This is Discipling from The Foursquare Church on Vimeo.

What would it look like if, as leaders, we focused less on the things that make our churches entertaining and more on making disciples? As shown by Kelly Tshibaka at Foursquare Connection 2011.

Kelly and Niki Tshibaka own all the rights to the video and are happy to distribute it free of charge. For more information or questions about it, please contact Kelly Tshibaka at kellytshibaka@hotmail.com.

In the movie “The Castle” (1997) Darryl Kerrigan gets a letter from the local council telling him his house is about to be “compulsorily acquired”……he explains to the family that that means the house is about to be “acquired compulsorily”.

In a later scene Darryl’s lawyer Denis Denuto tells the court that it’s the “vibe” of the law that’s important, not necessarily the actual words.

How should we interpret the Bible?  Should we read the scriptures and consider the audience of the text, their culture and the times they were written in or do we assume that “the vibe” of what is written has a superior meaning.  Or should it be both? Does it depend on the literary style of the text?

2 Timothy 3:16 – “All scripture is God breathed……” (NIV)

If we take a historical – cultural approach to interpreting Bible verses we then observe the text and ask questions such as:

• who was this written to? an individual? a nation?
• where were they living? what was their culture like?
• what point in history were they living? what else was happening in the world?
• what rules and traditions did they live under?
• what style is this written in? historical? poetical? instructional? is it a dream?
• what were their values?
• what purpose was the writer writing?

In doing so we learn to be observant and and read the text carefully in it’s completeness.  We probe issues, things which don’t make sense at first can usually become incredibly complex.

Next, we should ask – “what are the differences between the Biblical audience and me/us?”.  Reflecting on this question will help us see the theological principle in the text.  Understanding and living these theological principles will reveal more of Christ to us and through us.

Our goal as believers in Christ is to find the meaning of Bible text not create it for ourselves.

The big problem I have with a strictly allegorical approach to interpreting scripture is the potential for meanings to be brought out of a text by someone in a “fast and loose manner” (described by Klein et al, 2004). If a Bible chapter is read out word for word, then the preacher goes on to talk for 30 minutes about “the vibe”, with no relevant connections to any of the basic theological principles of the passage, people miss out on the richness of God’s intent.

I’m sorry, but in that case “the vibe” just does’t cut it….

It can be hard to discuss Bible verse interpretations with someone who is saying ” I read this verse and God told me that…….”, but we need to be gentle and gracious and faithful to God’s word and help explain the meaning if their interpretation is clearly in error.

Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Psalm 37.4 (NLT) Someone I know once quoted that verse as if it was a promise from God that He would make something possible based on the fact that it was a personal desire of theirs – despite the sinful fulfillment of that desire being described in many other places in the Bible.

Again, sometimes the vibe isn’t right…..

We must be observant when reading scripture.  All those involved and understand that God inspired the actual writers of those words and the editors over the years who have translated and published etc etc, inspired them all by the power of the Holy Spirit – a power which we can still have difficulty fully comprehending.

Darryl’s mate, lawyer Mr Hammill summed it up at the end of the court session when he asked the judges to consider the original intent of the people who wrote the law and what they had in mind when writing it.  We should do the same.

We should read the Bible knowing it comes from God.  It contains words written to many people over hundreds of years, but with the knowledge and intention that you and I are reading it now, in our culture and in our time, and in our own situation -  and we can have our hearts and minds opened to His very voice, through the Holy Spirit and have the fullness of Jesus Christ revealed to us through those words.

After many months BFO has a means of raising funds for the specific needs of individual children. This can be done by sponsoring a child and paying via paypal through a website. Dave Scheier in America, friend and supporter of BFO has put together a website called OrphanList.org.

Your monthly sponsorship of a child at BFO will cover their monthly living expenses including food and school fees. 100% of all sponsorships donated goes straight to the Orphanage. Please check out OrphanList.org and prayerfully consider sponsoring an Orphan.

Giving them a future in life through Bible Faith Orphanage.

The February 2011 newsletter from Bible Faith Orphanage is available to view or download from here. Please take a look at what God is doing there.

Praise God…

• A website has been created for BFO.
• The older children are beginning to understand the importance of cleanliness and to help wash the younger children.
• The boys’ choir is established and doing well.
• School feels are being provided for.

Please pray for…

• Funds to keep widows and deserted wives busy helping with the BFO children.
• Musical instruments for the children to learn to play.
• Provision for the remainder of the school fees.
• Volunteers to assist the kindergarten aged children.
• Provision of funds to purchase food.
• Aunty Rosa and helpers that God will continue to enable them in the face of many hardships.
• Funds and property to purchase a ‘home’ for the BFO children.

Proverbs 3:27-28

Nepal (MNN) ― It began a few years ago when Mission Aviation Fellowship hoped to start a flight ministry in Nepal. But that may not be exactly what God had in mind, says MAF Pilot Tim Chase.

Tim Chase: Bible dedication, Nepal

Speaking from Nepal, Chase says, “We came here originally to start a flight program, and about a year and a half into the process things weren’t going very well…. So my wife and I had to think. We asked, ‘Why did the Lord send us here?’”

It became clear to Chase when he visited the Nepal Bible Society. Chase says, “They wanted to have some electronic Bibles, but they didn’t have the ability to do it. So when I came in the door and said, ‘Do you want to try to do something like this?’ they were really excited.”

Chase had worked for IBM for 10 years before joining MAF. He says it took about nine months to convert files and customize software, but the project is now complete. Two new products were just dedicated: “A ‘Go Bible’ so they can have two Nepali Bibles on cell phone technology, and also an e-Bible program that [allows them] to have the Nepali Bible along with a commentary and a dictionary, all in Nepali.”

About 350 people celebrated as Chase demonstrated two electronic versions of the Nepali Bible on November 30, 2010. After the service, the enthusiastic crowd purchased 100 copies of e-Bible on CD and another 70 on flash drives. The number has since climbed dramatically. Go-Bible is available via download from the NBS Web site .

NBS leaders then honored Tim & Karen Chase for their role in developing these tools and presented them with a framed letter of appreciation. The NBS General Secretary Elder Tej Bahadur Jirel said, “With the generous help of Mission Aviation Fellowship, we are able to provide a software product that will greatly help Nepali Christians in the study of the Scriptures. This site will be updated with current information as we learn more from our users’ experience with the program.”

Chase says having an electronic version of the Nepali Bible is strategic. “A lot of Nepali people are living outside of Nepal. Some of them are living in the Middle East where it might not be popular to carry around a hard-copy Bible.”

This allows people to read the Bible in a less threatening manner. He also says the electronic version of the Bible allows them to share the Gospel by sending Bible verses to people via SMS text or e-mail.

Chase says the e-Bible for PC will have a specific target: “Pastors and Bible school students who, up until this point, have been doing a lot of their studying in English, which isn’t their first language. Having this tool available will give them a lot of power that they haven’t had in the past.”

Chase is now praying that a Nepali support team will be developed to maintain these valuable tools.

While MAF is known for aviation, MAF also provides distance learning technologies to help train indigenous pastors who otherwise would not have access to biblical teaching or leadership training. Through partnerships with other organizations, MAF supplies digital biblical reference and study materials, helps establish learning centers, and provides cutting-edge learning solutions that support the growth of the church. You can learn more about MAF-Learning Technologies.

Celebrate the 400th Anniversary of the King James Bible

Join the 25th Anniversary of the C. S. Lewis Foundation

Write A 2000-word essay on:
Bible, Literature and Transforming Hope

Stories of C. S. Lewis inspire readers to choose good, resist evil and risk suffering. This is generally true of classic English literature. In contrast, Europe’s pagan myths created a fate-and-spirit governed culture of fear that bred corruption. The Bible inspired many English writers to transform their world by inspiring firm hope. Explain and illustrate what elements of the Biblical worldview brought hope into English literature. Please feel free to use Lewis or any other writer of your choice. In order to help aspiring writers, you may post and consult questions, essays, videos, and links on www.RevelationMovement.com

Post your essay by March 1, 2011  On www.RevelationMovement.com

Ten best essayists will win All-Expense-Paid Literary Tour:

• July 20 – 25, 2011 —- Guided Literary Tour of London
• July 26 -August 3,2011—- Oxford and Cambridge for the C. S. Lewis Summer Institute Oxbridge 2011, “Paradigms of Hope:Transcending Chaos & Transforming Culture” (tinyurl.com/oxbridge2011)

The Summer Institute at Oxbridge is renowned for the quality of its speakers and leaders. Speakers for 2011 conference will include:

• Os Guinness
• Charles Colson
• Vishal Mangalwadi
• George Marsden

100 Essayists will win:

• Vishal Mangalwadi’s The Book That Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization

500 Essayists will win:

• Guptara Twin’s Novel, Conspiracy of Calaspia
• (Winners will need to pay the shipping costs)

To watch the video of 2008 Oxbridge Conference go to www.tinyurl.com/oxbridge2008

Meet The Promoters:
www.RevelationMovement.com
Sponsored by:
BOM International Inc
1605 E. Elizabeth St.
Pasadena, CA 91104 USA)

C. S. Lewis Foundation
www.cslewis.org

Schuman Centre for European Studies
www.SchumanCentre.eu