My first impression when the UPS driver handed me the box was that of a big heavy book. The dimensions are not particularly large but it is thick, a hardcover book coming in at over 1,500 pages. The cover is filled with illustrations and brightly colored to attract children’s attention and advertises over 750 images. The NIrV Illustrated Holy Bible for Kids leaves out many features that adults would find helpful, like center column references and footnotes on each page. The complete Bible text, in the New International Reader’s Version, is included but not too much other stuff. There are illustrations with captions on roughly every other page but verse numbers and superscript letters indicating footnotes can be a distraction to children. The format is single column so it looks a lot like a chapter book that elementary students are just being introduced to. The target demographic is 4 – 8 years of age but I’m hopeful my 10-year-old will be interested and give it some time and attention. Continue reading
Author Archives: Clark Bunch
Bible Gateway Blogger Grid, a Refresher
Regulars at The Master’s Table have probably noticed a couple of things. In the left-hand sidebar, for several years now, Our Daily Bread links and the Verse-of-the-Day from Bible Gateway are updated daily. If you click “Read Now” under the ODB header you will be directed to the current day’s devotional. It only takes a couple of minutes to read or you can click to hear it instead. If you click the Bible Gateway header image you will be directed to the Bible Gateway website. If you click the highlighted scripture reference you will taken directly to those verses on Bible Gateway. I always post ESV but you can change the translation or do side-by-side comparisons at the touch of a button. Continue reading
With or Without Warning
I saw this image on Facebook last evening. This comparison is often made to encourage listeners to heed the warning of God’s coming judgement. Let’s ignore this awkward translation of 2 Timothy 4:3-4 which actually uses the word Bible and focus on the caption at the top of the picture. “They were warned…” Were they though?
As I was making mental notes and forming an outline, I decided to check the archives to see if I had written on this topic before. Not only did I find a post I read through and realized it’s pretty good. Below is the full text of a post originally titled Did Noah Preach? posted March 30, 2014. Continue reading
The Reason for Seasons
So if you’ve been paying attention to the Satur-deja Vu you may have noticed I ranted about fall two weeks in a row. I honestly did not realize I had addressed that topic the week before. It’s not the season of the year I was ranting about so much as everyone excited about it while we’ve got some summer weeks left to go yet. I don’t want to rehash all that a third time but rather consider this topic: Why do we have seasons? Continue reading
Satur-deja Vu
I’ve had a very busy week but it was not spent online. Realizing I wouldn’t have a chance to write it was a good time to introduce a new Christian blog/podcast that is building an audience and provoking thoughtful discussion. Welcome Jimmy to the Table quickly become one of the most popular things I’ve written in a while. It may just be that I drew the attention of his followers but hopefully we’ve been able to help each other out. It’s been a long time since we added to the blog roll but you will notice Jimmy’s Table there now (and some other blogs deleted that have gone MIA). Continue reading
Welcome Jimmy to the Table
I know I haven’t been posting daily like I was for a while there. The goal used to be two or three posts per week. Life comes at you fast and sometimes (for weeks at a time) Happy Monday was all that got published. He is still blogging but Paul Wilkinson has not posted a Wednesday Connect in a while either. This is a busy week and I know it but I don’t want to completely fall off the wagon.
Enter Jimmy Humphrey. He doesn’t know it yet but I’m about to introduce my audience to his website and podcast. Start here: Why The Church Should NOT Focus On The Family. The title may sound more sensational than the actual post. Read the intro, listen to the podcast, we can discuss. Check out other articles and podcast episodes, find Jimmy’s Table on Facebook etc. while I help my mother move this week and get into the new school year routine. I have updated the blogroll to remove some that no longer exist or have not been updated in a while. It’s time for a fresh face. Let’s all welcome Jimmy to the table.
Satur-deja Vu
Satur-deja Vu is not just a review. It also gives me a chance to drop in some things I couldn’t find a place for, and perhaps mention a topic that will not be getting its own post for whatever reason. It lets us take inventory. I used to call My Other Blog “the bottom file cabinet draw of the blogosphere.” Saturday is when we organize the file cabinet.
Back-to-School affects people differently.
The Read and Share File
It has been a long time since I tried to put together a link list but I want to share just a couple. The first is about pastoral candidates. When Bobby Braswell is asked “Could this candidate be your pastor?” he may be willing to consider candidates you would not. His pastor doesn’t have to be young and good looking, for example. Churches often hire pastors that look like the church members they hope to attract. Then the mostly older folks that make up the church will not let him do the things the church needs to do to bring in and/or retain those 20 or 30 somethings with kids. That’s just one example. Check out Could This Candidate be Your Pastor at The Christian Index.
This one is a lot of fun, I thought about saving it for Saturday. Rhyne Putman was invited to preach at a KJV only church as a seminary student 15 years ago. He read from the wrong translation but that’s only one facet of this “bed time story” he shares. It’s a long thread of Tweets but worth your time. Click the tweet below.
Five Hundred Followers
I recently mentioned that The Master’s Table was nearing 500 followers. It turns out that the number of WordPress followers was 497 but there are also 23 that follow via email. I only realized tonight that we have a Facebook link on the sidebar but no clear and simple way to follow the blog. There is now a follow button on the right-hand sidebar. If you are not a logged in WordPress user you can enter your email address to receive notifications of new posts. Continue reading
Is the Bible Just a Book?
Is the Bible a book that can be studied like any other or is it something more than that? Is the Bible the Word of God or just the words of God? Let me suggest that a simple answer is not always possible and sometimes “both/and” is the best option.
The Bible is a collection of ancient texts. While the Bible is primarily a religious text much of it’s bulk, particularly the Old Testament, is made up of history, poetry and wisdom sayings. It presents chronicles of the kings of Israel and long lists of genealogy. The sacred texts of the Old Testament form the basis of Judaism, the monotheistic religion of ethnic Jews. Continue reading
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