AUGUST 2012 BIBLE.ORG NEWSLETTER

Recently in the Chronological Bible Daily reading selection we came across the prophet Hosea. His claim to fame? Husband of an adulteress wife, [Gomer] and becoming the voice of God to God's own adulterous Israel. Hosea's real life experiences opened his eyes to how God views our spiritual adultery, and the mercy of God in redeeming His people from the marketplace, as Hosea was commanded to redeem his wife. The book of Hosea portrays faithfulness and infidelity both in the physical and the spiritual realm. With his own marriage as backdrop, Hosea contrasts Israel's fickleness: “for your faithfulness is as fleeting as the morning mist…” [Hosea 6:4] with God's heart “I delight in faithfulness, not simply in sacrifice;” [Hosea 6:6]. In pondering these words several thoughts come to mind such as integrity, faithfulness, righteousness, blamelessness, Fruit of the Spirit, holiness, fidelity, keeping a vow, being constant in one’s affections, truth, veracity, confidentiality. Throughout the OT and NT we are given examples of those who pondered and lived by these words; people like Hannah, Esther, Noah, Elijah, Zechariah and Elizabeth and scores of others. Our hearts are stirred to realize that as new creatures in Christ, God has actually given us to be partakers of the divine nature allowing us to escape the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire. 2 Peter 1:4. Ponder with us what it means to be "partakers of the divine nature" . James reminds us to look in God’s mirror of scripture and to check our reflection. What do we see when we gaze into God’s mirror? How does the fact that as a Christian we are "partakers of the divine nature allowing us to escape the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire" ?. These words should impact our daily lives and people should be impacted by our testimony? Pray with us that Bible.org and its million users are faithful to the call God has given to us and that we demonstrate that we are partakers of God's divine nature.

Speaking of the Bible Reading Program: Did you know that Bible.org offers five (5) different daily Bible reading plans? Each one has a different focus with the single goal of helping you to read God’s Word each day in order to better know and worship Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. If you choose the Chronological Reading Plan you can also “like” Bible.org’s Facebook page as you read and share your own ideas and thoughts about the passage of the day.

OUT AND ABOUT:

Bible.org, attended the ICRS International Christian Retail Show, which was held in Orlando. The convention center was so huge that it took a good 20 minutes to walk from the parking lot to the hall where the ICRS was being held, and that was the indoor walk! At a convention of this size it is exciting to make some wonderful new friends and meet some very nice people. We were able to present the NET Bible and the NET Bible study tool to many people who were looking for a new translation with which to work. Meeting with many different ministries, from Christian Comics to Christian Coffee, gave a fresh view and vision. A new nugget of information: finding ministries that we never even knew existed! It is exciting and refreshing to get out and see what other ministries are doing and how we are all working together to make Jesus Christ known. This week will be spent contacting all the new people and friends and looking forward to seeing how these relationships will grow. Will you pray with us for these interactions and for God's blessing upon each renewed contact?

Gabe Smith is the man behind our Facebook pages/Twitter pages, NET Bible Facebook pages. This past week Gabe attended the ECHO Conference, which is a conference for artists, techies, and all around geeks who serve in churches or non-profits. This was his third year to attend ECHO, and it's always a wonderful experience. The most significant part for him was getting to share ideas with other people who work in social media and helping to illustrate the important role that Facebook and Twitter play in connecting with people. A few people he spoke with said their ministry had a Facebook page, but they weren't using it much and others told him some amazing stories about how they were able to minister to people through social media. As the influence of Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks grow, their importance as key components to ministry will continue to increase. ECHO rekindles Gabe's desire to use the tools to God's glory to increase His fame throughout the world.

NEWS

Christmas in July? Check out the new selections in the store with the new pew Bibles and the Paperbacks just in time for your next fund raiser.

MAILBOX LETTERS

From Timothy Thank you so much for the resources your great team has posted on the net for the use of believers all over the world. This has especially made my work a lot easier and saved me the near fruitless efforts of having to run around looking for materials such as sample wedding vows, wedding order of service among other relevant Bible resources.
God bless you abundantly and keep you up in this good work!
Again, THANK YOU!

From Hannah I read your article on Exodus 16 (Boot Camp and "C" Rations) recently and found your comments on "grumbling" to be very convicting —and thought-provoking —and helpful. Thank you for making your labors in the Scriptures available to us in the wide, wide world :O)

From Gia First of all I'd like to thank your tech support for the very prompt response to my question this morning. Most of all I praise God for your ministry. It has been a blessing as I utilize the "Studies By Author." Bob Deffinbaugh and Ken Boa have helped me tremendously in leading my small group in the study of John.
Thank you again.
Your sister in Christ

SOCIAL NETWORKING "EYE-OPENERS"

Don’t have the time to sit and read several chapters but need a verse to boost you throughout the day? Try the NET Bible Facebook page where verses are updated every few hours to encourage and lead you for every moment of the day.

Or maybe you have become a Twitter fan. Join us where ideas are shared!

And now that you have gleaned ideas and thoughts you can share them with us on Facebook, Twitter, and of course always on Users where you can blog or share an article of interest.

Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Bible.org has it all. If you haven’t been following Dr. Bock’s travels “down under” you might want to go and check out his thoughts about atheists and agnostics in “On to Sydney and Teaching Luke” and then from Sydney to New Zealand. Wow what an eye opening trip!

Ever feel like you wanted to crawl in a hole when God presented a divine opportunity – not me God, not me! You will really relate to Tiffany Stein’s marvelous "eye--opening" summer experience where God revealed what really lay at the core in “The Power of the Gospel.”

Puns and Humor101! Brian Webster’s newest post: ‘Anak, ’Anak. Who’s There? Did God put “tin,” a “plumb line,” or something else in Israel?”

Nate Leigh reminds us that much of our pain is delivered to us by the person in the mirror! OUCH! Read his post: Some Chess Matches are not a game!

Sunday School Teachers

If you are teacher using the LifeWay SS materials be sure to check out two new resources for your Fall preparation: LifeWay- Southern Baptist Sunday School Resources – Summer 2012 on the books of Joshua, Judges and Ruth as well as the accompanying series of study questions in the forum under SonShine’s Corner’s titled Books of the Bible Study Guides . If you want the answer keys email SonShine

Are you a SS teacher for children? Jodi Hooper has her new series on Esther ready to be used and can be found under Children’s Curriculum.