TiBrew.comLove is that liquor sweet / and most divine
Which my God feels as blood; / but I, as wine
    - George Herbert

Biblegateway rolls out the TNIV as NIV

November 17th, 2010

***Update: Dr. Karen H. Jobes explains I’ve jumped to some wrong conclusions. My apologies. The new NIV is apparently not identical to the TNIV, although they share some updates in common. It would appear that this is a classic case of do your homework before raising a stink so you don’t look like a fool (Prov. 17:27 [NIV 1984] [NIV 2010]). Side note: If you click the two links you might notice a slight difference between the two illustrating some of the updates (“man” vs. “one” and “having” vs. “of”). Ironically, my very rusty Hebrew actually prefers the ESV here, but the moral of the story though is that if I’d practiced that verse (which I memorized a while back) a little better, I might not be writing this update.

I’ve been a big fan of BibleGateway.com ever since I discovered it. Not only is it an easy way to access scripture in multiple different translations, but the topical linking and searching it offers are helpful in exploring topics. It defaults to the NIV, which saves me an extra step when searching, since the NIV is my preferred translation.

Today I typed in Philippians 4:8 so I could quickly take a look at the context of the verse, and I noticed that the NIV (which I memorized) didn’t exactly match what was showing up on the screen. However, the website still claimed it was the “NIV” translation. Then I noticed a link on the right side to “An Introduction to the updated NIV.” Turns out, what was once labeled as the TNIV has dropped the “T” on BibleGateway and is now considered just the NIV. This may be due to the publisher’s original intentions of “discontinuing” the 1984 NIV in 2011.

If you ask me, this is wrong. I don’t think the TNIV is “evil” with its gender-neutral language and other updates they’ve made. I understand that many changes have brought greater faithfulness to the originals or clarified readings for more current speech. That aside, my beef is that they’re re-labeling Scripture translations: “NIV” has become “NIV (1984 Version)” and “TNIV” is now “NIV”. The NIV Bibles found in thousands of pews across this country are no longer going to be the same as new (T)NIV Bibles. Rather than saying to our congregations that a group of scholars has taken updated scholarship and written the most precise translation to date, we’re labeling two different translations the same: how does that help affirm Scriptural inerrancy? “My NIV is different from your NASB” is a question that can be answered credibly. “My NIV is different from your NIV” is a bit more sticky.

If the TNIV is better, serve that up as default–I have no problem with that. Just label it TNIV, or even tNIV if you want to understate the T a little. How can we roll out large-scale updates to the NIV–changes large enough that for 8 years we called it the TNIV–and call it still the same translation?

PS. If we’re so concerned about accuracy, can we finally get rid of John 7:53-8:11, or at least move it to a footnote? Our most reliable, earliest manuscripts don’t include this passage. If scholars know it doesn’t belong, it shouldn’t be in there. There was enough furor over the TNIV to begin with, why not actually do things right?

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Love. Loving yourself? Loving others?

November 10th, 2010

As I prepare to speak this week on Love, I find myself confronted with a plethora of opinions that contradict Scriptural perspectives on love. There are 116 million results returned by Google if you search for “Learn to love yourself.” I read through a few of the top results, and it grieves me deeply to see a repeated theme that roots the entire idea of “Love” firmly in narcissism.

Take, for instance, Leslie Karen Lobell writes atTheArtOfLoving.com,

I have made the analogy that, if you keep giving to others without giving to yourself, it is like pouring water from a vessel. If you pour and pour without ever refilling it, eventually, it will run dry. So, if we are like that vessel, how do we refill, recharge, re-energize, and replenish ourselves, so that we will have energy and love to give to others and to the world? The answer is: by loving and giving to ourselves, first.

In other words, we are the source of love.

Scripture clearly contradicts this idea in 1 John 4:7, which tells us that “love is from God.” Later on John writes “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 Jn. 4:10, NIV). At the foundation of the worldly concept of love lies the belief that we deserve to be loved, treated well, respected, etc. At the foundation of a Christian view lies the belief that we are sinners who deserve nothing more than the wages of sin, the penalty of death–and yet God loves us enough to sacrifice his only Son on our behalf, to pour out our punishment on Christ instead of us.

In clear contrast to Ms. Lobell’s analogy, 1 John 4 teaches that we are a glass devoid of all traces of true love. We cannot fill ourselves up with a love that we don’t have within us to begin with. However, God shows his love to us in Christ, pouring an endless supply of love into our life if we will only accept it. From that eternal spring we are then enabled to also pour out into the lives of others a love that originates in God. We cannot “run dry” when our love comes from God.

Thus, when we find in 1 Corinthians 13 that “love is not self-seeking…always perseveres” we can truly live that out. A “love” that originates in self-love dies when personal needs are not met, when the giver is scorned, or when will-power gives out. A love that flows from God’s eternal grace can never be out-paced. As much as we can ever attain to loving others, God is always there ahead of us, loving us more than we could ever deserve.

“Love” based in self-love reveals itself as selfishness when push comes to shove. If you come first before others, your love for them becomes an action you live out to prove to yourself that you are “good”, a secondary priority in a life designed around keeping yourself happy. If God comes first, love becomes a natural response to the undeserved favor he pours out on us. “We love because he first loved us.” (1 Jn. 4:19)

Where does your love come from?

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A Christian worldview on Twilight: Eclipse

July 23rd, 2010

WARNING: This post contains spoilers.

Tonight I went and saw the new Twilight move (Eclipse) and it got me to thinking about the messages the movie is trying to pass along. And messages are definitely there. I’ve picked a few that might be worth considering if you see this movie with your teens or pre-teens.

  1. The graduation speech. A graduation speech is delivered that focuses not on seeking for self-improvement through discipline of any sort, but rather through repeated failure. Students are encouraged to fall in love multiple times. Supposedly, once you’ve tried everything you’ll know what is “you.”

    The problem here is that experimenting is not a Christian value. Romans 12:1-2 says that as we offer our bodies as living sacrifices we will be transformed and will be able to test and approve God’s will. Engaging in whatever impulse captures your attention often leads us directly into sin, which does reveal who we are (that is, sinners) but provides no hope of becoming something so much more: this is only done in Christ, and only by surrendering our own wills to him. (This is the “confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord” of Romans 10:9)

    Discovering the right path for you in the future is not about impulsive experimentation, but about dying to yourself and seeking the abounding Grace that God has promised to those who seek him.

  2. A Struggle between “who I’m supposed to be” and “who I am.” At the end of the movie Bella explains just why she’s making such a “foolish” choice as the result of her own pervasive sense of not quite fitting into the role that society thinks she ought to play. Only in joining Edward’s world will she truly fit, truly belong.

    In the beginning, God created man and woman to be perfect, and to enjoy fellowship with Him. However, Isaiah 59:2 explains our dilemma: “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” None of us truly belong in a sin-filled existence, because we were designed for perfection with God. It is not until we allow Him to change us that we will ever experience life fully as we were intended to. And much like the case with Bella being incapable of bringing about this change for herself, we can only ask God to do for us what Ephesians 2 so eloquently captures:

    As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

  3. The power of Love. Edward and Jacob are natural enemies, and it is only their love for Bella that brings them together and unites two species who have hated each other time out of mind. Because they care for her more than anything else, they are drawn together into her need.

    So it will be with Christ. We know that God is love, He is the source of all true Love (see 1 John 4), and it is not until we love him passionately, more than anything else, that the hatred that defines this world will fade away as we join together in following his perfect plan. The Jews and Arabs will never reach peace over coffee, but someday when Christ reigns, the lion will lay down with the lamb. (Is. 65:25)

This is really just scratching the surface, but it’s very clear that Paul’s comparison of Christ and the Church with a husband and wife is as relevant today as it ever were. If we recognize the source and nature of true love and understand how God intended us to be (and intends us to live), it’s easy to see the dim shadows of these glorious truths played out everywhere, even in the love stories of a secular hollywood.

One last note: I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Edward turns down Bella’s sexual advances because he is concerned about her virtue and wants to save sex for after marriage. Sure, it’s described as “ancient” rules, but there is a noble character there that Edward displays that you just don’t see very often in pop culture. Major kudos for this one! (This alone would put me solidly on Team Edward if I wasn’t already there)

Parents, you can do much worse than this flick. If you let your kids see it, make sure you don’t miss out on abundant opportunities to talk through this from a Christian worldview.

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VersePack 1.1.4 and the KJV

July 17th, 2010

The latest version of VersePack just hit the iTunes store, and with it I feel the need to explain a few things.

Up until now, the KJV has not been available as an officially supported import source (with custom configuration it is possible to add any version with a compatible web source), but with VersePack 1.1.4 it is now a $0.99 addon (US, other countries/currencies may differ slightly). Why?

First, why is it now included?

  • Because a lot of people like it and use it.
  • Because I want to help all people memorize Scripture, not just those who agree with me on every last doctrinal point.

Why was it previously excluded? It was excluded because the language it was written in is an instant turn-off to many unbelievers. Many who experience the KJV can’t hear the Truth of God’s Word because either the language is too archaic for them to understand, or because it reminds them of some guy who used to (maybe hypocritically) scream scripture at them to tell them how evil and despicable they are.

It was also excluded because I’d love people to learn to use more modern translations that are easier to understand by non-believers and take advantage of the last 400 years of Biblical scholarship to improve accuracy in the translations. The full version defaults to importing from the ESV in part because the ESV seeks to maintain the “majesty” of Scripture and feels a little more like the KJV for people who might be looking to switch. (As one who has studied Greek and Hebrew, I also find it to be an excellent translation from the original languages). Learning a bit of the NIV, NET, ESV, or NLT might be the best thing you ever did for your unbelieving family members and friends.

To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. (1 Cor. 9:22, NIV)

Nevertheless, VersePack is about memorizing Scripture, not championing any specific doctrine. So the KJV is now available in VersePack, and I trust that God will use his Word to accomplish all He has set forth for it to accomplish. If you are a KJV kind of person, I know you probably have a very going reason for it, but it might help you to read a bit more on the KJV.

so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. (Is. 55:11, NIV)

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Book Review: Till We Have Faces

July 6th, 2010

Every once in a while I read a book that makes me catch my breath, but I think I’m starting to see a trend.

Perelandra was one of them. Just about every one of the Chronicles of Narnia also did it. Mere Christianity did. This last weekend I read Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold and it did the same.

What do all of these have in common? They’re all written by C.S. Lewis. What else do they have in common? The parts that really reach out and grab me are all deeply theological passages. It’s as if Lewis has this incredible gift for taking something we so often disdain as ephemeral or unscientific and making it into the most concrete reality out there. He shows the physical world for what it really is: a temporary reality that is only a small portion of the Reality that is eternal.

Till We Have Faces is not Lewis’s story (the subtitle itself should indicate that). It is based on a Greek myth, and thus draws in the polytheistic tone and tenor of that literature. But as one who believed that pagan religion could be beneficial as a step in the direction of true Christian monotheism, Lewis digs down into the story and turns it entirely on its head. The story is tragic, but beautiful.

You won’t find as clear of analogies between this plot and the eternal drama told in the Scriptures as you do in Perelandra or Narnia, because those two worlds are set up as somewhat parallel worlds by which God can be viewed creating similar stories to Scripture in fantastic settings. Instead, Faces takes place in this world, in the mythological past, and begins to reveal how all is not what it seems. There is something greater that lies behind the mythology, something True that has been obscured.

One cannot be saved by reading this book, but a reader will definitely be encouraged to look a little deeper, and a believer will be inspired to imagine a much more stirring, beautiful picture of God than he or she has ever considered. If you know Christ, read it to stimulate your own relationship with him. If you do not know Christ, reading this will make you wonder what it is you’re missing.

This book is one of my new favorites. You definitely must read it.

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Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

May 31st, 2010

At times I wonder if hollywood will ever put out an entertaining movie that I can really recommend to youth without attaching a zillion caveats about sexual content or profanity.  Even animated movies are often tainted by suggestive dialogue or swearing.  Of course, when such a movie (that is, one mostly free from objectionable content) exists, it is often intolerably lame–at least for the young male demographic.

Then along comes Prince of Persia!  While critics have been a little harsh on this one, I personally loved it, and feel comfortable recommending it to guys looking for an action movie (even as a youth pastor!).  This is an action movie, so obviously there’s some action, and a bit of violence–not too gory, but swordfights, snakes, and poison are present.  Sexual content is almost non-existent (it’s more tame than Princess Leia in Return of the Jedi).  I can’t recall any profanity.  Kids in Mind has a more detailed breakdown, but if you’re not up to reading their summary, suffice it to say that if you’re thinking of a male age 13 or older, he can probably handle it.

The story itself is entertaining, it stays reasonably faithful to the video game it’s based on, and the movie is well-made.  Lines aren’t blurred between good and evil, and the idea of heroic self-sacrifice rates high.  The only thing I’d even really find worth mentioning (outside the violence, if you’re staunchly opposed to that) is the mythology and one brief reference to pluralism (“the only truth the Persians accept is their own”)–the story grows out of what appears to be Hinduism.  This aside, Prince of Persia is probably the best “guy movie” I’ve seen in a LONG time in terms of morally acceptable content.

It’s hard today to echo David’s sentiment in Psalm 101:3-4 and justify watching anything out of Hollywood targeted at guys.  Prince of Persia just might fit that bill.

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VersePack is now available!

March 17th, 2010

After a year of intending to build this iPhone App, VersePack has finally been completed. It’s my first App (hopefully not my last) and so far has been well-received. Given its nature (and my love for Scripture memory), I’m praying this App does a lot more than just get installed on a few iPhones (or iTouches). Essentially it’s a “verse pack” (card holder) similar to what The Navigators® recommend for use with their Topical Memory System. Ditch your vinyl verse wallet today!

If you’re not familiar with the TMS, I highly recommend you check it out! (And then, obviously, get the app…)

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Tim Tebow's Football ad and a sane Feminist

February 1st, 2010

If you haven’t heard it, Tim Tebow is in an ad set to air during this week’s Super Bowl, and NOW is up in arms against it. Despite the fact that the commercial is (reportedly) non-confrontational, positive, and perhaps even inspiring, they’ve been demanding that CBS not allow it to air.

First, kudos to CBS for not bowing to their agenda.

Second, kudos to Sally Jenkins. Who’s she? A feminist with a brain, apparently. Normally I don’t recommend anyone read feminist ideologies except to point out where they stray from a Christian worldview, but in this case I’ll make an exception, because there’s a lot of wisdom here. It’s not worth trying to explain: you’ve just got to read this article on Tebow’s Super Bowl Ad isn’t intolerant, it’s critics are.

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Laughter is the Best Medecine

January 27th, 2010

…or so they say. Sometimes, Youtube just has something so funny you can’t help but pass it on.

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MTV and "To Save a Life"

January 25th, 2010

Wait, what? The MTV Movies blog is advising readers to go see To Save a Life.

These are definitely not the kind of values that MTV typically promotes, but that should say something about the state of today’s youth culture and the quality of this flick. Kudos, MTV.

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