It hardly seems like we have marked the half way point through 2010! A famous hymn begins “count your many blessings, count them one by one”. What wise counsel. The bible.org staff has many blessings! First and foremost our blessings come from you, our faithful readers. You encourage us with letters, donations and your prayers. How we praise God for you!
SPOTLIGHT OF THE MONTH: Our focus this month is on the NET Bible itself. We often get requests as to how the NET began, its purpose initially and now, how it came about, and what does the future hold. The Preface to the NET Bible is 25 pages long and has all of this information, but let’s see if we can answer some of your questions here using some of the preface quotes: You may find this NET Bible section is a little long but I recommend you read it so you get a much better view of the purpose of the NET Bible, the heart of the translators and why we at bible.org think the translators produced the best modern bible translation of today and why we think that every family should get one for their study and enjoyment – not to add to the other bibles on your shelf, but to be used daily and read regularly.. If you read this through I promise i will make next months newsletter much shorter. :-) /s/ David Austin exec director.
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The ministry, bible.org, began in 1994 with a vision to be a global source of trustworthy Bible study resources which would not only be available, but the scripture itself could be quoted freely. This vision would help other ministries and authors eliminate the permission roadblock that has hampered the free distribution of learning materials and books that quote God’s word. It was determined in 1995 that the number of Bible verses quoted online at bible.org would soon surpass available legal permission limits. Therefore bible.org sought to purchase the rights to a modern translation but was unable to procure this necessary permission. God had a way to bring about His plan! Quite simply, the only way one could secure permission to quote a modern Bible translation in 1995 was to sponsor a new translation. The NET Bible was thus begun to overcome these hurdles. The name “NET” indicates both the New English Translation and is also the acronym NET, thus indicating the transmission method utilizing the resources of the Internet..
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1- To produce a modern translation with the extensive translators’ notes that display for the reader the decisions and choices behind the translation. These notes are virtually unique among Bible translations, in all languages, in the history of translation. The resulting translation itself is intended to capture the best of several worlds: readable and accurate and elegant all at the same time. It is one that can be used by God to mature believers worldwide as well as bring unbelievers to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
2- To produce the translation in an “open” process. During the translation process the NET Bible drafts were posted on the Internet to our brothers and sisters in Christ all over the world for comment and feedback. The NET alone, among the world’s translations, provides an active translation comment/Suggestion link whereby readers can offer ideas to the editors regarding wording, translation and comments. This open and available process has yielded a Bible that is true to the surviving manuscripts, yet valuable and acceptable to Bible readers everywhere.
3- To demonstrate the principle of “Ministry First” based upon Lev 23:22. The NET Bible team considered how a Bible publisher might ensure that they “not completely harvest the corner of their field…leaving that for the poor and the foreigner.” Our ‘crop’ is a Bible translation and the Bible is God’s gift to humanity. Bible.org believes that God’s word should be free for personal study, for ministry/non-commercial use to print and to give away. The facts are that the number of Bibles given away by Bible societies and sold by publishers in all of history does not come close to being able to actually give a printed copy of the Bible to all of the two billion people who have some ability to read English. This is why bible.org feels so strongly that the NET Bible must not only be available for viewing on the Internet, but also available for free downloading and use by everyone, worldwide, free for non commercial use forever. Thus “Ministry First” where ministry always takes priority and Lev 23:22 are a cornerstone and guiding principle of our ministry. This approach helps us come closer to fulfilling the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19-20 and allows all people in all nations on earth to learn what God has revealed in his word for them to understand and obey. We offer the NET Bible free to the world – because we desire all people to have the privilege to study and “glean” the harvest of God’s Word for themselves, from lay people to authors and scholars. (Go to http://netbible.org and download your free copy.)
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Working with electronic media, one can accomplish things that are not been possible with traditional print media.
· Extensive Footnotes First, the NET Bible includes extensive notes with the translation, notes created by the original translators as they worked through the issues and options concerning the translation of the original language texts of the Bible. These notes operate on more than one level – a technical level for pastors, teachers, and students of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek who are interested in the grammatical, syntactical, and text-critical details of the translation, and a more popular level comparable to current study Bibles offering explanatory details of interest to lay Bible students. In electronic format the length of these notes, a considerable problem with conventional printed Bibles, is no longer a major limitation.
· Rationale for Translation Second, within the more technical notes the translation team has taken the opportunity to explain and give the rationale for the translation of a particular phrase or verse.
· Major Interpretative Options Third, the translators and editors used the notes to show major interpretive options and/or textual options for difficult or disputed passages, so that the English reader knows at a glance what the alternatives are.
· Formally and Functionally Equivalent Fourth, the translators and editors used the notes to give a translation that was formally equivalent,8 while placing a somewhat more functionally equivalent9 translation in the text itself to promote better readability and understandability.10 The longstanding tension between these two different approaches to Bible translation has thus been fundamentally solved..
· Further Improvements Finally, the use of electronic media gives the translators and editors of the NET Bible the possibility of more rapidly updating and improving the translation and notes (e.g. we can add audio notes and more extensive photos and videos to give geographical context to the text.
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The NET Bible was not funded by any particular denomination, church, or special interest group but by an anonymous individual. This has positively impacted the content. Translators and editors were left free to follow where the text led and translate as they thought best. There has never been pressure to make sure the text reads a certain way or conforms to a particular doctrinal statement. The NET Bible is responsible and accountable to God and the universal body of Christ, the church worldwide.
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No. Today it is funded through your generous sacrificial donations allowing us, who have benefited by the vision of the founder and the original translation team, the privilege to participate in the “Ministry First” model. In addition we also sell printed versions as well as NET Bible software modules for all the popular Bible study programs and mobile devices. To keep prices affordable to users, we prefer the direct sales model cutting out the middle man. We offer quality leather editions with full notes, leather limited notes versions, as well as hardback, pew and compact versions. See NET Bible in our store. our each version by clicking the corresponding picture below.
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First Edition featuring 60,932 translators' notes
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Compact Edition
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Reader's Edition
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Electronic Net Bible: Have the NET Bible with you wherever you go -- on your laptop, palm or phone.
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The future is all about the vision to distribute the Bible to every person on the globe and to provide trustworthy studies to mature Christians worldwide. God has opened doors needed to carry forth the objective doing “Ministry First.” God holds the future and we walk through it one day at a time waiting expectantly to see what is next.
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Please pray specifically:
· That more people learn about the NET Bible so they can download it for free or access it in their mobile bible reader or read it online at http://netbible.org.
· That our readers will catch the vision and “join the journey” to become evangelists for Christ and become NET Bible evangelists to help get the NET Bible into the hands of many;
· That our readers will participate in the vision by donating time or resources. Your generous donations allow bible.org the privilege of offering God’s Word freely to the two billion English speaking peoples of the world. (We recently completed the beta version of the Chinese NET Bible translation; this will add another 384 million Internet users.) Click here to donate
I finish this write-up with a statement about the most important translation concept-
The most important translation of the Bible is not from the original languages to English, but from the printed page into your life. If you have never read through a complete book of the Bible, we suggest you begin by reading the Gospel of John. We encourage you to recognize that the Bible is not merely a book. It is God’s message to us all, and God continues to speak through it today. There is, after all, a reason far more Bibles have been produced than any book in history. Read it and see. (You can sign up for a daily reading email here)
Will you join the “army” of volunteers who work behind the scenes serving you, the readers? Read about two of them below: fill out volunteer form.
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Author and NET Bible Project Director/Gen Editor: Dr. Hall Harris: Dr. Harris truly is one of the bible.org visionaries and has the distinction of being the Project Director and Managing Editor for the NET Bible (New English Translation). He is currently a Professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary where he has taught for over 30 years. He is known for his seminary courses in intermediate level Greek grammar and syntax, exegetical method, and various courses in the Gospel of John and Epistles of John. Dr. Harris received a Th.M. from Dallas Seminary and a Ph.D. the University of Sheffield, England.
In addition to his many duties at DTS, Dr. Harris has begun a NET Bible Revolution Blog with his Assistant Project Director and Editor, Dr. Michael Burer, who coordinates the blog posts.
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Staff Focus:Jennifer Dent:
Most affectionately known as Jenn, is another visionary. Jenn volunteers her time to serve the bible.org community as the leader of a very faithful and dedicated group of forum moderators. She serves in the position of Personnel Manager and the Administrator of the forums as well as the Administrator of the users community site. Jenn writes in her bio: "Our goal at the Bible NETwork forums is to impact the World for Christ one post at a time. With all the “garbage” on the Internet we wanted to be able to provide a safe place when Christians can come and be equipped, edified and grow in Christ. We also want to provide a biblically based forum so that those searching for answers to Christianity can know that they will receive honest and truthful answers"
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Bible.org Mailbox Letters: Quoted as received with links added by staff.
As we enter the second half of 2010, we as in the past few months, are amazed as we receive your generous email notes. Some send detailed notes and others just a snippet of “love notes” to the staff. We hope you are encouraged with us and wish to “join the journey” with these who have found bible.org and its trustworthy resources.
“Vedawattie”. I appreciate your insights on Jonah
“Barb”: I just want to thank you for Dave Dawson's study "Spending Time with God in John". Somehow, reading each section each day, God has really spoken to me. And this so coincides with a study I am doing at church by John Eldredge ”Walking with God". It always amazes me how God just fits all my studies together. But, then, that is what God does!!! I have been so blessed by your site. Last year I purchased the Net Bible for my son and he just loves it. Thank you for all you do!
Letters about the NET Bible:
“Michael H”: We are a ministry focused on the French-speaking world. We do itinerant ministry and publishing. We began by translating three classic Christian books into French, but now I am writing as well. FRENCH BIBLE TRANSLATIONS ARE NOT RELIABLE! Itinerant ministers from the English-speaking world know that up to 50% of the verses they would typically use as an anchor point for a message simply do not clearly communicate the same thoughts in the French. We are retranslating verses all the time, and the NET BIBLE really helps us.
Ps 96:9a is a great example. In the most popular French Bible, this verse is rendered:
O Prostrate yourself before the Eternal with some sacred ornaments...
Doesn't have quite the same impact as "O Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness", does it?!? We retranslated the entire book of Revelation into contemporary French, and probably hundreds of verses in the books we are translating, including, a new book I am writing for new believers in the Francophone world.
When we preach in these areas, people are blow away by the word studies. Many have never even considered the possibility the scholarship that produced their Bibles was inadequate. French vocabulary has been secularized over time. Imagine, a language in which there is no equivalent to words like COVENANT, FELLOWSHIP, GODHEAD, etc. The French, who now incorporate so many English words and phrases in their vocabulary, need to do the same with these words!
We are currently mounting a website that will encourage re-examination of French Bible translation. We hope to foster a healthy dialogue about these issues, marked by civility and His grace. We are grateful for the translators whose efforts have gotten us this far. We simply seek to improve a bit on their efforts, when the result will help the reader more accurately grasp the Author's intention. Your site really helps us in this effort!
May the Lord continue to bless you in all you do! Truly yours in His service,
“Derek”: “I lead a weekly Bible study at my place of work that involves 10 men and women on a regularly attended basis. I was led I believe wholeheartedly to the NET Bible in my quest for study of the history of the Bible and translations of it. This was after I was criticized by a fellow believer for using a translation of scripture other than the KJV as this person felt I was being deceived by not using the KJV. I ultimately after much prayer to be taught truth & searching was led to the outstanding four part reading on your site by professor Daniel B. Wallace on the History of the English Bible. I have read that work many times and find it to be outstanding and an answer to my prayers. That work ultimately led me to the NET Bible and I thank God for it. I use the NET Bible online and in printed leather bound format all the time and it is my preferred translation to use. For my personal study and the Bible study I lead at work I would literally be lost without it. It has made my study & study preparations much easier and filled with more insight due to the extensive notes. The notes included in the NET Bible are unmatched and priceless! Thank you for such a wonderful translation of the Holy Scriptures & an ultimate study tool all in one! It has enlivened my daily study of scripture tremendously. I could not begin to say enough good things about this wonderful work. Thank you to all involved and may God richly bless & continue to use all involved!
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CY 2009-May2010 Financial Report
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Financial Update'1'
Again this month: Praise, Praise,Praise, As we have shared the needs of the ministry, God has graciously sent us new donors and one who gave another very large gift this month which reduces our CY2009 through May 2010 shortfall to $80,059. We praise God for each of you who sacrificially donated to His Work which allows us to maintain our "Ministry First" approach and continue to offer our material free to all 2 billion users on the Internet. . You can help us eliminate our 2009/2010 shortfall and Donate now by clicking HERE
Note1- All income (Donations and Bible sales/revenues) are accounted for. The original plan was for the store sales to be greater than store expenses and the store would donate all its profits to the ministry but to date the sales have not been sufficient to accomplish that goal. As sales increase and are greater than store expenses we will show those profits on the donation line above
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Social Networking News and Initiatives:
Facebook Our fan base has risen to 11556 as of 6/21. Many thanks to Todd who each week posts a new section of bible.org for study and review. If you have not become a fan of Bible.org on Facebook we invite you.
Blogs: Check out the newest blogs page: http:blogs.bible.org for all of the upcoming news and interesting dialogs from each group: the NET Bible, Dr. Bock, Tapestry, Impact, and Heartprints. In addition, check out the blogs being posted on the users site as well as the forum moderators blog posts.
. ** Bible.org reserves the right to remove any links to personal websites or any websites that are shared in a blog which directs our audience to a site published for commercial use and is not bible.org related.**
 Mini-contest for July: Bible Reading News: More and more people are logging on and choosing to read the Bible on a daily basis. Which plan are you using this year and why? Submit your reason on this form. Surprise gift of The NET Bible Synopsis of the Four Gospels. Any kids out there reading the Bible on a daily basis? You too can submit your ideas. Add if you haven’t started reading the bible daily, you can get it delivered daily in your mailbox here
Stay tuned for the upcoming Bible Reading Plan especially targeted for children. We have one volunteer who has responded to work on this project and we hope to complete it in 2010. If you would like to help, email us. Please pray for the Children’s Ministry Team as they work on this and other projects.
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Compact NET Bible
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June Newsletter winner: The June Newsletter responses were so full of love and kindness that it was the most difficult by far of any month’s letters to choose. But, in the end we chose two: Aimee Dent and Kelly Mitchell. Thank you Aimee and Kelly for your inspirational letters! As winners of the June contest each will receive The Compact Bible as their gift from the bible.org store. .
Aimee wrote: One man who is leaving a lasting imprint on my life is Scott Lacks. From him I want to pass on to other men this nugget..... Even through the hard circumstances in his life, he is understanding of mine. Scott, in his pain and disappointment, is trusting God with all of his heart, mind and soul. He continually points me to God/Jesus as I face similar pain and disappointment due to life circumstances. Scott is willing to tell the Truth from God's Word, pray for another in the midst of his circumstances, and he is real. Scott has been used by God to press upon my heart a desire to look to others interests and needs, and to not let my circumstances get in the way of serving God and pointing others to Him. Scott is a man of God, greatly to be admired for admitting his shortcoming, and willing to be humble before God, me and others. Scott is an example that I would even want my boys to follow after. He is a wonderful friend and brother in Christ.
Kelly wrote: One man who is leaving a lasting imprint on me is my father. For other men, I pass on this nugget. Men, regardless of age, need a spiritual role model and need to be a spiritual role model to another. I was 10. We were in a revival service at Crowder Baptist Church in Crowder, Mississippi. The Lord was calling clearly and had been for the last couple of nights but I was resisting. On this particular night I was deeply torn during the invitation. My heart was in my throat and tears were flying. How embarrassing for a 10 year old boy! Worse, a very good friend of mine was standing next to me, between me and the aisle. I wanted so badly to go and make a profession of faith but was afraid of what he would think or would go and tell the other boys at school. God had placed my dad on my right side. Because he was a man of God, he recognized the signs of my conviction. Because he is a man, he also understood my reservations. My dad took me by the shoulders and moved me to the other side of him. There was nothing between me and the aisle on that side and I don't think I ever quit moving. I went to the front and met Jesus. There is no greater gift a father can give a son. But this is Father's Day. This is about the gift a son can give to a Father. Now I am a father to a son of my own and the spiritual father to many as a pastor. I still carry that lesson with me and make it a part of my teaching. Men easily recognize the need for friends and bonds with other men. Men benefit from learning that their struggles and weaknesses are not peculiar to them. It is a "man" thing. What many miss is that, when it comes to our spiritual lives, the same rule applies. Every man needs a spiritual mentor and, in turn, should be a mentor to another. My dad is still one of my spiritual mentors. As my own father, he can relate to me in ways no other man will ever be able to but, as a believer, he can also relate to my spiritual calling and struggles. Its the double threat, the whole package. Being both to his son is the best chance a father can give his son in life. By continuing on that path of righteousness he started and making disciples of my own to build it even further, I return the gift to my fathers, both the earthly and heavenly one.
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Prayer & Praise
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Prayer and Praises:
For more items on our Prayer/Praise list See our new Treasure Chest of Praises and Prayer:
Praises: New blog page. Increased readers to the main site. Groups that are adding new members in the users.bible.org section; The new Pastor’s Prayer Page is up and ready for your input.
Prayer Need: The summer months are upon us and just as with other ministries, bible.org faces a shortfall due to many who go on “holiday”. We earnestly ask that you not forget bible.org so that the ministry can go forward.
Spammers have hit bible.org as they have many other ministries. Because of the massive amounts of commercial links that have been added to forums and blog comments we have had to take time from our work to remove them. We prayerfully ask that you do not include those as we are a ministry site. (version 6/28-10:20)
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