Apprentice2Jesus

Ramblings of a Confessing Pentecostal

Archive for the tag “CEB Blog Tour”

23 Feb 2012

I Gave Up My Voice for Lent

It seems I have lost my voice. My students will rejoice if I don’t get it back soon.

Even in the loss of my voice it helps me to see I don’t lose my “voice” for calling out to God. In the deepest recesses of my spirit deep still calls to deep.

The Psalm yesterday was Psalm 51. The Common English Bible words a familiar phrase a bit differently and it voices my heart a little better:

Create a clean heart for me, God;
   put a new, faithful spirit deep inside me! (Psalm 51:10, CEB)

We normally see it as “renew a right spirit.”

But in my deepest being, where truth must dwell, I need that new, faithful spirit. Only the living God can do this. And I don’t need a physical voice to ask!

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22 Feb 2012

Share the Journey

Today begins the journey of Lent. I have created a page again this year to SHARE THE JOURNEY. This year I have a sense in my heart to go a slightly different direction. I am part of the Common English Bible Blog Tour this year, so when you comment on my posts, you get entered into a drawing for a new softback Common English Bible.

I hope you join me in this journey. Please, don’t just read. Please talk to me. I want to hear your journey as well! Check back on the Share the Journey page, link to my RSS reader, or sign up for email notifications. Let’s journey together!

 

 

 

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22 Feb 2012
1 Comment

Ash Wednesday

1 Listen to my prayer, LORD!
   Because of your faithfulness,
   hear my requests for mercy!
   Because of your righteousness,
   answer me!
2 Please don’t bring your servant
to judgment,
   because no living thing is righteous before you.

3 The enemy is chasing me,
   crushing my life in the dirt,
      forcing me to live in the dark
         like those who’ve been dead forever.
4 My spirit is weak inside me—
   inside, my mind is numb.

5 I remember the days long past;
   I meditate on all your deeds;
   I contemplate your handiwork.
6 I stretch out my hands to you;
   my whole being is like dry dirt, thirsting for you.
Selah (Psalm 143:1-6, CEB)

Lent is a time to reflect. My challenge this year is not just for a time of reflection and examination, but a time for action as well. There is a sense of “harassment” where we feel the enemy is chasing us. I hear from missionary friends who are facing fierce battles on the mission field. There are families in our church and our neighborhood battling tough times and crushing defeats.

I need my heart cleansed. I need my hands clean. Then… I need to get into the battlefield of prayer and lift these dear ones up before the Lord. Lent is not about me. It is about the Body of Christ as well. May we be humble before the Lord… and may we be humble warriors.

Hear our prayer, O Lord.

Posted in Lent, Spiritual Formation, spiritual warfare and tagged , ,
31 Jan 2012

End of the Line

I have been part of the Common English Blog Tour for about two months now. They began the tour before Advent and I think today is the last day of cycle.

For over two months I have gone through the exercise of building devotional thoughts while reading the Common English Bible. I have also used the CEB a bit in the college classes I teach. From time to time I have used it in leading our adult Bible study on Wednesday night.

I have continued to have our public reading in our church use the NIV. I have used the NIV as my main text to prepare my sermons.

At the end of the day I truly enjoy both translations. There may be a day when “Human One” for “Son of Man” may finally settle in. Perhaps there may be a day when the translation team for the CEB may say, “You know what, it’s not worth this headache. Let’s switch it back.”

They probably won’t. Just like the NIV should do one or two editions with the Apocrypha, but they won’t.

I deeply appreciate the CEB team. When I have had questions on choice of wording on passages they have responded. Translation in a digital age is an interesting process. It could lead to much quicker translation turnaround (which the CEB has already shown to be true).

I think their marketing and their social networking is far superior to the NIV. I mean, I got a new CEB with apocrypha out of this deal! ;)

The CEB is probably the best translation for new believers, or those just not used to older language, like the KJV. In my adult Bible study, when I use the CEB, people will stop and listen. They will say, “Read that again! That was interesting!”

It does help freshen up our Bible reading.

While it is clearly more to the “dynamic equivalent” side, I like it far more than the New Living Translation. It is evident that translators didn’t just want modern idioms. They still wanted to communicate truth in a very clear way.

Moving forward I will probably stay with my NIV and the CEB. (I actually pulled out my TNIV with the Renaissance Leather cover again so I can have a Bible where I can jot notes from time to time.) But the CEB, in my opinion, should be considered by all believers as a viable translation for use in reading and study.

Posted in Bibles, Blogging, Common English Bible, Translations and tagged , | Leave a Comment
30 Jan 2012
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What TRULY Matters

I had a guy in my church one time who had a favorite saying: “It’s all gonna burn.”

It was his way of saying, “The stuff of this life just isn’t that important.”

He wanted to keep the things of the Kingdom in focus.

Peter reminds us that this temporal side of life isn’t going to last. So, in light of that, how should we live? He returns to his main theme: holy and godly lives.

Our lives count. We need our hearts and minds fixed fully on the One who is the Author of our salvation. He will complete that work. And in that day, may we be ready.

9 The Lord isn’t slow to keep his promise, as some think of slowness, but he is patient toward you, not wanting anyone to perish but all to change their hearts and lives. 10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that day the heavens will pass away with a dreadful noise, the elements will be consumed by fire, and the earth and all the works done on it will be exposed.

11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be? You must live holy and godly lives, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming day of God. Because of that day, the heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will melt away in the flames. 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness is at home. (2 Peter 3:9-13, CEB)

Posted in Common English Bible, Spiritual hunger and tagged , ,
28 Jan 2012

The Willingness to Give Up the Distractions

When the Kingdom of God invades your life there is a decision to be made. The disciples hear the call of Jesus in Mark 1 and by the time he calls to them, they have determined he is worth it. They set aside the distractions of nets, and boats, and servants. Jesus was worth their full attention.

The Kingdom comes calling. The Kingdom invades our world. Are we ready to give up the distractions to give him the attention he deserves? He is worth it.

16 As Jesus passed alongside the Galilee Sea, he saw two brothers, Simon and Andrew, throwing fishing nets into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 “Come, follow me,”he said, “and I’ll show you how to fish for people.” 18 Right away, they left their nets and followed him. 19 After going a little further, he saw James and John, Zebedee’s sons, in their boat repairing the fishing nets. 20 At that very moment he called them. They followed him, leaving their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired workers. (Mark 1:16-20, CEB)

Posted in Common English Bible, Spiritual Formation, Spiritual hunger and tagged , , | Leave a Comment
27 Jan 2012
2 Comments

Does It Get Old?

I love sports, and I LOVE the Kansas Jayhawks in basketball. On my bucket list is going to a game at Allen Fieldhouse once before I die. Just once. I was in there one time years ago. Roy Williams was in his first season. They had won the national championship the year before. A friend and I walked into the fieldhouse for a practice. We were promptly chased out. Didn’t matter. We looked at each other and said, “Was that cool or what?”

But a game… I would LOVE to get to a game.

Duke is another school passionate about the game. I’ve always equated Duke with crazy fans. This article seems to indicate it is just not the same anymore. Students aren’t filling up the student section any more. Top ten program. Fans aren’t coming. The author of the article speculates it’s because things get old. Chants are the same. Songs are the same. (Even winning is the same.) So… are fans bored?

The article sparked another thought in me: Do we get bored of the Kingdom of God?

Do we reach a point where we think: “Same songs. Same Bible. Same church (or series of churches).”

So… we… yaaaaawwwwwnnnn.

Does the Kingdom get old? If it does… why? And if it does… do we change up the routine? Or… hold on now, this may shock you… is it US?

Nawww… couldn’t be us. It MUST be the worship team… or the pastor… or the Bible… or…

You know what? For some reason, if we’re “bored”, or things so to have slipped into a rut, and we keep on looking… and searching… and not finding any solutions with outward stimulus… the answer just may be us.

WE may need to get right back into that Word… right back into that worship service… right back on our knees… and stay at it until we understand what may be wrong inside… not outside.

Just. A. Thought.

12 Sow for yourselves righteousness; 
      reap faithful love; 
   break up your unplanted ground, 
      for it is time to seek the LORD, 
      that he may come 
      and rain righteousness upon you. (Hos. 10:12, CEB)

 

Posted in Common English Bible, Spiritual Formation, Spiritual hunger and tagged , , ,
27 Jan 2012

Demons and Authority

In Mark 1 there is the story of Jesus casting out the demon in the synagogue. While we focus on the power encounter, Mark focuses on the authority. Twice in the same story he mentions the authority of Jesus to teach.

22 The people were amazed by his teaching, for he was teaching them with authority, not like the legal experts.

27 Everyone was shaken and questioned among themselves, “What’s this? A new teaching with authority! (Mark 1: 22,27, CEB)

When we walking in the authority of the Kingdom, the enemy recognizes it. Jesus never went hunting for a power encounter. Power encounters found him.

The apostles never went hunting for power encounters. So it is with us.

When we are walking in the authority of the Kingdom, our priority is Matt. 6:33. Whatever happens after that is something we are truly prepared for. We need not worry or fear. The tools have been given.

When the people of God show up and are walking in authority, just know that sometimes that means the spiritual waters stir. Don’t seek it out specifically. And don’t shy away from it when those waters stir.

Posted in Common English Bible, Holy Spirit, Prayer, Spiritual Formation and tagged , , | Leave a Comment
26 Jan 2012

Longing for Home

The end of Revelation is a picture of longing. Paradise is restored. The tree of life that was guarded in Genesis is now found in the city of God. From its leaves come healing for the nations.

It is home. These verses make me long for the home I know I have, yet have never visited.

Come, Lord Jesus.

1 Then the angel showed me the river of life-giving water, shining like crystal, flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb 2 through the middle of the city’s main street. On each side of the river is the tree of life, which produces twelve crops of fruit, bearing its fruit each month. The tree’s leaves are for the healing of the nations. 3 There will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 Night will be no more. They won’t need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will shine on them, and they will rule forever and always. (Rev. 22:1-5, CEB)

Posted in Common English Bible, Spiritual Formation and tagged , | Leave a Comment
26 Jan 2012
1 Comment

From Sorcerer to Magic Arts to Drug Users

The end of Revelation is one of my favorite places to camp. I honestly love the entire Book of Revelation if I can read through it without the voices in my head. (You know: Tim LaHaye, Jack VanImpe, Hal Lindsey, etc.)

In Rev. 22:15 I noticed different ways translations have tackled the Greek word pharmakos over the years. Last night I was reading the passage out of the Common English Bible, which is why I noticed.

In the ESV, which followed the King James, the word is “sorcerer.”

In the NIV it is “those who practice magic arts.”

In the CEB it is “the drug users and spell-casters.”

It is obviously a difficult word to translate, so newer translations are using phrases rather than trying to wrap it up in one word.

I think of the line out of the movie Super 8 where the kid is saying, “Drugs are bad. Very, very bad!” (You would have to know the scene for it to be funny, I guess.)

At any rate, yet another interesting phrase brought to you by the Common English Bible.

Posted in Bible Study, Bibles, Common English Bible, Translations and tagged , , , , ,

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