Mission: Speed Week 2012

A question that the Church really aught to be asking today is how we most effectively reach our specific communities to plant the gospel.

In Paul's day, the best plan (at least for a while) was to go to the local synagogues and announce the identity of the messiah, which everybody was waiting for.  Then when that was done or when they rejected the message you'd journey into the market places where the people were and preach the gospel.  You might also consider heading over to the local hotspots where the philosophers met to talk about new ideas.  This is what Paul did, anyway.  Others in Paul's day saw the gospel spread house to house, which is probably not to say door-to-door up and down the street but rather, from one household through relationships to the next.

There was a time when bringing a big tent into town and preaching evening evangelistic services was the thing to do because people were bored and always looking for something different.  Some would simply stand on a wooden box and preach to passers-by. Radio, at one point, was an extremely effective means for planting the gospel, as was television.  Tracts have been useful at certain times, depending on the tract and how it was deployed.  The underground church is effective in places where the church is in extreme persecution.  In some cases missionaries are sent into an area and other times we send church planters and sometimes we use the para-church organizations.  But these things all have a time and place where they are more effective and a time and place where they fall short.   They can not be deployed like the stroke of a broad brush.  And what may have once worked in an area may not always be effective or fruitful.  We must seek the most effective means to reach the lost in the specific culture and community where they are found. 

As I have been exploring this question in the area were I live and serve (Salt Lake City, Utah), I have been examining all kinds of ways those of us who deeply love Jesus can effectively share that love with others.  So recently, we went to the Bonneville Salt Flats.

This was the initial video I used to see if God may be calling others to join me, provide water and other financial resources, or commit to praying for our mission trip.  Sean Patrick and I really didn't know what to expect so we decided we would see what doors God opened and who he would bring to help with the work.  Then with the people and resources provided, we would faithfully design the mission around what we had.

Initially, we were hoping to have enough people and resources to do a church service and venture into Wendover, but God had something different in mind.  He blessed us with a good man to lead the charge--Zak Harris.  Then he brought some other labors, all great guys.  And water.  And sunscreen.  And a shade tent.  And money to buy more water and ice and gas for the van and some food and more water, lots of water. And we had a radio that could broadcast the speeds and times.  Then we got up early in the morning and drove 115 miles to the Bonneville Salt Flats.

The first day was a little rough.  We had entered an entirely different world and had no clue what we were doing.  We set up in the wrong spot, twice.  Walking around in the three miles of the pit, we made some friends and engaged a little, but not as much as we were hoping for.  We struggle to meet anybody along the remaining 4 miles of spectator lines.  But then, at the end of the day, we were shown what we needed to do.  So on the second day we printed up signs and set up and the starting line.  There, we made a few friends and gave away lots of water, all of it in the many coolers we brought.  It was simple and fun and by the end of the day we felt that something had happened. We learned a lot and hopefully we were faithful seed planters, or at least seed broadcasters.

Here's how it went down (The guys speaking are Zak Harris, Jay Workman, Jeremy Jeffs, and John Romane in that order. . . and then it's Zak again):

From this experience we came to realize that in our day and in our area it may simply be most effective to be where people are, enjoying life and loving on people.  That's not too hard.  So we started looking for other interests we share with the people of our culture and other opportunities. In some cases, just like at Speed Week, it might not even be that we share an interest but that we are willing to go into a community for the sake of the Kingdom.

But the truth is, the most effective means of sharing and planting the gospel is not about events or systems or plans.  It is about a lifestyle.  Our ability to reach into our communities should simply be nothing more than the overflow of Jesus in our own lives.  Everybody loves to share what they love.  As we love Christ, we should have a desire to share his love with others in every community circle we find ourselves.  Among friends, in the work-place, at the park or football game, skiing and rock climbing, or anywhere else, with anybody else.  This should be natural and fun and easy.   It might be that the most effective way to spread the gospel in our community is not found a program but in our lives as Christ lives in us.  It might just actually be that simple.

Difficult Matters for the Church

As the Salty Believer Unscripted podcast has grown, Jared Jenkins and I have determined that it's time we take on difficult topics that address questions people are actually asking.  The new series is called "Difficult Matters for the Church" and it will address challenging passages of the Bible and areas of disagreement within the Church, as well as the controversial and spicy issues between the Church and the larger society.  Topics like same-sex marriage, women in ministry, the Christian's role in politics, Mormonism, creationism, environmentalism, social justice, election and free will, egalitarianism, the charismatic gifts, and any other suggestions we receive will not be off the table because nothing is off limits.

To help us, we've enlisted some other pastors.  Sean Patrick (Risen Life Church) and Adam Madden (Christ Fellowship)--two pastors who have previously been on the podcast--have returned and Jason Benson (Real Life Church) has joined us for the first time.  In addition, we have a new podcast intern: Ben Peirce. (We're not sure what a podcast intern does, but we're working on that.)

We'd love to hear your suggestions for this series.  Please don't hesitate to contact us and share your thoughts and questions.  We hope this series will be fruitful as well as enjoyable.

As always, thanks for visiting SaltyBeliever.com and thanks for subscribing to Salty Believer Unscripted.

Subscribe to the Salty Believer iTunes Podcasts: Video | Audio
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* While there may be some overlap, the content of the Video and Audio Podcasts are not the same. 

Soli Deo gloria!
Bryan Catherman   


*Photo by flikr.com user dkshots is registered under a creative commons license and us used by permission.  

Operation Auca: The Power of the Gospel

Only a single generation ago, the Waodani people of Ecuador, were a people of the spear.  They  killed each other with very little reason because they knew no other way.  Over the previous five generations, six out of every 10 deaths were homicides.  Then something changed.

In 1956, Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Peter Fleming, and Roger Youderian made contact with the Waodani in an effort to share the gospel.  Initially, these missionaries dropped gifts from the air and eventually they were able to land on a small beach along the river in the jungle.  Three Waodani (a man and two women) met with them on the beach and they were even taken for rides in the air plane.  It seemed that this survey trip was going very well until a band of Waodani warriors speared all five missionaries to death.

Shortly there after, Elisabeth Elliot (Jim Elliot's wife) and Rachel Saint (Nate Saint's sister) returned to Ecuador and soon returned to the Waodani tribe to live among them.  Elisabeth also took her young daughter.  Over time, these ladies were successful in bringing the gospel to the Waodani people and the homicide rate dropped to nearly nothing. Many came to saving faith in Christ and now they walk the trail of Jesus by following his "markings" (the Bible).  

But this is not where the story ends.  If it were not already surprising enough that Elisabeth and Rachel returned as missionaries, about two years later Nate Saint's children, Steve and Kathy Saint, entered the tribe with their aunt Rachel.  Looking at nine-year-old Steve Saint, Mincaye, the man who killed his father knew that it was Steve's obligation to one-day avenge Nate Saint's death.  However, Steve had no clue how to make spears or hunt.  The Waodani man who killed Nate Saint took Steve under his care and trained him.  That man came to be called Grandfather and eventually came to America to see Steve Saint's son graduate from college.  Kathy Saint was baptized in nearly the same location, in the same river where her father died.  Standing on her right and left, baptizing her, were the men who threw the spears into Nate Saint, her dad.

This is an amazing picture of the transforming power of the Gospel.

A documentary titled Beyond the Gates of Splendor tells this story from the wives, children, and even the repentant killers.  It is outstanding and I highly recommend it.

The ESV Study Bible

I've said it before, but I believe that at the time of this post, the ESV Study Bible is the best study Bible on the market.  On my shelves are a number of study Bibles and with the exception of the HCSB Study Bible (which takes a distant second place), the ESV Study Bible is far superior to the rest.  The ESV Study Bible does a fantastic job of providing a great mediating translation (The English Standard Version) of the Bible partnered with the wonderful resources, maps, charts, articles, and commentary of the Study Bible.  

But really, you don't have to take my word for it; others highly recommend and endorse the ESV Study Bible too. Some of these leaders include Tullian Tchividjian, Al Mohler Jr., Joshua Harris, Mark Driscoll, John Piper, Wayne Grudem, and many others.

Here, Tullian Tchividjian takes us through a great look at what the ESV has to offer you, a student of the Bible.

J. I. Packer, Theological Editor for the ESV Study Bible, discusses the ESV Study Bible from his unique perspective.

If it's not obvious by now, I highly recommend the ESV Study Bible and believe everybody should have a copy.  I might suggest however, that you make a little more of an investment and get the leather or imitation leather bound copy because the hardback version seems to have issues with its binding. 


* I have no material or financial connection to the ESV Bible other than my use of it in my pastoral and writing ministries. 

The Release of the Spirit by Watchman Nee

Nee, Watchman.  The Release of the Spirit. New York, NY: Christian Fellowship Publishers, 2000.

I do not recall ever having heard the name Watchman Nee in seminary.  Nee, I've since learned after a friend recommend The Release of the Spirit and other Nee works, was a Christian in China who was jailed for his faith in 1952 where he remained until his death in 1972.  According to watchmannee.org, Nee was uniquely gifted by God as a "Seer of the Divine Revelation."  Nee authored many books to include The Release of the Spirit. [1]

The Release of the Spirit was originally a series of sermons or lessons delivered in Foochow, South China between May 25th and 28th, 1948.  The book was first published in 1955 and the first English edition in 1965.

In this particular work, Nee suggests that man must ultimately be broken if his is to be an effective agent for God, and in fact God cannot use a servant who has not has a release of his inter spirit.  The flesh serves as an impenetrable capsule like an alabaster box.  Once this box is broken, life may come forth (14).  Nee argues that the Holy Spirit orchestrates the breaking, writing, "He makes sure one event after another and one difficulty after another come to us.  These break our outward man so that our inward man may come through" (15).  Most people however, try to avoid being broken not realizing the necessity of the outerman to crack and free the innerman.  "Let us remember," states Nee, "that the one reason for all misunderstandings, all fretfulness, all disappointments, is that we secretly love ourselves.  Hence, we plan a way whereby we can rescue ourselves.  Many times problems arise due to our seeking a way of escape--an escape from the working of the cross" (19).

While the overall point of of The Release of the Spirit is valuable, there is some difficulty with the its starting point.  Nee take a position of trichotomy, that is that man is made up of three parts--body, soul, and spirit.  Even for one who is a dichotomist (like this reviewer), typical arguments from a trichomists position tend to remain within biblical tension.  Nee however, identifies the soul and spirit with definitions that press upon this tension with some force that may be problematic for the dichotomist.  According to Nee, the body is the physical body, the flesh.  The soul is the intellect, thought, emotion, and intangible aspects of personality and being, and the spirit is something different.  "When God comes to indwell us by His Spirit with His life and power," states Nee, "He comes into our spirit at the time when we are born again" (12).  The body is defined by Nee as the outermost man, the soul is the outerman, and the spirit is the innerman.   Therefore, the indwelling by God seems only to be found in the spirit of man and the outerman and outermost man actually inhibit man's spirit fused with the Holy Spirit to come forth.

Nee's presentation flirts with a mystic argument and possibly dabbles in gnosticism.  Rather than God transforming and sanctifying the entirety of the man who is called to love God with all of his heart, soul, strength, and mind, it seems that Nee believes that these parts of man can only hold God back until they are broken and the inner spirit may come forth.  For example, Nee writes,

"Our only hope is that the Lord may blaze a way out of us, breaking our outward man--breaking it to such a degree that the inward man may come out and be seen.  This is precious!  This is the way for those who serve the Lord.  Only by this process can we serve the Lord, and only by this procedure can we lead men to the Lord.  All else is limited in its value.  Doctrinal and theological knowledge does not have that much usefulness.  What is the use of mere mental knowledge of the Bible if the outward man remains unbroken?  Only the person through whom God and come forth is useful" (20-21). 

The tone throughout the book is that emotions, intellect, and the other aspects of the soul are bad or negative and that something else emerges to do the Lord's work.  It is as if the spirit is the only thing infused with the Holy Spirit and the spirit somehow is no longer deprived while the rest of the man is still in a cage.  The soul and body are bad and not useful to God unless controlled by man's spirit.  The counterargument to such a position is that man's body, mind, strength, emotion, intellect, and so-on are given over to the control and transformation of the Holy Spirit and then the entirety of man may be used to pursue God's glory.

An additional difficulty throughout The Release of the Spirit is found in the language choices regarding God's sovereignty.   Or if it is not simply the choice of English words, then it must be the view.  Nee appears to have a small idea or view of God and a large view of man.  It seems God cannot function without us rather than the other way around.  Sinful man appears to hold a great deal over God.   For example Nee says, "It would seem the Lord usually spends several years upon most of us before He can accomplish this work of breaking" (17, italics added for emphasis).  Another example is found only a paragraph later: "But if we do not know how to use our spirit, the Spirit of God cannot touch people through us" (17, italics added for emphasis).

I have come to realize that if this matter is simply about the language choices and translation, than there is less problem than it would seem on the surface.  In addition, had Nee argued that God can and may use you broken or not but it is much better to be used broken, much of this review would have been different.  God used Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, and Judas for his purposes but they were hardened, not broken.  However, we should certainly prefer to be used well by God, willingly as his servant, and this requires first that we are broken.  I realize this perspective comes from my reformed theology which may not be the theology of Nee. 

Because of the theological difficulties I encountered throughout The Release of the Spirit by Watchman Nee, I cannot recommend it without some kind of caveat tailored to the individual.  Admittedly, I found Nee's work theologically troubling even though it appears he had the best of intentions and his over-arching point is good.  That being said, this was an interesting introduction to Watchman Nee and I am thankful for it. 
 

1. "Watchman Nee," http://www.watchmannee.org/index.html [Accessed June 28th, 2012].

Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Words?

It’s surprising how intimating words can be. When I first entered the Army, I never thought I would understand what anybody was saying. Bathrooms were called latrines. Guns were called rifles and the piece that contains the bullets is called a magazine, not a clip. Tanks are called tracks and helicopters are fixed rotary-winged aircraft. Even worse was the level of confusion around all the acronyms. The Army uses so many acronyms that some things are only known by acronyms because everybody forgot what the acronym was short for in the first place. But I was really frightened when I ran into complicated words within the duties of my job that I had never heard before. Reconnoiter? Posse Comitatus? I felt overwhelmed!

Not too long ago I realized that new definitions and big words are a very normal part of life. I’m not much of a handyman so it was a surprise for me when I learned that a skill saw is a circular saw. And what is a reciprocal saw? Cheater bar? Pneumatics? When I was first married I couldn’t figure out what a blouse was. (It’s a lady shirt, if you didn’t know.) And my wife has a hairdryer attachment called a diffuser. A chipotle pepper is a smoked jalapeno. I don’t know why Americans don’t called it a smoked jalapeno; but really, that’s my point. An egress window is a window that a person can escape through. (Learned that one while buying a house.) If you buy stocks or make investments there’s about a million new words and phrases you’ll have to learn and they include things like liquid and materialized and compounding. When a symphony gets louder, it’s called a crescendo. And I still don’t understand what all the new movie theater features are. I-Max, 3-D, and Real D? (I’m afraid if I were to see the rerelease of Titanic in Real-D, I’d actually be on the ship.)

Learning a new vocabulary happens even within Christianity and Christian culture. Imagine what an unchurched person must think the first time he or she visits a church or gets around Christians. Think about it. How many people fellowship? Non-Christians hang out, or party, or whatever, but they never use fellowship in a sentence unless they are talking about a popular Tolkien book or movie. Few people have things laid on their heart. And even the word church is complicated. The non-churched (and some of the churched) only know this word to mean a building. But the Church is the body of Christ that gathers in buildings that we often call a church.

When we start studying the Bible we may run into big words. Don’t panic. Propitiation comes to mind. (That fancy word means to appease wrath; it’s an atonement that satisfies divine judgment and is only perfectly and finally found in Christ.) As we start turning to study Bibles, introductions, and commentaries we may start seeing really big words. There is no reason to be afraid of the big bad words. The truth is, often these words have nuanced and specific meanings beyond just sounding fancy; but most of the time and for many of us, the simpler word will do. However, some people use the bigger words just to sound smart and confuse others, and that’s a wrong use of big words. In academic settings the bigger loaded words are generally a requirement when professors are publishing and students are hoping to get a good grades. But remember, the tools of the theologian are words, so often they will say circular saw over skill saw, chipotle pepper rather than smoked jalapeno, and crescendo instead of getting louder.

Big words in-and-of-themselves are neither bad nor good unless they are used outside of their appropriate time. But many times in a study Bible, introduction, or commentary the bigger words are the most appropriate. So you may see a word like hypostatic union (which means that Jesus is both fully God and fully man). When used in academic circles, this phrase saves times and correctly conveys the meaning intended because it’s fully packed; but for others, it’s just confusing until they become comfortable with the term and the material behind the word. I remember learning about the penal vicarious substitutionary atonement. It’s a mouthful and most of the time it could be simply stated as Christ’s death on the cross. But seminary types and pastors could discuss and argue many aspects of these specific words that the simpler statement doesn’t capture. How about soteriology (the study of salvation), eschatology (the study of end times), the Pauline corpus (the New Testament writings by Paul), or the autographs (the original biblical manuscripts)? The Olivet Discourse is a fancy way to say the discussion Jesus had with his disciples on the Mount of Olives that is found in the synoptic gospels. Oh, and the synoptic gospels—that’s code talk for Mathew, Mark, and Luke. There’s even fancy talk in other languages. For example, in Latin we have the Imago Dei (the image of God) and the Theotokos (the God barer or one who gave physical birth to God, which is Mary). Theologians also seem to love German. Sitz im leben just means the life setting or the setting of life and a weltanschauung is a world view. I know, it’s nuts but it is just how it goes.

Like many other fields, we need not be afraid of words we don’t know when we study the Bible or other tools. These words should not intimidate us. We may need to learn some new vocabulary (or not), but we need not run from or shut the Bible, introduction, or commentary because of these big bad words.


*Photo of Webster's Dictionary by Amy Barker is is used by permission under a creative commons license. 

Andy Conroy on Class Design

Andy Conroy joined me on the podcast, Salty Believer Unscripted to discuss class design and teaching.  He has joined the podcast before; but this time, he also provided the studio space.

Andy teaches animation at the Salt Lake Art Institute.  He also leads a community group at Risen Life Church, is starting to co-teach a Sunday class on the Synoptic Gospels, and doodles on his notes every time I teach. 

Looking for some ideas about how to design or redesign your Sunday School or community group teaching format?  We might have some ideas.  Have a listen.

Subscribe to the Salty Believer iTunes Podcasts: Video | Audio
(Non iTunes: Video | Audio)
* While there may be some overlap, the content of the Video and Audio Podcasts are not the same. 

The Bible: English Standard Version (ESV)

I can't express how thankful I am that we live in a time where so many different translations of the Bible exist.

The Bible was written over the span of about 1,600 years by over 40 different divinely inspired authors.  The Old Testament was written primary in Hebrew.  If you were even fortunate enough to know how to read at all, you would have had to have read Hebrew.  As Alexander the Great expanded his empire, he made an effort to unify the language.  Many people started speaking Greek but that language was simplified as it spread further away from Greece and become a common man's Greek, called Koine Greek.  

Before the time of Christ, translators embarked on an effort to translate the Hebrew Old Testament into Koine Greek because so many more peoples and nations spoke this language as the language of business.  That first translation from Hebrew to Greek is called the Septuagint, often indicated by LXX.  A while after the canonization of the New Testament (originally written in Koine Greek), Jerome translated both the Old and New Testaments into Latin.  This late Forth Century or early Fifth Century translation is called the Vulgate. (There was also an early Syriac translation called the Peshitta, but we'll reserve the discussion on this translation for another time.)

Sadly, the only way many people could read the Bible (if they knew how to read) was in Greek, Hebrew, or Latin.  Around the time of the Protestant Reformation and slightly before, efforts began to provide a Bible in the language of the people.  Martin Luther, provided a translation in German. Guys like William Tyndale, Myles Coverdale, John Rogers, and John Waycliff worked on various English translations.  It was around this time that the world got the King James Version of the Bible as well as the Geneva Bible, Bishop's Bible, and the Douay-Rheims Bible.

Moving forward a few Centuries we now find over 200 English translations as well as hundreds of non-English language translations of the Bible and an even greater variety of translations of select parts of the Bible. In the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries, with the aid of greater archeological efforts, disciplined academic pursuits, and computer technology, many of the translations in English are outstanding!  Of course not every translation is as careful as others and some translations carry with them troubling theological issues or politically motivated choices.

As I examine the many options, I've found that the English Standard Version or ESV is one of the best translations for readability, devotion, study, and preaching.  It is a well-rounded mediating translation of the Bible.  (If you would like more information and videos comparing the 2011 NIV, HCSB, and the ESV, check out "Translating the Bible, NIV11, ESV, and HCSB.") But really, you don't have to take my word for it; others highly recommend and endorse the ESV translation of the Bible, too. Some of these leaders include Wayne Grudem, John Piper, Mark Driscoll, David Platt, Kevin DeYoung, Matt Chandler, Darrin Patrick, John McArther,  Francis Chan, Tullian Tchividjian, and many others.

Here's a better look at the ESV Bible.

While it's extremely obvious throughout this post, I highly recommend the ESV Bible for both personal and church use.  It's a great translation that is widely accessible and affordable.

* I have no material or financial connection to the ESV Bible other than my use of it in my pastoral and writing ministries. 

The Rest of God by Mark Buchanan

Buchanan, Mark.  The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul by Restoring Sabbath.  Nashville, Tenn: W Publishing Group, 2006. 

As Mark Buchanan was venturing through a much needed sabbatical, he came up with the idea that he should write about his experience of seeking and finding rest.  What resulted was a book full of interesting arguments about man's need for rest, rejuvenation, and play.  Few would disagree with Buchanan--man does need rest, rejuvenation, and play.  However, Buchanan takes his argument a step further and twists in the thread of Sabbath.  The Rest of God seeks to encourage readers to rest as well as understand Sabbath a little differently.  

The book opens with an assumption that the reader holds either one of two positions: a legalistic view of Sabbath or no understanding of Sabbath what-so-ever.  From this assumption, Buchanan sets out to move the reader away from either position.  In order to better make his argument, each chapter concludes with a section he calls Liturgy.  He recognizes that the word liturgy comes with images of "robes and candles and prayer books and lectionaries"; however, Buchanan defines liturgy as "gestures by which we honor transcendent reality" (8).  He argues that the low church has its liturgy too, even if it does not look like what we are accustomed to.  Liturgy of the low church is found in its austerity, spontaneity, and informality (8).  "It helps us give concrete expression to deepest convictions" writes Buchanan of liturgy, "It gives us choreography for the things unseen and and allows us to brush heaven among the shades of earth" (8).  

Each chapter is filled with examples and illustrations as well as attempts to tie his points to biblical concepts. But Buchanan did not set out to write a book about burnout, rest, or productivity--he set out to write a book that teaches his readers to restore Sabbath so they will restore their soul.  "The argument of this book," writes Buchanan, "is that we uniquely take up his invitation by keeping Sabbath, both as a day and as an attitude" (18).  Buchanan fell short of this goal. 

While I absolutely agree that we need rest, recreation, and play, Buchanan's biblical foundation of Sabbath is somewhat weak.  Rather than building a foundation of Sabbath by spending some time early in his book dealing with the variety of times we see sabbath practiced in the Old and New Testaments as well as how Jesus dealt with Sabbath, he uses a large number of examples and illustrations about the importance of resting and slowing down.  Instead of breaking down God's instruction on sabbath so we better understand it, we read stories of sleeping cats and busy author/pastors and guys pushing the danger envelope to jump off bridges and feel alive.  The picture painted by Buchanan is that Sabbath is not a thing to be obeyed but a thing to be done so we get something in return--rest.  Rather than a day of Sabbath or an attitude of Sabbath as something to draw us closer to God, it becomes something only to restore us so we can get back to the work of God and our own happiness.  It even seems at times that there is a hint of finding our strength within ourselves and going to a source of rest in order to be recharged rather that finding it all from God.  His idea appears to be that Sabbath is "a command given to save us from ourselves" (115).  So he argues that Sabbath is doing something different than we do on the other six days; only, he does not seem to stress that even while we are doing this different thing,  Sabbath is really about bringing glory to God and seeking God's face in a rest provided only by God. 

Chapter Nine, for example, is a story of Buchanan and a guy named Nathan.  Nathan takes Buchanan swimming where they spend the day jumping of high bridges and cliffs into rapid water. At one point Buchanan feels like he's going to die.  The result is that he feels alive.  He enjoys life. It's a taste of heaven he says.  His argument in this chapter is that play is necessary to life, which few would argue against.  He says that play shows us what it is to have fun. Who would disagree?  Play interrupts our working routine.  Yes.  But then Buchanan says that "Sabbath is for play" (140).  This is extremely challenging if by play he means a joy found in ourselves and our own adventures apart from God.  "Play and Sabbath are joined at the hip," he writes, "and sometimes we rest best when we play hardest.  Whether it's more like playing with a thunderstorm or playing with a kitten, you can never make up your mind" (142).  But there's a huge glaring problem.  Buchanan writes the entire chapter, all of Chapter Nine, without mention of God.  He makes no connection between Sabbath and the Creator of Sabbath.  Instead, he offers a definition of Sabbath that has no need of God.  With this definition of Sabbath, an atheist could strictly keep Sabbath.  By this understanding, the snow and dirt worshipers of Utah and Colorado are doing a fine job of finding "the rest of God" without God.  This is a problem and it is not a biblical picture of Sabbath. 

I also find it somewhat ironic that during his time of rest and desire to seek Sabbath, the author of other books produced a book on the topic of rest and Sabbath.  This does not seem like much of a sabbatical to seek rest, but instead an opportunity to continue working within his normal routine of authoring books.

On the other hand, had Buchanan written this book apart from his attempts to define Sabbath and his use of Scripture, he could have written a very good secular book on the need for rest in our rest-work cycles.  If it were not for a godless picture of Sabbath presented in its pages, I would have no problem recommending Buchanan's book to work-alcoholics everywhere.


*I have no material connection to this book, financial or otherwise.  However, this book was recommended to me as part of my ordination process.  

Bible Study Tools

Jared Jenkins and I discuss some tools that help us study the Bible.  Of course, none of these tools are perfect, but they are helpful.  You can listen to that discussion along with some specific recommendations in this episode of Salty Believer Unscripted.

In addition, here is a list of some of the tools with a brief discussion of what they are and how they should be used for studying the Bible.


The Holy Spirit. The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit is our helper and teacher. He is our greatest aid in proper Bible study and teaching. (John 14:16, 26) In addition, the Holy Spirit may use many of the tools listed below to illuminate God’s truths of the Bible to us.

Prayer. Prayer is our communication with God. If we desire to properly understand God’s communication to us, as contained in the Bible, we aught to ask for help and understanding. Prayer should always accompany Bible study.

Self Reflection. Our attitude, desires, biases, and sinful nature can greatly influence how we handle God’s Word; therefore, we must examine ourselves for anything that may improperly influence our understanding of the Bible.The Bible reads us and we need to be open to this reality. 

“The Story” or Meta-Narrative of the Bible. In order to better see context, one should understand the larger story of the Bible, often called the Story of God’s Redemptive History. This is a framework or timeline of the Bible in chronological order. This also includes an understanding of how the Bible is organized. Understanding where a text fits within the Story greatly helps with proper exegetical work and sound hermeneutics.

Jared Jenkins outlines the “scenes” of the Story like this:
Part I - Creation
Part II - Fall
Part III - Redemption
   Scene 1 - A People
   Scene 2 - A Land and a Nation
   Scene 3 - A Kingdom and Kingdom Divided
   Scene 4 - Exile and Expectant Waiting
   Scene 5 - The Gospel - Christ
   Scene 6 - The Church
Part IV - Restoration / New Creation

Translations of the Bible. Different translations may offer non-original readers a different perspective. A good study should include at least one Bible from a formal equivalent (close to word-for-word) translation and one from a dynamic equivalent (thought-for-thought) translation.  A good mediating Bible translation is also helpful.  But do not feel you must limit your study to a small number of translations; more translations help us see some of the word complexities in the original languages.  A parallel Bible is a helpful Bible that puts multiple translations together in one binding for this kind of study.

Study Bible. A study Bible contains boiled down information that comes from many of the tools identified in this list. A Study Bible is an extremely useful tool for studying and teaching the Bible and at least one should be a part of any Bible student's library. The ESV Study Bible is one of the best ones available today.

Concordance. A collection of all the English words contained in a specific Bible translation of the with a scripture reference to aid in locating the word. Most concordances also include a basic Greek and Hebrew word list with key numbers and definitions.

Lexicon. A technical book of definitions and entomology of Greek and Hebrew words.

Cross References. Lists of related passages that help guide a student of the Bible to other locations in the Bible in order to help understand an idea or topic as it is presented elsewhere in the Bible. Using the Bible to interpret the Bible is the best way to interpret the Bible and using cross references greatly reduces the time it takes to find other related passages. 

Bible Dictionary and Encyclopedia. A Bible dictionary provides articles and info on just about every person, place, or thing in the Bible. Encyclopedias are similar but more detailed. Some Bible dictionaries and encyclopedias deal with technical aspects of Greek and Hebrew language too.

Atlas. Collections of maps to help provide some geographical insight. These often also include journeys and other useful geographical information such as recreated drawings of the Temple grounds, alters, clothing, and a number of other helpful visual aids.

Introduction. A collection of introductory information on books of the Bible that include the author, audience, purpose, time of writing, outlines, key themes, and all kinds of other information background information.

Other Believers. Studying with others in community allows us to see how the Holy Spirit is working through all of us as we collectively study God’s Word. The same Holy Spirit working in you is working in me.  One Spirit. . . lots of students.  It is often good to consult other trusted and knowledgeable believers to confirm that you are not way off in your findings.  Notes from other classes or even transcripts of sermons are also helpful in this regard.  A good point to remember is that if you are the only one who as ever discovered what you think you've discovered from the Bible, the chances are fairly good that you are wrong.

Commentary. A commentary is an extensive discussion (typically from a scholar) about the text. These are not inspired like the Bible but they can provide tremendous insight, background information, and technical information. Often they are the result of years of work and study by the author.  I recommend that commentaries are used near the end of your study as confirmation and a check rather than a guide at the beginning of a study.  BestCommentaries.com is a helpful online tool for searching out reviews and rankings on commentaries.

Bible Study Software and Websites. Many programs and websites provide a collection of the above listed tools to make this work easier. Accordance, Logos, Bible Works, and E-Sword are examples of Bible software.  Some of these programs also have phone and tablet apps. Bible.org,  Biblia.com, BlueLetterBible.org, and  YouVersion.com are examples of helpful websites. But keep in mind that some biblical tools websites are really not what they claim to be. 

More resources may be found in the Resources section of this website.

*Photo by Terry Madeley is used by permission and is registered under a Creative Commons license.

New Series on Exegesis and Hermeneutics

Whether you are studying on your own, leading and teaching your family, or teaching in a formal setting, it is extremely helpful to understand how to read and teach the Bible.  There are some fancy words for it (exegesis and hermeneutics) but it doesn't have to be hard.  All good seminaries teach extremely helpful tools and techniques for studying and teaching the Bible, but by no means are these required to properly understand and communicate what God's Word, the Bible says.  The Bible is communicated in such a way that a person can hear and learn from God without an advanced degree in seminary or some kind of secret magic that is only held by top cult leaders.  However, if done poorly, the application will be wrong or misleading.  The adage is true, junk in-junk out.  On the other hand, if careful exegesis is conduced and then proper hermeneutics are applied, a person will come to proper application at least 95% of the time.

The overall idea here is to approach the Bible with the proper process.  Basically:

1. What did the Bible say then?
2. What is the timeless meaning or principles. 
3.  What's the application for me today. 

If you use this process, you'll do well nearly every time.  But how do we get to what the Bible said when it was written?  That's the exegetical work.  And how do we extract the timeless meaning or principles?  That's hermeneutics.   You can employ all kinds of tools; or with a couple simple, tools (even preparing sermons in the mountains for a camp) you can study and teach the Bible well.

Jared Jenkins (EntrustedWithTheGospel.com) and I have finally set out on a series to help Average Joe study and teach the Bible well.  We're excited about this because we believe it's important.  And it maybe that it's a way for us to take great material we received (and payed for) in seminary and give it to you for free.

I wish I could provide you with the name of this series, but as of yet, we can't think of one.  I guess we're just not very creative.  Listen to the introduction in the first Salty Believer Unscripted podcast of this new series and give us some feed back.  Tell us what you think.  And by all means, help us come up with a name!  (You can contact us here.)

You can find the podcasts in the Resources section of this website, download it here, or subscribe via iTunes. 

It is our greatest hope and desire that you grow in your walk with Christ and in that, you know God better and love him more.

Soli Deo gloria!
Bryan Catherman


 Subscribe to the Salty Believer iTunes Podcasts: Video | Audio
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* While there may be some overlap, the content of the Video and Audio Podcasts are not the same. 

The Jesus Storybook Bible & Curriculum Kit

Oh how unfortunate it is that so many children's Bibles are loaded with colorful pictures and moralistic stories but fail to tell the story of God's redemption!  Through these Bibles, many children learn about the people of the Bible but often fail to see how they are intertwined in one great story, The Story.  These children's books miss how all of the stories point to the salvation brought only by Christ.  Even more tragic is the reality that for many children, a bridge is never built to take them from a book of moralistic, colorful stories to an understanding of The Story.  Instead, they are stuck with memories of tales that tell them very little about Christ.  Even worse, they may only be able to conjure up images of cucumber and tomato characters when they think of the God's Word, the Bible.  Then as teens, they mentally push aside the Bible along with their other children's books.  Finally, as adults, they don't know the Bible and remember it only as a book of disconnected stories or even rules about life.  As parents and Bible teachers we must combat this tragedy.

Choosing a good children's Bible is a great start.  The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones is a well illustrated children's Bible that tells of one interconnected story (made up of 44 selected "chapters") that is constantly pointing to Jesus.  Lloyd-Jones writes every event with Jesus at the center, not a moralist principle or other misguided focus.  It's about Jesus, just as the Bible is.  Each individual chapter is written on two or three pages and can be read to a child in three to four minutes.  The illustrations are memorable and fun.  It's perfect for Bible reading at breakfast with the kids or for bedtime stories or any other time you can read to your children.  In addition, the story is organized in chronological order and every chapter comes with a Scripture reference so an adult can explore the passage in greater detail in an adult Bible. 

My wife and I (but mostly my wife)  read the Jesus Storybook Bible to our children every morning at the breakfast table.  It's fun and easy, but more significant is seeing how my boys (3 and 6) are able to articulate the larger story of Jesus.  They see Jesus in every story.  And having gone through it a couple times now, my oldest is no longer regurgitating the story but actually demonstrating great comprehension of his understanding of God's story of redemption.

But the Jesus Storybook Bible is not just for kids.  As a pastor at Risen Life Church, I've recommend this Bible to many adults.  Some of the people I meet are approaching the Bible for the first time (or maybe coming back to it with only warped pictures of their not-so-great childhood Bible lodged in their memory).  Or they, like many Christians, have never read the Bible in chronological order and fail to see how it all fits together.  I always encourage getting a chronological reading list and start reading; but I also like to recommend that students of the Bible read the Jesus Storybook Bible first. This offers a quick read with a great overview of God's story of redemption.  "Every story whispers his name," Lloyd-Jones correctly writes.  And this is not limited to non-believers and new Christians.  I came around the corner one morning to find my wife sobbing as she was trying to read "The Servant King" story to my boys.  She'd read the biblical narrative many times but there was something in the simplicity of the Jesus Storybook Bible that tapped into the her child-like faith.  God stirred her heart through the pages of a children's Bible! 

The Jesus Storybook Bible is great for children and adults alike.  I highly recommend it.  But a word of caution: just because this is a great children's Bible does not mean that children (and adults for that matter) should not be graduated up to other age appropriate Bibles as they grow in their walk with Christ and their understanding of God's Word increases.  The Jesus Storybook Bible is most appropriate for children in early to middle elementary school. 

The Jesus Storybook Bible has been discussed before on SaltyBeliever.com as well as in the podcast, "Salty Believer Unscripted"; therefore, it should be no surprise that I highly recommend it.  But there's more!

The Jesus Storybook Bible now comes complete with curriculum.  Sally Lloyd-Jones (the author of many children's books) has teamed up with Sam Shammas (who works at Redeemer Presbyterian Church and has co-written other curriculum with Timothy Keller).  These two ladies have taken the wonderful illustrations by Jago and the theatrical audio recordings by David Suchet and developed 44 lesson plans (50 weeks of lessons) for children to pair with the 44 individual stories of the Jesus Storybook Bible.  These lessons include three to five-minute animated videos of The Jesus Storybook Bible as well as incredible print curriculum.

Before I continue this review, I should share that I was intrigued by the idea of the videos and curriculum for adults, even if that is not the intended purpose of the material.  As I pastor adults and am always seeking ways to better teach the Bible, I am most often looking for ways to get the Bible in front of busy grownups (even it they use reading to their kids as an excuse).  The Jesus Storybook Bible works well for this purpose; so I wondered, How much more might the videos and curriculum work to this end?  I requested a reviewer copy of The Jesus Storybook Bible Curriculum Kit in exchange for a review and was granted my request.  (Thanks Sally; you are a blessing!  But honestly, had I been able to purchase the kit, I would have been discussing it on SaltyBeliever.com anyway.  It's too interesting not to talk about!)  In addition, unaware of my exploration Kerryn Talbot, the children's pastor at Risen Life Church has selected The Jesus Storybook Bible Curriculum for our children's church.

The Curriculum Kit includes one copy of the Jesus Storybook Bible, three CDs of the audio recordings by David Suchet, and a DVD that includes 44 animated videos and curriculum for print.  The print curriculum includes some promotional material, a guide on teaching the material, and the curriculum itself.  I'm not a children's pastor, but I am impressed with the curriculum.  It's designed so nearly anybody can teach a children's class.  There is a guide for leading a class with detailed instructions and information about the biblical text.  A game or activity is included as well as a memory verse and a colorful lesson handout.  At the bottom of the handout, there are further tips for parents so they may continue teaching the material throughout the week.  It really couldn't be easier.  But this is not to say that the material is lite; it's solid and teaches the Bible.  Even the memory verse has additional tools for learning because under the verse is a line with about five books of the Bible in canonical order.  The book where the verse is found is bold and in the center of the other books.  Even this will help children (and adults) learn the books of the Bible and where they are in the story.  (It might be nice to also have a timeline of The Story but that might be a little advanced for children.) 

The videos are remarkable.  Fancy they are not, but the quality of the audio recording and artwork makes them mesmerizing.  The videos are not flashy but simple, keeping the focus on the narrative.  Jago's art for the videos comes straight out of the artwork from the book so children will have a greater connection and reinforcement as they see the video, hear the words, and read the story.  The audio CDs can be used in the car  on the move to further reinforce God's Story with kids. (You can see a sample video of "The Servant King" without the title package above.)

Unfortunately, it is in the area of the videos where I have criticism.  Every video starts with a 45 second title introduction to give credit the publisher (ZonderKidz), author (Sally Lloyd-Jones), and the reader (David Suchet).  While I greatly appreciate the work of these individuals and I realize they should receive credit, it is troubling to think that a three or four minute video needs this much introduction. I could see it if the video were longer, but consuming 23% of a four minute video with this material is unfortunate.  As I imagine the teacher in the classroom--trying to keep things moving along smoothy--I see a man or woman in the room early setting up the DVD player in advance in order to bypass the title piece so the kids can get right into the video.  Why create this additional step?  The curriculum kit has already been purchased and the credits are on the box, the curriculum, and the DVD packaging.  Why continue to push the publisher and credits in ways that distract from the teaching of the material in the classroom?  I am also a little disappointed that there is not a "play all" feature for the videos.  It was my hope that I could have new believers over to my home with their kids and we could watch a movie of The Jesus Storybook Bible.  As the DVD presently works, a new video would need to be selected every three to four minutes and a 45-second title piece would need to be forwarded over every time.  This seems extremely distracting.  If I were to make a single suggestion, it would be a "play all" feature where after the first title package, no more are shown.  This would create a wonderful 2-hour movie of God's Story of redemption that few adults would want to miss.

Apart from my minor criticism of the way the videos are presented, I find The Jesus Storybook Bible Curriculum Kit extremely useful to teach the Bible.  The Curriculum Kit is a fresh and exciting approach to a timeless story and it works extremely well with The Jesus Storybook Bible. It's my hope--for the sake of children who will grow up to be Bible-knowing, Bible-believing, God-loving adults--that churches take a good look at The Jesus Storybook Bible Curriculum Kit and parents invest in a copy of The Jesus Storybook Bible for their kids (and for themselves!).  If you are still unclear about how The Story all fits together and how it all points to Jesus, or you just want to see the Bible through child-like eyes The Jesus Storybook Bible is for you!

*Zondervan provided this reviewer a free copy of The Jesus Storybook Bible for review purposes.  While it was done in exchange for a review, the free gift influenced the content of this review very little.
** Photos and videos are shared for the purposes of providing samples and examples and are not intended to serve solely as marketing for The Jesus Storybook Bible.

Church Planting: Plant One or Support One

There was a time when sending missionaries all over the world was the typical approach to making disciples.  Now it seems the movement has transitioned toward church planting.  

Matthew 28:19-20 mandates that disciples must make disciples all over the world and baptize them—which is typically treated as an introduction into the fellowship of Body of Christ—and then continue to teach them so they may grow in Christ. Tragic would be the missionary who baptizes new believers with no church body to connect them with. Therefore, a disciple working in this commission is either a missionary who works with and is in support of a local church, or he or she must be a disciple who plants churches, especially where there are few or none. There is no other option for a disciple in light of this commission. Thus, every disciple must evaluate his or her obedience to Matthew 28:19-20 and consider supporting an existing church or planting one.

Some look around and say there are already enough churches.  Maybe this is an excuse to do nothing.  So I suggest we think about this statement.  Given that there are still many lost souls who do not worship Jesus, most disciples should work to see more church plants.  If every person in a city were to attend a Sunday service, are there enough churches?  Is the Body really ready to remain content with only a fraction of the community worshiping the Living God.  Saying there are already enough churches suggests this is the case.  Yet, Matthew 28:19-20 says otherwise.

Gospel Planting with Adam Madden

We talk about all kinds of topics on Salty Believer Unscripted.  This week the subject was on church planting, or rather "gospel planting."  Jared Jenkins and I were happy to have lunch with church-planter Adam Madden (pictured to the right) and record the conversation. 

Adam Madden is the pastor of Christ Fellowship in the southwest part of the Salt Lake valley.  We greatly enjoy chatting with Adam and are looking forward to having him on the podcast again.

You can listen to our conversation here or subscribe to the "Salty Believer Unscripted" podcast on iTunes.


Subscribe to the Salty Believer iTunes Podcasts: Video | Audio
(Non iTunes: Video | Audio)
* While there may be some overlap, the content of the Video and Audio Podcasts are not the same. 

11 Innovations in the Local Church by Towns, Stetzer, and Bird

Towns, Elmer L., Ed Stetzer, and Warren Bird. 11 Innovations in the Local Church: How Today's Leaders Can Learn, Discern and Move into the Future. Ventura, Cali: Regal Books, 2007.


Too often, what one thinks is happening on the cutting edge of the local church (if there really is such a thing) is tinted by the colors reflected off the churches in close proximity to us.  Or our perceptions could be influenced by those methods and efforts attracting the attention of media, bloggers, conferences, or critics.  It can become rather difficult for the average pastor or lay leader to keep abreast of innovations surfacing among local churches. However, Elmer Towns, Ed Stetzer, and Warren Bird—men in a position to be more aware of what is happening in the Church around the world make an effort to spread the word. It may have been rare for churches to broadcast their sermons online in a podcast format when Mars Hill in Seattle was doing so, but as the word spread, many churches were also able to take advantage of this innovation. These three men understand the importance of sharing information on innovation and want to share what they see. In an effort to help busy pastors and leaders, Towns, Stetzer, and Bird, offer us there their book, 11 Innovations in the Local Church: How today’s leaders can learn, discern and move into the Future.

11 Innovations in the Local Church is really what it claims to be, with an introduction and conclusion serving as bookends to eleven chapters dealing with specific innovations these three men feel are on the cutting edge. The first and most obvious questions many will ask of this book is, “Why is a book about church innovations necessary; isn’t the gospel message enough?” The authors respond saying, “Most churches need to change because they’re showing little or no statistical growth (numerical, spiritual or otherwise) and minimal impact on the surrounding culture. Too many are struggling just to keep their doors open, and yet they tend to keep replaying what they did ‘last year’” (14).  Many churches, faithfully teaching and preaching the gospel, seem to be left behind because they have failed to see the need to be innovative in the way they reach their communities.

 Stetzer opens with a story about a slightly older church that was dying. He sent them out to see what other churches were doing and their response was, “Preacher, the church changed, and nobody told us!” (13). The church must, in some areas change too—although this is not to suggest that they change the message, just how the gospel message is delivered. We must look at our methods. “When methods no longer work,” they write, “don’t blame the harvest as being unreachable; instead ask God if it’s time to change your methods!” (16). The challenge then becomes understanding how to innovate, what needs to be changes, and where the right balance might be found. Towns, Stetzer, and Bird warn, “We need to constantly ask, ‘Will God be pleased with our innovations?’ Life isn’t about what we can do—it’s about obeying what God wants us to do. We must make sure our actions are right in His eyes” (17). After outlining why change may be necessary the authors move to explaining what they have found to be the 11 biggest (or most interesting) innovations in the North American Church. And while they could look at innovations from all around the world, they keep their focus on North America pointing out, “Today, the only continent where Christianity is not growing is North America” (15).

In the chapters that follow, Towns, Stetzer, and Bird address churches identified as organic house, recovery, multi-site, ancient-future, city-reaching, community transformation, cyber-enhanced, Nickelodeon-style children-focused, intentionally multicultural, decision-journey, and attractional. Each of these identified innovations receives a chapter. Towns, Stetzer, and Bird first describe the innovation for the benefit of the reader who has no knowledge of the specific innovation. Then they offer examples and a discussion from their insights; often, these insights also provide a caution as well as what the typical church can learn and adapt from the specific innovation.

As they conclude their book on innovation, they argue the importance of critically examining how we do church. They write, “After 50 years of sprucing up our churches and spicing up our worship, the culture is less reaches and those who go to churches are less committed” (237). Therefore, we must examine what we are doing and how we, as church leaders might also be able to use these innovations to advance the kingdom in North America. This does not simply mean however, that we adopt the innovation. Towns, Stetzer, and Bird warn, “Always keep your focus on the gospel message. Don’t change it, and don’t let anyone else change it for you. But when they sing the gospel message by a different instrument, if you don’t like it, at least pray for those who sing it, and grow in Christ because of it” (245). This they say, is what we, the readers, should learn from 11 Innovations of in the Local Church.

It is good to take some time to be aware of what is happening within the Church. It could be viewed that the epistles to other churches helped keep the various First Century churches abreast of what was happening. It is also helpful to have Towns, Stetzer, and Bird visit and examine churches practicing newer innovations and then summarize the innovations. A pastor or church leader really does not have the time or resources to visit and examine churches all over the country, but if he sees something that may be good for his local context, he can look into it more and then maybe make a visit. The challenge however with a book like 11 innovations in the Local Church is that these three men selected the innovations. There could be other things on the cutting edge that they are not aware of or it may be that the book could be called 21 Innovations. One must remain open to the reality that this book only deals with what the authors selected to deal with (and it should be appreciated that the authors shared these 11 innovations). The temptation is to assume that these 11 innovations are the only innovations on the cutting edge or that there is not already 11 other innovations making their way to the forward edge.

Another challenge with a book such as this one is how timely it is. For a short time, this book may be extremely valuable, but as these innovations become more mainstream and others are surfacing, the value of the book diminishes. In chapter 7, Cyber-Enhanced Churches, the authors point out how far behind local churches are on the Internet compared to other businesses and organizations. As time passes, people will read this book and decide to get on board with what they think is an innovation, when in reality, they are still behind. Many in the church think they are on the cutting edge when they read books like this one, even if they really are behind as the book claims. This book might better serve the church if it were a regular magazine column, publishing every month without end. Many businesses keep abreast of industry changes via magazines rather than books. Just as many local churches are lagging behind when it comes to the use of the Internet, many pastors may be lagging behind when it comes to advancing the Kingdom in communities of changing culture. This may well be why one congregation proclaimed, “Preacher, they church changed, and nobody told us!” (13).

Placing the issues of timeliness aside, the value of a book like 11 Innovations in the Local Church is how much it promotes passion and creative thinking in our methods to promote the gospel. The advantage in having Elmer Towns, Ed Stetzer, and Warren Bird write it is all the years of experience these men bring to the discussion. We should not reinvent the wheel, but when some points out some good wheels, we should at least stop to take a look.


*I have no material connection to this book.  This review was originally written as a partial fulfillment toward an M.Div at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary.  It has been redacted from its original form. 

Translating the Bible, NIV11, ESV, and HCSB

As God revealed himself to his creation, things were written down.  These writings are history, poetry, prophecy, letters, and the like.  We call these duel-authored writings the Canon, Scripture, or the Bible.  (More on the duel nature of Scripture may be read here.) This revelation from God was to a real culture in a specific time period and in an actual location.  Its authorship spans over 1,600 years and about 40 authors. Therefore, the languages in which the Bible was originally written were Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.  Most of us however, do not read Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek; and even of those who do, many  are not fluent enough read the Bible well in its original languages.

Enter translation.

English readers need to be able to read the Bible in English.  This requires that the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek be translated into English and that demands a great deal of work, study, discussion, and decision.  Different languages often function differently.  Dictionaries between languages never seem to parallel exactly.  So before a translation may be made, the translator (or translation team) must choose a translational theory.

Will each word be translated into its best English equivalent with no regard to sentence construction?  This is called inter-linear translational theory and these sentences become extremely difficult to read because of the awkward word order or missing words which are often required to smooth out a sentence or thought when translated into English.  In addition, a choice must still be made about which English word best represents the original language word.  Sometimes this is easy but often it is not.

Or how about translating  each word (or near word combination) as closely as possible with only minimum adjustments to sentence construction to meet English grammar requirements? If so, this is called formal equivalence.  If the strictest formal equivalence is used, the translation reads fairly clunky but is still grammatically correct in English.  Examples are the RSV, NASB and KJV.  The ESV also falls within this category but is slightly less strict to formal equivalence theory and therefore is less clunky as say, the NASB.  Bibles that use this translational theory make a good selection for a Bible used for study.   Where the original is ambiguous, these translations tend to remain ambiguous.  The idea is to get to the closest to word-for-word (although an interlinear is closer to a word-for-word translation).  The disadvantage of these translations is found in how difficult it can become to read large amounts of text for devotional reading.  Another disadvantage may be found in how these Bibles communicate a complete idea or thought to the average reader today.  Often, these Bibles take a little more work on the part of the reader to get to the meaning of the passage.  

Could it be possible that we translate thoughts expressed by the original audience into well communicated thoughts in English?  How about a thought-for-thought or an idea-for-idea translation.  This translation theory is often called dynamic or functional equivalence.  The theory is to translate the entire idea or thought as a complete unit.  The strictest of translations that uses this translational theory are sometimes called mediating translations.  The 1984 NIV falls into this category, as does the HCSB and at times the ESV.  The idea of phrases are translated into phrases, however great care is still given to the meaning of each word (most of the time).  Mediating translations are good for devotional reading.  They also make good translations to preach from.  Less work is necessary to get the idea.  A problem that surfaces at times is when gaps are filled in.  A specific word may intentionality leave some ambiguity but is smoothed over as an entire thought is translated.  The translators are well meaning, but when they start to fill in the gaps they are making even more choices for us as they translate (although any translation requires some choices and these choices are often biases by theology).

The loosest use of functional equivalence is sometimes called a paraphrase.  Paraphrases tend to translate paragraph-to-paragraph, less attention is given to the meaning of individual words, and often the intention is to communicate by the same means as most English readers read and speakers.  The Message is a good example of a paraphrase.  The NLT resides somewhere between the mediating translation and the paraphrase, leaving us simply to call it a functional translation.

As scholars come together in their best efforts to translate the Bible, decisions must be made.  Sometimes translational choices are driven by a theological outlook, bias, or by the understanding of changing English words.  The translation theory itself also drives the decisions.

The video below demonstrates the process of translation on the ESV team when difficult words or ideas are being translated.  In trying to determine the best word choice for the English Standard Bible (ESV), a team including Peter Williams, Gordon Wenham, Jack Collins, Wayne Grudem, and Paul House discuss and debate the differences between the words "slave," "servant," and "bond-servant."  According to Dr. Grudem, the discussion took nearly 4 hours.  The BBC boiled it down to 4 minutes.

In 2011, Liberty University hosted a biblical studies symposium asking the question, "Which Bible translation should I use?"  Dr. Douglas Moo represented the NIV11 (a revision to the TNIV, which was a rejected revision to the NIV 1984).  Dr. Wayne Grudem represented the ESV.  And Dr. Ray Clendenen represented the HCSB.  Each speaker was a part of the translation team of the Bible that he defended at the symposium and had about 40 minutes to argue for his translation over the other 2 represented at the symposium.  Following the 3 speakers, a rebuttal and question and answer session concluded the evening.

Listening to each of these speakers will offer you a better understanding of what it is to translate the Bible.  We should all be thankful for the hard work and dedication of these scholars to bring us the Bible in English.  And we should recognized how blessed we are to have so many English options.

Video 1: Dr. Ray Clendenen and the Holman Christian Standard Bible

Video 2: Dr. Wayne Grudem and the English Standard Version

Video 3: Dr. Doug Moo and the New International Version

Video 4: Responses and Q and A

After reading this post and watching these videos, can you answer the question, "Which Bible translation should I use?"  I might suggest that you use any translation that teaches and proclaims Christ in a way that brings about salvation and a transformed life in you.  I might also recommend using using a different translation for your study and devotional reading.  This may offer you some perspective that would go missed by strictly remaining with one translation.

Recently Discovered New Testament Manuscripts

The gospels and letters that make up the New Testament were authored in the latter half of the First Century, between roughly AD42-98.  Finding manuscripts like P52, a papyri fragment of the book of John containing chapter 18:31-33, is a really big deal.  It was discovered in 1920 and greatly changed the way scholars think about the book of John and the New Testament. P52 (pictured to the right), is a Second Century manuscript dated roughly to AD125-150 and  is presently considered the oldest known fragment of the New Testament--but that may be soon to change.  Dr. Dan Wallace claims to have discovered a manuscript of the book of Mark that he and others say dates to the First Century! 

Conservative biblical scholars date the authorship to Mark between the mid-AD40 and 60.  This would mean that at most, this newly discovered manuscript is no more than 60 years older than the autograph, but it may be less.  The Institute for New Testament Textual Research (INTF) located in Münster, Germany has cataloged over 5,750 New Testament manuscripts.  Some of these are very close to the autographs (originals, which have yet to be found), but none as close as what Wallace is claiming of his team's discovery.

Apparently, the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts (CSNTM) was granted access to a national archive in Albania to photograph 13 manuscripts.  The country has previously denied western scholars access to these documents.  When the CSNTM team arrived, they learned that there were more manuscripts at the archive and some of them are remarkable!

Besides the manuscripts they expected to photograph, they discovered seven more manuscripts never-before seen or cataloged by western scholars.  Most notable is the Mark papyri as well as an early Second Century Luke fragment and four manuscripts from Paul (and the author of Hebrews) that date to late Second Century or early Third Century.  Details are slowly being released as the scholars are exercising caution in how they present this new find.

In the video below, Dr. Mike Licona introduces Dr. Dan Wallace who discusses this fascinating discovery in a more detail:

Buzz about these manuscripts is present, but you have to look for it.  They will have a significant impact on scholarship but it's highly unlikely that these manuscripts will change our understanding of the gospel message.  Even when more details are published, most people will hear little about this discovery (if anything) and that's okay.  For us theology geeks, it's exciting to add 7 more manuscripts to the INTF catalog, especially the really early ones.  It's also thrilling to think about the possibility of finding even earlier manuscripts and getting closer to the originals; but in the bigger picture, the gospel as we have understood it for 2,000 years will continue marching forward as we faithfully serve God toward the advancement of his Kingdom.  Indeed we must remember, the manuscript collection does not bring saving transformation--the message contained within the manuscripts is what must really excite us.


*Photo of the Rylands Papyri, also know as P52, is in the public domain. 

Breaking the Missional Code by Ed Stetzer and David Putnam

Stetzer, Ed, and David Putman. Breaking the Missional Code: Your Church Can Become a Missionary in Your Community. Nashville, Tenn: Broadman & Holman, 2006.

In their book, Breaking the Missional Code: Your church can become a missionary in your Community, Ed Stetzer and David Putman ask the question, “Why are some churches and pastors so effective and others are not?” (1). By effective, they seem to mean churches that are “experiencing explosive growth because they are learning to connect with their communities” and seeing people responding to “biblically faithful and culturally relevant outreach” (1). Those pastors and churches that are reaching into their communities and finding success are code breakers according to Stetzer and Putnam. They argue, “the way you do things does impact your ability to reach your community effectively;” and therefore, they claim, “This book will assist you in being able to think through your context, apply universal principles in your mission setting, and then identify and apply strategies that will make you more effective in your context” (1-2). While it is extremely difficult to determine if they have achieved their stated goal without actually seeing effectiveness in the communities where pastors and churches put to practice the concepts discussed in this book, Stetzer and Putnam do find success in providing greater thought and understanding in the areas of context, missional principles, and various approaches for doing church.

“You cannot grow a biblically faithful church,” write Stetzer and Putnam, “without loving people and preaching the gospel. But loving people means understanding and communicating with them” (15). In an effort to help their readers find ways to communicate and understand people, Stetzer and Putnam open with a chapter on the major changes occurring throughout the world. They caution the reader however, about taking the characteristics of one community and blindly applying them to another. In one of many “Breaking the code. . . ” statements, they write, “Breaking the code is the recognition that there are visible and invisible characteristics within a community that will make its people resistant to or responsive to the church and its gospel message” (5). The key for code breakers is first learning how to exegete a community. One must understand the various things that influence the community, and as the argument goes, the code breaker needs to get in the world, even though he is not of the world. He needs to deeply understand the community long before ever determining what church model to use or what methods to deploy. The code breaker must also understand the biblical mandate for reaching the world with the gospel as well as his calling and special talents and giftings. This calling to a specific people in a specific context may mean code breakers are not in their preferred community, but they are where they will be effective. “Our churches often struggle,” states Stetzer and Putnam, “because we put our preferences over our call—our preferences over our mission” (36). Therefore, code breakers must not allow preferences to be idols—they must be put their preferences to death. “Before anything that is truly of God can be born, your own preferences have to die” (215).
After examining a number of common traits held by pastors who Stetzer and Putnam have identified as code breakers, they shift to developing a greater missional understanding and creating a thoughtful way to think about a number of code breaking strategies. This makes up the latter half of the book, with Chapter 15 serving as something of a culmination of all the previously presented material in one systematic action-planning tool. The outline of this chapter mirrors the two primary foci of the entire book—understanding self and understanding community.

The excellence of Breaking the Missional Code is found in its appeal not to take any specific ideas promoted within the book and apply them with no time invested in thought or a lack of exegesis of the community. Instead, Stetzer and Putnam write, “The key to breaking the code of a community is to have the heart of the Father for that community. The only way to do that is by spending serious amounts of time with the one who loved Jerusalem deeply enough to weep over it” (22). Unlike many books on the topic of reaching communities or planting churches, this one sees something beyond a formula, system, or turnkey plan that should work in all places for all people. This book makes a strong effort to teach a principal of reading the community and then engaging wisely through effectively designing the most appropriate strategy for that specific community.

Another strength is the style and tone of authors. It is as if they are saying, “You can do it, you just need a little coaching and a pat on the shoulder.” The book is loaded with examples, many coming from their own observations. The tone seems to exude authority on the subject, which should not be a shock considering that both of these men have a reputation of church planting work and a strong dedication to the advancement of the gospel.

A difficult aspect of Stetzer and Putnam’s approach has to do with the churches they view as code breaking examples and the criteria of how they measure code breaking aspects of reaching a community. These example churches tend to be large mega-churches with popular author-pastors. Mark Driscoll serves as one example; however, before Driscoll’s church was as large as it is at the time of this post, he was selling books and speaking at emergent/emerging church conferences. No discussion appears in the book regarding the author life of the code breaker. The same is true of Rick Warnen, another example of a code breaker author. While selling books might not be critical of being a code breaker, many of the examples do come with a seasoning of flavorful publishing popularity and conference speaking.

Also, larger congregations do matter it seems when looking for examples of code breakers. Examples from this book, suggest it's really about size.  Yet, while we all desire to see large numbers, there may be more ways to see and measure the success of a code breaker. It is one thing if the large church is spiritually healthy, but it is quite another if the code breaker simply knows how to draw a crowd. What is better, a church of 2,500 with 10% of its people actively serving and spiritually growing or a church of 400 with 80% of its people in a healthy place with Jesus? But even this question is subjective. It might be fruitful if a determination of what is good and what is not is provided along with a definition of the measurement standard. In addition, a code breaker today may be building and equipping a church that has a much deeper reach into the next two generations over the church that has a large attendance but will fall by the wayside when the charismatic code breaker is no longer the super star pastor.  Sometimes the success is due to years of prayer and laboring to lay the right foundation, long before the fruit of numbers is ever seen (and we should be able to call this period success too).

Despite the negative aspects of the examples of code breakers, Breaking the Missional Code is a valuable work. Stetzer and Putnam address a number of issues that have typically gone unmentioned by other authors on the same topic. They seem to recognize that there is no single perfect model so the successfully attempt to present the book on how to develop the model for a specific area, in a specific time, reached by a specific pastor. For this reason, this book should be read by all those in a position to influence how a church functions as well as those called to plant churches.

Thinking of Enrolling in Seminary?

It's hard to believe that I've completed the season of my life that will forever be remembered as the "while I was in seminary" years.  I started in the Spring semester of 2009.  Working a secular full-time job as well as being a husband and father meant that for the next three years (and Summers too) I would have no life, free-time, or sleep.  I started working on a lesser Master's degree but eventually decided to switch to the full Masters of Divinity program.  Since then, I've completed 103 credits to complete an M.Div, found a full-time ministry position, and adopted another son.  It was a wild ride but completely worth it!

I am extremely thankful for having had such an amazing opportunity to receive this education and sit under the instruction and guidance of amazing and faithful men at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary.  I highly recommend seminary to those God has call to go. 

If you're considering seminary, I would encourage that you seek out and learn from a seminary that loves Jesus and teaches the Bible.  I also thought I would share a previous post and a video on the topic of seminary.  I'm also happy to answer any questions you many have.  A place to start (after you watch the video below) might be to read a post titled "Choosing a Seminary." 

The video below was the very first "Salty Believer Unscripted" podcast. Jared Jenkins and I did this video to kick it off, although most are audio only.  The topic of conversation for this session of Salty Believer Unscripted:  Seminary.

* This video, others like it, and many other resources are available here.

Jared is a regular participant of the Salty Believer Unscripted podcast and he writes at Entrusted With The Gospel.

I hope you'll join us by subscribing to the audio (and video) podcast feeds.

Subscribe to the Salty Believer iTunes Podcasts: Video | Audio
(Non iTunes: Video | Audio)
* While there may be some overlap, the content of the Video and Audio Podcasts are not the same. 

If you're feeling called to ministry and considering seminary, please don't hesitate to contact me with your questions.

It's a Story About Jesus

It seems we sometimes isolate our thinking about the Old and New Testaments; but in the truth, it's all one story.   Luke 24:27 suggests that the entirety of the Bible is about Jesus.  Yes, I realize there are some who would say that Jesus only identified the small handful of Old Testament Scriptures that clearly point to himself, but I just don't buy that.  Here's why: The Bible is one story about the redemption of man to God, only achieved through the salvific work of Jesus, the long awaited Christ.  Tim Keller and some others folks at the Gospel Coalition put together this short video in an effort to present how the Old Testament shows us Jesus.  Check it out.

Are you seeing Jesus when you read the Old Testament?  If not, why not?