Posts Tagged 'Ministry'

New Poll – What version of the Bible do you use. Vote at my blog sidebar.

My Old Trusty Bible

I’ve been an avid fan of the New International Version just about as long as I can remember. I received a copy of the KJV when I was baptized as a child, but the youth minister was using NIV and reading along was very difficult because of the differences in the two translations. When I was in high school, I used money from my $3.25 per hour job to purchase a compact NIV that matched the one my youth minister carried (wonder if we realize we impact people like this). Today, it is still my favorite Bible to use in study. I’m comfortable with it. It’s clearly marked with notes and messages. I can find things in it without really knowing where things are. The words are familiar because my eyes have made the journey across their script many times.

The problem… it’s falling apart.

Many that I’ve spoken to have suggested using duct tape, which would have a certain coolness to it. In the Army we used to have camo duct tape, and that would have a certain resonance with me and the whole Sword of the Spirit/Armor of God thing. On the other hand, it might look a bit tacky as well.

I’ve tried a couple different approaches. I have a “ceremonial” Bible that I bought about 8 years ago when I thought I wanted a new Bible. It doesn’t have nearly the wear on it as my other Bible does, so I use it for weddings, sermons, etc. Unfortunately, I invariably find myself with the wrong Bible when I need one, so I’d like to get back to having one multi-purpose Bible.

An additional fact I’m considering in this is the people that I’ll be reading to. We attract a significant number of non-churched people to our congregation.

My "New" Bible from 2000

On top of that, the overall education level of our community tends to be very low. In fact, there’s kind of a disdain and suspicion about those who have attained levels of higher education.  All these factors have got me thinking about not only changing Bibles, but perhaps changing translations

A few weeks ago I picked up an extra New Living Translation that was laying around the office and started reading it as my primary study Bible. It was very difficult at first, and still causes me issues as my mind wants to project the words of the NIV that I’m so familiar with as I read along. This is causing me to slow down significantly as I read, which has its advantages. I’m also experiencing read-along issues, as the NIV is the most popular translation used by teachers/preachers at our congregation.

Changing from the NIV for comprehension reasons may sound a little strange, especially for those of us with experience with the KJV. In college I was told that the NIV was written at an 8th grade reading level, which I initially found insulting. The NLT (then the New Living Bible) wasn’t given serious consideration as a valid translation. However, since I’ve started reading the NLT, I’ve noticed how awkward some of the phrases in the NIV are. It definitely doesn’t reflect current English usage, and for an area that may be low on the education scale it can be as difficult as the KJV was for some of us 20 years ago.

For example, here’s Romans 4:5 in the NIV and the NLT, first in the NIV:

However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.

And then the NLT:

But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners.

The meanings are almost identical, but the NIV concepts of ‘justifies’, ‘wicked’, and ‘credited’ don’t seem to match our culture any longer. Additionally, the phrasing is awkward, with the main thrust of the verse coming at the end after a lengthy parenthetical phrase.

So what do you think? Which one makes more sense to you. Try to read them just as sentences for clarity and not as scripture, which I know is difficult to do.

Brian and I have been working through a series on our church’s mission and vision.  I was blessed to have the opportunity to address the third point in our vision: we will be a community for accepting grace.

Lot’s of good feedback on the sermon, particularly the video. For those looking for the video, here it is below. I’ll post the sermon audio as soon as it is online.

This really isn’t following where I wanted to go, but part of the slowness of posting has been because of an increase in church stuff to handle, which really is a blessing. We’re currently in the process of trying to appoint additional shepherds, which we desperately need, and while we’re not having the evangelists do it, I think we’ve come up with a bit of a process that places more emphasis on the shepherding side of things.

I’ll cover my thoughts on shepherds vs. elders vs. board of directors vs. group of controlling/frustrating/spiritually stifling men later. For our process, we distributed nomination forms to the church body to get feedback from them on whom should serve as a shepherd. Unlike the traditional popularity vote method where we ask people to write names on blank pieces of paper, we instead had the respondents fill out a questionnaire for each nominee. There were seven questions, and those were:

• In what ways have you witnessed his ability to shepherd God’s flock?
• Why do you feel this man should serve as a shepherd for our church family?
• Why would you go to this man if you were in need of prayer?
• How has this man’s teaching impacted you spiritually?
• Why would you accept accountability from this man for spiritual growth, giving, ministry involvement, church attendance, etc.?
• Why does this man come to mind when you think of godly men?
• How has this man served you or your family?

This was a lot of work to ask of people, but the seriousness of the task dictated this approach. The results of which have provided us with a much better look at the spiritual side of the men that we will ask to fill a very spiritual office.

The whole reason I wrote this post was because of one answer on a form. I’ll totally avoid sharing the identity of the nominee or nominator, but this answer to “Why would you go to this man if you were in need of prayer?” really struck a cord with me:

Because of his humbleness I feel he would pour his heart out to God for me.

What an incredible testimony to the heart of the man being nominated! It simultaneously made me desire this man to serve as a shepherd AND inspired me to try to be a better Christian. This is the type of man I need leading me personally… and the church needs him, too.

This questions has caused me more trouble than I care to admit. I never felt a strong pull toward what “I am supposed to be”. I’ve joked recently with people my age and older that we still don’t know what we want to be when we grow up. I imagine we’ll figure out one day.

For the last several months, and maybe from the beginning of this blog, my blog has been asking the same question. The focus for my blog has meandered from family to ministry to leadership. It’s tried to balance between personal anecdotes and lessons or devotionals for a more general public. The poor little blog is even torn between whether to be spiritual or technological in nature. Talk about an identity crisis.

After giving it much thought, my blog is not suffering from an identity crisis. My blog is suffering from being too much like its creator: me. As many of us experience, my life is a balancing act between competing agendas. I am simultaneously an individual consumed with my own wants and desires as well as a parent/husband/church leader whose primary responsibility is for the care for others. I am pulled between things I want to do and things I need to do. I walk daily in the gray area between the spiritual and the physical. Throw in a little bit of ADD, infrequent bouts of fatigue and depression, and an ability to be amused and entertained by things that others consider silly and you’ve got the makings for one random life.

As such, I have decided what this blog is supposed to be. As narcissistic as it may sound, this blog is about me. It is about my challenges and my triumphs. It is about my successes and failures. It is about my attempt to do the best I can to make it through this world that we live in without messing things up too badly. That walk includes lessons God is teaching me and will include other characters that share the stage of life with me.  Sometimes those lessons will have a broad focus and sometimes narrow.  The characters may be friends, family, or strangers.  One thing this blog will not be is fake.  You’ll get the real Brad, and hopefully you’ll find him a little charming.

Thanks for sharing this journey with me!