Scripture Engagement

When a new programme starts it's often tempting to set it up as a Bible translation programme. Sometimes that's appropriate. In many cases, for a variety of reasons, it's not. This is because: It's a minority language People tend to be bi- or multi-lingual (at least if they live in towns, or have been educated) They're oral preference They're illiterate or semi-literate, or literate only in the language of wider communication They aren't yet Christian believers etc. If any or all of the above are true, then it's good to start with language development and Scripture engagement rather than full-blown Bible translation, where you translate whole books of the Bible, and aim for a full Bible or New Testament + Psalms or Panoramic Bible. Sometimes the only reason for doing the latter is the kudos of the team, which is not a good reason. We're aiming for transformed communities, not team kudos! The above flowchart shows the various stages. Note that the pro...

I recently asked the Scripture Engagement team which of the above (see graphic) we do well and which not so well. Their answer? We do production well, publishing and distribution fairly well, promotion not so well, and engagement hardly at all. The fact is that if we are going to produce digital Scriptures, we need not only to publish and distribute them, but to promote them and see the intended audience engage well with them. Often, even those of us producing a lot of digital Scriptures, find ourselves on a kind of treadmill where we produce a product, then go straight onto the next, without thinking about these other steps. Make sure the products are being promoted on Social media (vk.ru, ok.ru, Instagram, Facebook... ) and that someone is following up on those who take a regular interest in them. If we get likes, re-shares and comments that's great! If people are commenting again and again that's even better! Testing is another good way of getting feedback, so make sure s...

I feel a rant coming on, so beware... Is our goal the translation of the Holy Scriptures? Most of us would instinctively say, 'Yes!' But I have a question. If our actual goal is transformation of the lives of people in a community's through their engagement with Scripture a) how is it best to achieve that and b) what do we mean by Scripture? How to Achieve the Goal The best way of achieving the goal is for the community themselves to be in charge of their own transformation. Now, this means they are in charge of what format, what language, the scope of the work, and who carries it out. It might be that they need input from an external (from the same country, or region) consultant (or consultants), but the community can carry out their own work. If they're in an area that isn't predominantly Christian, then there are some additional challenges. How can people best be reached? How are they going to be discipled into salvation? Who can the team work with i.e. who is go...

 In this age of temporary structures and temporary relationships it's good to know that our Lord does not ever leave us. The other day I was working on Joshua chapter 1 and was reminder how precious this verse is: No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 1.5 As the Israelites prepared to enter Canaan, with Joshua at the helm, they needed to know that Yahweh, they God they worshipped, was with them, and would never leave them. In the context of this passage it assures them of future victories in battle, as they took on the Canaanites. For us, we can be sure that whatever we have to face, the Lord will be with us.  There's a really good scene in the Netflix series Shtisel , where Ruchami is reassured by her fiance Hanina that he will never leave her. She had been worried that, just as her father left her mother (but later returned, cap in hand), Hanina would one day lea...

Many people will be surprised to discover that the Bible contains curses, and that some of these are by God! Why would God do such a thing?  In most cases a curse is the removal of a blessing. God blesses us and says, 'But there are conditions to you keeping this blessing! If you disobey me in these things, and break those conditions, then I will remove the blessing (i.e. you will be cursed).' For example, in Gen 4 God warns Cain not to sin, but he goes ahead and sins anyway, by killing his own brother Abel. After that Cain is cursed 'away from the ground' i.e. he won't be able to farm the soil as an agriculturalist any more. That soil has soaked up Abel's blood. He doesn't deserve to live the life of a farmer. He is condemned to a life of travelling about in the land of 'wandering'. "10 The Lord said, ‘What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. 11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which...

Integral mission, which leads to holistic transformation, can be defined as follows: Integral mission or holistic transformation is the proclamation and demonstration of the gospel. It is not simply that evangelism and social involvement are to be done alongside each other. Rather, in integral mission our proclamation has social consequences as we call people to love and repentance in all areas of life. And our social involvement has evangelistic consequences as we bear witness to the transforming grace of Jesus Christ. Micah Declaration (2001) Prior to that the Lausanne covenant had said something similar: We affirm that God is both the Creator and the Judge of all men. We therefore should share his concern for justice and reconciliation throughout human society and for the liberation of men and women from every kind of oppression. Because men and women are made in the image of God, every person, regardless of race, religion, colour, culture, class, sex or age, has an intrinsic digni...

'The book of Romans wasn't written by Luther. The book of Romans wasn't even written by Calvin. The book of Romans was written by Paul, and Paul was a Jew, and we Jews, don't like Gentiles!' Martin Goldsmith, All Nations Christian College, 1991-92. We are so used to reading Romans through the eyes of Luther and Calvin that we forget that the reason it was written was quite different from the issues those venerable theologians faced. The problem, from a Jewish perspective, is that the Gentiles were considered to be so impure as to be beyond the bounds of God's saving grace. They were the uncircumcised, sexually immoral, idolatrous, unclean people who couldn't possibly by part of God's saving plan. But God's plan did include them (Gen 12:1-3), and Isaiah, amongst others, prophesied that 'all nations' would be included in temple worship (Isa 56:6-8). In this he was correct. Jesus' resurrection and ascension changed everything. No longer was ...