Comments on: How the Bible ought to be read in church http://www.4-14.org.uk/how-the-bible-ought-to-be-read-in-church …Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves… Wed, 20 Aug 2008 13:19:39 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc By: Mark Barnes http://www.4-14.org.uk/how-the-bible-ought-to-be-read-in-church#comment-8985 Mark Barnes Thu, 17 May 2007 22:19:00 +0000 http://www.4-14.org.uk/179-how-the-bible-ought-to-be-read-in-church#comment-8985 Thanks for the comments. I checked out your video on your blog and enjoyed listening to your readings from Ephesians. A few years ago I heard an American perform the whole of Luke (and later Acts). I remember thinking at the time that the Word of God was gripping, and convicted that the Bible didn't seem that real when I read it for myself. I happily sat through the whole 90 minute performance drinking it in, and never for a moment bored. There is obviously a fine line between such a perfomance and something that <i>adds</i> to Scripture by adding emphasis where there should be none, so it was a real encouragement to read how much preparation goes into a perfomance. I pray that God would really use your ministry to His glory! Thanks for the comments. I checked out your video on your blog and enjoyed listening to your readings from Ephesians. A few years ago I heard an American perform the whole of Luke (and later Acts). I remember thinking at the time that the Word of God was gripping, and convicted that the Bible didn’t seem that real when I read it for myself. I happily sat through the whole 90 minute performance drinking it in, and never for a moment bored. There is obviously a fine line between such a perfomance and something that adds to Scripture by adding emphasis where there should be none, so it was a real encouragement to read how much preparation goes into a perfomance. I pray that God would really use your ministry to His glory!

]]> By: Andy Sturt http://www.4-14.org.uk/how-the-bible-ought-to-be-read-in-church#comment-8967 Andy Sturt Thu, 17 May 2007 15:28:50 +0000 http://www.4-14.org.uk/179-how-the-bible-ought-to-be-read-in-church#comment-8967 Thank you so much for this posting. In the church I attend, I am occasionally asked to "perform" sections of Scripture. What that means is I memorize the text (usually from the NIV) and study it in depth: I read commentaries, I study it in the original language, I find research papers written about it, and I look for patterns and cross-references. Finally, when I feel I have a grasp of at least the basic meaning, I practice performing it. If the section is narrative, I tell it as a story teller would. If it is from an Epistle, I tell it as if I where the author preaching his letter as a sermon. I consider tone, pacing, and how I can use the stage, props, and even PowerPoint slides to help emphasize repetition, patterns, and themes. It is excruciatingly slow work, but the rewards are huge, both for me as the reader and for the listener. For example, I have frequently had people come up to me and tell me they cried the whole way through the reading or that it was as if the Word was being addressed directly to them. But as much as the hearer gains, I believe I gain that tenfold. For example, I am currently preparing to perform the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), and although I am only two weeks into my preparation (I will perform it fourteen weeks from now, in August, to introduce a series my pastor will be preaching), I am being sorely convicted of the condition of my heart and thoroughly challenge to see the sermon as a cohesive message and not as “Random Thoughts by Jesus.” I am three classes away from completing a Mast of Arts in Theology through Fuller Theological Seminary. Perhaps, when I have graduated, the Lord will allow me to do more in this ministry of the Word. To perform Scripture more and to teach other to do the same would be simply wonderful! As you said, “Too much Bible-reading in our churches is dull, and makes the Word of God seem lifeless. This is the Word of God!” Thank you so much for this posting. In the church I attend, I am occasionally asked to “perform” sections of Scripture. What that means is I memorize the text (usually from the NIV) and study it in depth: I read commentaries, I study it in the original language, I find research papers written about it, and I look for patterns and cross-references. Finally, when I feel I have a grasp of at least the basic meaning, I practice performing it. If the section is narrative, I tell it as a story teller would. If it is from an Epistle, I tell it as if I where the author preaching his letter as a sermon. I consider tone, pacing, and how I can use the stage, props, and even PowerPoint slides to help emphasize repetition, patterns, and themes.
It is excruciatingly slow work, but the rewards are huge, both for me as the reader and for the listener. For example, I have frequently had people come up to me and tell me they cried the whole way through the reading or that it was as if the Word was being addressed directly to them. But as much as the hearer gains, I believe I gain that tenfold. For example, I am currently preparing to perform the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), and although I am only two weeks into my preparation (I will perform it fourteen weeks from now, in August, to introduce a series my pastor will be preaching), I am being sorely convicted of the condition of my heart and thoroughly challenge to see the sermon as a cohesive message and not as “Random Thoughts by Jesus.”
I am three classes away from completing a Mast of Arts in Theology through Fuller Theological Seminary. Perhaps, when I have graduated, the Lord will allow me to do more in this ministry of the Word. To perform Scripture more and to teach other to do the same would be simply wonderful! As you said, “Too much Bible-reading in our churches is dull, and makes the Word of God seem lifeless. This is the Word of God!”

]]> By: Gareth Davies (via Facebook) http://www.4-14.org.uk/how-the-bible-ought-to-be-read-in-church#comment-15743 Gareth Davies (via Facebook) Mon, 14 May 2007 18:10:00 +0000 http://www.4-14.org.uk/179-how-the-bible-ought-to-be-read-in-church#comment-15743 We were talking about this in my first week in Bryntirion!<br /><br />We are indeed too flippant! We were talking about this in my first week in Bryntirion!

We are indeed too flippant!

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