By Gary Fisher
South Roebuck Baptist Church
Did you know that the first complete English Bible was not the King James Bible? It was John Wycliffe’s translation in the late 1300s, based on the Latin Vulgate. It was the main English Bible until William Tyndale’s version appeared around 1525. Tyndale translated the Old Testament directly from the Hebrew language. While Tyndale was working on his English translation, church officials felt their monopoly on Bible learning was being jeopardized, so Tyndale had his Bible printed in Germany. As a result Tyndale was arrested and burned at the stake along with thousands of copies of his Bible.
Another English Bible was produced in 1560 at Geneva, Switzerland. The unique feature of this translation was it printed each individual verse as its own paragraph. It also was the first to include italicized words to indicate that the word was added by the translators to make the sentence make sense in the current language.
In 1611 King James I of England commissioned a unique Bible. It was written in the common English language of the day. This Bible achieved remarkable success, maintaining its place as the preeminent English Bible for over 400 years. Starting around 1885, major revisions began to be made to the King James Bible. Such revisions have continued until the present so that today the English speaking public has more than 70 versions of the Bible to choose from.
Variety of translations
Three approaches to Bible translating can be observed. Some English versions aim at word-for-word accuracy — a literal translation. Such versions as the King James Bible, the New King James, the American Standard Version and the Revised Standard Version are based on word-for-word translations. Other versions aim at “dynamic equivalency.” That means they are translated phrase-by-phrase or thought-by-thought. These Bibles make for smoother reading and are good for reading large portions of Scripture. These versions include the New International Version, The Revised English and American Bible, and the Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh. The third approach involves paraphrases rather than word by word translation. These translators have rewritten and paraphrased entire sentences or verses often making two or three sentences out of a short phrase or sentence in other versions. The Living Bible and Today’s English Version (also known as Good News for Modern Man) are the most famous paraphrases.
The Bible is consistently the world’s best-selling book. Since 1815, billions of Bibles have been printed in the English language.
In addition, portions of the Bible have been translated into more than 2,000 of the world’s 6,000 known languages.
Since it is the Bible that contains the self-revelation of God, it is imperative that we not only own a copy; it is essential that we read it thoroughly. With all the choices there are, surely you can find one that you will consistently read and understand. Personally I have made a commitment to read the Bible through each year from a different translation each time. It offers keen insight and deeper knowledge of the One who remains the central Character in the Book.
So dust off that copy lying around your house and find out what God would show you about Himself!
When to leave your ministry role
By Jeff Iorg
President, SBC Executive Committee
The key issue in determining whether you should leave a ministry role is answering why you were placed there in the first place. God called us and placed us for character development and mission accomplishment.
Reasons to leave:
- When the character-shaping work by God for you is complete in the current context.
- You sense your particular contribution to fulfilling God’s mission there has concluded.
Reasons not to leave:
- When the work is hard.
- You are discouraged.
- People around you are in conflict.
- Only for money, promotion.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Excerpt from the 4–15 Lead On Podcast.
Young people hear a lot of “do’s and don’ts.” They don’t need your sermons [until you first build a rapport]; instead, they need a listening ear, a godly influence, love and a prayer warrior.
Rob Jackson, director of the office of evangelism and church revitalization at the State Board of Missions
When in doubt, report. If the child is not in danger, I recommend the parents be notified when a report has been made. Reporters have civil and criminal protections and can’t be sued in good faith.
Kimberlee Norris
attorney and co-founder of MinistrySafe
There are times when there is an eruption of praise in my life and your life. When you stop and consider who Jesus is and what He’s done in your life, you just can’t help but praise the Lord.
Daven Watkins, pastor
First Baptist Church Pelham
God has promised to supply all our needs. What we don’t have now, we don’t need now.
The late Elisabeth Elliot
missionary, author, speaker
Life, death and life after death
By Bill King
Veteran pastor
The older we get, the more we realize we are not going to live forever — at least not in this world.
The truth of that reality has not become realized reality to many young people. That was true of us older folks too when we were young. We just can’t remember that far back!
My first experience of someone I knew dying was my Grandma King. As far back as I can remember, she was sick and in bed. She had cancer.
We went to visit her quite often. She always had candy for me and sometimes a small toy. I was 5 years old the last time we went to visit her. In her last years, she lived with my Aunt Lula. Her bed was usually in the living room, but this time something was different.
She was still in the living room but asleep in a funny looking box. There were flowers all over the place. My uncles, aunts and cousins were there and a bunch of other people that I didn’t know. I don’t remember too much else about it, but Mama told me we wouldn’t be seeing Grandma King anymore. She said she had gone to live with Jesus.
Death rate is 100%
Fast forward many years and I now have more family in heaven than I do on earth. The most devastating death came when I was 15 years old when my dad suddenly died.
To my knowledge, everyone who has ever lived, with the exception of Enoch and Elijah, has died. Even Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, died.
Although He had done nothing wrong, He was executed like a criminal. The difference is that He didn’t stay dead.
Three days after Jesus died, and was even buried, He was alive again. We worship a risen Lord and can rejoice in that.
The Saturday was normal just like any other. However, it was messy from stormy weather and heavy rains. I was visiting with family back in Alabama and was standing outside by the door to my mother’s home awaiting entrance, when my eyes glimpsed tall yellow flowers in the middle of a watery yard. I had never noticed such flowers in my mother’s lawn prior to this day. Yet amid a soggy yard, there they stood tall and lovely in the core of a wet and dreary day.
As I continued glaring at the beautiful flowers, a great truth tugged at my heart. If we will just take the time to notice, God brings beauty out of seemingly messy places. While we may find ourselves focusing on what appears to be a scrappy and hopeless situation, God is opening a flower bud of miracles and blessings, ordained before the beginning of time.
O’Shea Lowery
Entrusted Hope Ministries
“God said to tell it!” Micah told his dad Kevin Singerman, an International Mission Board missionary, after asking the Lord if he should share a Bible story with village children in Uganda. One of those kids ended up following Christ as his Savior.
“Jesus really has one main job for us to do … make disciples,” said Rondie Wilks, who has worked closely with her husband, Bill, pastor of NorthPark Church in Trussville and author and co-founder of D-Life, a strategy that equips disciples of Christ to make more disciples. “Disciple-making is our supreme purpose … [and it] is a simple process to follow.”
“There’s no greater sound than hearing worshippers singing praises to God,” said Christian singer Matt Maher. “When a song engages an entire room of people, it has the ability to pull everybody together in a way that nothing else does. That is my favorite thing to experience, because God is in the midst of it all. My prayer is that these songs will be used to connect people to the message of the gospel.”
“When I found out they hadn’t had a director of missions since 2011, it just really burdened me,” said Danny Courson of St. Clair Baptist Association, on how he is partnering with a Baptist association in Alaska to help encourage pastors in their ministries. “I had a burden for those pastors … they need someone to talk to, to confide in, to share prayer requests with.”
“Remaining socially engaged is important for both mental health and life satisfaction. Sitting alone at home is a health-compromising habit, but a habit that we can all break with a little effort,” says University of Alabama at Birmingham biology professor Steven N. Austad, who studies healthy aging.
“I am never going back to my old life,” Hannah recently shared with FBC Jonesboro, Arkansas, in a video. “I will … tell everyone that I am redeemed, a child of God. … God revealed Himself to me through the love and kindness of (staff member) Pastor Richie and (his wife) Melissa,” she said. “They did not look at my appearance. They accepted me as their own and introduced me to Jesus Christ.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — Your Voice is the opinion section of The Alabama Baptist print newspaper. To submit a letter to the editor, click here.
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