New Edition of TBoTB

For those of you who are early adopters of Amazon's Kindle Reader, we've released the Matthew section of the New Testament for $.99. Why $.99? We figured after dropping $400 on the reader, you could use a deal.

Accommodate my Bible: Guest blog by Chris Smith

So you've got a copy of The Books of The Bible, and it's already making a huge difference in the way you engage Scripture. You're reading bigger chunks, even whole books, at one time; you're getting new kinds of insights, and seeing connections you never saw before. You're actually ahead on your reading plan.

But there's one problem. You've become a books-of-the-Bible person, but it's still a chapter-and-verse world.

There's something you can do about that. Ask and expect to be accommodated as you bring The Books of The Bible along with you to all of your regular activities.

If you're in your small group and the leader directs everyone to a passage using just the chapter and verse reference, speak up and say, with a perfectly straight face, "I'm sorry, but my Bible doesn't have any chapters and verses. Could you describe what episode you're referring to, and where it comes in the book?" The explanation your leader provides in response will make the discussion more meaningful for everybody.

Take your pastor aside some week, show that your Bible doesn't have any chapters and verses, and ask that for your sake, the scripture lesson be identified by content ("the discussion of prayer in the Sermon on the Mount") as well as by reference. You can even invite your pastor to do an experiment one week, and not give anybody the chapter and verse reference for the scripture lesson. Instead, see if it isn't more meaningful to lead them to it through the book's structure: "Has everybody found Matthew? Good. Now Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus, then the story of his birth and early ministry. Flip through those, and you'll come to a collection of his foundational teachings. There Jesus first tells us what it means to be blessed; then he tells us how we can truly fulfill the law; and then he tells us in what spirit we should give and pray and fast. We're going to look this morning at what He says about prayer. Does everybody have the place?"

It might feel somewhat provocative, even subversive, to ask to be accommodated to this extent. But by gently persisting, you will be helping to introduce new habits of Scripture engagement that will benefit everyone. Individual requests like these drive broader change. The social flow has to redirect itself around those who are standing gracefully in its way. You'll be like the people who always asked "Is this a smoke-free facility?" before deciding to eat in a restaurant or stay in a hotel. Look how far their expectation of being accommodated has brought us.

Chris Smith is consulting editor on The Books of The Bible. His book detailing his work, The Beauty Behind the Mask is available on Amazon.com

Awakening '08

John and I are at Awaken '08 in Pasadena this week. We've been sampling TBoTB, Kingdom Come-Kingdom Go, The Book of Psalms, Amos, etc. We'll be in Denver next week, then Grand Rapids the week after. Knee surgery will be a welcome vacation come month end.

We've been meeting tons of great people from all around the country. Bob from California told me about an experience he had with an agnostic friend. The person had been given a very large study Bible. He told Bob he had been reading it and wanted to get together to talk about it. When they did, his friend kept pointing at different parts in the Bible saying, "I disagree with this. I disagree with this. I disagree with this."

The thing Bob noticed was that his friend wasn't pointing at Scripture. He was pointing at the notes.

I'm just sayin's all.

If you're going to be at either of these conferences, stop by our booth. If you're going to be a both, we'll definitely have something special for you.