In the first article of this series we examined some of the basic issues in Bible translation. We saw the difference between paraphrase, dynamic equivalence and formal equivalence and identified some rules of translations. Of utmost importance was the necessity of translating words, not meaning. Today we continue with the introduction to translating and translations.…
The Ken Jennings Show – It is the last day of November. Just where has the month gone to? Time seems to be accelerating for some reason. Time could be slowing for Ken Jennings, the man who has won 74 consecutive shows of Jeopardy. According to the rumor mill (ie two people who attended the…
This is the first in a series of articles which will examine the various Bible translations available today in the English language. With such a multitude of translations available, Christians are often puzzled as they attempt to discern which one most accurately represents the words of God. In past years many have been told that…
Bad Timing, Good Morality – In retrospect, releasing a movie which glorifies bisexuality less than a month after an election where traditional values was so important was probably quite a mistake. I’m not sure that Oliver Stone and the folks at the studio are ready to admit it, though. It seems that a movie praised…
We would consider it a peculiarity if I claimed to love someone yet refused to spend time with him. I love my son dearly, more than life itself, and one of the most sincere expressions of my love is my desire to spend time with him, be it in reading books, playing a game, watching…
I spent a good chunk of time yesterday reading the introductions to Bible translations. Sounds fascinating, doesn’t it? I am hoping to do a series on this site about translating and translations, examining the differences in translations and trying to identify the superior ones. I dug up all the translations I could find around the…
Christianity Today has released their list of the Top 12 Albums of 2004. Generally in the past I have listened to almost all of the albums on their lists, but this year is an exception as I bought only four of them. Fortunately they made sure to give Derek Webb some love, awarding him the…
In recent days I have had a few people take the time to challenge me about their perception that this Web site, and the content of it, are largely negative in tone. As one might expect, I take offense to such comments and would largely disagree with them. I do certainly broach topics that are…
As Christians we have generally grown accustomed to the use of mainstream music in our faith and in our worship. Christian rock, once a fringe movement, has become widely-known and I suspect most Christians now listen to some form of contemporary Christian music. If you’ve ever spoken to unbelievers about this music, you know that…
In Canada we celebrated Thanksgiving long ago, on October 11. At that time I wondered on this site just who it is that people offer their thanks to if they do not believe in God. The verb “thanks” without an appropriate number of prepositions makes little sense. While everyone likes to give thanks for things…
Last weekend Billy Graham preached at what may be his final crusade, preaching before up to 82,000 people at a time. A headline at Pastors.com proclaimed the crusade a great success, indicating that some 12,000 people made decisions for Christ. In a previous article I expressed concerns with Graham’s ecumenism and the fact that Roman…
Banner of Truth features many excellent articles, but one that grabbed my attention recently is entitled simply Apostasy. The author makes a distinction between two terms that I had never stopped to differentiate – apostasy and heresy. Apostasy he defines as a rejection of truth that one once believed. So I would be apostate if…
God uses the most basic building blocks to construct his kingdom. He primarily extends his Kingdom through the family. Second only to the family is the local church. It is no wonder then, that we see both family and church under constant attack from Satan. We see all around us the level of success Satan…
The November issue of Christianity Decay Today featured an article entitled The Emergent Mystique which examines the so-called emergent church. The subheading says ‘The ’emerging church’ movement has generated a lot of excitement but only a handful of congregations. Is it the wave of the future or a passing fancy?’ The emergent church, knowing elsewhere…
This morning I decided that today I was going to write about man’s sinful condition, or as we says as Calvinists, man’s total depravity. Doing my rounds of other blogs this morning I noticed that Jollyblogger had written about this topic yesterday, so I thought I would take a slightly different approach and write about…
Many people wondered what Derek Webb was thinking when he abandoned his position as co-leader of Caedmon’s Call, a band that was routinely playing before crowds of 2000 people, to strike out on his own. After all, why would he abandon security and a regular paycheck to do his own thing? On this album he…
When I hear the word “labyrinth” I immediately think of that awful movie from the 80’s starring David Bowie. If you grew up in the 80’s I’m sure you remember it – the one that launched that career of Jennifer Connelly and brought so much pleasure to so many young girls (it seems the girls…
Today I spent some time thinking about being a witness for God. Witness has a couple of meanings, and both of them are applicable to the Christian life. The first meaning is “One who can give a firsthand account of something seen, heard, or experienced: a witness to the accident.” According to this definition, a…
The story of Lazarus, found in John 11, is one of the most moving stories we find in the Bible and surely portrays one of the most significant acts of our Lord. There is so much depth in this short story – so much we can meditate upon. It seems each time I read it…
This morning I was reading a book by a very well-known Christian pastor and author (and no, his initials were not R.W.) which discusses Christian leadership. In one section he speaks about a friend of his who has dedicated his retirement years to helping his local church, volunteering on a continual basis and delighting in…