I am about to receive."

GETTING READY: Schedule Details

- THIS IS IMPORTANT.  PLEASE PAY CLOSE ATTENTION -

First, practices will begin on Wednesday, September 10.  We will be quizzing on Acts 1, please come prepared to quiz.

Second, there is a time change for practices for this upcoming year.  We will be meeting from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM.  If you show up at the old time, it will already be too late.  And please be prompt as we will only have the hour.

Finally, please keep an eye on this blog for other important announcements over the course of the next few weeks.  Materials for the upcoming season will be coming soon, as will an updated calendar with the quiz meets and the Christmas party.

WEEKLY COMIC: 10% the Hard Way

GETTING READY: FTV list is ready!

The list of Finish the Verse questions for 2014-2015 is ready!  The book of Acts is chock full of useful information, so it is not surprising that it's going to be a long list.  Click on the image below, here, or on the sidebar to see the list.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: Midwinter Mosaic

MUSICAL INTERLUDE: Broken Vessels

QUIZ CHALLENGE: The Gift of the Holy Spirit

This week's Bible Quiz Challenge is on the Gift of the Holy Spirit.  How well do you know the third person of the Trinity?

HUMOR: Denominations

Not mine.  From here.

  An old dollar bill and an even older $20 arrive at a Federal Reserve Bank to be retired.
      "I've had a pretty good life," the $20 says. "I've been to Vegas, the finest restaurants in New York, and even on a Caribbean cruise."
      "You did have an exciting life!" the dollar says.
      "Where have you been?" the $20 asks.
      "Oh, I've been to the Methodist church, the Baptist church, spent some time with the Lutherans..."
      "Wait," the $20 interrupts. "What's a church?"

GETTING READY: Studying the Book of Acts in 2014-2015

For the 2014-2015 season, we're going to be study and competing on the Book of Acts.  More correctly called "The Acts of the Apostles", this book was written by Luke (a doctor and traveling companion of Paul) as a sequel to the gospel he wrote.

Luke focussed his gospel on communicating that God was offering the Good News to all peoples - Jews, Gentiles, rich, poor, Roman, barbarian, sinner, "righteous", etc.  So, it makes sense that in his second book he traces the way that the apostles learned that Christianity was not merely for the Jews in Jerusalem, but rather for all peoples everywhere.

As you read this book, be on the lookout for all the different ways that God guided His people as Christianity grew from a tiny sect of Judaism into a religion all its own that embraced everyone.

WEEKLY COMIC: Young Life Challenges

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: Polyglot Bible

Bible polyglot, each double-page spread having eight columns containing the text of the Psalms in Hebrew, Latin, Greek, Arabic, and Chaldean, along with columns for a Latin translation of the Hebrew, a Latin translation of the Chaldean, and a column for notes.

DID YOU KNOW: The Feast of the Transfiguration

"DID YOU KNOW?" will be a summer series where we review issues of the Bible and the Christian faith of special interest. If you have a suggestion/question that you'd like addressed in a "DID YOU KNOW?" segment, please e-mail the coaches.

I heard today is the "Feast of the Transfiguration".  What is that?

More liturgical Christian traditions than ours put events onto the calendar to remember both heroes of the faith and the major events of Jesus's life.  The "Feast of the Transfiguration" on August 6 (for most denominations, not all) is set aside to remember the events of the transfiguration recorded in the synoptic gospels.

Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.  And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said.  As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.Luke 9:28-36 ESV

This feast is unusual in not focussing on a single character (in this case Jesus), but is seen as a time to reflect on the mystery of the Trinity where God is one being in three persons.  God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are all worshipped, celebrated, and remembered in this feast.

MUSICAL INTERLUDE: I Am

QUIZ CHALLENGE: Word Search

This week's Bible Quiz Challenge is a Word Search on the Cross.  Can you find all of the words hidden in the matrix?

HUMOR: Little Ones

Not mine.  From here.

  A father was reading Bible stories to his young son. He read, "The man named Lot was warned to take his wife and flee out of the city, but his wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt."
      His son asked, "What happened to the flea?"

BIBLE NEWS: Jewish Artists Inspired by the Bible

The Bible has inspired great art for thousands of years, and a new book traces the impact of the Bible on Jewish artists in particular.  Both faithful followers of Judaism and secular decedents of Abraham use the scriptures as a lens thru which to express themselves and interpret life.

Baskind notes that even artists noted for irony and satire, such as Jack Levine and Larry Rivers (born Yitzroch Loiza Grossberg), produced ardent visual interpretations of the Tanakh. The former artist set out to paint a tribute to his late father in “Planning Solomon’s Temple,” depicting his father as Shlomo and himself as Hiram, both labeled with Hebrew inscriptions above their figures. Unlike Levine’s usual oozingly curvaceous figure drawing, a style suited to his oft-decadent subject matter, the two figures are depicted on a single plane, in an archaic visual statement echoing Christian-inspired works by the fauvist painter Georges Rouault. Whereas Levine’s Hiram is generally seen as the royal architect and king of Tyre, who sent building materials and laborers to construct the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, Baskind plausibly argues that Levine may have painted himself as a different biblical Hiram, an artist who was the son of a Tyrian who cast bronze and made decorations for Solomon’s Temple.

WEEKLY COMIC: Doctrinally Unsound

DID YOU KNOW: Does the New Testament refer to the Old Testament?

"DID YOU KNOW?" will be a summer series where we review issues of the Bible and the Christian faith of special interest. If you have a suggestion/question that you'd like addressed in a "DID YOU KNOW?" segment, please e-mail the coaches.

Does the New Testament refer to the Old Testament?

Some Christians tend to focus only on the New Testament when studying the Bible, but the whole Bible is the Word of God.  And the New Testament makes references to the Old Testament all the time.  As a matter of fact, Jesus knew the Old Testament by heart, and quoted from it often.

The most commonly quoted books of the Old Testament in the New Testament are:

1. Isaiah: referred to 419 times in twenty-three New Testament books.2. Psalms: referred to 414 times in twenty-three New Testament books.3. Genesis: referred to 260 times in twenty-one New Testament books. 4. Exodus: referred to 250 times in nineteen New Testament books. 5. Deuteronomy: referred to 208 times in twenty-one New Testament books. 6. Ezekiel: referred to 141 times in fifteen New Testament books. 7. Daniel: referred to 133 times in seventeen New Testament books. 8. Jeremiah: referred to 125 times in seventeen New Testament books. 9. Leviticus: referred to 107 times in fifteen New Testament books. 10. Numbers: referred to 73 times in four New Testament books.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: October 2013 Bible Quiz Meet in Monroe

MUSICAL INTERLUDE: How Can It Be?

QUIZ CHALLENGE: Word Jumble

This week's Bible Quiz Challenge is a word jumble.  Can you unscramble the letters to discover the hidden message?

HUMOR: Sibling Rivalry

Not mine.  From here.

  After explaining the commandment to honor your father and mother, a Sunday School teacher asked her class if there was a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters.
      One boy, the oldest in his family, immediately answered, "Thou shalt not kill."

BIBLE NEWS: Rare Bible Sells for over $157,000

The Bible is not only the Word of God, but also an important part of world history.  Rare and antique Bibles can be extremely valuable.  Recently, a rare 1669 King James Bible sold for over $157,000!

People travelled from all over Sydney to make a bid on the intricately illustrated Bible, which was printed in London by royal printers John Bill and Christopher Barker.
The auction was so packed, the crowd spilled out the door, Ms Stannard said.
“There were four bidders in the auction, but the man who won is a North Shore local who goes to church in the area and will have a special protective case built for it before he gives it to the recipient as a gift in December,” she said.

WEEKLY COMIC: Near Life Experience

DID YOU KNOW: Were there ever any misprints in Bible editions?

"DID YOU KNOW?" will be a summer series where we review issues of the Bible and the Christian faith of special interest. If you have a suggestion/question that you'd like addressed in a "DID YOU KNOW?" segment, please e-mail the coaches.

Skeptics are often looking for errors in the Bible.  Were there ever any documented misprints in Bible editions?

The Holy Bible, as written, is inerrant and inspired by the Holy Spirit.  But various editions printed by humans - copied from the originals or copied from copies - have had errors over the years.  But, as you'd expect, these errors were quickly discovered and resolved.  This article covers some famous misprints.

The "Placemakers" Bible The second edition of the Geneva Bible, published in 1562 has been given the name the "Placemakers" Bible because it printed: "Blessed are the placemakers" instead of "peacemakers" in Matthew 5:9.The "Wicked" Bible In a 1631 edition of the King James Bible, in Exodus 20 verse 14, the word "not" was left out. This changed the 7th commandment to read, "Thou shalt commit adultery." Most of the copies were recalled immediately and destroyed on the orders of Charles I. But there are 11 copies still remaining. They are known as the "Wicked" Bible. The Bible museum in Branson, Missouri, has one copy of the "Wicked Bible". Fortunately for this interesting Bible fact the printer was fined heavily for his mistake.
The "Sin On" Bible In the 1716 King James Version John 8:11 should read: "Go, and sin no more." However, the printer accidentally inverted the "n" and the "o" in the word "on," so it read, "Go and sin on more."
The "Fool" Bible The printer of the 1763 KJV was ordered to pay £3,000 for his inadvertent printer's error which he made in Psalm 14:1. There he printed: "the fool hath said in his heart there is a God," instead of: "the fool hath said in his heart there is no God." As soon as this error was spotted all copies of this Bible were suppressed.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: Family Bible

How well used is your family Bible?

MUSICAL INTERLUDE: Lazarus

QUIZ CHALLENGE: Crossword Puzzle

This week's Quiz Challenge is a crossword puzzle.  Are you ready to challenge your vocabulary AND your Bible Knolwledge?

HUMOR: Aces High

Not mine.  From here. 

Another Sunday School teacher said to her children, "We have been learning about how powerful the kings and queens were in Biblical times. But there is a higher power. Who can tell me what it is?" Tommy blurted out, "I know, Aces."

BIBLE NEWS: Is an electronic Bible any less Holy?

There is a long and storied tradition in our country of swearing in public officials on a Bible.  A recent trend of swearing in people on Bible apps on tablets is causing some consternation amongst traditionalists (and praise from modernists).

“There is an inherent respect given to the print version of the Bible that doesn’t attach itself to a Kindle or the iPad," Donald Whitney, a professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, told Fox News Latino. "Because the Bible is nothing else. It is a holy book to Christians and it is the Word of God. If you have a digital device it may contain the Bible but it also contains other things.”“I don’t think it’s sacrilegious," said Walter Kim, associate minister at the Park Street Church in Boston. "In fact, during our own worship service it’s a regular experience that people are pulling out their iPads and iPhones, looking up the passages that are being read or preached from the pulpit. We recognize that the most important thing is that people are engaged with the Bible. In whatever form it comes, whether it’s electronic or print.”