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Showing posts from 2016

Acceptable

We have a lot of teaching in our churches these days about how we are accepted. That's great. In Bible translation we used to talk about accurate, clear and natural translations. More recently we have started adding a fourth criteria for a good translation: acceptable . What does that mean? It means a translation that is acceptable to the audience it was intended for. Now that raises a lot of questions - what if we have two audiences, a primary and a secondary audience? How do we work out what these audiences are like? What does that mean in practice? Let's take each in turn: Primary and secondary audiences are important to define. The primary audience is the main audience you're translating for. The secondary is one that might have some influence. For instance if you are working in an area where most people are Muslims, you might have the majority Muslims as your primary audience, and believers in Isa al Masih (Jesus the Messiah) who gather in small groups as you

Oral Bible

Many people in the world have an oral communication preference. The good thing is that the Word is alive . It’s living and active . 'For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.'   Heb 4:12-13 It was originally communicated orally: God spoke the world into being. Gen 1:2-3 Wisdom is personified as a woman ( hokmah is fem.) calling out from the heights. Pro 9:3 Wisdom - often in short, pithy proverbs. Useful for teaching whom? Your children. E.g. 19:20 The prophets spoke God’s word (in oral form) Amo 1:1-2 . It was a vision, written down. Jesus is God’s word in human form Jhn 1:14 making his home among us. Also alive. He communicated orally. What he said in the form of parables (stories) and teaching was recorded in writing. This means that when we focus on oral storying we are doing something very biblical,

Did Moses Know Who He Was?

I was recently at a men’s breakfast where the speaker announced that Moses' (not Charlton Heston, btw) main problem was that he didn’t know who he was, and that if we don’t know who we are we won’t be able to serve God either. I doubt that was the case, at least with Moses. When he says this to God: “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” Exodus 3:11 ( ESV ) he is using a rhetorical question. It means, roughly speaking, ‘I am not the one to go and… ’. It’s not that he didn’t know who he was, but that he thought he wasn’t worthy. Reading chapters 1-2 would have helped the speaker know that Moses, though he had grown up in the royal household of the Pharaoh of Egypt, knew he was a Hebrew, and had killed an Egyptian. Our problem is that we read the Bible through the lens of modern psychology, Freud in particular. If only we would get into the Hebrew mindset rather than Freud’s, we would do much better interpreting the Bible.

How to Run an Oral Gathering of Believers (Church)

Recently we visited a church and tried to run a meeting without printed words, or rather a meeting with oral worship. Here's some advice on how to run such a gathering: Sing songs that everyone knows without printed or projected words Any videos used need to have audio as well as subtitles, or better still no text or subtitles for the audio Bible stories are told from the heart - not memorised from a Bible but crafted naturally (try listening to several audio versions, or watching several videos to help you remember all the points, then retell it in your own way and record yourself on your smart phone as you do so) Get people to retell the story in their own way in pairs (if someone is really talented at this they might volunteer to tell it to the whole group?) Ask people who they are planning to tell the story to by the next gathering The sermon doesn't use a PowerPoint, or if it does make sure you don't have any words in it If you're in a liturgical church

An Idiot's Guide to Hope - Part 2

Last time we looked at what the Hebrews hoped for. And for what Jesus' followers hoped for. Today we're going to look at what we hope for. What Do We Hope For? If we answer honestly many of us hope for all kinds of material possessions (houses, cars, holidays) and success for ourselves and for our children. This is natural, but the Bible teaches us to hope for other things: Reconciliation between God and all things on earth and heaven has already taken place through the cross, but we need to continue in our hope of the good news we have heard (Col 1) Jesus inaugurated God’s Kingdom, but we have yet to see it fully consummated. We long for that, and pray for it (Mat 6:10) We, along with all creation, long for the redemption of our bodies (Rom 8:18-25). We will have new, resurrection bodies in the future (1Co 15) That God’s mission to the world, the nations, might be fulfilled under Jesus’ authority as he sends us out (Mat 28:18-20; Rev 7:9). And then the end will c

An Idiot’s Guide to Hope – Part 1

What Did the Hebrews Hope For? Abraham hoped for a son. And for many descendants. And for the land. Did he ever see the land he hoped for? Only one field of it, with a cave to bury his wife in (and for him to be buried in, when that time came). His hope was a future hope. The Israelites hope for a king like David to come. Kings were chosen by anointing them with oil. A mashiyakh was an anointed, or chosen person. A king who would act as a just servant (Isa 42:1-9) and yet be the one in the apocalyptic vision Daniel had about the son of man (Dan 7:9-28). The Jews in exile hoped for restoration – not just to be able to return to Jerusalem and Judah, but restoration of the covenant, that they would once again be able to live in peace as God’s chosen people, who were called to be a kingdom of priests, and light to the nations. What Did Jesus’ Followers Hope For? The deliverance and restoration of the kingdom of Israel (Luk 24:21; Act 1:6).

Community Checking of Scripture Products

You may have heard of Wycliffe Associate USA's attempts to get into the world of Bible translation using a technique they call MAST - mobilized assistance supporting translation. It's not my purpose to critique that approach, as that's already been done by others such as Christianity Today . Instead I want to talk about one aspect of their approach which I view very positively - that of community checking of the translation. Basically, if the community or a large representative group of it is involved in checking the translation is is far more likely to be used than otherwise. You might be working in a region where there is opposition to the gospel? Well, you can still do community checking, via the local churches in that region. Send your drafts to as many believers as you can! Get feedback, and get people involved (this is often called 'reviewing' but is a kind of check)! It needs to be their translation. The danger of not involving the community at the c

What is the Gospel? (Why does it have to be so complicated?)

I've just been reading Tom Wright's new book ' Simply Good News ' and have three questions for you. How much Bible background do people need to have to be able to understand the gospel? What, exactly, is the good news that we proclaim? How does this change when we share it cross-culturally? i.e. can it be contextualised, and if so, what are some examples? What is core to the gospel across all cultures? (See Roland Muller, 'Honor & Shame' p102-103 for some ideas.) These questions bug me when I read books by Tom Wright. All of a sudden the four spiritual laws don't seem to be long enough: God Loves You! All of us have done, said or thought things that are wrong. This is called sin, and our sins have separated us from God. God sent His only Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins. If you want to accept Christ as your Saviour and turn from your sins, you can ask Him to be your Saviour and Lord by praying a prayer like this: "Lord Jesus, I bel

Reasons for Confidence (1John 3)

We have hope!  (1-3) This is a difficult passage in many ways – but an encouraging one – if you read it in the right way. What we often do is just read it and say, ‘What does this mean to me, now?’ That’s ok, but not the best. We are usually best advised to start with some background information, then work out what it meant then, and only then what it means now and to me and you personally. So: John believed that they were at the end of the age. He was expecting the ‘man of lawlessness’ to appear and cause a crisis for believers during which persecution would break out against God’s people. Also, notice how often the word ‘ abide ’ (live, remain) occurs. Six times in this passage! And where else have we come across that word? In John 15:1 – ‘I am the true vine and my father is the gardener’. v4 ‘abide in me…’ So I’m going to suggest that that is one of the keys to understanding this passage. We are commanded to abide in Jesus. If we abide in him, what does that look like? It so h

No Longer in Exile

Many years ago I wrote a paper on a Hebrew term that means ‘to go into exile’. The Hebrew is ‘galah’. At root it means ‘to depart’ or ‘to exit’.  Think about the current situation of refugees from Syria and elsewhere. They are also exiles from their homeland. We experience feelings of alienation in Western society. Pink Floyd made a whole career out of it (starting with ‘Dark Side of the Moon’, then ‘Wish you were here’ with the track ‘Shine on you crazy diamond’). This blog will discuss the two opposites: Exile Reconciliation Old Testament Teaching on Exile In the Old Testament, first we read about exile. But then comes the imagination of the prophets: Do not remember the former things… See, I am doing a new thing! Brueggemann calls the year 587 BC the ‘pivot’: The end of the known world and its relinquishment > 587 < The reception of a new world given by God through these poets [the prophets] The Jews considered

An Introduction To Scripture Engagement

This was written with input from Several Scripture Engagement workers/Consultants. Introduction This short paper aims to introduce Scripture Engagement to those in Western churches who want to know more about its importance. All of us know something about Scripture Engagement, but we often know little about places where Wycliffe members and others are involved in Scripture Engagement, Translation and Literacy work. Scripture Engagement is What We’re Aiming For The impact statement of a typical project is ‘changed lives’ or ‘changed community’ as the result of engagement with scripture. Many people think we are about Bible translation. Well, yes, we are. But Bible translation is not the aim of the project. Bible translation is the means to an end and that end is transformed lives. Scripture Engagement Starts Before the Project Starts Before we start translating the first verse of scripture we, or rather a local translation committee, have to work out which part of