Simon Benham's Blog

Vision at the Prayer Meetings

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Benham) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 09:31:26 PST

This week we've got prayer meetings on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, starting at 8pm in K2.

We've felt to mix the prayer meetings up a bit this year, with a focus on different things each month. This will include one month dedicated to looking in more detail about they communion is all about, months dedicated to an evening of worship and months focused on a whole evening of prayer.

For this month I'm going to have an evening sharing vision, and then taking time to pray into each area I've shared about. There will be quite a bit I haven't yet talked about in blogs or on a Sunday, including progress on the goals for 2012, updates on our proposed office move, a finance update, thoughts on our plans for Christmas 2012 and some news on our international involvement. If there is time there will also be the chance to ask any questions you may have.

In a number of the areas I'll share about there are some decisions we need to make or things we're not sure about. For these I want to make space for us to hear what people sense God is saying to us prophetically.

If at all possible then please plan to be there on either Wednesday or Thursday, especially if you've never been to a prayer meeting before. Hope to see you there.

Simon.

Volunteer Oscars

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Benham) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 08:21:00 PST

Sunday 4th March is going to be a really exciting day. In the morning Tim Hughes, Director of Worship at Holy Trinity Brompton and the writer of songs such as Here I am to Worship and Happy Day, is going to be speaking at both the 9am and 11am meetings.

Then in the evening we've got our annual Volunteer Oscars, celebrating all of the amazing volunteers in our community. There will be a whole variety of awards, some silly and some serious, but all recognising the incredible contribution of all those who volunteer in so many different ways to make Kerith the church it is.

I'd therefore encourage you to plan to come both morning and evening on the 4th. Even if you're not currently volunteering, the evening will be a great opportunity to hear about what it means to be a volunteer in Kerith and how lives are being changed through all that is going on.

For anyone who would like to know about what volunteer opportunities are available, there is a whole new area on the website, with job descriptions for each of the areas where we are looking for volunteers. Please take a look, and if you're not already then choose to get involved - you'll get to meet some great people and who knows whose life will be changes because of your involvement.

Simon.

Freedom in Christ

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Benham) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 08:27:00 PST

If you were around at the Willow day when Pete Scazzero was with us recently, you'll have heard him talk about the importance of us dealing with our past if we truly want to live out the lives God has got planned for us. One of the most powerful things he did was to get us to draw a genogram, mapping out our family tree to help us begin to understand the patterns and influences from our past which have shaped who we are and how we react to different situations today. If I'm honest I stopped filling it in after a bit, as I realised some of the issues it was touching in me were so deep it could leave me incapable of telling everyone where to get their tea and coffee at the end of the session. I'm still very much a work in progress!

As I pastor the church I realise more and more that although we're new creations in Christ, and clothed with the righteousness of Jesus, we bring into that new creation so much of the old, and we can try and live out this relationship with God in our new spiritual family still being defined and shaped by our past and our natural family. Truly being set free from the past, and understanding who we now are in Christ, will transform not only our relationship with God but also every other area of our lives.

If I could I'd make it a requirement for every in our church to do the Freedom in Christ course at least once, and probably multiple times. It's a thirteen week course, inlcuding a day away, and I can't recommend it strongly enough. The course starts on Wednesday 29th February at 7.30p in K2, and is lead by a brilliant couple called Robert and Stacey Omokaro who you'll grow to know and love.

You can read a few more details about it here, and can sign up for it on a Sunday or by emailing the office at info@kerith.co.uk - if you have any other questions then please just ask :)

Simon.

In All Things?

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Benham) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 08:30:01 PST

On Sunday we're going to be looking at our next Texts for Life verse - Romans 8:28 - "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

I find this verse both a great challenge and a great encouragement. A great challenge as to whether I can truly believe that God could really be using everything that has happened in my life for good - especially those events which I look back at and think "where was God in all that". But also a great encouragement, that if it really is true that God is working all things for good, then that can give me a whole different perspective on life and the events which come my way.

If you have time between now and Sunday I'd encourage you to spend some time meditating on Romans 8:28. You can do that by just finding a quiet place and spending time thinking on each group of words in the verse, talking to God and thinking about what those words mean, both in the context of the verse and in the context of your life. On Sunday I'll be breaking the verse down into these phrases:

And we know
that in all things
God works
for the good
of those who love him, who have been called
according to his purpose.

but please feel free to break it down any way you want.

It's actually going to be a sermon in two parts, with the second half three weeks later when I'll be speaking on 2 Corinithians 1:3-4 - "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God."

It's going to be a powerful message, dealing with some gritty issues at the core of what it means to have a realtionship with God, so please be there if you can.

Simon.

Weekend Reading - Peach and Coconut

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Benham) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:28:22 PST

Many of you will know that I'm in the process of writing a book, The Peach and the Coconut, which will be a description of the culture we are trying to build at Kerith. In the end it will have around 30 chapters dealing with a whole range of subjects. About 20 chapters have been written, and are in the process of being edited, and the other 10 are in various states of completion. The aim is to try and get it finished by the summer ready for everybody to have a copy in September.

A couple of weeks ago I gave out two of the chapters, hoping to get some comments and feedback. I've had some really good responses, so thank you to everyone who has already got back to me. I thought it would be good to put the chapters out via the blog to see if anyone else would like to give some input. The chapters I gave out were the ones on money and tithing.

I realise it's quite hard seeing these chapters in isolation - in the next couple of months I'm hoping to be able to give out draft copies of all the chapters - but for now any comments on style or content would be very gratefully received. You can either leave them as comments on the blog, or email them here.

Thanks in advance, and happy reading,

Simon.

Canon Andrew White Conference Change

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Benham) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:30:02 PST

You may remember that I told you in a previous blog about a conference Canon Andrew White had asked us to host at the end of July. Sadly once Andrew's organisation started putting the conference together they found that the local hotel prices were all very high due to the dates overlapping with some minor event called the Olympics!

They've therefore decided to move the conference to September. Sadly the new dates didn't fit in with our diary, so the conference will now be held from Thursday 6th to Saturday 8th September at City Coast Church in Brighton. Let's be praying for Andrew and his organisation that the conference goes really well. We will continue to be great supporters of Andrew and all the amazing work he is doing, and hopefully we'll have him back in Bracknell sooner rather than later.

Rest assured that Julian Adams is still coming to us on Saturday 21st April - I'll have more details on how to book in for that soon.

Simon.

David McAuley

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Benham) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 07:52:06 PST

This Sunday David McAuley will be speaking at all three meetings. David is the Operations Director for the Trussell Trust which is the organisation behind the UK Foodbank Network, of which our Kerith Foodbank is a part.

David spoke last year at the midweek event where we celebrated both the opening of the new reception area, and our Foodbank's second birthday. He spoke so well I wanted all of us to have the opportunity to hear him, so I'm really delighted he's going to be with us on Sunday.

David has a passion for justice, and for the church to practically demonstrate the love of God. He's going to be speaking on our next "Texts for Life" verse, which is Micah 6:8 -

"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

It's going to be another great Sunday, and hopefully not snow affected :)

Simon.

It's Snowed :-)

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Benham) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:47:15 PST

There's a beautiful view out of our window this morning!

We will be meeting today. I'm going up to church in about half an hour, hopefully to be met by a bunch of others, and we'll make sure all the paths around the Kerith Centre and K2 are as clear as possible. If you can make it safely to church this morning then please come as it's going to be a great day with thanksgivings and Sola preaching. We'll make sure there are plenty of hot drinks available as everyone arrives. However, don't take any risks and be careful in the car parks as we won't have time to clear all of them.

Please also be looking out for elderly and vulnerable people, both in our church community and in the streets where you live. Why not pop round, clear their paths and make sure they've got enough food and their heating is ok.

Happy snowballing, and hope to see you at church.

Simon.

Thanksgiving Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Benham) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:00:07 PST

This Sunday we're going to be thanking God for a number of children in both morning meetings. Thankfulness is one of the signs of our spiritual maturity, so it will be great to take time to thank God for the gift of these children.

There will be a number of guests coming for the thanksgivings, and we seem to be in a season where others are visiting us for a whole host of reasons, so please get there early and be on the look out for guests to say hello to.

Sola will be preaching in all three meetings on this weeks "Texts for Life" verse Philippians 4:13 - "I can do all things through him who gives me strength".

It's going to be another great Sunday - please don't miss it!

Simon.

Small Change for Big Change

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Benham) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:55:00 PST

I realise that many of us do our giving to church via standing order, or some other form of online giving. I'd strongly encourage everyone who is committed to our community to do that, as it's regular giving which is the financial lifeblood of all we do as a community. That does mean, however, that if you're like me you never actually put anything in the offering baskets when they go round on a Sunday.

I've resolved this year to do something different, and as a statement of my thankfulness to God for all He has blessed me with, to put something in the basket every time it goes round (which for me will be three times most Sundays). We'll still do our regular giving as a family via standing order, this will be just a small something, just 50p or £1, above and beyond that. In reality over a Sunday that will still be less than the cost of the Latte I've just enjoyed, although the cumulative effect over a year could be large - if we all put in £1 every week that would be an extra £35,000 over a year. But the change I'm really looking for is not a financial one, but of thankfulness becoming a lifestyle for me.

So would you consider joining me in this statement of thankfulness, and of seeing small change make a big change.

Simon.

Bill Hybels, Andy Stanley & Pete Scazzero

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Benham) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:36:49 PST

I'm sitting in Caffe Nero in town reflecting on a hectic but amazing two and a half days with Bill Hybels, Andy Stanley and Pete Scazzero. Far too much went on to write about it all here, but I wanted to reflect on some stuff and then post some photos to give those of you who couldn't make it a feel for what went on.

The last two days reminded me again that our buildings are an amazing blessing, which we must never take for granted. It is because of all the people who sacrificed financially for the building of the Kerith Centre and K2, and the leaders who had the faith and vision to give a lead in building them, that we are able to host events like this. Let's honour those who have left us with such a legacy.

I was also so aware that we have the most amazing team of volunteers and staff who make it possible to run events like this to an incredibly high standard. There were over 60 volunteers making each day happen - a huge thank you to every one of you.

We also need to recognise that through events like these we are fulfilling our vision statement to contribute to local, national and international life. We had people there from all over the UK, as well as from a number of other nations, hearing life changing stuff.

The two days were a remarkable contrast and went so well together. On Monday we heard principles and ideas from Bill and Andy which will force us to look out, to expand and to grow the Kingdom. Then on Tuesday Pete turned it around, reminding us that authentic growth can only come out of a place where we are deeply rooted and growing in our relationship with God and with others. I'd encourage people to get copies of Pete's books on "Emotionally Healthy Church", "Emotionally Healthy Spirituality" and his wife Geri's book "I Quit". We'll be reflecting on some of what Pete brought later this year as a church, once I've got round to implementing some of it in my own life!

Finally here are some photos - savour the look of the auditorium with over 700 people in it - the shape of things to come :)

Simon.

Memory Muscles

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Benham) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 08:24:00 PST

I loved this blog from Rick Warren on the importance of memorising the Bible, and developing what he calls our memory muscle. It helps underpin very clearly why our Texts for Life series is so important for us all (thanks to Tim Felgate fir sending me this).

I'm also loving all the thoughts on the Texts for Life blog. I don't have the list of who is going to be doing the blog each day, so I really look forward to getting my email each morning and seeing who has written the blog for the day. There have been some incredible insights in there all ready, and I've learnt lots of things I didn't know about people which is always interesting.

Hoping you're doing well learning this weeks verse, and putting it into practice! Just in case you've forgotten it here it is again :)

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" - Matt 28:19

Simon.

Thanksgivings

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Benham) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:30:03 PST

We're having a bit of a change of with thanksgivings for babies and children this year. Rather than just fitting them in on 'random' Sundays we thought it would be good to have designated Sundays in the year where we make it more of a focus for the meeting. This is how we used to do thanksgivings, and of course how we have done baptism for years, so hopefully it will work well.

The first of these Sundays is coming up on the 5th February. Sola will be preaching on the Texts for Life verse Philippians 4:13 ("I can do all this through him who gives me strength"). Catrina and I will be doing the actual thanksgiving. If you're interested please contact Lydia Harris-Lane at the church office (01344 862699).

We're planning on doing these Sundays three times this year - we'll also be having them on the 20th May and 23rd September - so if you miss the one coming up don't worry, just contact Lydia and ask for one of the other dates.

Hope that all makes sense!

Simon.

Peter Scazzero

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Benham) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 07:38:43 PST

I've just heard that Peter Scazzero, who is going to be speaking at the Willow Emotionally Healthy Leadership Conference here next Tuesday, is also going to be speaking at our evening meeting this Sunday. Michael Ross-Watson, who was due to be speaking both morning and evening, has graciously stepped aside in the evening so that we can get to hear Peter.

First of can I encourage all of you to get out to hear Michael in the morning. He's going to be speaking on our next "Texts for Life" verse, 1 Corinthians 9:6, which is a verse which he is so equipped to speak on, and I know that as always he will be outstanding.

And then I'd implore you to get out again in the evening to hear Peter. I'm about half way through his book "Emotionally Healthy Church" which is so speaking into both where I am as an individual and where we are as a church. Especially if you're not going to be able to make the conference I'd encourage you to take this opportunity to hear him. You can read more about Peter here, more about his church here and more about the emotionally healthy movement here.

For those of you who aren't evening regulars just a reminder that doors open at 6, the meeting starts at 7 and the college car park is open.

It's going to be another outstanding weekend!

Simon.

Bill Hybels, Andy Stanley and Peter Scazzero

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Benham) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:33:13 PST

It's only a few days now until the Willow conferences we're hosting at the Kerith Centre.

There are over 600 booked in to hear Bill Hybels and Andy Stanley on the Monday and close to 400 for Peter Scazzero on the Tuesday. I've just started reading Peter Scazzero's book on "Emotionally Healthy Church", and I'm now almost as excited about the Tuesday as the Monday (don't tell Bill!).

If you're coming either day please note that there will be NO parking at the Kerith Centre or K2, other than for registered disabled, due to the numbers coming. Park instead in any of the town centre car parks, Charles Square is the closest, or walk or come by train or bike.

There are still places on the serving teams for the Tuesday, if you'd like to come for free and get in on at least most of the sessions. Contact Sue Ranger at the church office (01344 862699) if you'd be interested in serving.

Otherwise if you're not coming either day please be praying for the days, both that we as Kerith will be impacted through all that we hear, and that God will speak to the other leaders coming from churches all over the UK.

Very exciting :)

Simon.

Alpha and Prayer

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Benham) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 08:55:07 PST

A reminder of two very important events this week in the life of our community.

Alpha course start on Wednesday at 7.30pm in the Kerith Centre and on Thursday at 10am in K2. If you've never done an Alpha course before please consider coming along as it's a great way to both refresh the core of your faith and to meet new people. And if you've got guests who'd like to come then please invite them and bring them along. It was brilliant on Sunday hearing stories in the the baptisms of people's lives being changed through Alpha, it never ceases to amaze me what God does each time we run this course.

Then on Wednesday and Thursday at 8pm in K2 we've got out monthly prayer meetings. These are always great times to come together, worship in a less structured setting than a Sunday, pray for the life of the church and share communion together, so please come if you possibly can (and you're not on Alpha!).

Also on Thursday morning at 6am is our weekly prayer meeting, where we focus on praying for money and for people to be saved and added to the church. There are normally between 12 and 20 of us who gather in the Kerith Reception to pray for an hour. Those who know me well will know that I'm not a morning person, but I so value the chance to pray with others and the difference it makes to my life that even I find it worthwhile to drag myself out of bad at that unearthly hour! Let me encourage you to do the same.

Hope you're having a great week, and don't forget to GO!

Simon.

Dates - Julian Adams and Canon Andrew White

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Benham) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:29:14 PST

I wanted to give you all advance notice of a couple of forthcoming events.

On Saturday 21st April we're going to be hosting a prophetic conference with Julian Adams. Julian has a widely recognised prophetic gift, and last year he gave me a quite remarkable prophetic word about our future as a church, which I've shared on a number of occasions. We'll be running the conference in partnership with our great friends at Reading Family Church.

Then on the Thursday 26th to Saturday 28th July Canon Andrew White has asked us if we'll host a conference with him highlighting his work in Iraq. Speakers will include the one and only J.John.

We'll have a load more information on both conferences soon, including booking details, but for now I just wanted to make sure you all had the dates in your diaries.

It's going to be an exciting year!

Simon.

Calling All Leaders

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Benham) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:58:42 PST

Tomorrow (Tuesday) night is our termly all leaders meeting. We start at 7.45pm in K2 with cheese, wine and chat and then I'll be sharing some thoughts on all that happened in 2011, followed by some vision for 2012. We'll then have a chance for any questions anyone may have.

All of our leaders should have had an invite, but if by any chance you've been missed out, or are an aspiring leader and would like to hear some of what is going on, please consider yourself invited and just turn up!

Simon.

Texts for Life - Week 2

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Benham) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 16:05:50 PST

Already I think the "Texts for Life" series is developing into one of the best we've done. I just loved today, especially with first time commitments in all three meetings - so exciting.

If you haven't already done it please can I encourage you to check out the texts for life blog, and sign up for the email updates. Every day there are thoughts on the weeks verse from different people in our community - some of last weeks were incredibly insightful. You can also follow it via Twitter at @textsforlife.

For those who haven't yet heard it, you may also enjoy James Hosker's 'remix' of me singing the verse for week 1. There's now also a link there to a version which will work on iPhones and iPads. As I once heard Erwin McManus say "If my humiliation is necessary for the advancement of God's kingdom - so be it!". Just to be clear I love James's creativity, and feel flattered he would take what I did and apply all of his gifting and talent to it. I just hope it helps people remember the verse :)

Hope you have a great week loving God and loving people!

Simon.

Texts for Life - Week 2 - Matthew 22:37-39

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Benham) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 07:00:11 PST

This Sunday we're going to be looking at our second "Texts For Life" verse - Matthew 22:37-39. Here it is if you want to get a head start on learning it:

‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

You'll be pleased to hear there isn't a song this week, but there will be some other creative ways of remembering it!

I've been loving the contributions on the Texts for Life blog. It's great to hear different perspectives on the same verse. There are going to be a load more guest bloggers this week, so please sign up to get each days update via email.

Hope to see you on Sunday,

Simon.

More Thoughts on Different Translations

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Benham) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 08:30:00 PST

I know that some of you will have been completely turned off by this discussion of different translations, and translation philosophies! But for those of you who are still with me, I thought you might like one more thing to ponder and to get your brain cells working.

There are lots of verses in the Bible where the original meaning is ambiguous. That may be because the author deliberately set out to be unclear and God wanted them to be unclear, or because we've lost the sense of what those words meant in the original. Where there is ambiguity, then it's important that a "word for word' translation doesn't try and resolve the ambiguity, as that wouldn't be helpful for us in getting back to the original meaning. Instead we then need to look to what the rest of the Bible teaches to help us work out what the verse or passage actually means.

One verse I came across recently which fits into this category is Romans 16:17. In the NIV this verse reads:

Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.

There are (at least) two ambiguities here.

The first is whether Junia is a male or a female name. The majority view seems to be that Junia was a woman, and probably the wife of Andronicus, but from the original Greek and even from the traditions of the early church we can't say for certain either way.

The second is what does the phrase "outstanding among the apostles" mean? Does it mean that Andronicus and Junia are apostles, and even amongst the group of apostles they are outstanding? Or are they outside the group of apostles, but even when you compare them to the apostles, or perhaps in the estimation of the apostles, they are outstanding? Again the text is unclear, and I think the NIV, and most other translations, well express that ambiguity.

These ambiguities can be important for us to ponder. For instance, in this case if Junia is a woman, and she is an apostle, then that would have something significant to say about the role of women in the church.

Now in my opinion a good "word for word" translation should leave the ambiguity in. One of the criticisms of "thought for thought" translations is that often the ambiguities like this get removed based on the translators own thoughts, ideas or understanding of what the rest of the Bible teaches. We might like that, particularly if we agree with the thoughts of the translator, but it doesn't help us in getting to the original meaning. Now take a look at how the ESV translates this verse:

Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles, and they were in Christ before me.

All of the ambiguity around the second phrase has gone, without any footnote to indicate the words could be read a different way (to be fair there is a noet to say that the female name Junia could also be the male name Junias so the first ambiguity is left). The ESV study Bible in it's notes says "The verse seems to be saying, however, that Andronicus and Junia were well known to the apostles, not that Junia was herself an apostle". The two potential meanings are expressed in the study guide, but not in the Bible itself. All of the other translations I've looked at, including the NASB, King James and New King James leave the ambiguity in.

Now I love the ESV translation, I use it extensively in all of my studying, and I'm sure the translators had a very good reason for translating this verse the way they did. I'm simply saying that we need to be aware that there is great value in using more than one translation, to be aware that no translation is perfect, and ultimately to recognise the value of having people in our community who can take us back to the original Hebrew and Greek - something I'm praying for!

Well done for getting to the end, and for listening to my musings. I'd love to hear any thoughts on this.

Simon.

Kerith House Bible

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Benham) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 08:00:02 PST

While we're on the subject of Bible translations I thought I'd say a bit about the idea of Kerith having a 'house' Bible, or to put it a different way having a default translation which we will be the primary translation we use on Sundays, on our courses and in our literature.

There are a number of advantages to having a house Bible. It means that if people bring a paper Bible on a Sunday there is a reasonable chance that they will have the translation the preacher is using. Similarly we're soon going to put a bookcase in reception with Bibles on for people to borrow during the meeting or course they are attending - having a house Bible makes it easy to choose the translation to use there. It can also protect the preacher from the temptation to flit around, choosing each time the translation which most says what they want it to say. And it means that when we memorise verses, as we're doing at the moment, we're all memorising the same version.

Having a house Bible doesn't in any way force everyone to use that translation. I'll still expect Sola to make extensive use of the Amplified Bible, and Michael Ross Watson to quote from the King James and New King James versions. And you're utterly free to read whichever translation you find most helpful in any given situation. The aim is not conformity, but some level of uniformity where it is helpful.

For years our house Bible has been the 1984 New International Version. That is about to go out of print, to be replaced by the new 2011 version of the NIV. We therefore need to make a decision about our new house Bible. As elders we've been talking about this for a while (I even wrote a short paper on it if anyone is interested) and have decided to adopt the 2011 NIV as our new house Bible. We did consider various other translations, but in the end felt that in terms of continuity (for those of us brought up on the 1984 NIV the new one is very similar, the primary difference is more gender inclusive language such as referring to 'brothers and sisters" rather than just "brothers" where the word in the original refers to both men and women), and because the mix of "word for word" and "thought for thought" translation styles makes it both accurate and readable, this was the right choice.

We've got a number of different 2011 NIV Bibles on sale at cost price on the bookshop - I'd encourage everyone to get a copy of the new translation.

Hope that makes sense. If not you know where to find me :)

Simon.

Bible Translations

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Benham) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 08:45:55 PST

One of the things I spoke about on Sunday was the difference between different Bible translations, and how there isn't one 'right' or 'proper' translation to use. Somebody said they thought it might be useful to repeat it in a blog, so here goes!

The Bible was originally written in Hebrew (the Old Testament) or Greek (the New Testament) with a few bits written in Aramaic. When people come to translate the Bible into English, as when translating anything from one language to another, they have to make a decision about what philosophy of translation they are going to use.

At one end of the spectrum is a "word for word" translation, where the translators attempt to take each word in the original language and convert it into the equivalent word in English. That's not always possible as the word order in the original language may make no sense in English, there may not be an English word to match the Hebrew or Greek word, and extra words may need to be added to make it make sense, but wherever possible the intention is to make the translation as direct as possible. The problems with a "word for word" translation is that the English in them sometimes feels awkward or clumsy because of the desire to be as close as possible to the original, and that having the original authors words doesn't necessarily mean you know what they were thinking.

At the other end of the spectrum is a "thought for thought translation", where the translator attempts to express the thoughts or ideas the original author was trying to express, rather than just translating the words. This can be helpful as the same words can mean something very different today to what they meant 2,000 or more years ago, as well as differences in culture meaning that we may understand a given event, story or idea very differently to the people who first read it. The obvious problem with a "thought for thought" translation is that you are at the mercy of how good the translator is at understanding the authors original thoughts. If they've got that wrong then the translation will be wrong, misleading and potentially heretical!

The chart below (copied from this website) may be helpful in explaining where various translations sit on the "word for word" to "thought for thought" continuum.

My recommendation is to use a range of translations. If you want to study a passage in depth use a "word for word" translation such as the English Standard Version (ESV), for everyday use and ease of reading try something which is a mixture of the two styles such as the New International Version (NIV), and for 'something different' which might give you a fresh perspective on a passage take a look at the Message.

We've currently got a range of ESV, NIV and Message Bibles in the bookshop which we're selling at cost price. Alternatively if you use the online YouVersion Bible, or Bible Gateway then you get dozens of different translations for free. Have a go at looking at the same verse of the Bible in different translations and see how they differ.

Hope that was helpful.

Simon.

Texts For Life Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Benham) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 10:08:41 PST

I really enjoyed the kick off to the new Texts for Life series on Sunday, other than the news that some unkind person has posted a video of my return to the worship team :-) Listen to the sermon here if you missed it.

Just a reminder that there's a blog which goes with the series which you can find at textsforlife.org Every day a different person will be writing about the verse for that week. Today it was Alan Lander writing some great stuff on this weeks verse, Psalm 119 verse 11. On the site we'll also be adding a load of other resources, I noticed that there are already some kids colouring sheets there which you can print out and colour in.

Just as with my blog there's an area on the site where you can enter your email address so that you get an email each time the blog is updated. Alternatively you can follow the Twitter feed @textsforlife to be sent a tweet every time there is a new blog. Or there are links to the blog on the Kerith website and on mine and Catrina's blog. So many ways to get to what I think is going to be a great resource.

Finally I'd love to hear your thoughts on the series. You can either leave comments on the blog, send an email to textsforlife@kerith.co.uk or tweet with the hash tag #textsforlife, or you could even just talk to me or someone else about it!

That's more than enough technology for one blog. Hope you have a God filled, risk taking week and hope to catch you next Sunday.

Simon.

Texts for Life

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Benham) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 07:17:48 PST

This Sunday we start our "Texts for Life" preaching series, which aims to give each one of us a 'toolkit' of verses to memorise, which should help us in a host of different life situations. At the end of it we should all have memorised 12 different verses.

We start off this Sunday with Psalm 119:11 - "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you". The team in the office have been challenged with different ways of making helping us memorise the verses, this Friday Ben Pocock led us all in the incredibly messy exercise of seeing who could write the verse most quickly using Alphabetti Spaghetti - you can see the winning effort above. Sadly we won't be doing this on Sunday, but I am going to teach you all a song (my return to worship leading!), and over the 12 weeks you'll see a host more wacky ideas for helping us memorise all 12 verses.

As with all things 21st Century we couldn't miss out on the social media opportunities the series provides. There is therefore a blog which you can find here, where every day starting from this Monday a different guest blogger will give their perspective on the verse for that week. There's also a twitter feed @textsforlife, and an email address textsforlife@kerith.co.uk where we'd love you to send in any stories of how the texts have helped you, challenged you, changed you, or in any other way impacted your life.

Hope to see you on Sunday!

Simon.