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Monthly Archives: May 2015


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Praise, Worship, Singing and Bible Engagement

I can’t imagine not being able to sing to God – it would be like losing a leg, or worse, having a stroke with no promise of recovery! But that isn’t surprising, for praise and worship is woven into the fabric of our Christian faith (cf. Ephesia5:19-20).

Interestingly, while much is written on the subject of praise/worship/singing, and likewise on the subject of Bible engagement, very little seems to be said about the relationship between Bible engagement and praise/worship/singing.

So what is the relationship between praise, worship, singing and Bible engagement? Here are five suggestions:

  • Scripture should inform, equip, and undergird all praise/worship/singing. This is foundational and absolutely necessary. Failure to connect praise/worship/singing with the Word distances us from the One whom the Word proclaims – Jesus Christ
  • If worship requires opening our hearts to the love of Christ, submitting our wills to the purpose of Christ, and offering our lives in adoration of Christ; then we need to be filling our minds with the Word of Christ and obeying the precepts of Christ
  • To wholeheartedly praise and worship Christ we must experience (taste, see, hear, touch, smell), indwell, engage, receive, get caught up in, and re-enact the Word
  • Praise and worship music should serve the lyrics, and the lyrics should feed people, and the food should be the Word of God. If we don’t major on God’s Word our songs will drift into emotionalism and self-absorption. But when we feed on the Word – we move beyond ourselves – we enter into the presence of God
  • Lyrics matter more than music. Tunes should always play second fiddle to truth. We should sing songs that say something – songs that transform the mind and refresh the spirit. And the best way to do this, is to sing God’s Word

While the pickings are slim, there are worship leaders, singers, theologians and others who speak about the correlation between praise/worship/singing and Bible engagement. Consider these five thought provoking comments:

  • “Worship songs can’t just be rooted in culture – they won’t be deep enough. They have to be rooted in scripture.” – Matt Redman
  • “Scriptures direct worship, enhance the depth of worship, and … are the ancient and living Word that the emerging church grapples with and wrestles with and turns to for guidance and light.” – Dan Kimball
  • “It may seem unnecessary to advocate … for the centrality of the Bible … after all, Protestants are supposed to believe in sola scriptura, scripture alone. In fact, there has long been erosion of the use of scripture in Protestant worship.” – Rob Redman
  • “God must speak to us before we have any liberty to speak to him. He must disclose to us who he is before we can offer him what we are in acceptable worship. The worship of God is always a response to the Word of God. Scripture wonderfully directs and enriches our worship.” – John Stott
  • “A faithful worship leader combines the Word of God with music to magnify the greatness of God in Jesus Christ.” – Bob Kauflin

And the lyrics from the chorus of Ancient Words:

“Ancient words ever true. Changing me changing you. We have come with open hearts. Oh, let the ancient words impart.”

Have your say. Add your comments …

Recommended Resource: David Peterson, Engaging with God: A Biblical Theology of Worship, IVP, 2002.

© Scripture Union Canada 2015

2 Corinthians 4:5


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Twenty Interesting Facts About The Bible

The Bible isn’t called the Book of books without just cause. Here are twenty interesting facts about the Bible:

  • The Bible is the world’s best-selling book of all time and the best-selling book of the year, every year! Fifty Bibles are sold every minute. It’s never shown on the best seller lists because it dwarfs the sales of all other books.
  • The Bible was written over the course of 1,500 years (beginning in about 1,400 B.C.) by more than 40 individuals, from many backgrounds (prophets, fishermen, kings, philosophers, scholars, poets), who lived in 10 different countries on three continents (Asia, Africa, Europe), writing in one of three languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek) about God and His interaction with 2,930 different characters from more than 1,550 different places.
  • Worldwide, there are 80,000+ versions of the Bible with full Bibles in 530+ languages and portions of the Bible in about 2,900 languages. A full Bible translation in a person’s native/heart language is available for 70% of the world’s population. In whole or in part, the Bible is accessible to 98% of the world’s population in a language in which they are fluent. Bible translation continues to be a major undertaking by the United Bible Societies, Wycliffe and many other agencies.
  • After three years of constant printing, the 1454 Gutenberg Bible (Latin) was the first book to be printed on a movable metal type printing press (China invented woodblock printed books during the Tang Dynasty). Johannes Gutenberg, after whom the Bible is named, printed about 180 copies without any printing errors (major parts of 48 copies exist today).
  • There are about 900 printed English versions of the Bible (complete and incomplete translations and paraphrases). The first hand-written English manuscripts were written by John Wycliffe, translated from the Vulgate (Latin) in the 1380’s A.D. In 1525-1526 the Tyndale New Testament became the first printed English edition of the Scriptures (2 known copies exist today). The first English translation of the entire Bible was published by Miles Coverdale in 1535.
  • The King James Version (KJV) is the most popular English Bible (first edition published in 1611). The New International Version (NIV) is the second most popular English Bible (New Testament first published in 1973 and the full Bible in 1978). Worldwide, the NIV outranks the KJV as the best-selling Bible translation.
  • The least popular Bible is the Coptic translation of the New Testament by David Wilkins. Since 1791 when it was first published, it has never sold more than 2 copies a year.
  • The 1631 edition of the KJV was named the Wicked Bible because the word “not” was omitted from Exodus 20:14. This changed the 7th Commandment to, “Thou shalt commit adultery.” When the error was discovered the copies were recalled and destroyed (11 copies exist today). The 1716 edition of the KJV was named the Sin On Bible because the printer accidentally inverted the ‘n’ and the ‘o’ in ‘on’ of John 8:11, so it read, “Go and sin on more”.
  • Between 1815 and 1975 an estimated 2.5 billion Bibles were distributed with more than 100 million new Bibles printed every year since, making a staggering total of 7.5 billion in print (one copy for every person!).
  • The Gideons, founded in 1899, distribute about one million Bibles, free of charge, every week (about two copies every second). By 2015 the Gideons will have placed 2 billion Bibles and New Testaments in schools, hotels, prisons, hospitals and among the military.
  • Sadly, for merchants, in some cities in the USA, the most shoplifted book is the Bible! Happily, for the Gideons, thousands of their Bibles are stolen from hotels!
  • The usage of online Bibles continues to increase. In 2014 Bible Gateway had 1.5 billion page views by more than 150 million unique visitors. The YouVersion Bible App offers more than 1,000 translations of the Bible and has been downloaded more than 150 million times. The Bible.is App offers the Bible in full or in part in more than 1600 languages.
  • Surprisingly, the largest Bible factory in the world is a Communist government sanctioned NGO – the Amity Bible Printing Company in Nanjing, China. An atheist, Trevor McKendrick, makes $100K a year selling a Spanish Bible App!
  • It takes 70 hours to read the whole Bible aloud (at “pulpit rate”). Reading the Bible silently with an average reading speed of 250-300 words a minute takes 54 hours. People who can read 800 words a minute can read the Bible in a day. If you’re short on time, read Philemon, it only takes a minute!
  • There are hundreds of Bibles purposed for hundreds of niche markets. The Way features psychedelic lettering, Revolve looks like a girls glossy magazine, and Divine Health has comments from Don Colbert, the author of What Would Jesus Eat. The Outdoor Bible is printed on plastic sheets that fold up like maps, Psalty’s Kids Bible features Psalty the Singing Songbook, and the Soul Surfer Bible has notes by Bethany Hamilton, the surfer who lost her arm to a shark.
  • The 2011 St. John’s Bible produced by British calligrapher Donald Jackson and a team of calligraphers is the first hand-written hand-illuminated Bible since the invention of the printing press. It cost $8 million and took 12 years to complete.
  • The smallest Bible in the world is the New Testament Jerusalem Nano Bible, a chip measuring 4.76 mm. It can only be read with a microscope because each letter is 18 millionths of a metre wide!
  • The Devils Bible (Codex Gigas – English for Giant Book), so named because of a large illustration of the devil, is the largest extant medieval manuscript in the world. It weighs 78.4 kg (165 lb), is 92 cm (36 in) tall and is allegedly made from the skins of 160 donkeys.
  • The largest Bible in the world is the 1930 Waynai Bible (pictured). It weighs 496 kg (1094 lb), is 110.49 cm (43.5 in) tall, and 248.92 cm (98 in) wide. For moving purposes it can be disassembled into 31 sections.
  • There are many fascinating details in the Bible – like the man who walked around naked for three years (cf. Isaiah 20:2-3), a bed that was 4.1 m (13.5 ft) long and 1.8 m (6 ft) wide (cf. Deuteronomy 3:11), a man’s hair that weighed 2.83 kg (6.25 lb) when it was cut every year (cf. 2 Samuel 14:26), and, there’s no mention of the domestic cat (sheep are the most frequently mentioned animals).

And a bonus short animation from the Digital Bible Society that charts the history of the spoken and written Word of God from tablets to digital:

.

Please share additional interesting facts about the Bible …

© Scripture Union Canada 2015

2 Corinthians 4:5


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World Bloggers’ Day

HAPPY WORLD BLOGGERS’ DAY!

Here are seven scriptures to inform and inspire writers of posts/blogs:

Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! Job 19:23 (ESV)

“Dear friend, do what I tell you; treasure my careful instructions. Do what I say and you’ll live well. My teaching is as precious as your eyesight—guard it! Write it out on the back of your hands; etch it on the chambers of your heart. Talk to Wisdom as to a sister. Treat Insight as your companion” Proverbs 7:2-4 (Msg)

“You yourselves are our letter. You are written on our hearts. Everyone knows you and reads you” 2 Corinthians 3:2 (NIrV)

“Your heart should be holy and set apart for the Lord God. Always be ready to tell everyone who asks you why you believe as you do. Be gentle as you speak and show respect” 1 Peter 3:15 (NLV)

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates” Deuteronomy 6:5-9 (NIV)

“Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart” Proverbs 3:3 (NLT)

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” Philippians 4:8 (NIV)

© Scripture Union Canada 2015

2 Corinthians 4:5

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