Cover Story in The Kansas City Star's Faith Section Today

Very cool! Check the article out. Really interesting that there's another guy from KC who wrote The Gospels in Rhyme. I'm going to have to meet him.

http://www.kansascity.com/255/story/1716567.html

Twitter

Quick post today. I don't think I've posted anything about my Twitter account on here. If you want to follow The Bible in Rhyme on Twitter, I'm at http://twitter.com/bibleinrhyme.

Tweet tweet...I guess.

The Bible in Rhyme is on The Index of Perversions!

I haven't posted a blog in two weeks. I've been so busy, and haven't even had time to give TBIR, my blog, or my website the time it deserves. But today was a busy day.

First, it snowed. So that was fun to share with my boys. The first snow is always pretty cool (as is the LAST snow of the year!).

Second, I had a great review from an excellent blog: http://tara sviewonbooks.blogspot.com/2009/11/bible-in-rhyme.html

Third, I found out that The Bible in Rhyme made the top of Amazing Grace Baptist Church's "Index of Perversions." (Given, the list is in alphabetical order...but I'm still claiming top spot!)

This is the church that I most recently posted on about the book burning. It's amazing...and by amazing, I mean CRAZY...that my book was destroyed along with the NIV, The Message, texts written by Billy Graham and Mother Teresa, etc., etc.

Their beef with all of these texts is that it's not the King James Version. Forget the fact that the KJV is not the original text. The thing that really blows my mind is that they're burning documents that support and encourage people to believe in God and Jesus Christ. Why? Because it's not the KJV. But by that rationale, anything that a pastor or priest says should not be used because it's not the KJV. So does their pastor just get up and read the KJV? If he gives a sermon, should he be thrown on the fire too?

When it comes to religion, we all want to fight about something. Is or isn't Jesus the actual son of God. Creationists versus those who believe evolution fits into the Biblical picture. Is Revelation about ancient Rome or future apocalypse. How long did Samson's hair have to get before he could knock down those pillars?

Lost in all of this is the message of the Holy Scriptures, which is best summed up in:

"Master, which is the great commandment in the law?" Jesus said unto him, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

- Matthew 22:36-40 (King James Version...for my new friends, and because I have no qualms with the KJV, just Bible burners)

Well, gotta go print this blog post, submit it to The Index of Perversions, and then burn it. I guess I'll have to burn my computer too...

Burn This Book!

I recently read about a really terrible idea - the Amazing Grace Baptist Church is sponsoring a burning of religious books and Christian music, including all versions of the bible except for the King James Version. (Here's an article about this event.)

Well, don't leave me out! I sent a copy to the Amazing Grace Baptist Church along with the following letter:

Dear Pastor Marc,

I heard about your book burning, and figured mine should be right there with all of the others. To destroy so much of what God has commissioned by setting people out as evangelists is contrarian to everything that the Bible says. I really think this is a foolish publicity stunt you’re doing, but if you’re going to, burn mine too.

I’m saying a prayer for you and anyone who feels that what you’re doing is a good idea.

Sincerely,

Kyle Holt
The Bible in Rhyme

I don't think my letter or any letter will change their minds. Let the burning begin!

Making Rain

I was talking to some of the sales staff at our company today, and one said, "Do you want me to help with the admin stuff? I'm happy to do it, but..."

"If you help, you're not selling," I finished. "Sales people need to go out there and make rain. The rest of the staff is here to help you harvest it, but YOU have to make rain. So no, I do not want you to handle the admin piece."

Although it was a business conversation, this is so true related to the kingdom of God. Jesus sent out 72 disciples, in pairs, to go to the towns and share the good news. They were to go out there and make rain. They were to go out and sell what could not be bought and paid for.

That's a hard gig. Not everybody receives the gift of evangelism. But those who have it, need to use it. We have a society in which it's uncool to be a Christian. It's sketchy to have faith. It's weird to believe in the Lord almighty and Jesus Christ's resurrection.

I sometimes struggle to talk about my own faith because I'm worried about what someone might think. I need to reverse that. I need to worry about what God might think if I don't share His word.

Some have the gifts of administration and can harvest the crop. But for those of you who have the gift of evangelism, the ability to connect to people, and the thrill of closing that "sale" by sharing the good news, PLEASE USE IT!

I'm committing to using my tongue, my talents, and my time to better reach those who need God and the hope He has to offer.

Let's make some rain!

Advent Conspiracy

I had not heard about Advent Conspiracy until today. I might not have known the name, but I've been a believer of it for some time now. I don't need gifts. I would rather we help those who need help.

Check out this video that was done by the multimedia guys at my church. If this doesn't get you fired up for the season of GIVING...I don't know what will.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=153581562758&ref=ss

Joy to the world! The Lord has come.

Revelation 22: 18-19

Because of The Bible in Rhyme, in the past week I have been called an apostate and miraculous.

I'm neither.

But the "apostate" label really bothered me, because that's not a word I think you throw around lightly. Why was this title was thrown my way? Because of Revelation 22:18-19.

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

-Revelation 22:18-19

Many believe that this applies to the entire Bible. At the time John wrote the book of Revelation, the Bible was not assembled as we know it today. He was only talking about the book he had written. But even so, if someone changed the words around in any book with the intent to change the meaning, I too would be upset.

But here's the catch. In order for us to read any book of the Bible, the translator has to change the words around. There are words in the ancient Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew that don't perfectly translate into English, Italian, French, Swahili, Mandarin, Tamil, Portuguese, etc., etc., etc.

If we want to read the words EXACTLY as John or any other biblical author wrote them, we have to do so in the ancient dialect in which they were written. Very few of us can do that. I know I can't.

Therefore, if we are to read an English-language Bible at all, we are immediately in violation of John's warning. What a pickle, huh?

So I'd like to toast other "apostates" who have given us the ability to read the ancient texts, the word of God, the sayings of Jesus, and the letters of the apostles. I'm not even close to their league, but if I'm being called an apostate, then maybe I'm getting closer!

• To every translator who poured his soul into converting the Greek and Aramaic into Latin so that the Catholic Church could spread the word.
  
  
• To Martin Luther for translating the Bible into German so that the common man could read it.
  
  
• King James and William Tyndale for their efforts to create an English translation of the Bible.
  
  
• To Kenneth Taylor for The Living Bible and Eugene Peterson for The Message - two beautiful paraphrases that help millions better understand what the Bible says.
  
  
• And to the O.A. (the Original Apostate) - Jesus Christ, who was shunned by the leaders of Judaism for making the law "too easy".

"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

-Mark 12: 29-31