I was at the CBD site earlier today (Christian Book Distributors) and found that they had an electronic edition of the HCSB for their CBD Reader. It is the updated edition of the HCSB. Check it out.
Free Electronic Copy of the HCSB update at CBD
Religion and Spirituality
HCSB Minister’s Bible
I just received a review copy of the HCSB Minister’s Bible in the mail. Anyone who reads this blog knows that I really like the HCSB translation. I am very excited about the forthcoming revision. I cannot wait till it is released and anticipate the forthcoming HCSB Study Bible.
My first impressions of the Bible is that the formatting is the best I have seen. I absolutely love the single column paragraph format. It is also a black-letter Bible, thank you B&H Publishing! The Bible itself has all of the technical textual notations at the bottom of the page. It is not a reference Bible. I have absolutely no problems with this at all. Typically the references do not run parallel to my train of thought. There are some articles in the back of the Bible that would be helpful for those in ministry. The Bible does include the normal HCSB text Bible features: plan of salvation, concordance, bullet note index, and several tables.
I will have much more on this Bible in the future. Everything that I has seen so far is absolutely wonderful.
Update:
I have had plenty of time using this Bible to make a more informed review. The Bible is smyth sewn which makes it possible for the Bible to lay flat and will also ensure that the binding lasts longer (kudos to Holman for making the majority of their Bibles with sewn bindings – we appreciate it). The cover itself is genuine leather (it is not the best I have seen but certainly not the worst).
The font is very easy on the eyes in regard to size. It is a different font character than I have seen in other Bibles. This does not make it bad just different. Christians are unique when it comes to Bibles. There is a large segment which does not want to see any variation between Bible translations (font, format, translation theory, etc…) so I don’t know how this will effect potential customers.
I like that this is a black letter text. The truth is that there was no such thing in the original letters. A black letter text forces readers to recognize that every single word in the Bible carries equal inspiration and weight.
The text is in a paragraph format with a single column of text. I prefer this layout of the biblical text. It allows you to focus on the text at hand rather than all of the visual noise on the rest of the page. It does feature the textual notes at the bottom of the page which is very a useful feature. The notes provide pertinent information for alternate renderings, Hebrew or Greek textual manuscript information, or literal translations.
This is a wide margin edition. It has ample amount of space on the outside of the text which allows users to record their own studies and thoughts on the biblical text. I have been able to record notes from my own studies in the margins and have had sufficient room to write. I think that this is an excellent feature in a Bible.
The Bible paper is thin. There is some bleed through from the text on the opposite side of a page. The boldness of the font on the facing page actually makes the bleed through less of an issue. The font on the facing page grabs your attention and minimizes the distraction. I did notice that after writing on a page that the edges of the page began to curl. Over time the page goes back to normal.
There is a pastoral helps section. I am a pastor but do not choose to use the helps. The helps are well done and could be very useful. I choose to use this as more of a study/teaching/preaching Bible, not a minister’s manual (not that there is anything wrong with such a use).
There is a full concordance in the back of the Bible. Since the HCSB is an optimal equivalence translation such a feature is a useful tool.
All things considered, I think that this is an excellent edition of the HCSB. I would encourage others, who like the HCSB and want a Bible to record their study notes in, to purchase this Bible. This is the first edition of the HCSB text so it would probably be wise to purchase Minister’s Bible which features the updated text.
Pragmatism Rules?
Pragmatism has become the god of this age. If it works, do it. Regardless of right and wrong, we live in an age dominated with the belief that the end justifies the means. There is an entire section in Christian bookstores dedicated to church growth. Rarely, do any of these books deal with prayer and preaching straight biblical truth. These books deal with discovering what unregenerate people want and then giving it to them so they will come to your church building. If they find preaching boring…shorten the sermon. If they find hell offensive…leave it out. If they want to be inspired …leave out the parts about sin. We have studied and learned what lost people want and as a result we cater to the lusts of their flesh. But, they come to churches around the country listening to watered-down preaching and an un-offensive gospel. If only the apostle Paul knew as much as we do (1 Cor. 1:17). He said the gospel he preached was offensive to unbelievers and that GOd Himself had to enable lost people to believe it (1 Cor. 1:18-25, 30-31).
I have been sucked into the lie of being more concerned about not offending people than being concerned with not offending God. I have feared man more than I have feared God. This is not right. I have repented of this and asked God to help me to fear Him more than man. I have asked Him to help me to preach all of His Word and to do it without apology. Prayer, biblical preaching, and biblical worship are not in style currently. The truth is that throughout time Satan has attacked these things and believers have been seeking the respect and approval of this world. Scripture says that we are citizens of heaven. Christ said that the world would hate us because we belong to Him. The apostle John said that if you love this world you don’t love God (1 John 2:15-17). James said that friendship with this world makes one an enemy of God (Jas. 4:4-5). Scripture says that the world is under the authority and influence of Satan (1 John 5:19; Eph. 2:1-3; 6:10-12).
We have believed the lie that we can convince spiritually dead people who are enemies of God and offended by the gospel to believe in Jesus Christ by speaking our wisdom to them and by entertaining them. God has chosen the method of believers verbally preaching the gospel to unbelievers and He alone is the one who enables them to believe an offensive gospel message. We gather as a church to pray, worship, and to sit under the preaching of the Word of God. As God’s Word is preached to us without apology, it will convict us, anger us, and break us. It will be uncomfortable at times as God speaks truth into our lives. God’s Word is essential for evangelizing lost people and for discipling saved people to Christ-likeness. There is no substitute.
Church Issues
One of the main issues confronting the church is whether we will submit to the authority of the Word of God. As people with sin indwelling us, we have sinful desires at times. We want things and expect things which are not biblical. Does that mean we are to disregard the Word of God and do as we please? What does one call such an action? Scripture calls it sinful rebellion. In the U.S. we have experienced such affluence and prosperity that we are accustomed to getting what we want, when we want it. This has led to Christians in local churches saying, “Well, we know what the Bible says but…that is not what people want and expect.”
Anytime the phrase, “We know what the Bible says” is followed by the word “but” we are treading on dangerous ground. I am going to share something which is really not very profound – it really does not matter what people want and expect. It really only matters what God wants and expects. This should change our thinking about how to do church and what to communicate in it.
The Re-Release of “Ashamed of the Gospel” by John MacArthur
I received this book free from Grace to You about a month ago. I always love to receive free things but I was swamped with work so I was unable to start reading right away. I just finished the book yesterday and here are some initial thoughts:
The book is a revision but it is still extremely relevant for our evangelical Christians today. Its message hits on the greatest dangers facing the church currently. The undermining of accurate, authoritative truth statements has been going on for some time but now it has gained traction in the church. The truth is that it isn’t alive and well only in the Emerging Church conversation. It is alive and well in conservative Bible believing churches around the U.S. Children up through adults have been effected through media of all forms. Evangelicals have been influenced to believe that it is not intellectually credible to believe authentic, authoritative, inerrant truth. They have been made to believe that no such thing exists. This is a major issue when it comes to the Word of God. The Word of God presents itself as such, so evangelicals are scrambling to redefine what the Bible means when it makes such statements.
What MacArthur has done in this book reminds me of what Spurgeon did to stand against the Down-Grade Controversy. MacArthur has spoken out against the fluffy version of love that has infected Christianity, which never stands on truth against error. The theology of tolerance and acceptance of everything has infected the church. It is a sickness and the solution is repentance and a return to the Word of God.
I think that MacArthur has provided a very timely message in this book. God used it to bring a great deal of conviction in my own life and thinking. I suggest that you read the book. I believe you will find the circumstances facing the church in England toward the end of Spurgeon’s life eerily similar to the conditions of the church in the U.S. during our time. Read the book.
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NASB Ultrathin Large Print Reference Calfskin Bible
I am selling my Foundation Publications Calfskin NASB Bible on Amazon. This is the one that I did a review for on this very blog. I am selling it for $65 and it is in very good condition. I am also selling an ESV thinline Bible, an HCSB Scofield Reference Bible, an HCSB hardcover text Bible, and an HCSB gift & award Bible. They are all very reasonably priced and I am no longer in need of them.
Moralism or Evangelism?
The New Testament church provides us with a picture of what born again Christians are to strive to emulate. Our American culture makes this a difficult endeavor. There is such a thing as personal repentance and faith without which regeneration does not occur. Yet, the body element of Christianity is difficult in our current culture of rugged individualism. American Christians have difficulty understanding the group-life depicted in the New Testament – church discipline (Matt. 18:15-20); common property (Acts 4:32-35); and family care-giving (1 Tim. 5:3-16). These accounts (along with others) are difficult for us to wrap our minds around because individual fulfillment and welfare have always been at the forefront of our thinking. The irony of the matter is that this makes New Testament Christianity difficult to accept and practice. This has resulted in needing to reinterpret Christianity to make it fit out individualistic worldview. Christ has been recast as the friend who fulfills all our dreams and desires. He has been remodeled so that He is not Lord of the universe but instead a cosmic life-coach who exists for the purpose of fulfilling us. This is not New Testament Christianity.
So, what is the answer? In the past, the solution of American evangelicals was to create the Moral Majority, which was based upon the attempt to moralize unregenerate people, not evangelize them. Apparently, we believed that God’s method of transforming the lives of lost people (evangelism) was no longer effective. Since evangelism was no longer effective, we needed to keep the morality of lost people in check. Therefore, the only effective means of doing so was through politics, petitions, picketing, and legislation. We could not possibly expect God’s means of transforming the lost to work, so we have sought to the help of politicians to fix the morality of the lost through secular laws, rather than through sharing the gospel so God may divinely transform the lives of lost people. It is certainly a good thing that we figured out that God’s way of evangelism was not working because looking to the Republican Party to save us is working out great. I looked for that verse in the New Testament and the only Savior I found mentioned was Jesus Christ. I also found that His means of changing lives is Christians evangelizing and praying for the lost, while God saves souls. Scripture never instructs Christians to look to secular government to moralize the lost or as a solution for the spiritual condition of the lost, especially since many of those in authority are lost.
Maybe there would be more opportunities to proclaim the gospel if we were not spending so much time proclaiming the platform of the Republican Party. Why are we more passionate about moralism through politics than about the salvation of the lost through the gospel? Do we realize why people around us are so immoral? It is because they are spiritually dead, as a result of rejecting the gospel. They are on their way to hell because they have rejected the finished work of Christ on the cross.
When evangelical Christians hear that people want abortion on the demand and homosexual marriage, we become distraught and write our congressman to protest. Really? Why aren’t we distraught that these people are lost and bound for hell? Instead, why don’t we preach the gospel and pray that God will save their souls? Which response is more inline with the New Testament Scriptures? Political protest or preaching the gospel and prayer?
Is the gospel so powerless to change the lives of sinners that we must turn to politics and protest? Should we continue to abandon evangelism for moralizing the lost through legislation? Moralizing the lost through political legislation is relying upon the efforts of man to change the human heart, which will only result in moral people who are lost for eternity. Evangelizing the lost through the gospel and prayer is relying upon God to change the human heart. Which one does God say to trust? Republicans or God? Is God up in heaven wringing His hands hoping that the Republicans come up with a more compelling political platform? I doubt it. God does not put His trust in humans and neither should evangelical Christians. Drop the politics. Preach the gospel.
Free Online NASB, ESV, NKJV, KJV Bible Software
I have been using this for a while and had not yet thought of passing the word to others. The reason that I like this software is that it contains the NASB in paragraph format. This is very unique as most of you know who use the NASB. I would recommend you check it out. The site is called BerBible.