Just Remember Your ABCs
Sep/090
Thought I should add one thought to my previous post.
I'm not saying that your choice of Bible translation is meaningless. There are some that are better than others. My point was that most people who claim that there is one, and only one, acceptable translation do so based on tradition instead of Biblical scholarship.
When choosing a Bible translation, just remember your ABCs.
Accuracy (Is it accurate to the original language?)
Beauty (Does the beauty of Scripture come alive in this translation?)
Clarity (Does this translation help me understand God's Word more clearly…or does it make things more complicated?)
That formula, developed by R.C. Foster, is a great way to choose the translation that best fits your needs.
Updating the NIV
Sep/090
The New International Version of the Bible has become the best-selling translation of the Scriptures. It surpasssed the King James Version a few years ago in terms of sales. Most of you probably use the NIV as your primary Bible translation.
That's why I thought I'd pass this along even though it's not a normal post on my blog. The NIV is undergoing a revision. The updated version will be available in 2011.
Want to read more about it? Follow the link below.
Top-Selling Bible to Undergo Revision – CBS News
And before you comment…I won't post any comments from people railing against the NIV and claiming that their particular translation is the one that God intended.
God wrote the Bible in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. If you're not reading THAT version, then you have nothing to complain about.
Thought I'd toss that out there…just in case. :o)
15 Ways to Destroy Your Marriage
Sep/090
I just decided to wave the white flag and declare this "link week" here on my blog.
Are you married? Hope to be married someday? Divorced, and wanting things to be right the next time around?
Read this. Live this.
One Whisper
Sep/090
I usually don't link to the same blog twice in one week, but Mark Batterson is on fire! The last link to his blog was specifically for church leaders.
This one is for anyone who is following Jesus. It's a must read.
My little addendum to Mark's thoughts…
What's the Spirit whispering to you? Disobeying that whisper is sinful. Obeying the whisper can be scary…but God won't set you up to fail. He can be trusted.
Open your ears…then go all in!
Trust
Sep/090
Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. (Psalm 20:7)
Trust is a precious commodity. All of us have things that we do and don't trust, people that we do and don't trust, etc. But this verse takes it to "a whole nutha level."
Trusting in any earthly thing leads to destruction. Chariots and horses represented mighty strength. They represented man's ability to conquer any enemy. In other words, this verse is a picture of self-reliance…trusting in things that we have and things that we can do.
God reminds us that this is a deadly misapplication of trust.
But since horses and chariots are a bit antiquated, let's place the principle in a modern-day context.
Trusting the government, or money, or relationships, or possessions, or anything else our world provides is a dead end street. At some point, they will all let you down.
But God can be trusted.
God cannot be adequately explained. We will never understand Him completely. At times, what He does (or does not do) mystifies us.
But He can be trusted.
This might not be a new principle to you, but it seemed like God wanted to remind us all of this simple, but crucial, truth today.
Beatles – Week 1
Sep/093
Week 1 of our new message series is in the books. We kicked off Come Together: A Beatles Series on Sunday, and God brought the house down!
This series is inherently risky. We knew that when we put it on the calendar. It's automatically controversial to feature a secular band in a worship service.
But listen to the comment from one long-time ACCer after the service on Sunday. "When I heard you were doing a Beatles series, I was really nervous. But this was terrific! The service was great, and the sermon was the most powerful message I've ever heard…ever!"
Talk about serious encouragement!!!
I know we'll take some shots for doing this series. Criticism is a guarantee. But most of the criticism will come from people who won't darken the door for even one week of this series.
This isn't going to stop us. God blew us away in Week #1 and we can't wait to see what He has in store for us over the next three weeks!
Rebuke Distractions
Sep/090
If you are a leader in God's church in any capacity, you need to read Mark Batterson's latest post.
Seriously.
Celebrating a Kingdom Win
Sep/091
Churches tend to see one another through the lens of competition instead of cooperation.
And it's an incredibly selfish, stupid thing to do.
If God does something great at my church, you shouldn't be threatened by that. You should celebrate that.
If God does something great at your church, I will celebrate along with you.
With that in mind, I want to do a little long-distance celebrating today.
NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC baptized 906 people this past weekend.
No, that's not a typo.
906 people were baptized into Christ!
That is an unbelievable Kingdom win, and I'm going to celebrate it!
The Winning Team
Sep/092
My family went to Skyline for dinner last night. I had an interesting experience, beyond a 3-way and cheese coney.
Most of you are aware that this past weekend was the kickoff for the NFL season. I had my Indianapolis Colts shirt on when we went to dinner. When we walked into the restaurant, I quickly noticed that over 90% of the people there were sporting Cincinnati Bengals garb.
Both the Colts and the Bengals game were over by the time we went to dinner. The Colts won. The Bengals lost.
As I sat there enjoying the best chili on the planet, this thought hit me…I'm the only one in this place representing a winning team. Every other person was wearing shirts and jerseys and hats, all of which represented a losing team. (No, Bengals fans…I'm not rubbing it in. Just making a point. Keep reading.)
If you are a Christ-follower, you should be wearing the colors of a winning team every single day of your life. But many of us choose to put on a losing jersey instead.
Instead of wearing our victory in Christ, we choose to wear the defeat of past failures.
Instead of wearing the courage that comes from Christ, we choose to wear fear.
Instead of wearing the vision of Christ, we choose to wear the garments of people-pleasing.
Instead of wearing the freedom of Christ, we choose to wear the guilt of our sin.
This is stupidity and insanity!
We are on the winning team! We are clothed with Christ! Wear the colors proudly!!!
Remember
Sep/090
Today's date has an eerie feeling attached to it. All somone has to do is say, "September 11," and we all feel the chill associated with that date. The images and emotions of September 11, 2001 come flooding back.
But that feeling will fade in time. Unfortunately it's already fading. December 7 used to carry that same eerie feeling since it was the date of the bombing at Pearl Harbor in 1941. But a couple of generations later, it's just another day.
The same thing will happen to today's date. We are a forgetful people, to be sure.
That's why God tells us to "remember" so many times in the Bible.
That's why people in the Old Testament were constantly building altars. Altars helped people remember the significant things that God had done.
That's why Jesus gave us the Lord's Supper (aka, communion). He said, "Do this in remembrance of me." (Luke 22:19)
Mark Batterson nailed it when he said, "We tend to forget what we should remember and remember what we should forget."
Some things aren't worth remembering.
Some definitely are.
