ESV Studiebijbel

Bij vele Christadelphians is de English Standard Version (ESV) een graag gebruikte betrouwbare letterlijke Bijbelvertaling.

Nu is er ook de nieuwe ESV Study Bible die „gezond Bijbels onderwijs” wil bieden, waar je ook bent.

Al maanden voor de publicatie van de nieuwe ESV Study Bible in oktober was het publiek via een speciale website en andere kanalen op internet warm gemaakt voor de Engelse studiebijbel. De verkoopcijfers liegen er dan ook niet om. De eerste 100.000 exemplaren waren al voor verschijning uitverkocht.

De huidige opleving van het calvinisme in de VS draagt bij aan de populariteit van de ESV. Reformatorische leiders als John Piper, Albert Mohler voorzagen de studiebijbel van een warme aanbeveling.

Crossway wil niet alleen zorgen voor een betrouwbare Bijbelvertaling, maar Bijbellezers ook hulpmiddelen bieden om de Bijbel beter te begrijpen en in hun leven toe te passen. De meeste auteurs hebben een reformatorische achtergrond en allen hebben ze hun sporen verdiend in de academische theologie.

Het naslagwerk is in meerdere opzichten bijzonder. Zo bevat het ruim 2700 pagina’s tellende boek naast de gebruikelijke toelichtende voetnoten en inleidingen per Bijbelboek meer dan 200 kaarten en tal van artikelen met achtergrondinformatie over de Bijbel en het lezen van de Bijbel. Ook telt de studiebijbel ruim veertig kaarten en illustraties.

 

Would you believe it took nearly 500 years to translate the ESV Bible? That’s because the ESV builds on the great translations of the past—including William Tyndale’s New Testament of 1526 and the King James Version (KJV) of 1611.

Altogether the ESV translation work involved an exceptional team of more than 100 worldwide, including: (1) the twelve-member Translation Oversight Committee, led by Dr. J. I. Packer as the General Editor; (2) sixty leading Bible Scholars; as well as (3) a sixty-member Advisory Council—all of whom are committed to historic Christian orthodoxy and to the timeless truth and authority of the Bible.

The goal and vision of the ESV Study Bible is, first and foremost, to honor the Lord—in terms of the excellence, beauty, and accuracy of its content and design; and in terms of helping people come to a deeper understanding of the Bible, of the Gospel, and of Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

• About the ESV - get an overview of the ESV.
• Translation Details - learn about the ESV’s translation philosophy, who was involved, and the scholarship behind the translation.
• Compare Translations
• For Churches - interested in using the ESV in your church? Start here.

Unconditional love

Jesse Dean Robertson senior writes on multiply.: One hears a lot these days about 'Unconditional Love'. The dictionary defines unconditional as 'absolute, with no conditions or reservations'. Thus, to love unconditionally is to love with no restrictions, no qualifications, no 'I love you... but...'. Do you love yourself and others unconditionally? Do you love and approve of yourself and others even when a 'foul-up' occurs or when a behaviour is not one you judge 'right'? Have you achieved that ideal state of being, even once in a while? To love yourself and others no matter what the situation is.

continue reading > Loving_Unconditionally... and find that
 the first steps towards Unconditional love include patience, understanding, and acceptance of what is. To create a world for yourself where unconditional love abounds, you can also hold the thought that the world is a friendly place. As thought is creative, you will indeed attract to yourself a friendly world. Your attitude will bring out the best in people. You will be a factor in inspiring others to opt for their highest thought. It is sometimes difficult to love unconditionally when some person or situation has 'pushed your button', so to speak. You have a choice as to how to react. You can get angry, you can pout, you can pretend that nothing is happening (ignore the person and event), or perhaps, a better way to handle it is to deal with the situation or person in a non-attached way. Taking care of what needs to be done, responding with patience and understanding, and moving on.

...
Unconditional love has to do with always coming from a loving, giving, and responsive viewpoint, recognizing the value and worth of yourself and others, and thereby producing a state of pleasure. Unconditional love is the highest truth and is not afraid to tell it.
...
unconditional love means giving people the space to make their own choices, their own mis-takes, their own successes.

Mausoleum of King Herod

"Analysis of newly revealed items found at the site of the mausoleum of King Herod at Herodium (Herodion in Greek) have provided Hebrew University of Jerusalem archaeological researchers with further assurances that this was indeed the site of the famed ruler’s 1st century B.C.E. grave.

Herod was the Roman-appointed king of Judea from 37 to 4 B.C.E., who was renowned for his many monumental building projects, including the reconstruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, the palace at Masada, the harbor and city of Caesarea, as well as the palatial complex at Herodium, 15 kilometers south of Jerusalem... "

Further reading:

Sciencedaily.com

Evangelical To Christadelphian

Michael Day wrote:

For those who may be interested in learning more about my journey to Christadelphia, check out my podcast page at podbean
Since joining the Christadelphians, I’ve had a burden to share with others my spiritual journey. The podcasts on this site describe some of the spiritual issues I’ve dealt with over the years. I hope my experiences are a blessing to you.
- Mike

Evangelical To Christadelphian

My 20 year journey from being an Evangelical to a Christadelphian

Being thankful

It is always possible to be thankful

for what is given rather than to complain about what is not given.
One or the other becomes a habit of life.
Elisabeth Elliot

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,
since as members of one body you were called to peace.
And be thankful.
Colossians 3:15

Thanksgiving. . .
is a glad and reverent lifting of the heart to
God in honor and praise for His goodness.
James R. Miller

Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving,
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
For the LORD is a great God
And a great King above all gods.
Psalm 95:2-3

"Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don't unravel."
- Author Unknown

"Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you,
with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God."
Colossians 3:16

Would you like to have a thought every day, like the first two ones? Go to > Thoughtsaday

Make thankfulness happen

You don't hear a lot of premarital counselors instructing young couples, "You know, you need to be thankful because that's really important for your relationship." They ought to, though.

Thankfulness defeats gloominess or feelings of hopelessness about marriage.
Thankfulness is binding because it requires some humility. You can't be thankful and boastful at the same time.
The humble aspects of thankfulness remove the necessity of power struggles between people.
Thankfulness colors how we pray and how we teach.

>Make Thankfulness Happen

As different as husbands and wives are, we need this foundational point of connection

Annette LaPlaca

> Thanksgiving <

> Praise and thanksgiving
The Lord's Prayer begins and ends with praise. Giving praise to God helps us to understand just how awesome He really is! We should praise Him for how powerful He is. We should praise Him for how giving He is. We should praise Him for how loving He is. We should thank Him for all that He has done, is doing and will do for us as His children. And the list goes on …

Parables work for christians too

PARABLES WORK FOR CHRISTIANS TOO: The beauty of a parable is that it embeds truth within the story. Unless you forget the story, truth has been smuggled into your mind. There are several parables that illustrate to Christians some issues relating to mission and evangelism:

Orchard parable - The Society for the Picking of Apples:
http://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/apples.htm

Emlyn and the Far Pools - fishing parable:
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/fishing.php

A Tale of Two Clubs - golfing parable:
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/golf-parable.php

More on strategic value of parables:
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/parables.php

Psychology and online evangelism and discipleship

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CYBERSPACE - DISINHIBITION

Psychiatrist John Suler offers some valuable insights into the way people interact and behave differently in cyberspace, compared with face-to-face interaction. These are very insightful in relation to online evangelism and discipleship:
http://www-usr.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/disinhibit.html