Happy 400th Birthday, Baptists!

February 6, 2010 at 2:08 am (Uncategorized)
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When I meet people and tell them I am in the ministry, they assume that I am a Catholic priest. My dark complexion and Italian name do not necessarily yell “Baptist,” so when I correct people as to my religious background, they seem taken aback.

For me, being Baptist is a mark of honor. The first Baptist church I ever stepped foot in was the same church in which I made a profession of faith. I was 12 at the time and, after attending the youth group for several months, I felt that familiar tug on my heart to ask Jesus into my life.

It was in the context of Baptist collegiate life that I also heard God’s call to ministry. I studied under Baptist professors who instilled in me a love of the Bible and theology, as well as the Baptist heritage of which they were so fond. Attending a Baptist seminary — one at Mercer University, in fact — was the eventual next step.

Although you may not hear it often in the news, the Baptists, among other denominations in the religious scene, have much to be proud of. This past year marked the 400th birthday of the Baptist movement. Its two founders, Thomas Helwys and John Smyth, established the first First Baptist Churches in Holland and England between the years of 1609 to 1611.

At that time, the Baptists were affiliated with the Mennonites. They had a reputation for being separatists who advocated for literacy, the separation of church and state, and the priesthood of all believers. They were pacifists that avoided public office; they were persecuted often, especially during the reign of King James I.  Yet, many of their founding, core values remained benchmark standards in the Protestant cause, and still do to this day.

The priesthood of believers is one of the values that caught my attention in my youth. Baptists believe that every person is a minister unto God in the service of others. The denomination is a participatory one, so much so that Baptists have always avoided creeds that excluded individuals from roles in leadership and missions.

There are a diverse set of leaders throughout history to prove it — leaders from the likes of liberal Walter Rauschenbusch to conservative, missionary pioneer Lottie Moon. We who call ourselves Baptists stand on the shoulders of giants, that’s for sure.

The Baptist understanding of the separation of church and state also attracted me to the movement. Although it seems that not a few Christians have abandoned this principle in order to push for legislation that discriminates against others, many Baptists know that political power is something not to be wielded lightly.

Baptists are keenly aware that nations that marry the church with the state prove to be oppressive time and again.

This conviction does not mean that Baptists are apolitical. Every person who engages in public policy and dialogue brings to the table an entire worldview, and Baptists are no exception. It is just that Baptists fulfill their civic duty with a sense of critical skepticism and suspicion.

There is a growing animosity toward religious denominations in our culture; we are living in what some have coined a “post-denominational age.” This has surely eroded the influence that Baptists have on culture: The Southern Baptist Convention has noted on more than one occasion that both financial giving and baptisms are down, and many Baptist churches are in steep decline.

With 400 years behind the Baptist movement, however, Christians can rest assured that we Baptists will be around for a long time to come, that is, if the denomination remains true to its past and continues to join God in bringing about His redemptive future.

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Depression, coping with job loss takes a spiritual toll

February 1, 2010 at 5:00 am (Uncategorized)
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You’ve heard the story before. Mitchell has worked for his company for 20 years. Five more years and he can retire with benefits. Today, he begins work like he does every day: coffee in hand, computer warming up, ledger ready to be filled.

Except this day is different. Just before Mitchell sips the coffee, his boss calls him into the executive suite. The company is facing huge shortfalls in revenue, the boss explains to Mitchell. Lay offs are expected, and Mitchell has two weeks to figure out what his next step will be.

Mitchell walks back to his office a broken man. No retirement. No benefits. In two weeks, no job.

Mitchell’s story is so common in our nation these days, it is almost cliché. Unemployment is above 10 percent. For minorities, the unemployment rate is twice that figure. The statistics of people who are underemployed are astronomical.

I cannot imagine what it is like for the Mitchells of our nation. I can only guess that job loss leads to a deep sense of despair and depression. There is little hope, and resentment sets in. Other symptoms of grief ensue, such as fatigue, addiction, anger or bitterness.

What can Christians and churches do when much of the American populace looks more like “Night of the Living Dead” than “Happy Days”?

For one, I think it is critical for us to pray with a full sense of honesty before God. Many people feel that expressing their true feelings to God is somehow beneath God. Some have learned long ago that being angry with God is inappropriate.

Job shows us a different way. In Job 10, Job (who lost all of his wealth) lashed out in honest prayer to God: “I loathe my life; I will give free utterance to my complaint … I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me; let me know why you contend against me?’”

Job’s honesty is not an admission of doubt; rather, the prayer underscores an intimacy with God.

I can only equate Job’s intimate relationship with God with the relationship I have with my wife. When my wife and I are honest with each other and communicate our frustrations, we develop a deeper sense of trust and loyalty. You cannot be honest with someone whom you hardly know.

Honest prayer in the face of loss means surrendering all that you are to God because you need to trust Him with the full depth of your emotions. This is a scary process because we like to hide such burdens.

But the more we stuff our feelings down into the pit of our stomach, the less we tend to confront our suffering. As the equation goes, “Blocked feelings equals delayed healing.”

Another way of coping with job loss is to find or create support groups committed to helping the unemployed. In my work with caregivers, I found that getting people together with like-minded peers makes a world of difference.

I may not be able to imagine what Mitchell is going through, but there are many people in our community who do. Connecting Mitchell with others who understand job loss can provide Mitchell with a web of care and encouragement.

When we confront the shifting markets and economic disparities that exist in our community, we long for answers and solutions. We get angry with our political leaders — national and local — because we expect them to have answers to complex issues that fall beyond even their level of expertise.

When we turn to God, though, we still cannot anticipate getting easy answers or quick fixes.

But when we trust in God, pray honestly and talk with others who can relate to our grief, we can, at the very least, begin the long journey to healing and some semblance of normalcy.

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Facebook, Social Networking has its downsides

January 23, 2010 at 2:18 pm (Theology)
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Online social networks such as Facebook are fantastic tools in building community. Just last week, I befriended an old chum from elementary school whom I have not seen since, well, elementary school. Before this technology existed, I would not even consider finding such long-lost pals. Now I can do it at the stroke of a button.

This is a real asset for me because I am not good at keeping in touch with people. I forget to call family. Sometimes I even forget birthdays. Social networking Web sites have been a Godsend in my life.

The Internet has created a sense of community in profound ways, but there are pitfalls as well.

For one, there is a strong temptation for us to parade our lives on the Internet and flirt with virtual exhibitionism. I’m not so sure I want to know your every move, nor do I need to see your relationships evolve, fracture and get torn asunder before my very eyes. The pictures you took during your trip to Acapulco? Not so family-friendly.

In order to fight the urge to splurge on public domains, I recommend a family Internet policy that protects you and your family from nosey voyeurs, be it friend or foe alike.

Some of my personal rules include posting pictures that are modest and appropriate. That’s not to say that I have inappropriate pictures. I just don’t want people to peruse snapshots of my family’s trip to the pool or beach.

Also, I do not befriend coworkers, bosses or acquaintances unless I spend time with them outside of work. My status updates communicate my musings, but not my innermost emotional roller coasters. What you don’t know won’t kill you, trust me.

Another pitfall to social networking is that it is very addictive. Fifteen minutes to check our inbox can turn into three hours. Eventually, to invoke a tactic used by the Borg in Star Trek, our computers end up assimilating us. We spend so much time online chatting with friends that the Internet slowly replaces flesh-and-blood contact. We may be connected, but we are not connecting with a sense of authentic communion.

Consider these statistics from one study I read: only one in every four people has someone in which to confide. Sixty-one percent of people say they have only a few close friends. The Internet is giving us a sense of community, but is not providing the connections that make up sustainable support systems.

The recent film “Up In the Air” explores this theme. In it, Ryan Bingham, played by George Clooney, makes a living by traveling across the nation to lay people off from their respective employers.

A young, inexperienced efficiency manager figures out that if Bingham and his coworkers fired people via Webcams from their home office, then Bingham’s company would save money by cutting travel expenses.

Bingham opposes the Webcams and argues that online interactions with clients not only robs them of the dignity of the “firing,” but removes the personal support required for a sensitive moment of loss.

The movie teaches that we cannot conjure relational depth by simply logging onto each other’s lives. We require intimacy and nuance, awe and enchantment. Without real human contact, we miss out on the beauty of storytelling, the dance of non-verbal communication, awkward silences, moments of divine inspiration and sudden bouts of irrational laughter.

Even though my computer helps me remember birthdays, it does little in helping me find the relational intimacy to which I, and every other person in God’s creation, aspire. I just hope that, in the end, resistance is not futile.

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King’s cause was born out of righteousness

January 16, 2010 at 7:36 pm (Theology)
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The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., is one of my heroes of the faith.  For me, King’s heroism resulted from his ability to stand up against the tidal-wave of public opinion in order to uphold the values and convictions he held so dear.

During King’s day, there were several major impediments to furthering the goals of the Civil Rights movement.  One impediment originated from the many local and national policies that upheld a “separate but equal” status quo.  The other impediment was the subtle, yet loud voice of public opinion opposing greater equity for minorities in society.

Public opinion, usually expressed in opinion polls, is a necessity in politics.  It measures public sentiment; however, what the Civil Rights era proved was that public opinion—especially of the majority—does not necessarily reflect a biblical worldview.

Politicians and pundits rely heavily on public opinion to shape national debates.  Several months ago, Republican House leader John Boehner declared, “Americans are against healthcare reform.” That is a bit misleading because most polls show that just over 60% of Americans are opposed to healthcare reform. That’s a majority of Americans, but not all of America.

When Dr. King faced majority opinion in opposition to the Civil Rights cause in the mid-1960s, he noted on more than one occasion that Christians rarely walk to the beat of the populist drum.

One of King’s most moving sermons, “Transformed Nonconformist,” claimed that Christians are citizens of two worlds but ultimately answer to the heavenly realm. He said that conformity to public, majority opinion can sometimes lead us away from Christ.

He opined, “We are called to be people of conviction, not conformity; of moral nobility, not social respectability.  We are commanded to live differently and according to a higher loyalty.”

For King, conformity to public opinion was simply another form of slavery: “Any Christian who blindly accepts the opinions of the majority and in fear and timidity follows a path of expediency and social approval is a mental and spiritual slave.”

He also recognized that churches can also fall prey to conformity if they do not critically assess how God might be bringing about aspects of His Kingdom on earth.  Sometimes God’s way of doing things looks very different than what a crowd might advocate.

Churches that simply fall in line with the rest of America without a sense of moral discernment and prayer can easily blur the line between prophetic engagement and partisanship.

King’s sermon rings with a certain poignancy: “Nowhere is the tragic tendency to conform more evident than in the church, an institution which has often served to crystallize, conserve, and even bless the patterns of majority opinion…Have we ministers of Jesus Christ sacrificed the truth on the altar of self-interest and, like Pilate, yielded our convictions to the demands of the crowd?”

Going against public opinion for its own stake was not what King was all about; rather, he challenged his audience to consider how convictions shape civil discourse. In other words, King never went rogue; his convictions were born out of a strong and consistent sense of righteousness.  In spite of public opinion, which changes from day to day, King kept in mind the bigger picture of God’s unfolding history.

I do not doubt that opinion polls are extremely useful in many situations; nevertheless, they are not necessarily designed to determine what Christians are to believe about public policy. Aside from making great strides in social justice for African Americans, this profound lesson is—in my mind—one of the greatest contributions that Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights movement as a whole made to American society.

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Keeping Promises is a Biblical Mandate

January 10, 2010 at 2:08 am (Theology)
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One of the worst human tragedies a person can face is a broken promise. I see the consequences of broken promises among some of the folks with whom I work. A family member will make a promise — usually to spend quality time with someone — and the time never comes to pass. I see this especially with elders and children. A failed promise to make the ball game ends in a proverbial, “Next time, I promise.”

Broken promises litter our current landscape because we are facing a shortage of time and resources. Even the once-famous “Promise Keepers” seminars have faded into obscurity because men do not have the time and money to attend as they once did.

The Bible is clear that all of us — men and women — are to be promise keepers. In the New Testament, the letter by James is full of Christian instruction, among them a command to make your “yes be yes” (James 5:12).

This echoes Jesus’ words on the subject in Matthew 5:33-37. Keeping promises is an extension of truth-telling. When we promise something and it does not come to pass, we have lied to another and to ourselves. Keeping a promise is being true to our word. Jesus tells us that when we break promises we are no different than Satan, the Father of Lies.

Breaking our promises can lead to a cascading effect that hinders relational integrity. A repeat offender diminishes trust, and, in many cases, communication withers. When family members break promises with their elders, for instance, guilt sets in. The guilt that one feels actually keeps them away from their loved ones because facing Grandma to apologize is too hard to do. In the face of broken promises, reconciliation becomes elusive.

The teachings of Jesus and letter of James offer an alternative: do not make any oaths whatsoever. The original intent of this command was aimed at Christians working in the civil and legal parameters of society, not necessarily in one’s relationships with loved ones. These two people groups — the young and the old — are people to whom promises must be met. Reliability and predictability reinforce their own sense of value and dignity, and fulfilled promises stress their importance as active contributors to society. We affirm them in the follow-throughs of our yeses and nos. When I make a promise to my daughter and keep it, my integrity empowers her to believe in the best of her father and builds her sense of trust in her little world.

Promises are important because our words are powerful conduits of hope or harm. As a writer and speaker, I know firsthand how much words shape worlds for my audience. In many instances, I craft my words based on my convictions in gospel truth and inclusive ministry. I uphold a form of promises to my readers when I ensure that my language addresses situations appropriately and accurately. Some people call this political correctness, but I call it sensitivity. Politically-correct language can go too far, as anything taken out of moderation can, but it is important to use words that express the fullness of God’s majesty.

Is not our ability to make promises representative of God’s promises to us? God, being the incomparable Promise-Keeper, made covenants throughout the Bible, including the new covenant of Jesus’ death and resurrection. This covenantal God is a model for the covenant-makers in our midst; it would benefit us to keep our promises in ways that honor God’s faithfulness to us.

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Epiphanies create transformative events of self-awareness

January 1, 2010 at 3:31 pm (Theology)
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Have you ever had an epiphany?  An epiphany is an awakening in which a person comes to terms with a new perspective on life.  In church, we often speak of revelation—God’s self-disclosure to humanity in history—but very rarely do we speak of epiphany.

Epiphany has to do with illumination, a sudden inner-realization that becomes a profoundly transformative event in our lives.

Tomorrow many churches will be celebrating epiphany and will focus on the meeting that took place between baby Jesus and the Magi from the East.  Illumination happens in the biblical text as these wise men divine the constellations only to discover that God’s king is born.  Their recognition propels them on a dangerous quest from the wilderness of Persia to the land of Israel.

When they arrive to the manger of Christ’s birth, they realize that this baby King is representative of the new scheme of God’s reign.  This King will not be the mighty aristocrat that most people expect; instead, he will welcome the very souls who stand on the margins of society and culture.  Epiphany for the Magi and for us is about new beginnings indeed.

I am sure that some of you banked on the New Year to try something new.  We dedicate ourselves to resolutions hoping that we will engage the world differently than we did in 2009.

Some of us will diet; others will save money or start a home project.  But dedication to a goal is not the same as transformation in light of epiphany.

Epiphany comes with a clear moment of enlightenment.  Another biblical story comes to mind.  Before Jesus was crucified, he told Peter that Peter would deny him before a crowd.  Peter insisted that he would never do such a heinous act, but Jesus assured him that, upon hearing a rooster crow three times, Peter’s deed will come to pass.

On the night Jesus was crucified, Peter did deny Jesus.  When that rooster gave its evening call three times, Peter had an epiphany: The clear and sharp sound in that night sky awakened Peter to his own lack of loyalty to the true King.

According to literary critic, Morris Beja, the emphasis of an epiphany is on the person who becomes fully cognizant of their immediate situation.  Although God brings about revelation and conviction, an epiphany forces a person to look deep within herself and come to terms with the reality of her situation.

Epiphany is a journey inward that begs a response for how a person will turn towards the world.  The Magi responded to the star by risking political treason to find the King; Peter responded to his denial by running back to be with the disciples.  The Magi gave gifts worthy of a king; Peter received a gift from the Risen Lord that was wrapped up in a call to “feed my sheep.”

In church, epiphany is a time in which we stand as mere observers of the First Christmas.  We are an audience that watches the Magi visit the baby Jesus.  Real epiphany, though, makes us go beyond mere observation.

We become participants in the Christmas story because we realize that when the Magi visit Jesus, we visit Jesus too.  Peter’s denial is our denial.

The baby’s cry is a clear call that awakens us to our involvement in the divine constellations of our lives and forces us to wonder how we are to respond to God’s reign in us.

So the question remains: How will you respond to God’s reign in 2010?  The answer is not so much about what you will do; it’s about who you will become, for that is the essence and the consequence of epiphany.

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Ministers are professionals that should take ethics seriously

December 27, 2009 at 3:53 am (Congregational Leadership)
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As a minister, I know that gaining a congregation’s trust is one of the single most important tasks in developing a sustainable and healthy ministry.  It usually takes years to gain a church’s trust, and the hard work that it takes often requires experimentation and risk.

When it comes to trust, however, ministers face an uphill battle.  Numerous sexual, financial, and abuse-related scandals have eroded ministerial integrity.  A recent Gallup Poll shows that only half of the American population trusts clergy “high” or “very high.”

That means that one out of every two people in the United States does not trust their local church or minister.  According to pollsters, this is the lowest that clergy have scored over the last thirty years.

My feeling is that this lack of trust is not so much a misunderstanding on the part of the general population as it is a failure among clergy to uphold ministerial ethics.

Sure, pastors are like everyone else and play down their formality in order to connect with congregations, but pastors still stand apart in most communities.  Ministry does require a degree of professional ethics.

Ministerial ethics is founded upon certain bedrock principles.  One of those principles is trustworthiness.   People entrust their pastors to be spiritual caregivers.  Because people grant pastors this kind of power, it behooves pastors to not abuse or manipulate their position of authority.

To avoid abuse, pastors implement another principle of ethics, which is confidentiality.  As the people place greater trust in their pastor, the pastor has a greater responsibility to keep his or her interactions with individuals in the congregation confidential.

Where else is a person going to turn as they struggle with sin, despair, and doubt?   An obvious answer to me is, “pastor;” but if a pastor cannot keep secrets and help individuals work through their issues with God, then trust is imperiled indeed.

Valuing professional ethics also means establishing boundaries.  Ministry is an autonomous profession because most pastors keep their own schedules.  Boundaries impart the self-discipline needed to be punctual, to be intentional about sermon preparation, and to be attentive to pastoral care.

Setting boundaries also safeguards against sexual impropriety.  I once read that as many as 40% of pastors have had a situation in which some sexual indiscretion had occurred, be it related to pornography or inappropriate advances towards another person.

Ministers have a responsibility to care for themselves and their families so as to not burn out in ministry and fall into temptations beyond the point of self-control.   An exhausted minister is a vulnerable minister.

Professionalism is not a one-sided affair; churches also have a responsibility to treat their staff with utmost professionalism.  One way of determining whether your church is professional is by asking questions concerning human resources issues:  Does the church have a written and clear job description for each staff position?  Are there written policies pertaining to things like discipline, compensation, internet usage, and codes of conduct?  Does the church have a system in place to critique and evaluate staff that is free from unrealistic expectations?

When we visit a doctor’s office, we expect our physician to act according to his or her profession because the doctor is trained to prevent, diagnose and treat illnesses.  So too with ministers.  Ministers are professionals trained in spiritual stewardship.  They—and the churches for whom they work—should act as such.

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Christmas is a Seaon of Grief and Hope

December 19, 2009 at 7:32 pm (Theology)
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Lights and bells, tinsel, toy soldiers and gingerbread cookies. Such is the magic of the holiday season. It is easy to sing “Joy to the World” when we get to celebrate Jesus’ birthday in the presence of decked-out trees, warm fireplaces and excited children.

But the very first Christmas was not so pleasant. Consider that Mary, still pregnant with child, had to run to Egypt as a refugee to escape Herod’s slaughter-every-firstborn policy. When it was finally safe to return home, she gave birth to her first son in a manger. It was no Rockdale Medical Center; there was no room service.

Jesus was born in a time of hardship and grief. Israel’s peasantry wondered if God was ever going to liberate them from the Romans and lead them into a new day of victorious blessing. Instead of gingerbread cookies, many of those Israelites feasted on “a bread of tears” (Ps. 80:5).

There are many people who can relate to the grief that pervaded that first Christmas season because of their own sense of loss during the holidays. Those who cannot celebrate Christmas with a loved one feel grief acutely.

Whenever I visit New York on Christmas, Grandpa is not around to sleep on the living room floor after the turkey dinner. Cousin Jim’s defeat in his battle against cancer means that his family cannot celebrate the season with their father and husband.

In Christmas, we find ourselves thick in grief, but rich in hope. Yes, Israel was filled with darkness and grief when Jesus was born. The manger is a stark reminder of that reality; however, Mary and Joseph clung to a hope that bore witness to a God that raises the lowly and feeds the hungry (Luke 1:46-55).

That first Christmas also lets us know that hope is not only reserved for individuals. Nations also grieve, and hope and healing can erupt on a national scale. The rancor found in our national dialogue, the endless wars in the Middle East, and vast economic peril embody our corporate grief and reveal the deep need for God’s mercy.

There is an old story about grief and hope from Eastern Europe. An orthodox monastery found itself within a dying community. There were no new recruits to sustain the monastery, and the number of monks eventually dwindled down to a half dozen or so.

In desperation, the abbot went to a local rabbi and asked him what needed to be done to save the monastery. The rabbi expressed that his synagogue was also struggling to stay vibrant. “The spirit has gone out of the people,” the rabbi said as he and the abbot wept together.

Before the abbot left, the rabbi told him that he should not lose hope and that there was a messiah in their midst. The abbot took this wisdom back to the monastery and shared the rabbi’s answer.

For the next month, every one of the monks was trying to unravel who among them was the mysterious messiah. They could not figure it out, so they simply treated each other as if they were all supposed to be the ones destined to save their little community.

Their compassion for one another grew so great and so contagious that the townspeople took notice. People started to come to the monastery to meet the monks and hear the Gospel. Soon, the monastery flourished and became a robust community of faith.

The first Christmas was a humble one, but in that makeshift nursery we recognize our deepest grief, engage the richness of God’s hope and potentially find healing for ourselves and our nation.

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Getting Lost in Translation: Which Bible is Right for Your?

December 12, 2009 at 6:38 am (Uncategorized)
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I read with some interest the article in the Rockdale Citizen last week about a new “conservative” translation of the Bible.  I taught a class on biblical translations once or twice in Sunday school, so these articles always catch my attention.

Translating the Bible is a precarious business that requires grammatical approximation and scholarly decision-making.  Since we do not have any primary sources from original biblical authors, scholars use a variety of ancient manuscripts that sometimes differ with one another.

Translators make the best of what God has given them.  Usually the conflicts amongst the texts are miniscule and do not change the overall meaning anyway.

But if Bible translations matter and, yes, tend to be “biased,” then what translation is best for you?  Here are some insights that will help you the next time you’re Bible shopping.  I can only address the most popular ones because space is limited.

The King James Version is the first “authorized” English translation in history because it was made official by the British crown in 1611.  The fifty-plus translators who worked on the project used Shakespearean language, which makes the version a beautifully written and endearing text even today.

Its history is long, and the version has passed through hundreds of revisions up to our present translation today.   For some Christians, it is the only version to trust.

The KJV is hard to comprehend when reading silently, but makes for great oration in public worship. Its younger sibling, the New King James Version, balances scholarship with contemporary language that’s reader-friendly.

The Revised Standard Version is from the King James tradition and was commissioned by the National Council of Churches, USA, in the late-1940s.  It was intended to serve a variety of denominations including the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.

The version is sometimes branded as “liberal” because of its translation of Isaiah 7:14, which renders “virgin” as “young woman” in a passage that foreshadows Christ’s birth born of a virgin.  It also places several texts believed to be later additions to Scripture—such as the longer ending in Mark—in footnotes.

Its sibling, the New Revised Standard Version, utilizes gender-inclusive language, which makes it a wonderful text for public worship.  The version is the preferred translation among seminarians, scholars, and “mainline” pastors.  It is my personal Bible of choice.  (The newest Bible from this family is the English Standard Version, which reverts back to exclusive language and tones down the ecumenical nuances.)

The New American Standard Bible is a literal, word-for-word translation of the Greek and Hebrew produced by a private foundation in California.  In fact, it is so literal to the original languages that it is not recommended for public worship, but is for in-depth Bible and word studies.

The New International Version is a popular translation for two reasons.  One, it’s easy to read because it mixes paraphrase rendering with word-for-word scholarship.  Second, it was commissioned in the 1970s for evangelicals who preferred neither the cumbersome language of the KJV nor the interfaith flair of the RSV.

Publishers have insured its selling power by marketing it to all kinds of niche audiences, and it is useful for both public and private settings.  The “NIV Study Bible” includes some wonderful insights; I use it when I teach youth groups.

The New Living Translation, “The Message,” and others like these, are considered “paraphrase” versions because the translators script the language based on meaning rather than on a literal translation.  These are great for children, for dramatic readings in worship, and devotional study.  These versions are the easiest to understand because they are generally written on a middle-school reading level.

When all is said and done, choosing a Bible is like eating your veggies: they are all good for you, but it helps to vary the diet.

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In the news: Only half of the population trust clergy

December 12, 2009 at 6:31 am (Congregational Leadership)
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“The annual ranking of ethics of various professions found that 50 percent of Americans rated clergy’s honesty and ethics as “high” or “very high.” That is down 6 percent from last year’s poll.”

Read about it at the Associated Baptist Press:

http://www.abpnews.com/content/view/4641/53/

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