“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, Exodus 20:8.
To honor the Sabbath, as being of God’s handiwork.
We met together as believers in Christ to honor the Sabbath. It was five o’clock on the evening of a Friday. I began reading God’s Holy Word.
Genesis 1:5, “Evening came and then morning: the first day.”
Genesis 1:8, “Evening came and then morning: the second day.”
Genesis 1:13, “Evening came and then morning: the third day.”
Genesis 1:19, “Evening came and then morning: the fourth day.”
Genesis 1:23, “Evening came and then morning: the fifth day.”
Genesis 1:31, “Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.”
Genesis 2:1-3, “1 So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed. 2 By the seventh day God completed His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. 3 God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it He rested from His work of creation.”
At the beginning of this darkened Friday morning, just as it occurs each day, darkness began turning into dawn. Then, dawn turned into daylight; daylight turned into dusk; and, as we were reading God’s Holy Word, dusk began turning into darkness. In our presence, Sabbath began to grace us, and everybody else in our community. Sabbath would continue until sundown on Saturday. In our group we were experiencing a true “Shabbat Shalom,” which means in Hebrew, “sabbath of peace.”
During our time of honoring the Sabbath, we participated in a Passover meal, as described in Matthew 26:17-30. We continued with a discussion of Matthew 5:17, as our Lord said, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.” The Law was fulfilled in Christ: “It is finished” (John 19:30). In Galatians 3:24, we see the purpose of the Law: “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.”
During this time of of honoring the Sabbath, we discussed true worship. Our scripture text was taken from John’s Gospel, Chapter 4. We discussed the encounter of the Samaritan woman with Christ, verses 19-24., The topic was worship. The woman pointed out the differences of worship between Jews and Samaritans; she said that Jews worshiped at the temple in Jerusalem, but Samaritans worshiped elsewhere (John 4:20). So, the woman was saying, “what gives?” (mine). Our Lord gave a simple answer to the woman. The Samaritan woman had addressed times, days, and places of worship. Plain and simple, Christ said in verse 24, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” In AD 70, the temple in Jerusalem would be destroyed, so that would take care of the “time, day, and place situation.” Christ added that true worship is that of “spirit and truth.” It is a worship that includes, “all that we are,” for “all that God is.” Note that “God is Spirit,” and not “a spirit.” If God were, “a spirit,” He would be one of many spirits, of which God is not.
Remember the words,”God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it.” God made the seventh day. God made the seventh day holy. I choose to honor the seventh day. I try to keep every Friday free of mental conflict, and try to keep my mind on the “sure to arrive” weekly Sabbath. I cherish the time of the arrival of Friday’s sunset, as I know that a “God moment” is in the making. I consider the things of Elohim/Theos and His creation week (Genesis 1:1; Matthew 1:23; John 1:1).
I worship God for all that He has done to give us the world that we are blessed to inhabit. I thank God for Christ, Who is “God with us,” (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23). Maybe you will find your own way of honoring the Sabbath.
Before we go our separate ways, let us again consider honoring the Sabbath. The worshipful video that was seen in the opening of this article was
produced by George Payne. The title of the video is: Randy Spencer playing the Shofar – Song 2 – Savannah, Georgia – 2001.
We Have This Moment Today – Bill And Gloria Gaither
In the video, Gloria Gaither tells about a lot of life’s experience that she and Bill have faced. Many of us have faced similar experiences. Consider life and love, as you look back and see those things that have meant so much to you, and have left a life-long memory that never will leave.
Life and love, both coming from our parents. Growing up. Dating. Falling in love. Getting married. Having our own children; watching them grow up. Their first day of school. The day for getting their driver’s license. Their first date. Their graduation. Their getting married; their having their own children. Death. Other things. A cup of coffee. From the most simple, to the most complex, life’s issues don’t fail to come upon us.
All of the above of life’s experiences happen in our lives. Some are very difficult for us to handle. We may never be able to accept certain things of life. But, God is in the people business, and “God is love” (1 John 5:4). God even gives us the grace to look back, and share life’s experiences, over a cup of coffee (whether good, or not so good a cup, lol).
We have listened to the video about life and love. Now, let’s read a passage of scripture that tells us about life and love.
1 Corinthians 13 New King James Version (NKJV)
The Greatest Gift
1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
God has given us a passage of scripture that many people view as relating to death, but the words clearly show that it is about life; our life, and God’s Sovereignty.
Psalm 23 King James Version (KJV)
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
“Tender Memories” Chonda Pierce – Jesus Is All The World to Me [Live]
I can remember, as a young boy, the special times of Sunday night church, when I would also sit on, “the second row, piano side.” Those special memories flood my soul, as I think about the people that were there, with many of them being older, and now in the Presence of Christ, “our Lord and Savior.”
“And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.”
Matthew 10:16 New King James Version (NKJV)
16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
Matthew 6:33 New King James Version (NKJV)
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Matthew – Chapter 6
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
4 “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
The teaching of God to the children of Israel, in the year 1451 B.C., can not be lessened in the world in which we live today. The application is directed to parents, in that our children should be taught the Words of God on an ongoing basis.
The articles that appear in this blog, provide scriptural teachings to the body of Christ, so that we will be more effective in fulfilling the Great Commission that was given to the Church (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8.) In order to achieve such an effectiveness, it is necessary for believers in Christ to have an intimate relationship with God the Father, through God the Son, by the empowerment of God The Holy Spirit. God will lay a path before us that we should follow. He will equip us for the completion of that trip and ministry. There are scriptures that will help us to prepare for the ministry that God has ordained for our lives. The following scriptures are key to our being prepared for the fulfillment of God’s call on our lives; they revolve around the keys of: 1. Knowing, 2. Being, 3. Abiding, and 4. Going. Please consider the scriptures of those four points of intimacy and ministry.
1. Knowing
Philippians 3:10, “That I might know Him.”
John 17:3 New King James Version (NKJV)
3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
In this verse we see a text book definition of “eternal life,” which is an intimate relationship with God the Father, through God the Son. To “know” is to be intimate. The intimacy of this verse is parallel to that of Genesis 4:1, where it is written that Adam “knew” Eve his wife, and she conceived and bare Cain. To know someone is to have the highest degree of intimacy with that person that is possible. For us to “know” God is to have the highest degree of intimacy with Him that is possible.
In respect to knowing God, we also should consider the words of Philippians 3:10.
Philippians 3:10 New King James Version (NKJV)
10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,
The aspect of knowing God, is something that involves the ups and downs of having that holy relationship. Whether times are good or times are bad, we must understand that our response must be to always love God. If we win, we’ll praise Him. If we lose, we’ll praise Him. Whatever the case may be, we will always praise our Lord and Savior Jesus.
In respect to knowing God, we should also know the compassion of Christ, and the compassionate Christ.
Knowing God is also to know about the compassion of Christ, as it relates to the less-fortunate:
Matthew 25:40 New King James Version (NKJV)
40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
In order for us to know Jesus, we should also know the compassionate Christ:
Matthew 9:36 New King James Version (NKJV)
36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.
In order for us to know Jesus, we should also know how the compassionate Christ responded to the needs of the needy:
Matthew 15:32 New King James Version (NKJV)
Feeding the Four Thousand
32 Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”
2. Being
Mark 3:14 New King James Version (NKJV)
14 Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach,
The disciples were not only appointed/chosen by Jesus, they were appointed to “be with Jesus.” That relationship of “being” with Jesus prepared the disciples to be better able to go out and preach the Gospel of Jesus.
3. Abiding
John 15:4 New King James Version (NKJV)
4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
The aspect of abiding in Christ is two-fold. First, we are to have no known sin that is unconfessed, and of no interest in our life into which God is not brought into. It is for us to have no life in which God can not also share. Secondly, the believer in Christ takes all of their burdens to God, and gets all wisdom, life, and strength from God. It is not a ceasing of consciousness of the things of the world. But, it is a relationship with God in which nothing is allowed in the life of the believer which separates the believer from an intimate relationship with God.
4. Going
Matthew 28:19 New King James Version (NKJV)
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
The disciples of Jesus, who were soon to be apostles, were commissioned to “go,” teach,” “baptize,” and “teach” (vs 20), the things that they had been taught by Jesus (vs 18). The apostles died. Their commission has been passed onto others who were made disciples, who are to make disciples of others, and others, and others.
The highest point of ministry is to lead people to a place where they will know, personally and intimately, “Christ,” who is “God with us,” (Isaiah 7:14/Matthew 1:23), so that when they come across a need in a person’s life, they will know the answer to the question:
This message is written to all of my friends that reside in nations all around the world. “Jesus is God!” The “religious leaders” who have lived from the beginning of time are dead and gone. Their graves are usually marked by some sort of shrine; their bones stay in their graves until the bones decay. The difference with Jesus is that His tomb has been empty ever since His resurrection, three days after His crucifixion.” And, do you know what? His bones were never left in the tomb to decay. He never suffered decay! (Acts 2:27). He has risen from the dead! He is alive! (Luke 24:1-7) And, He lives within every person’s spirit who knows Him (Jesus) as their Lord and Savior (John 14:20). Eternal life with God begins at the very exact moment that a person comes to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior (John 17:3). No one has to prove their love to God by doing “anything,” except by believing in Jesus with a belief of trust that He is their Lord and Savior (John 3:16). Jesus is love (1 John 4:18). He is not a vengeful God who tells His followers to kill people who don’t believe that He is God; but, it is true that Jesus is God (Isaiah 7:14/Matthew 1:18-25; John 10:30; John 14:9). Here is a very stern warning. Jesus is the only way for anyone to have eternal life in Heaven (John 14:6). Otherwise, a person’s eternity is in the Lake Of Fire (Revelation 20:15) that burns forever and ever (Revelation 20:10). Won’t you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior?
The Perfect Stranger – Introduction
“THE PERFECT STRANGER” tells the story of Nikki, a troubled attorney who one day receives a mysterious dinner invitation from a man claiming to be Jesus of Nazareth. Throughout their evening of conversation, arguments and spirited debate, Nikki learns things she never knew about life, the universe, and most importantly, herself. Written by Pate Walters.
Consider how you would react if you were to have an invitation to have dinner with Jesus. What if you had been having a bad day? What would you think about the invitation? What would you think about your first meeting with Jesus? Would you have any questions for Him? What would those questions be? The introduction to the movie, “The Perfect Stranger,” will prepare you for the complete movie that follows at the bottom of the page. Follow the way that Jesus relates and reacts to the situation at hand. It is important for us to understand the meaning of the scripture:
“Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” (Matthew 11:28).
As you watch “The Perfect Stranger,” consider the way that Jesus approaches Nikki and presents Himself as God. If you were to have a similar encounter with Jesus, what would you expect it to be like? Consider that Jesus is “God with us,” and that God’s Holy Spirit is involved in every incident where an unbeliever is being drawn to make a decision as to whether they will accept or reject Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. The invitation is easily accepted:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life,” (John 3:16).
We Have This Moment Today [Live]
Bill And Gloria Gaither, “And Friends”
Ruth 1:16-17 King James Version (KJV)
16 And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:
17 Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.
May we never take for granted those whom are of importance to us; may they never become a fleeting memory.
“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24)
It was at a wedding that Christ performed His first miracle (John 2:1-11)… The song in this post was sung at a Catholic wedding in Ireland. The name of the priest is Ray Kelly.
“..Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come.” (Revelation 4:8, Darby Translation)
It is important for all believers in Christ to have as great an understanding of God’s Word, as is possible. There have been many times that while listening to a person who was described as being a Christian, that I was terribly embarrassed at the ignorance of Scripture that came from that person’s mouth. In order for those of us, who present ourselves as being believers in Christ, to be seen as being credible in for witness of Christ, that we must have a dedicated time of reading God’s Word, as well as a time of critical Bible study. Scripture reading is good, but a critical study of those scriptures must not be neglected.
This article focuses on the translation of God’s Word into the English language. Future articles will relate to the translation of Scripture into non-English languages, and into the tongues of people groups who may not have a formal language.
Consider the video that follows. The speaker is a Bible translator. His discussion closely follows the following chart that shows the sequence of translations of the Bible into the English language.
Please let me discuss the situation of a person who has not been born again, but is a member of a Bible translation team. Let’s state the obvious. That person has not accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, and does not have the indelling of God’s Holy Spirit within their spirit. Such a person does not have Godly wisdom, and will only be “moving words around,” in the pursuit of choosing among mortal words, for the purpose of accomplishing a spiritual goal.
Consider the following verses that relate to the importance of Holy Scripture. They are important in our daily lives, and need to be properly taught. It is important to remember that from the time of the Wycliffe Translation of the 1380s, until today’s date, the day-to-day word usage of the English language has undergone many changes. Therefore, translators must keep those changes in mind as they try to make the the Bible understandable to the masses of people who may read it today.
Psalm 119:105 King James Version (KJV)
105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 New Living Translation (NLT)
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
Acts 17:11 New Living Translation (NLT)
11 And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth.
hourglass
The fascinating story of how we got the Bible in its present form actually starts thousands of years ago, as briefly outlined in our Timeline of Bible Translation History. As a background study, we recommend that you first review our discussion of the Pre-Reformation History of the Bible from 1,400 B.C. to 1,400 A.D., which covers the transmission of the scripture through the original languages of Hebrew and Greek, and the 1,000 years of the Dark & Middle Ages when the Word was trapped in only Latin. Our starting point in this discussion of Bible history, however, is the advent of the scripture in the English language with the “Morning Star of the Reformation”, John Wycliffe.
John Wycliffe
The first hand-written English language Bible manuscripts were produced in the 1380’s AD by John Wycliffe, an Oxford professor, scholar, and theologian. Wycliffe, (also spelled “Wycliff” & “Wyclif”), was well-known throughout Europe for his opposition to the teaching of the organized Church, which he believed to be contrary to the Bible. With the help of his followers, called the Lollards, and his assistant Purvey, and many other faithful scribes, Wycliffe produced dozens of English language manuscript copies of the scriptures. They were translated out of the Latin Vulgate, which was the only source text available to Wycliffe. The Pope was so infuriated by his teachings and his translation of the Bible into English, that 44 years after Wycliffe had died, he ordered the bones to be dug-up, crushed, and scattered in the river!
John Hus
One of Wycliffe’s followers, John Hus, actively promoted Wycliffe’s ideas: that people should be permitted to read the Bible in their own language, and they should oppose the tyranny of the Roman church that threatened anyone possessing a non-Latin Bible with execution. Hus was burned at the stake in 1415, with Wycliffe’s manuscript Bibles used as kindling for the fire. The last words of John Hus were that, “in 100 years, God will raise up a man whose calls for reform cannot be suppressed.” Almost exactly 100 years later, in 1517, Martin Luther nailed his famous 95 Theses of Contention (a list of 95 issues of heretical theology and crimes of the Roman Catholic Church) into the church door at Wittenberg. The prophecy of Hus had come true! Martin Luther went on to be the first person to translate and publish the Bible in the commonly-spoken dialect of the German people; a translation more appealing than previous German Biblical translations. Foxe’s Book of Martyrs records that in that same year, 1517, seven people were burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic Church for the crime of teaching their children to say the Lord’s Prayer in English rather than Latin.
Johann Gutenberg
Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press in the 1450’s, and the first book to ever be printed was a Latin language Bible, printed in Mainz, Germany. Gutenberg’s Bibles were surprisingly beautiful, as each leaf Gutenberg printed was later colorfully hand-illuminated. Born as “Johann Gensfleisch” (John Gooseflesh), he preferred to be known as “Johann Gutenberg” (John Beautiful Mountain). Ironically, though he had created what many believe to be the most important invention in history, Gutenberg was a victim of unscrupulous business associates who took control of his business and left him in poverty. Nevertheless, the invention of the movable-type printing press meant that Bibles and books could finally be effectively produced in large quantities in a short period of time. This was essential to the success of the Reformation.
Thomas Linacre
In the 1490’s another Oxford professor, and the personal physician to King Henry the 7th and 8th, Thomas Linacre, decided to learn Greek. After reading the Gospels in Greek, and comparing it to the Latin Vulgate, he wrote in his diary, “Either this (the original Greek) is not the Gospel… or we are not Christians.” The Latin had become so corrupt that it no longer even preserved the message of the Gospel… yet the Church still threatened to kill anyone who read the scripture in any language other than Latin… though Latin was not an original language of the scriptures.
John Colet
In 1496, John Colet, another Oxford professor and the son of the Mayor of London, started reading the New Testament in Greek and translating it into English for his students at Oxford, and later for the public at Saint Paul’s Cathedral in London. The people were so hungry to hear the Word of God in a language they could understand, that within six months there were 20,000 people packed in the church and at least that many outside trying to get in! (Sadly, while the enormous and beautiful Saint Paul’s Cathedral remains the main church in London today, as of 2003, typical Sunday morning worship attendance is only around 200 people… and most of them are tourists). Fortunately for Colet, he was a powerful man with friends in high places, so he amazingly managed to avoid execution.
Erasmus
In considering the experiences of Linacre and Colet, the great scholar Erasmus was so moved to correct the corrupt Latin Vulgate, that in 1516, with the help of printer John Froben, he published a Greek-Latin Parallel New Testament. The Latin part was not the corrupt Vulgate, but his own fresh rendering of the text from the more accurate and reliable Greek, which he had managed to collate from a half-dozen partial old Greek New Testament manuscripts he had acquired. This milestone was the first non-Latin Vulgate text of the scripture to be produced in a millennium… and the first ever to come off a printing press. The 1516 Greek-Latin New Testament of Erasmus further focused attention on just how corrupt and inaccurate the Latin Vulgate had become, and how important it was to go back and use the original Greek (New Testament) and original Hebrew (Old Testament) languages to maintain accuracy… and to translate them faithfully into the languages of the common people, whether that be English, German, or any other tongue. No sympathy for this “illegal activity” was to be found from Rome, with the curious exception of the famous 1522 Complutensian Polyglot Bible, even as the words of Pope Leo X’s declaration that “the fable of Christ was quite profitable to him” continued through the years to infuriate the people of God.
William Tyndale
William Tyndale was the Captain of the Army of Reformers, and was their spiritual leader. Tyndale holds the distinction of being the first man to ever print the New Testament in the English language. Tyndale was a true scholar and a genius, so fluent in eight languages that it was said one would think any one of them to be his native tongue. He is frequently referred to as the “Architect of the English Language”, (even more so than William Shakespeare) as so many of the phrases Tyndale coined are still in our language today.
Martin Luther
Martin Luther had a small head-start on Tyndale, as Luther declared his intolerance for the Roman Church’s corruption on Halloween in 1517, by nailing his 95 Theses of Contention to the Wittenberg Church door. Luther, who would be exiled in the months following the Diet of Worms Council in 1521 that was designed to martyr him, would translate the New Testament into German for the first time from the 1516 Greek-Latin New Testament of Erasmus, and publish it in September of 1522. Luther also published a German Pentateuch in 1523, and another edition of the German New Testament in 1529. In the 1530’s he would go on to publish the entire Bible in German.
William Tyndale wanted to use the same 1516 Erasmus text as a source to translate and print the New Testament in English for the first time in history. Tyndale showed up on Luther’s doorstep in Germany in 1525, and by year’s end had translated the New Testament into English. Tyndale had been forced to flee England, because of the wide-spread rumor that his English New Testament project was underway, causing inquisitors and bounty hunters to be constantly on Tyndale’s trail to arrest him and prevent his project. God foiled their plans, and in 1525-1526 the Tyndale New Testament became the first printed edition of the scripture in the English language. Subsequent printings of the Tyndale New Testament in the 1530’s were often elaborately illustrated.
They were burned as soon as the Bishop could confiscate them, but copies trickled through and actually ended up in the bedroom of King Henry VIII. The more the King and Bishop resisted its distribution, the more fascinated the public at large became. The church declared it contained thousands of errors as they torched hundreds of New Testaments confiscated by the clergy, while in fact, they burned them because they could find no errors at all. One risked death by burning if caught in mere possession of Tyndale’s forbidden books.
Having God’s Word available to the public in the language of the common man, English, would have meant disaster to the church. No longer would they control access to the scriptures. If people were able to read the Bible in their own tongue, the church’s income and power would crumble. They could not possibly continue to get away with selling indulgences (the forgiveness of sins) or selling the release of loved ones from a church-manufactured “Purgatory”. People would begin to challenge the church’s authority if the church were exposed as frauds and thieves. The contradictions between what God’s Word said, and what the priests taught, would open the public’s eyes and the truth would set them free from the grip of fear that the institutional church held. Salvation through faith, not works or donations, would be understood. The need for priests would vanish through the priesthood of all believers. The veneration of church-canonized Saints and Mary would be called into question. The availability of the scriptures in English was the biggest threat imaginable to the wicked church. Neither side would give up without a fight.
Today, there are only two known copies left of Tyndale’s 1525-26 First Edition. Any copies printed prior to 1570 are extremely valuable. Tyndale’s flight was an inspiration to freedom-loving Englishmen who drew courage from the 11 years that he was hunted. Books and Bibles flowed into England in bales of cotton and sacks of flour. Ironically, Tyndale’s biggest customer was the King’s men, who would buy up every copy available to burn them… and Tyndale used their money to print even more! In the end, Tyndale was caught: betrayed by an Englishman that he had befriended. Tyndale was incarcerated for 500 days before he was strangled and burned at the stake in 1536. Tyndale’s last words were, “Oh Lord, open the King of England’s eyes”. This prayer would be answered just three years later in 1539, when King Henry VIII finally allowed, and even funded, the printing of an English Bible known as the “Great Bible”. But before that could happen…
Myles Coverdale
Myles Coverdale and John “Thomas Matthew” Rogers had remained loyal disciples the last six years of Tyndale’s life, and they carried the English Bible project forward and even accelerated it. Coverdale finished translating the Old Testament, and in 1535 he printed the first complete Bible in the English language, making use of Luther’s German text and the Latin as sources. Thus, the first complete English Bible was printed on October 4, 1535, and is known as the Coverdale Bible.
John Rogers
John Rogers went on to print the second complete English Bible in 1537. It was, however, the first English Bible translated from the original Biblical languages of Hebrew & Greek. He printed it under the pseudonym “Thomas Matthew”, (an assumed name that had actually been used by Tyndale at one time) as a considerable part of this Bible was the translation of Tyndale, whose writings had been condemned by the English authorities. It is a composite made up of Tyndale’s Pentateuch and New Testament (1534-1535 edition) and Coverdale’s Bible and some of Roger’s own translation of the text. It remains known most commonly as the Matthew-Tyndale Bible. It went through a nearly identical second-edition printing in 1549.
Thomas Cranmer
In 1539, Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, hired Myles Coverdale at the bequest of King Henry VIII to publish the “Great Bible”. It became the first English Bible authorized for public use, as it was distributed to every church, chained to the pulpit, and a reader was even provided so that the illiterate could hear the Word of God in plain English. It would seem that William Tyndale’s last wish had been granted…just three years after his martyrdom. Cranmer’s Bible, published by Coverdale, was known as the Great Bible due to its great size: a large pulpit folio measuring over 14 inches tall. Seven editions of this version were printed between April of 1539 and December of 1541.
King Henry VIII
It was not that King Henry VIII had a change of conscience regarding publishing the Bible in English. His motives were more sinister… but the Lord sometimes uses the evil intentions of men to bring about His glory. King Henry VIII had in fact, requested that the Pope permit him to divorce his wife and marry his mistress. The Pope refused. King Henry responded by marrying his mistress anyway, (later having two of his many wives executed), and thumbing his nose at the Pope by renouncing Roman Catholicism, taking England out from under Rome’s religious control, and declaring himself as the reigning head of State to also be the new head of the Church. This new branch of the Christian Church, neither Roman Catholic nor truly Protestant, became known as the Anglican Church or the Church of England. King Henry acted essentially as its “Pope”. His first act was to further defy the wishes of Rome by funding the printing of the scriptures in English… the first legal English Bible… just for spite.
Queen Mary
The ebb and flow of freedom continued through the 1540’s…and into the 1550’s. After King Henry VIII, King Edward VI took the throne, and after his death, the reign of Queen “Bloody” Mary was the next obstacle to the printing of the Bible in English. She was possessed in her quest to return England to the Roman Church. In 1555, John “Thomas Matthew” Rogers and Thomas Cranmer were both burned at the stake. Mary went on to burn reformers at the stake by the hundreds for the “crime” of being a Protestant. This era was known as the Marian Exile, and the refugees fled from England with little hope of ever seeing their home or friends again.
John Foxe
In the 1550’s, the Church at Geneva, Switzerland, was very sympathetic to the reformer refugees and was one of only a few safe havens for a desperate people. Many of them met in Geneva, led by Myles Coverdale and John Foxe (publisher of the famous Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, which is to this day the only exhaustive reference work on the persecution and martyrdom of Early Christians and Protestants from the first century up to the mid-16th century), as well as Thomas Sampson and William Whittingham. There, with the protection of the great theologian John Calvin (author of the most famous theological book ever published, Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion)and John Knox, the great Reformer of the Scottish Church, the Church of Geneva determined to produce a Bible that would educate their families while they continued in exile.
John Calvin
The New Testament was completed in 1557, and the complete Bible was first published in 1560. It became known as the Geneva Bible. Due to a passage in Genesis describing the clothing that God fashioned for Adam and Eve upon expulsion from the Garden of Eden as “Breeches” (an antiquated form of “Britches”), some people referred to the Geneva Bible as the Breeches Bible.
John Knox
The Geneva Bible was the first Bible to add numbered verses to the chapters, so that referencing specific passages would be easier. Every chapter was also accompanied by extensive marginal notes and references so thorough and complete that the Geneva Bible is also considered the first English “Study Bible”. William Shakespeare quotes hundreds of times in his plays from the Geneva translation of the Bible. The Geneva Bible became the Bible of choice for over 100 years of English speaking Christians. Between 1560 and 1644 at least 144 editions of this Bible were published. Examination of the 1611 King James Bible shows clearly that its translators were influenced much more by the Geneva Bible, than by any other source. The Geneva Bible itself retains over 90% of William Tyndale’s original English translation. The Geneva in fact, remained more popular than the King James Version until decades after its original release in 1611! The Geneva holds the honor of being the first Bible taken to America, and the Bible of the Puritans and Pilgrims. It is truly the “Bible of the Protestant Reformation.” Strangely, the famous Geneva Bible has been out-of-print since 1644, so the only way to obtain one is to either purchase an original printing of the Geneva Bible, or a less costly facsimile reproduction of the original 1560 Geneva Bible.
With the end of Queen Mary’s bloody reign, the reformers could safely return to England. The Anglican Church, now under Queen Elizabeth I, reluctantly tolerated the printing and distribution of Geneva version Bibles in England. The marginal notes, which were vehemently against the institutional Church of the day, did not rest well with the rulers of the day. Another version, one with a less inflammatory tone was desired, and the copies of the Great Bible were getting to be decades old. In 1568, a revision of the Great Bible known as the Bishop’s Bible was introduced. Despite 19 editions being printed between 1568 and 1606, this Bible, referred to as the “rough draft of the King James Version”, never gained much of a foothold of popularity among the people. The Geneva may have simply been too much to compete with.
By the 1580’s, the Roman Catholic Church saw that it had lost the battle to suppress the will of God: that His Holy Word be available in the English language. In 1582, the Church of Rome surrendered their fight for “Latin only” and decided that if the Bible was to be available in English, they would at least have an official Roman Catholic English translation. And so, using the corrupt and inaccurate Latin Vulgate as the only source text, they went on to publish an English Bible with all the distortions and corruptions that Erasmus had revealed and warned of 75 years earlier. Because it was translated at the Roman Catholic College in the city of Rheims, it was known as the Rheims New Testament (also spelled Rhemes). The Douay Old Testament was translated by the Church of Rome in 1609 at the College in the city of Douay (also spelled Doway & Douai). The combined product is commonly referred to as the “Doway/Rheims” Version. In 1589, Dr. William Fulke of Cambridge published the “Fulke’s Refutation”, in which he printed in parallel columns the Bishops Version along side the Rheims Version, attempting to show the error and distortion of the Roman Church’s corrupt compromise of an English version of the Bible.
King James I
With the death of Queen Elizabeth I, Prince James VI of Scotland became King James I of England. The Protestant clergy approached the new King in 1604 and announced their desire for a new translation to replace the Bishop’s Bible first printed in 1568. They knew that the Geneva Version had won the hearts of the people because of its excellent scholarship, accuracy, and exhaustive commentary. However, they did not want the controversial marginal notes (proclaiming the Pope an Anti-Christ, etc.) Essentially, the leaders of the church desired a Bible for the people, with scriptural references only for word clarification or cross-references.
This “translation to end all translations” (for a while at least) was the result of the combined effort of about fifty scholars. They took into consideration: The Tyndale New Testament, The Coverdale Bible, The Matthews Bible, The Great Bible, The Geneva Bible, and even the Rheims New Testament. The great revision of the Bishop’s Bible had begun. From 1605 to 1606 the scholars engaged in private research. From 1607 to 1609 the work was assembled. In 1610 the work went to press, and in 1611 the first of the huge (16 inch tall) pulpit folios known today as “The 1611 King James Bible” came off the printing press. A typographical discrepancy in Ruth 3:15 rendered a pronoun “He” instead of “She” in that verse in some printings. This caused some of the 1611 First Editions to be known by collectors as “He” Bibles, and others as “She” Bibles. Starting just one year after the huge 1611 pulpit-size King James Bibles were printed and chained to every church pulpit in England; printing then began on the earliest normal-size printings of the King James Bible. These were produced so individuals could have their own personal copy of the Bible.
John Bunyan
The Anglican Church’s King James Bible took decades to overcome the more popular Protestant Church’s Geneva Bible. One of the greatest ironies of history, is that many Protestant Christian churches today embrace the King James Bible exclusively as the “only” legitimate English language translation… yet it is not even a Protestant translation! It was printed to compete with the Protestant Geneva Bible, by authorities who throughout most of history were hostile to Protestants… and killed them. While many Protestants are quick to assign the full blame of persecution to the Roman Catholic Church, it should be noted that even after England broke from Roman Catholicism in the 1500’s, the Church of England (The Anglican Church) continued to persecute Protestants throughout the 1600’s. One famous example of this is John Bunyan, who while in prison for the crime of preaching the Gospel, wrote one of Christian history’s greatest books, Pilgrim’s Progress. Throughout the 1600’s, as the Puritans and the Pilgrims fled the religious persecution of England to cross the Atlantic and start a new free nation in America, they took with them their precious Geneva Bible, and rejected the King’s Bible. America was founded upon the Geneva Bible, not the King James Bible.
Protestants today are largely unaware of their own history, and unaware of the Geneva Bible (which is textually 95% the same as the King James Version, but 50 years older than the King James Version, and not influenced by the Roman Catholic Rheims New Testament that the King James translators admittedly took into consideration). Nevertheless, the King James Bible turned out to be an excellent and accurate translation, and it became the most printed book in the history of the world, and the only book with one billion copies in print. In fact, for over 250 years…until the appearance of the English Revised Version of 1881-1885…the King James Version reigned without much of a rival. One little-known fact, is that for the past 250 years, all “King James Version” Bibles published anywhere by any publisher are actually Blaney’s 1769 Revised Oxford Edition of the 1611 King James Bible.
The original “1611” preface is almost always deceivingly included by modern Bible publishing companies, and no mention of the fact that it is really the 1769 version is to be found, because that might hurt sales among those imagining that they are reading the original 1611 version.
The only way to obtain a true, unaltered, 1611 version is to either purchase an original pre-1769 printing of the King James Bible, or a less costly facsimile reproduction of the original 1611 King James Bible. A first edition facsimile reproduction of Blaney’s 1769 Revised Oxford Edition of the 1611 King James Bible is also available, which exemplifies the 20,000 spelling and punctuation changes and over 400 wording changes made to the original 1611 to 1768 King James Bible, when compared to King James Bibles published between 1769 and today.
John Eliot
Although the first Bible printed in America was done in the native Algonquin Indian Language by John Eliot in 1663; the first English language Bible to be printed in America by Robert Aitken in 1782 was a King James Version. Robert Aitken’s 1782 Bible was also the only Bible ever authorized by the United States Congress. He was commended by President George Washington for providing Americans with Bibles during the embargo of imported English goods due to the Revolutionary War. In 1808, Robert’s daughter, Jane Aitken, would become the first woman to ever print a Bible… and to do so in America, of course. In 1791, Isaac Collins vastly improved upon the quality and size of the typesetting of American Bibles and produced the first “Family Bible” printed in America… also a King James Version. Also in 1791, Isaiah Thomas published the first Illustrated Bible printed in America…in the King James Version. For more information on the earliest Bibles printed in America from the 1600’s through the early 1800’s, you may wish to review our more detailed discussion of The Bibles of Colonial America.
Noah Webster
While Noah Webster, just a few years after producing his famous Dictionary of the English Language, would produce his own modern translation of the English Bible in 1833; the public remained too loyal to the King James Version for Webster’s version to have much impact. It was not really until the 1880’s that England’s own planned replacement for their King James Bible, the English Revised Version(E.R.V.) would become the first English language Bible to gain popular acceptance as a post-King James Version modern-English Bible. The widespread popularity of this modern-English translation brought with it another curious characteristic: the absence of the 14 Apocryphal books.
Up until the 1880’s every Protestant Bible (not just Catholic Bibles) had 80 books, not 66! The inter-testamental books written hundreds of years before Christ called “The Apocrypha” were part of virtually every printing of the Tyndale-Matthews Bible, the Great Bible, the Bishops Bible, the Protestant Geneva Bible, and the King James Bible until their removal in the 1880’s! The original 1611 King James contained the Apocrypha, and King James threatened anyone who dared to print the Bible without the Apocrypha with heavy fines and a year in jail. Only for the last 120 years has the Protestant Church rejected these books, and removed them from their Bibles. This has left most modern-day Christians believing the popular myth that there is something “Roman Catholic” about the Apocrypha. There is, however, no truth in that myth, and no widely-accepted reason for the removal of the Apocrypha in the 1880’s has ever been officially issued by a mainline Protestant denomination.
The Americans responded to England’s E.R.V. Bible by publishing the nearly-identical American Standard Version (A.S.V.) in 1901. It was also widely-accepted and embraced by churches throughout America for many decades as the leading modern-English version of the Bible. In the 1971, it was again revised and called New American Standard Version Bible (often referred to as the N.A.S.V. or N.A.S.B. or N.A.S.). This New American Standard Bible is considered by nearly all evangelical Christian scholars and translators today, to be the most accurate, word-for-word translation of the original Greek and Hebrew scriptures into the modern English language that has ever been produced. It remains the most popular version among theologians, professors, scholars, and seminary students today. Some, however, have taken issue with it because it is so direct and literal a translation (focused on accuracy), that it does not flow as easily in conversational English.
For this reason, in 1973, the New International Version (N.I.V.) was produced, which was offered as a “dynamic equivalent” translation into modern English. The N.I.V. was designed not for “word-for-word” accuracy, but rather, for “phrase-for-phrase” accuracy, and ease of reading even at a Junior High-School reading level. It was meant to appeal to a broader (and in some instances less-educated) cross-section of the general public. Critics of the N.I.V. often jokingly refer to it as the “Nearly Inspired Version”, but that has not stopped it from becoming the best-selling modern-English translation of the Bible ever published.
In 1982, Thomas Nelson Publishers produced what they called the “New King James Version”. Their original intent was to keep the basic wording of the King James to appeal to King James Version loyalists, while only changing the most obscure words and the Elizabethan “thee, thy, thou” pronouns. This was an interesting marketing ploy, however, upon discovering that this was not enough of a change for them to be able to legally copyright the result, they had to make more significant revisions, which defeated their purpose in the first place. It was never taken seriously by scholars, but it has enjoyed some degree of public acceptance, simply because of its clever “New King James Version” marketing name.
In 2002, a major attempt was made to bridge the gap between the simple readability of the N.I.V., and the extremely precise accuracy of the N.A.S.B. This translation is called the English Standard Version (E.S.V.) and is rapidly gaining popularity for its readability and accuracy. The 21st Century will certainly continue to bring new translations of God’s Word in the modern English language.
As Christians, we must be very careful to make intelligent and informed decisions about what translations of the Bible we choose to read. On the liberal extreme, we have people who would give us heretical new translations that attempt to change God’s Word to make it politically correct. One example of this, which has made headlines recently is the Today’s New International Version (T.N.I.V.) which seeks to remove all gender-specific references in the Bible whenever possible! Not all new translations are good… and some are very bad.
But equally dangerous, is the other extreme… of blindly rejecting ANY English translation that was produced in the four centuries that have come after the 1611 King James. We must remember that the main purpose of the Protestant Reformation was to get the Bible out of the chains of being trapped in an ancient language that few could understand, and into the modern, spoken, conversational language of the present day. William Tyndale fought and died for the right to print the Bible in the common, spoken, modern English tongue of his day… as he boldly told one official who criticized his efforts, “If God spare my life, I will see to it that the boy who drives the plowshare knows more of the scripture than you, Sir!”
Will we now go backwards, and seek to imprison God’s Word once again exclusively in ancient translations? Clearly it is not God’s will that we over-react to SOME of the bad modern translations, by rejecting ALL new translations and “throwing the baby out with the bathwater”. The Word of God is unchanging from generation to generation, but language is a dynamic and ever-changing form of communication. We therefore have a responsibility before God as Christians to make sure that each generation has a modern translation that they can easily understand, yet that does not sacrifice accuracy in any way. Let’s be ever mindful that we are not called to worship the Bible. That is called idolatry. We are called to worship the God who gave us the Bible, and who preserved it through the centuries of people who sought to destroy it.
We are also called to preserve the ancient, original English translations of the Bible… and that is what we do here at WWW.GREATSITE.COM
Consider the following textual comparison of the earliest English translations of John 3:16, as shown in the English Hexapla Parallel New Testament:
1st Ed. King James (1611): “For God so loued the world, that he gaue his only begotten Sonne: that whosoeuer beleeueth in him, should not perish, but haue euerlasting life.”
Rheims (1582): “For so God loued the vvorld, that he gaue his only-begotten sonne: that euery one that beleeueth in him, perish not, but may haue life euerlasting”
Geneva (1560): “For God so loueth the world, that he hath geuen his only begotten Sonne: that none that beleue in him, should peryshe, but haue euerlasting lyfe.”
Great Bible (1539): “For God so loued the worlde, that he gaue his only begotten sonne, that whosoeuer beleueth in him, shulde not perisshe, but haue euerlasting lyfe.”
Tyndale (1534): “For God so loveth the worlde, that he hath geven his only sonne, that none that beleve in him, shuld perisshe: but shuld have everlastinge lyfe.”
Wycliff (1380): “for god loued so the world; that he gaf his oon bigetun sone, that eche man that bileueth in him perisch not: but haue euerlastynge liif,”
Anglo-Saxon Proto-English Manuscripts (995 AD): “God lufode middan-eard swa, dat he seade his an-cennedan sunu, dat nan ne forweorde de on hine gely ac habbe dat ece lif.”
Timeline of Bible Translation History
1,400 BC: The first written Word of God: The Ten Commandments delivered to Moses.
500 BC: Completion of All Original Hebrew Manuscripts which make up The 39 Books of the Old Testament.
200 BC: Completion of the Septuagint Greek Manuscripts which contain The 39 Old Testament Books AND 14 Apocrypha Books.
1st Century AD: Completion of All Original Greek Manuscripts which make up The 27 Books of the New Testament.
315 AD: Athenasius, the Bishop of Alexandria, identifies the 27 books of the New Testament which are today recognized as the canon of scripture.
382 AD: Jerome’s Latin Vulgate Manuscripts Produced which contain All 80 Books (39 Old Test. + 14 Apocrypha + 27 New Test).
500 AD: Scriptures have been Translated into Over 500 Languages.
600 AD: LATIN was the Only Language Allowed for Scripture.
995 AD: Anglo-Saxon (Early Roots of English Language) Translations of The New Testament Produced.
1384 AD: Wycliffe is the First Person to Produce a (Hand-Written) manuscript Copy of the Complete Bible; All 80 Books.
1455 AD: Gutenberg Invents the Printing Press; Books May Now be mass-Produced Instead of Individually Hand-Written. The First Book Ever Printed is Gutenberg’s Bible in Latin.
1516 AD: Erasmus Produces a Greek/Latin Parallel New Testament.
1522 AD: Martin Luther’s German New Testament.
1526 AD: William Tyndale’s New Testament; The First New Testament printed in the English Language.
1535 AD: Myles Coverdale’s Bible; The First Complete Bible printed in the English Language (80 Books: O.T. & N.T. & Apocrypha).
1537 AD: Tyndale-Matthews Bible; The Second Complete Bible printed in English. Done by John “Thomas Matthew” Rogers (80 Books).
1539 AD: The “Great Bible” Printed; The First English Language Bible Authorized for Public Use (80 Books).
1560 AD: The Geneva Bible Printed; The First English Language Bible to add Numbered Verses to Each Chapter (80 Books).
1568 AD: The Bishops Bible Printed; The Bible of which the King James was a Revision (80 Books).
1609 AD: The Douay Old Testament is added to the Rheims New Testament (of 1582) Making the First Complete English Catholic Bible; Translated from the Latin Vulgate (80 Books).
1611 AD: The King James Bible Printed; Originally with All 80 Books. The Apocrypha was Officially Removed in 1885 Leaving Only 66 Books.
1782 AD: Robert Aitken’s Bible; The First English Language Bible (KJV) Printed in America.
1791 AD: Isaac Collins and Isaiah Thomas Respectively Produce the First Family Bible and First Illustrated Bible Printed in America. Both were King James Versions, with All 80 Books.
1808 AD: Jane Aitken’s Bible (Daughter of Robert Aitken); The First Bible to be Printed by a Woman.
1833 AD: Noah Webster’s Bible; After Producing his Famous Dictionary, Webster Printed his Own Revision of the King James Bible.
1841 AD: English Hexapla New Testament; an Early Textual Comparison showing the Greek and 6 Famous English Translations in Parallel Columns.
1846 AD: The Illuminated Bible; The Most Lavishly Illustrated Bible printed in America. A King James Version, with All 80 Books.
1863 AD: Robert Young’s “Literal” Translation; often criticized for being so literal that it sometimes obscures the contextual English meaning.
1885 AD: The “English Revised Version” Bible; The First Major English Revision of the KJV.
1901 AD: The “American Standard Version”; The First Major American Revision of the KJV.
1952 AD: The “Revised Standard Version” (RSV); said to be a Revision of the 1901 American Standard Version, though more highly criticized.
1971 AD: The “New American Standard Bible” (NASB) is Published as a “Modern and Accurate Word for Word English Translation” of the Bible.
1973 AD: The “New International Version” (NIV) is Published as a “Modern and Accurate Phrase for Phrase English Translation” of the Bible.
1982 AD: The “New King James Version” (NKJV) is Published as a “Modern English Version Maintaining the Original Style of the King James.”
1990 AD: The “New Revised Standard Version” (NRSV); further revision of 1952 RSV, (itself a revision of 1901 ASV), criticized for “gender inclusiveness”.
2002 AD: The English Standard Version (ESV) is Published as a translation to bridge the gap between the accuracy of the NASB and the readability of the NIV.
Auburn’s Final Play in Iron Bowl: Chris Davis Return for TD
Click onto any blue letter or number to see the videos and text on the blog.
The college football season begins on Saturday, August 26th. There are many teams that have already made up their minds that they will be chosen to compete for the national championship in a four-team, two-game playoff. All of the players have been sharpening their skills, and being told by their coaches how to “play as a team.” But, really! Does care about winners and losers in football?
The opening video is one of my favorite ones in all of football. It shows how Auburn beat Alabama in the last play of their game in 2013. Will this year’s College Football Championship Game end in such an exciting manner; who knows? But, the question still remains about God and football, “Does God Really Care About Who Wins The Big Game,” or any other game? By the way, the Head Coach of Auburn is Gus Malzahn; he is a true, “brother in the Lord,” which means that he knows Christ as his Lord and Savior.
Psalm 18:1-3 New King James Version (NKJV)
God the Sovereign Savior
1 I will love You, O Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies.
The movie, “Facing The Giants,” is one that deals with many different relational situations. One of the key lines in the movie is spoken by Coach Grant Taylor when he says, “if we win, we praise Him (God); and if we lose we praise Him.” Another word to remember from the coach is, “give it your best, and leave the rest to God.” One of the best statements was made by Brooke, the coach’s wife, “nothing is impossible when God is on your side.” There are five key events that should be watched for. 1. Coach getting a new truck. 2. Coach getting a $6,000 a year pay raise. 3. Coach buying flowers for his wife. 4. Coach and his wife having a very romantic dinner. And, 5. The moon lit sky after the dinner. The following two paragraphs contain a Wikipedia description of the movie.
In 2003, Grant Taylor (Alex Kendrick) is the head coach at Shiloh Christian Academy, and has yet to post a winning record in his six-year tenure. After his seventh season begins with a three-game losing streak, the players’ fathers start making noises about replacing Coach Taylor with defensive coordinator Brady Owens. This is not the only problem that Grant is facing. His car is breaking down, and he discovers that he is the reason that his wife Brooke cannot become pregnant.
Grant Taylor creates a new coaching philosophy and decides to praise God, no matter what the result. At the same time he guides and urges each one of his players to give the maximum effort, and motivates them to believe that they can win under God’s provision. From that point on, the Shiloh Eagles (Grant’s team) lose only one more game for the rest of the season and advance all the way to the state championship game against the three-time defending champion, the Richland Giants. Even though the Eagles have only a third as many players as the Giants, the Eagles hold their own and ultimately win the game on a 51-yard field goal from a backup kicker who had never kicked more than a 35-yarder before. Grant’s prayers to have children are also answered as Brooke conceives after four years.
The following link will give you an introduction to the movie. It will take you to one of the most emotional scenes in the movie. The setting deals with the giants of life that the coach faces, including the inability of him and his wife to have children.
The full length movie of “Facing The Giants” is available for you to see by way of the iTBN link which follows.
Full movie, compliments of iTBN (Trinity Broadcasting Network)
Mark 10:27 Names of God Bible (NOG)
27 Yeshua looked at them and said, “It’s impossible for people to save themselves, but it’s not impossible for God to save them. Everything is possible for God.”
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Michael W Smith A New Hallelujah Featuring The African Children’s Choir Live YouTube
Galatians 3:27-29 New International Version (NIV)
27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Jews & Arabs worship together in Nazareth, Israel.
Hebrew Christian Worship Songs /2015 Great Is The Lord, Gadol Adonai Umehulal Me’Od
Immanuel..Immanuel..Beautiful Arabic Christian Song @ Cave Church , Egypt(Subtitles)
IYOO KHALVARI (South African Praise Medley) |Voice of Pentecost
Я вижу Иисуса, в славе и силе!
(Slavic:Unknown Nation)
Молодёжный хор – “Он Иегова”; Ukrainian Christian Song
Click onto any blue letter, number or symbol to see the video and text on the blog.
Please pray for the people who live in the Slavic nations of our world.
Notice in the song that the word, “Jehovah,” is not spoken by the choir. “Yehovah” is their pronunciation, and is correct. There is no letter “J” in Hebrew, to create the word “Jehovah). Check the following link.
The word Jehovah has been said to be the true name of God. But, from the following search of that name, it was found to be included in only the King James Bible and American Standard Bible translations. Check out the following data of research and see the list of well-know translations, to include the liberal RSV and NRSV, that do not use the word Jehovah. Notice that the Complete Jewish Bible does not use the word Jehovah. As was said in one of my recent articles, the word “Jehovah” is not the first word for God in the Bible, but is “Elohim.” Outside of the KJV and liberal ASV, the word Jehovah is not used in scripture. The purpose for the information on the ASV, RSV, and NRSV is to show their liberal writing bias. Still, only of those three liberal translations, only the ASV uses the word “Jehovah” for “God.” Consider the way that Isaiah 7:14 is translated in the RSV and NSRV. Amazingly, the ASV uses the word “virgin” instead of young woman. This may be because of the closeness in date of the ASV to the KJV and the fact that the liberal attempt to overthrown sound doctrine of the Bible had not yet infected the ASV, which may have also been due to the time in history of the ASV writing. There were also conflicts between the British and American members of the translation team. Still, many people use the word Jehovah for God. So, in the spirit of love, the video for this post matches that name.
In the spirit of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20), the accompanying video is that of Ukrainian Christians, who are singing “He Is Jehovah.” The choir is singing in their native language, but certain words of the song are easily understood. The people of Ukraine (not “The” Ukraine) are believers in Christ Jesus largely due to the spread of the Gospel by Titus (2 Timothy 4:10). Titus was a companion of the Apostle Paul while he was in jail in Rome awaiting execution. Titus was not even an Apostle but, Paul sent him to Dalmatia, which became Yugoslavia, and is now Croatia, which is a close neighbor of Ukraine which borders Russia. This post will go to some of my internet friends who reside in Ukraine. My soul is deeply stirred when I listen to the Ukrainian choir. I think about the danger that faces them everyday of their life. Let us pray for the people of Ukraine, some of whom are Christian missionaries.
Isaiah 7:14
RSV – “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Imman′u-el.”
NRSV – “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.”
“Jehovah” used in popular Bible translations.
Jehovah Used In KJV
Genesis 22:14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.
Genesis 2:4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Jehovah-God made earth and heaven.
Genesis 2:5 And no plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for Jehovah God had not caused it to rain upon the earth: and there was not a man to till the ground;
Genesis 2:7 And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Genesis 2:8 And Jehovah God planted a garden eastward, in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
Genesis 2:9 And out of the ground made Jehovah God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 2:15 And Jehovah God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
Genesis 2:16 And Jehovah God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
Genesis 2:18 And Jehovah God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him.
Genesis 2:19 And out of the ground Jehovah God formed every beast of the field, and every bird of the heavens; and brought them unto the man to see what he would call them: and whatsoever the man called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
Genesis 2:21 And Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof:
Genesis 2:22 and the rib, which Jehovah God had taken from the man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
Consider the following details of Bible translation as they relate to the ASV, RSV, and NRSV
Notice the reason for Jehovah’s Witnesses using the ASV.
Please notice that not all Baptist groups are conservative.
From Bible Study Tools (ASV). The Revised Version, Standard American Edition of the Bible, more commonly known as the American Standard Version (ASV), is a revision of the King James Version and was released in 1901. It was originally best known by its full name, but soon came to have other names, such as the American Revised Version, the American Standard Revision, the American Standard Revised Bible, and the American Standard Edition. By the time its copyright was renewed in 1929, it had finally come to be known by its present name, the American Standard Version. Because of its prominence in seminaries, however, it was sometimes simply called the “Standard Bible”.
From Bible Study Tools (RSV) The Revised Standard Version (RSV) is a comprehensive revision of the King James Version, the Revised Version of 1881-1885, and the American Standard Version of 1901, published in stages around the middle of the 20th century. It aims to present a literally accurate translation of the Bible in modern English. The panel of scholars who worked on the translation used the 17th edition of the Nestle-Aland Greek text for the New Testament, and the traditional Hebrew Masoretic Text for the Old Testament. However, they amended the Hebrew in a number of places. In the Book of Isaiah, they sometimes followed readings found in the then newly discovered Dead Sea Scrolls.
The RSV New Testament was published on February 11, 1946. In his presentation speech to the International Council of Religious Education, Luther Weigle, dean of the translation committee, explained that he wanted the RSV to supplement and not supplant the King James and American Standard Versions.
In 1950, the Council merged with the Federal Council of Churches to form the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. The RSV copyright was assigned to the new Council’s Division of Christian Education.
From Bible Study Bible Tools (NRSV). The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) first appeared in 1989, and has received wide acclaim and broad support from academics and church leaders as a Bible for all Christians.
The NRSV Bible Translation Committee consists of thirty men and women who are among the top scholars in America today. They come from Protestant denominations, the Roman Catholic church, and the Greek Orthodox Church. The committee also includes a Jewish scholar.
Standing in the tradition of the RSV, which was the only major English translation that included both the standard Protestant canon and the books that are traditionally used by Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christians (the so-called “Apocryphal” or “Deuterocanonical” books), the NRSV is available in three formats: a standard edition with or without the Apocrypha, a Roman Catholic Edition, which has the so-called “Apocryphal” or “Deuterocanonical” books in the Roman Catholic canonical order, and The Common Bible, which includes all books that belong to the Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox canons.
From Wikipedia: The American Standard Version (ASV) is rooted in the work that was done with the Revised Version (RV) (a late 19th century British revision of the King James Version of 1611). In 1870, an invitation was extended to American religious leaders for scholars to work on the RV project. A year later, Protestant theologian Philip Schaff chose 30 scholars representing the denominations of Baptist, Congregationalist, Dutch Reformed, Friends, Methodist, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Protestant Episcopal, and Unitarian. These scholars began work in 1872.
The RV New Testament was released In 1881; the Old Testament was published in 1885. The ASV was published in 1901 by Thomas Nelson & Sons. In 1928, the International Council of Religious Education (the body that later merged with the Federal Council of Churches to form the National Council of Churches) acquired the copyright from Nelson and renewed it the following year.
From Wikipedia. The New Revised Standard Version was translated by the Division of Christian Education (now Bible Translation and Utilization) of the National Council of Churches. The group included scholars representing Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant Christian groups as well as Jewish representation in the group responsible for the Hebrew Scriptures or Old Testament. The mandate given the committee was summarized in a dictum: “As literal as possible, as free as necessary.”
From Wikipedia. The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Christian Bible is an English translation released in 1989. It is an updated revision of the Revised Standard Version, which was itself an update of the American Standard Version.
Usage by Jehovah’s Witnesses
The ASV has been used for many years by the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The reasons for their choosing of the ASV were twofold: its usage of “Jehovah” as the Divine Name, which was congruent with their Joseph Franklin Rutherford doctrine, and they derived their name from Isaiah 43.10, 12, both of which contain the phrase, “Ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah.” Also, there was a perception that the ASV had improved the translation of some verses in the King James Version, and in other places it reduced the verses that they found to be erroneously translated in the KJV to mere footnotes, removed from the main text altogether.
Jehovah’s Witnesses’ publishing organization, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, had printed its own edition of the King James Version since 1926, but did not obtain the rights to print ASV until 1944. From 1944 to 1992, they printed and distributed over a million copies of the ASV. By the 1960s, the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, made by members of their group and the rights to which they controlled, had largely replaced ASV as the Bible used most by Witnesses. Though now preferring the NWT, Jehovah’s Witnesses’ publications frequently quote from other translations, including ASV.
King James Bible Thoughts – King James Only
The KJV was directed to be written by King James, who was the King of England, during times which were brutal for Christians who disagreed with him. He chose the writers of the KJV, and he excluded writers. Imagine if we were to have a President Obama Bible, or a President Clinton Bible, or a President Bush Bible. Who would possibly stand for such disrespect of the Word of God? So, why do we not provide the same scrutiny for a Bible that bears the name of a King of a nation.
Before someone can say that the KJV is the only Bible to use, and that all others are wrong, there must be a stated reason of fact, which is something that I never hear from KJV only people. The purpose of the KJV was to put the Word of God in the common language of the people of England, which the writers did, in spite of the political pressure that King James placed on them.
The first update of the KJV had more than 70,000 corrections in it, due to changes in the spoken language. The New American Standard Bible (NASB) is the most correct word for word translation of the Greek and Hebrew scriptures to our current languages, than are the other translations. The NASB translation committee meets more frequently than do the others. But, there is value in the other translations, as well as in the KJV. In today’s world, we don’t use “Elizabethan English.” We don’t say, “betwixt me and thee.” as we find in the KJV. I use the KJV daily, but I also understand its limitations.
King James wanted a Bible that showed a “religious superstructure,” as opposed to individual bodies of believers (churches) who were autonomous in control and operation, per scripture references (Acts 14:23; 20:17,28). The KJV used “Bishop” (which is not found in the Greek scriptures) instead of pastor or elder.
If anyone says that Christians should use only the King James version of the Bible, facts should also accompany such a demand.
The KJV was not the first Bible translation to be written in the English language. The following link will provide a good understanding of the different translations of the Bible, from the first English translation, the Wycliffe Translation, to the current day translations. As stated, the KJV was not the first English translation of the Bible, but may actually have been the fifteenth or sixteenth translation.
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“And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast: The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus.” (John 12:20-21)
As I viewed the first video, and the one that follows, the emotional pull on me drew tears from my eyes and made me think of just how important it is for all of us to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. In the verses, the Greeks were Gentile proselytes to Judaism; they made a simple statement, “we would see Jesus.” How about you? Is your desire to “see Jesus;” to know Him as your Lord and Savior? The songs of this post are being used by God’s Holy Spirit to draw those of you who don’t have saving faith in Jesus to make the decision of John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” Stay with the second video. “Consider Jesus; ask Him to be your Lord and Savior, knowing that by doing so you will spend eternity with Jesus.”
John 14:6 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
“Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”
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Consider the following verses of scripture; verses of personal desires for intimacy with God, and verses that relate to the sovereignty of God. Consider whether there are verses that are theatrical performances of God, or if they are the actions of God that are being performed for His honor and glory. Consider God’s people. Consider the desires and longings of our hearts for us to be in the immediate and intimate Presence of God.
Matthew 5:6
6 Those who are hungry and thirsty to be right with God are happy, because they will be filled.
Psalm 107:8-9
8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his love
and for the miracles he does for people.
9 He satisfies the thirsty
and fills up the hungry.
Psalm 42
1 As a deer longs for flowing streams,
so I long for you, God.
2 I thirst for God, the living God.
When can I come and appear before God?
Psalm 63:1
God, you are my God; I eagerly seek you.
I thirst for you;
my body faints for you
in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water.
Isaiah 55:6
6 Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call to him while he is near.
Hebrews 13:8
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Genesis 5:24
24 And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.
Hebrews 11:5
5 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
Exodus 4:3
3 Then God said, “Throw your walking stick on the ground.”
So Moses threw his walking stick on the ground, and it became a snake. Moses ran from it,
Exodus 40:34-35
34 Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
Numbers 22:28
28 Then the Lord caused the donkey to speak. The donkey said to Balaam, “Why are you angry at me? What have I done to you? You have hit me three times!”
Joshua 10:12-14
12-13 The day God gave the Amorites up to Israel, Joshua spoke to God, with all Israel listening:
“Stop, Sun, over Gibeon;
Halt, Moon, over Aijalon Valley.”
And Sun stopped,
Moon stood stock still
Until he defeated his enemies.
13-14 The sun stopped in its tracks in mid sky; just sat there all day. There’s never been a day like that before or since—God took orders from a human voice! Truly, God fought for Israel.
1 Kings 8:11
11 the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.
2 Kings 6:4-6
4 When they arrived at the Jordan, they began cutting down trees; 5 but as one of them was chopping, his axhead fell into the river.
“Oh, sir,” he cried, “it was borrowed!”
6 “Where did it fall?” the prophet asked. The youth showed him the place, and Elisha cut a stick and threw it into the water; and the axhead rose to the surface and floated!
2 Chronicles 5:13-14
13 in unison when the trumpeters and the singers were to make themselves heard with one voice to praise and to glorify the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice accompanied by trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and when they praised the Lord saying, “He indeed is good for His loving kindness is everlasting,” then the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, 14 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.
2 Chronicles 7:1-2
1 Now when Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the house. 2 The priests could not enter into the house of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house.
Ezekiel 4:1-16
Ezekiel Acts Out an Attack on Jerusalem
The Lord said:
1 Ezekiel, son of man, find a brick and sketch a picture of Jerusalem on it. 2 Then prepare to attack the brick as if it were a real city. Build a dirt mound and a ramp up to the top and surround the brick with enemy camps. On every side put large wooden poles as though you were going to break down the gate to the city. 3 Set up an iron pan like a wall between you and the brick. All this will be a warning for the people of Israel.
4-5 After that, lie down on your left side and stay there for three hundred ninety days as a sign of Israel’s punishment—one day for each year of its suffering. 6 Then turn over and lie on your right side forty more days. That will be a sign of Judah’s punishment—one day for each year of its suffering.
7 The brick stands for Jerusalem, so attack it! Stare at it and shout angry warnings. 8 I will tie you up, so you can’t leave until your attack has ended.
9 Get a large bowl. Then mix together wheat, barley, beans, lentils, and millet, and make some bread. This is what you will eat for the three hundred ninety days you are lying down. 10 Eat only a small loaf of bread each day 11 and drink only two large cups of water. 12 Use dried human waste to start a fire, then bake the bread on the coals where everyone can watch you. 13 When I scatter the people of Israel among the nations, they will also have to eat food that is unclean, just as you must do.
14 I said, “Lord God, please don’t make me do that! Never in my life have I eaten food that would make me unacceptable to you. I’ve never eaten anything that died a natural death or was killed by a wild animal or that you said was unclean.”
15 The Lord replied, “Instead of human waste, I will let you bake your bread on a fire made from cow manure. 16 Ezekiel, the people of Jerusalem will starve. They will have so little food and water that they will be afraid and hopeless.
Consider Ezekiel 4:1-16. Do you see “theatrics,” or do you see the Holy Spirit of God working through the prophet Ezekiel?
Consider the stated scriptural purpose for the things that God does, or for the things that God allows to happen.
Hebrews 2:4
4 God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
Romans 8:28
28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.
Consider the following video. Consider the people who are present. Do you consider them (possibly 10,000 present) to have been “duped?” After having considered the above scriptures, which some people may believe to be “extreme,” consider whether “theatrics, or the work of God’s Holy Spirit,” were present among the people who were present at the revival meeting. The illustration of the prophet Ezekiel might be considered by some people to be something that is theatrical. In all things, consider God and His purposes. God is supreme. His Spirit may appear at any gathering of believers, for His purposes, regardless of whom the speaker may be.
Carpenters Home Church Revival Highlights – Lakeland, FL 1993
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“Old Time Church” – The Mississippi Mass Choir – Frank Williams
“When I Rose This Morning” – Mississippi Mass
God Is Keeping Me – Mississippi Mass Choir
I’m Still Here – Mississippi Mass Choir
“It’s Good To Know Jesus” – Mississippi Mass Choir
“I Love To Praise Him” – Mississippi Mass Choir
“When Praises Go Up” – Mississippi Mass Choir
Near The Cross – Mississippi Mass Choir – Frank Williams
“Grace And Mercy” – Mississippi Mass Choir – Frank Williams
Ephesians 5:18-19, ..”be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,”
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Lord Have Mercy
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
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Наш Бог Всемогущий Бог – Хор церковь Суламита
God, “Elohim,” loves the Slavic peoples, to include the Slavic people of Russia.
Do the Slavic people of Russia love God, “Elohim,” in return?
Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Use the Lexicon explanation below to see “Elohim” as being the first name of God that is shown in the Bible.)
John 3:16, “”For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (God loves all of the people of the world, even the Slavic people of Russia and those in all Slavic nations.)
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“to have and to hold,
from this day forward,
for better, for worse,
for richer, for poorer,
in sickness and in health,
until death do us part”
Matthew 19:4-6
4 Jesus answered, “Surely you have read in the Scriptures: When God made the world, ‘he made them male and female.’ 5 And God said, ‘So a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one body.’ 6 So there are not two, but one. God has joined the two together, so no one should separate them.” (New Century Version)
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Five days of Valentine? Let’s do six!
If she’s with family or friends, or in an auditorium that is full of people, recognize her – point her out! Look straight into her eyes – never take your eyes off her. Talk to her – tell her how much she means to you. Cherish the memories – look to the future. Cross your heart – make a promise to her that you will always be her man, and that she will always be the special woman that makes your life worth living. All of the other people may be important, but she is the most important person in your life. Fellows, you may not be able to sing like George Strait, but you can always have a song that she will love to hear you sing to her. Make her laugh – never let your shyness get in the way of praising her.
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Four days of Valentine? Why so few? Let’s do another one!
In this song, John Michael tells of the things that he has found from studying his wife. In the movie “Fireproof,” Caleb was about to lose his marriage. Michael, the best friend of Caleb, provided sound advice for Caleb. As it related to Caleb’s wife, Catherine, Michael said, “you’ve got to study your wife!” Listen to the things that John Michael Montgomery says in the song about his wife. He had studied her, and had noticed some very simple things about her; but they were things that told him what his wife was like. He learned how she responded to certain things. He learned the way that she loved him. And, from studying his wife, he also learned how much he loved her. Fellows, if you haven’t noticed by now, “women are different!” Study your woman to let her know how much you love her.
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Who is it that says that there are only “Three Days Of Valentine?”
Surely, Cupid’s arrow has its resting place in view. Please don’t
hold up “that warrior’s shield” that will block “the love of your life,”
from becoming the most important person in your life. Listen carefully
to the meaning of “Al Di La.”
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This post has been taken from a prior post that I made on the love that men should have for women, and that women should have for men. In particular, the marriage relationship should have volumes of love of a man for his wife, and a wife for her husband.
We’ve heard about “The Twelve Days Of Christmas,” so I am going to add another grouping of days and call it, “The Three Days Of Valentine.” This year, with Valentine’s Day falling on a Sunday, it appears that much of the celebrating began on Friday. As many people have noticed, I will add videos to most of my posts; I have found them to be very useful in drawing people to read my posts, and to strengthening the messages that I write.
During this “Three Days Of Valentine,” I have focused my posts on men, because I believe that men still should call women for their purpose of “getting to know the gals.” The song that I have added to this post tells of the heart-felt love of a “man for a woman.” I have read many comments on YouTube where men, and women, tell of the deep regrets that they have over the fact that they let the love of their life, “slip out of their hands.” Without going any further with that thought, I will just say, “Happy Valentine’s Day;” may our Lord Jesus richly bless you.
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Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted his voice and wept. (Genesis 29:11)
Important Notice
This post is one of others that you can find in the blog under the category of “Intimacy.” There, you will be able to locate all Intimacy posts, which will appear in the order that they were published. If you click onto the following link you will be able to follow the blog and receive posts automatically. This option is important for people who receive posts directly from me. That is because, from time to time, email addresses are dropped from my list of contacts.
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Can we agree that Valentine’s Day comes only once each year? Can we also agree that there is only “One Day Of Valentine” each year? Well! Correction is on the way !!! (I think that “lol” should be added, “lol.”) This past year, I decided that we should remember the love of Valentine’s Day more than once each year; and, that only one day for such love is terribly insufficient. At this time on our calendars we are a bit more than six months from the next “Calendar Day Of Valentine.” Therefore, I think that it would be a good thing for us to inaugurate an “off calendar” time to consider the love of Valentine’s Day. These Valentine posts will be published every other day for “The Seven Days Of Valentine.” I hope that you will enjoy the songs of love that will come your way. This first video is a real oldie, having music from 1955. It was made as part of a movie that has scenes of men taking their ladies to an intimate night spot. Fellows, be sure that you do something special for your ladies (only one lady per man, and not transsexual, etc. lol) during these “Seven Days Of Valentine;” let it be “about her.” Husbands, remember the words of Ephesians 5:25, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her.”
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I was fourteen years old. My home was in New Orleans, Louisiana, actually Gretna and Algiers. I looked at the movie section of the New Orleans Times Picayune and tried to figure out a good movie to see. There were many theaters in “The Crescent City,” so it took a while to decide on which one would have the best movie. I decided on the Abalon Theater, which was located in the downtown area of what is now known as “Algiers Point.” I road a city bus from the Mc Donoughville community of Gretna, where I lived, all the way to the theater. That is a time in my life that I will never forget, and would not want to forget.
The movie that was being shown was “Rome Adventure.” At my “tender age,” I was in love with the idea of being in love. The movie was about a young woman whose name was Prudence. She worked as a librarian somewhere in America. She wanted to go “to where they really know what love is all about – Italy.” So, she went! The role of Prudence was played by Suzanne Pleshette.
Almost magically upon her arrival in Italy, Prudence met a young man who had recently broken up with his girl friend. That man was Don, and was played by Troy Donahue. Love was truly in the air as Prudence and Don toured Italy together. As the movie began to show the love grow between Don and Prudence, you can not imagine how much I would love to have been Don as he was gaining the favor of the beautiful Suzanne Pleshette.
The Rome Adventure theme song, Al Di La, has been in my mind throughout the years. While Don and Prudence were on a date, and listening to Emilio Pericolli sing the song, Prudence asked Don to explain the meaning of “Al Di La.” He explained it like this. “It’s hard to explain. It’s “far far away, beyond the beyond, beyond this world; that’s how much he loves her in this song.”
Rome Adventure was truly a love story, because it was just that – a story about love, young love. There was nothing out of taste or character for either Suzanne Pleshette or Troy Donahue; oh how we need movies like that today. To help you to understand some of my thoughts about this movie, I have added two links. The first one will take you to the scene where Al Di La is being sung. The second one will show various film clips of the movie. I trust that you will get a feeling deep inside of you that will help you to remember, or appreciate, such a time in life.
Troy Donahue and Suzanne Pleshette later married, although I am not certain of how long their marriage lasted; they are both dead now, as well as Emilio Pericolli. All were great losses for our world.
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When I Look Into Your Holiness
Have you ever gone into the sanctuary where a church meets? Did you do so when there were no other people in the building with you, and there was total silence, with not even a heater or air conditioner running? Did you have the discernment of a certain holiness above you and around you, and that it was only God and you, and your footsteps, that were present? That experience has been one of great Holiness for me; it has also been a great time of prayer and meditation. Consider the following two verses that deal with the holiness in silence, and the beauty of holiness. The tone of the worship videos matches the tone of the scriptures. Let this time be one when you can experience the beauty of holiness, and the silence that is due when we appear before our Holy God.
Habakkuk 2:20 King James Version
“But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him”
Psalm 96:9 King James Version
“O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth”
All The Glory
Holy Are You Lord
We Glorify The Lamb
Prepare The Way
Dwelling Places
Praise Him
I Sing Praises
Even So Come Lord Jesus come
To Him Who Sits On The Throne
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Eternity 