(Image captured from Wikimedia Commons)

Scotland (MNN) — Ready for the 2014 Commonwealth Games? Like the Olympics, this sporting competition is held every four years. This year’s event is set to open July 23 in Glasgow. Nearly one million spectators and 4,500 athletes are expected, making this an unparalleled opportunity to share God’s love with people from more than 70 nationalities–all gathered in one place.

Mark Finnie with Biblica says Glasgow is where they’re focusing their outreach efforts, which include a letter from Queen Elizabeth II.

“She’s written a really beautiful little piece for us that talks about the New Testament being so important to her and encouraging people to read it for themselves,” Finnie shares.

The Queen’s letter is written as a foreword to a special Commonwealth New Testament that Biblica and the Scottish Bible Society (SBS) compiled specifically for outreach efforts. Teams of believers will be handing out these commemorative Scriptures at the Games to spectators and athletes alike.

Queen Elizabeth II wrote the foreword of Biblica’s Commonwealth New Testament.
(Image courtesy Carfax2 via Wikimedia Commons)

Queen Elizabeth’s “stamp of approval” is significant for two reasons.

“One: because she’s head of the Commonwealth, and she’s clearly stating her faith and the importance of God’s Word,” Finnie states. “Two: because it’s very rare for her to actually comment on anything, to write a forward for any book at all.

“To get her to do this is almost like creating the ‘Queen Elizabeth version.'”

The NIV Commonwealth New Testament is only Part One of the Biblica and SBS outreach plan. Part Two includes something called the “Penny Gospel” that’s taking Scotland by storm.

“Glasgow’s been [made] famous for its ‘Penny Bazaars,’ where items, [such as] sweets and a variety of different household goods were available for a single penny in Victorian days,” explains Finnie.

The Penny Bazaars were a bright spot in a sometimes turbulent city. “What Detroit is to North America’s motor industry, Glasgow is to the UK shipping industry,” said Mark. “It’s a very deprived, urban city. Lots of slum housing, tenements [low-income multi-family dwellings], and poverty.

“We thought it would be brilliant if we could provide a gospel that was contemporary, that fit in with their culture. So the Scottish Bible Society suggested doing a gospel for this traditional community and calling it the Penny Gospel.”

The Penny Gospel is being distributed to churches in Scotland for a penny per copy. The response so far has been overwhelming, with churches ordering 250,000 copies already, in a country of 5 million people.

“Their hope is that as people pick it up, as they read it, their lives will be touched by the story of Luke, and that the Holy Spirit will work in them and bring them to faith,” shares Finnie.

(Photo credit: Biblica)

But the opportunity for impact doesn’t stop there. For Biblica, helping people access the Bible is only a first step. That’s why Biblica and the SBS are partnering to promote Community Bible Experience, Biblica’s 8-week New Testament reading campaign, throughout Scotland.

Every copy of the Penny Gospel will direct readers to a Web site where they can find a Community Bible Experience group near them. The goal is to see 80 churches participate over the next 6 months.

The tremendous potential for Gospel reach, however, is hindered by one thing: cost. It takes more than a penny to cover the cost of each Penny Gospel. It takes ten. Can you help cover some of the Penny Gospel production costs?

Financial help is certainly needed, but more importantly, this project needs your prayers. The 2014 Commonwealth Games span from July 23 through August 3. Will you commit to pray for Biblica and SBS’s outreach during this time?

“Pray that the huge number [of Penny Gospels] that have been requested will be distributed effectively and to the right people,” asks Finnie.

Pray also that hearts will be softened to receive the message of Christ, and that new believers will be effectively disciple through the Community Bible Experience.

(Photo by IBS)

USA (MNN) — “It must be music to Jesus’ ears to hear so many people excited about reading the New Testament.” – Dorothy, Oklahoma

General Superintendent of the Wesleyan Church, Jo Anne Lyon, had a vision. What if her entire denomination did something it had never done before: read the whole New Testament together in eight weeks?

Would people go for a denomination-wide Bible reading campaign?

Would they be up for that much reading?

The Wesleyan Church decided to become the first denomination to do Biblica’s Community Bible Experience as a whole.

“It’s going to draw us together,” Lyon predicted. “It’s going to increase our inspiration, our knowledge, our wisdom, our growth in the Scriptures. We’re going to experience something we have never before known.”

For the Wesleyan Church, this was an opportunity to transform the way churchgoers (and non-churchgoers) read the Bible.The experiment kicked off February 24, ten days before Lent. The Wesleyan Church challenged people to do three things: Read big. Read real. Read together.

By late February, more than 800 churches had answered the challenge. Wesleyan congregations across North America–and as far away as Albania and India–committed to reading the New Testament together in eight weeks.

Many churches are seeing 80-100% participation, not counting participants outside the church who are curious about the Bible.

Even for lifelong Christians, the experience has been like scales falling from their eyes. Many are reading the Scriptures in depth for the first time in their lives.

“I feel like I am right there among the people who followed [Jesus],” said a participant from Roanoke, Virginia. “I can visualize what is happening and feel like He is talking directly to me. It’s awesome.”

For Lyon, these stories of transformation don’t come as a surprise. As she told her fellow Wesleyans at the start of this journey, “This is about simply reading God’s Word and allowing it to soak in your own spirit, mind, and heart.”

Pray that God’s Word would continue to change churches and individuals.

Click here to learn more about Community Bible Experience.

(Photo courtesy Biblica)

USA (IBS) — Doug Lockhart will complete his season of ministry with Biblica in early 2015. His decision comes after five years of leadership at Biblica, successfully guiding the organization into its third century of ministry.

Over a year ago, Lockhart initiated a discussion with Biblica’s board of directors about his desire to conclude his season of leadership at the ministry. After prayer and extensive consultation with the board, he confirmed his decision last month. Lockhart has agreed to serve as CEO through early 2015, while the board conducts a search for the ministry’s next leader.

“Five years ago, my wife, Angie, and I were delighted when we felt God’s call to join Biblica,” Lockhart said. “But just over a year ago, we began to sense that God has a new assignment in store for us, in terms of both our family and vocational calling. Angie and I have been planning and praying for the right timing. We believe that after several wonderful years of ministry at Biblica, the time has come to discover our next assignment.”

During his tenure as CEO, Lockhart has sharpened Biblica’s strategic focus and strengthened its financial base. Under his leadership, Biblica:

• Entered its third century of ministry with a renewed commitment to help people access the Bible and engage it well.
• Launched Community Bible Experience, equipping thousands of churchgoers to read the entire New Testament together.
• Began a groundbreaking initiative to digitize the ministry’s entire portfolio of major-language Bible translations in order to reach more than 5 billion people with God’s Word in text and audio on their mobile devices.

The year-long transition will allow Biblica time to search for its next CEO–a process that Biblica’s board of directors will initiate shortly.

“Doug has been a gift from God to the ministry,” said Rob Gluskin, Biblica’s board chair. “So while we are saddened by his decision to leave, we’re deeply grateful for his guidance during one of the most critical periods in Biblica’s 205-year history. Because of Doug’s faithful leadership, Biblica today is stronger, more focused, and healthier than when Doug first joined us five years ago. We fully support Doug and Angie as they pursue God’s next calling for their family.”

“In the meantime,” continued Gluskin, “I have full confidence in Biblica’s management team to continue and accelerate the momentum behind our mission to help people access and absorb God’s Word: to read the Bible well so they can live it well.”

Scott Bolinder, Biblica’s Executive Vice President, and Bob Dinolfo, Chief Financial Officer, will contribute regularly to board meetings during the transitional phase.

“Biblica is an amazing ministry with a vital role in reaching the world with God’s Word,” said Lockhart. “I am 110% committed to leading our ministry over the next year so we can accomplish our key ministry objectives and prepare for a new leader.”

Lockhart continued, “I’m so grateful for our global team, our global board and area boards, and our ministry partners who help millions of people experience God’s Word. Our journey is just beginning, and I believe God will continue to bless Biblica and the millions who are impacted by our ministry.”

“It’s the fundamental place where we understand the basics of the Christian life,” says Biblica’s Glenn Paauw. “We get our answers to the questions: Who is God? What did Jesus do? Why did He do it? What’s the whole story of the Bible about?

“If we didn’t have the Bible, we would just be left to make up answers to those questions.”

However, there’s a paradox in the U.S. and other Western nations regarding Scripture.

“The Bible’s the best-selling but least-understood book in America,” says Paauw. “The connection’s just not being made.”

He says the dots can be connected by answering two simple questions: What is the Bible? and What are we supposed to do with it?

“Those two questions really lie at the heart of daily Christian practice,” Paauw states. “We think a lot of people have been somewhat mislead about the answers.”

One of the biggest “challenges” to understanding God’s Word today, he says, is the way most Bibles are formatted.

“Chapter numbers, verse numbers, section headings, footnotes, cross references, anything like that, kind of clutters up the text and makes it look like a reference book,” says Paauw.

“When people see a Bible that looks like a reference book, they end up answering the second question differently. The answer to the question, ‘What are we supposed to do with the Bible?’ ends up being, ‘Using it like a reference book’.”

Biblica’s leaders were disheartened by this reality, but not defeated.

“We decided we should propose new answers to those questions,” Paauw says. “What is the Bible? It’s actually whole books.

“The biblical writers were inspired to write whole books, so we’re inviting people to read them as whole books.”

Enter Biblica’s Community Bible Experience. It combines three different approaches to reading the Bible that work together to transform the lives of Christ-followers.

You can learn more about it here.

“It’s really taken off around the globe,” Paauw states. “We’re in Europe now, Africa; we’ve done an edition in Chinese. The biggest engagement with this has been in Latin America.”

Reading God’s Word in community and formatted in its original style seems to be sparking a new level of engagement in the Body of Christ.

“The simplicity and yet the structure of this seems to really be helping people kind of get into the Bible for the first time,” Paauw says. “On the big level, churches are finding that getting your whole church into the Bible like this, in-depth, really changes the game for them.”

How would you answer those two questions we mentioned at the beginning of this article?

“I think those are fundamental things that people often don’t think about,” says Paauw. “Without the Scripture, we’re left to just really make up the Christian life on our own, by ourselves. I think it’s just not what God intended.

“We have this fantastic gift, and we need to start taking better advantage of it.”

Pray more people see the importance of God’s Word.

“It’s hard to understand how someone can be a well-functioning, healthy, believer and follower of Jesus without being deeply immersed in the Bible,” Paauw states.

"It's the fundamental place where we understand the basics of the Christian life," says Biblica's Glenn Paauw. "We get our answers to the questions: Who is God? What did Jesus do? Why did He do it? What's the whole story of the Bible about?

"If we didn't have the Bible, we would just be left to make up answers to those questions."

However, there's a paradox in the U.S. and other Western nations regarding Scripture.

"The Bible's the best-selling but least-understood book in America," says Paauw. "The connection's just not being made."

He says the dots can be connected by answering two simple questions: What is the Bible? and What are we supposed to do with it?

"Those two questions really lie at the heart of daily Christian practice," Paauw states. "We think a lot of people have been somewhat misled about the answers."

One of the biggest "challenges" to understanding God's Word today, he says, is the way most Bibles are formatted.

"Chapter numbers, verse numbers, section headings, footnotes, cross references, anything like that, kind of clutters up the text and makes it look like a reference book," says Paauw.

"When people see a Bible that looks like a reference book, they end up answering the second question differently. The answer to the question, 'What are we supposed to do with the Bible?' ends up being, 'Using it like a reference book.'"

Biblica's leaders were disheartened by this reality, but not defeated.

"We decided we should propose new answers to those questions," Paauw says. "What is the Bible? It's actually whole books.

"The biblical writers were inspired to write whole books, so we're inviting people to read them as whole books."

Enter Biblica's Community Bible Experience. It combines three different approaches to reading the Bible that work together to transform the lives of Christ-followers.

You can learn more about it here.

"It's really taken off around the globe," Paauw states. "We're in Europe now, Africa; we've done an edition in Chinese. The biggest engagement with this has been in Latin America."

Reading God's Word in community and formatted in its original style seems to be sparking a new level of engagement in the Body of Christ.

"The simplicity and yet the structure of this seems to really be helping people kind of get into the Bible for the first time," Paauw says. "On the big level, churches are finding that getting your whole church into the Bible like this, in-depth, really changes the game for them."

How would you answer those two questions we mentioned at the beginning of this article?

"I think those are fundamental things that people often don't think about," says Paauw. "Without the Scripture, we're left to just really make up the Christian life on our own, by ourselves. I think it's just not what God intended.

"We have this fantastic gift, and we need to start taking better advantage of it."

Pray that more people will see the importance of God's Word.

"It's hard to understand how someone can be a well-functioning, healthy, believer and follower of Jesus without being deeply immersed in the Bible," Paauw states.

Elias Yepez of Biblica says the Community Bible Experience, or CBE, is perfectly suited for their culture.

"We love getting together," says Yepez. "And if we can get together around speaking about the Word of God, that works perfectly for us."

Biblica launched CBE a few years ago in North America in response to research showing that churchgoers are facing an alarming disconnect with the Bible.

"Bible reading has become kind of a solo sport," says Biblica's Vice President of Engagement, Paul Caminiti. "This allows people in groups, in an 8 week period, to read the entire New Testament."

But the need for meaningful engagement with God's Word is universal.

"We all have the desire [to] listen to God's voice, of understanding His mind, of knowing that He's speaking to us," says Yepez. "I think that as Christians, that's a general need that we all have."

As a result, Biblica started partnering with church leaders in Latin America last year to introduce CBE in Spanish and Portuguese. To date, over 60,000 people from 8 Latin American countries read the New Testament as part of CBE.

Biblica is hoping to see even more growth this year.

"Now, it is complete denominations that are accepting, that are using the Community Bible Experience as a way of sharing the Word of God among their churches," Yepez explains.

He says House on the Rock Church in Colombia, a congregation of 25,000, is going through the CBE right now. The Ecuadorian Missionary Alliance is also beginning CBE in each of their 300 churches.

As CBE fulfills the Great Commission and helps churches make disciples in 13 different countries, will you pray?

"We can set the sails," says Caminiti. "We can create the programs, we can create Community Bible Experiences, but it's the wind of the Spirit that's going to move this along."

Click here to learn more about CBE and how you can get involved.

Biblica's Community Bible Experience combines three different approaches to reading the Bible that work together to transform participants, small groups, and churches. The approaches include "Reading Big," "Reading in Context," and "Reading Together."

Over 8 weeks, participants read either the entire New Testament or portions of the Old Testament using The Books of the Bible–a Bible that's formatted without chapters or verses to enable easy reading of Scripture in a single sitting. Many sections of the Bible have been re-ordered back to the way it was originally written, allowing participants to experience God's Word in its historical context.

In the third approach, "Reading Together," participants read the same passages at the same time, and come together in community to discuss their thoughts. As group members engage with Scripture, they add deeper meaning and understanding for the entire group.

Axis uses the program to encourage young people to engage with God's Word.

Based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Axis encourages young Christians to move from static belief to gospel action. They challenge over 10,000 teenagers to live out their faith in tangible ways by serving in their communities and taking a stand for their faith. Using teen-friendly media like Facebook and YouTube, Axis leaders communicate with youth on their level about what it means to follow Jesus in today's culture.

Pray for Colorado teens as they learn about Christ through this program. Click here to learn more about Biblica's Community Bible Experience.

Biblica
is interested in using that approach to creating a godly habit: reading
the Bible.

Paul Caminiti is Biblica's Vice
President for Bible Engagement. He says some recent research had alarming
implications. "Our best estimate is that 700 people give up reading
the Bible every single day." 

This is obviously a shift that has
gradually taken place, but Caminiti notes that they're not going to accept
those reports. "If we were in any other industry, and we found out that
700 people were giving up on our product or our program, we'd be alarmed."

That information was the basis of a
new program that has been recently launched, but had nearly a decade of thought
behind it. "We began asking the
question, 'How did this happen, this 700 people?' It certainly isn't a lack of education. People are as literate as they've ever been, and it certainly isn't the lack of
Bibles."

As they sought answers, Caminiti says they discovered something else. "We've inadvertently developed some
bad habits in the way that we think about the Bible, and way that we read the Bible.
We read the Bible in fragments; we read the Bible outside of its context; we
read the Bible as if it were a modern book; and then, we read the Bible in
isolation."

How
to turn that around? How could Biblica
help engage believers with Scripture again without falling into old
habits? The answer: by creating new
ones. "We began asking and
re-imagining what a 'new normal' would look like. Over time, we came up with
what we call the 'Three C's of Bible Engagement' — The Complete story, understood in Context, and
experienced in Community."

The next question was: How could they
get people to stick with this discipline for the eight weeks required to get
the habit ingrained? "We created a
new Bible text that is called The Books
of the Bible. We created a different order for the books that makes more
sense. But then, we didn't stop there. We created a revolutionary approach that
we call 'Community Bible Experience.'"

Biblica also freshened the approach to
Community. "We kind of jettisoned
the traditional Bible study approach with a participants guide and six or seven
questions. Ours is much more of a book
club approach, and lo and behold, people love it."

Engaging
Scripture shouldn't be rocket science. With this new approach, people have seen God's story unfold on the page
and in their hearts — as it was meant to be.

The Books of the Bible covers the New
Testament, but once that's done, Caminiti says, "Why not complete the journey?" Old
Testament campaigns are available, too. See our Featured Links section for details.

But little verse McNuggets cannot sustain a Christian wanting to grow stronger spiritually. Statistics show that while the average American family has 11 Bibles, every day as many as 1,700 people give up reading the Bible.

According to Caminiti, there are three pitfalls that have kept people from fully embracing and understanding the Scriptures: We don't read the Bible completely, we read it out of context, and we don't read it as a community.

Biblica started their Community Bible Experience program to change all that. The Community Bible Experience program has groups of people in a church or Bible study reading the whole New Testament in 8 weeks. During that time, they meet together in the model of a book club to discuss what they've read.

Caminiti says, "Community Bible Experience is based on reading 12 pages a day, 5 days a week. And to our delight, in our 50 churches that we've tested, people are up to the challenge. They're ready to be slightly heroic."

Not only do they read through the New Testament, they read it in a special re-ordered version of the New Testament produced by Biblica called "The Books of the Bible."

"The Books of the Bible" features a re-ordering of Bible books and chapters based on first-century historical flow of events. Verse and chapter numbers have been stripped away, and text is presented across the page instead of in columns.

Also, Community Bible Experience really encourages whole churches to get involved in the project. Caminiti states, "We've discovered that when a whole church comes together and instead of engaging the Bible one group at a time, kind of like a little campfire here and there, we're encouraging them to build a bonfire and for the whole church to do this."

Additionally, Caminiti says the response they've seen is a swell in passion for God's Word. "People love doing this. They love the books of the Bible. They love reading together. They love it that their whole church is doing it. And I think that they love the fact that they're reading the whole New Testament."

If you are interested in getting your church involved in the Community Bible Experience, you can visit Biblica's Web site by clicking here. Copies of "The Books of the Bible" can be purchased either in bulk for $5 apiece, or in singles for just $6.99. The rest of the materials are free.

The next series of the Community Bible Experience will start on September 25 and end on November 20.

Don't be satisfied with the McNuggets Happy Meal. Get into some real meat.