Significant Updates to iWork for iOS: A Quick Look

Not only did Apple release "universal"  versions of their iWork Suite (Pages, Keynote & Numbers) today making them available for the smaller screens of the iPhone and the iPod Touch, the releases also included a few significant updates from previous versions on the iPad.

Here's a quick overview in pictures (click on images for a larger view).

In the "I don't know why it wasn't there in the first place" department, files in the individual apps can be sorted into folders. This works the same way that application folders are created on all iOS devices: drag one file on top of another and a folder is created that can be given any name.

Files & folders in Keynote for the iPad

Files & folders in Pages for the iPad

A folder's content in Keynote in Keynote for the iPad

Exporting and printing is now handled internally in a document rather than in the file browser as before:

Print/Export features now accessed from within the file (Keynote on the iPad)

No doubt many who teach with Keynote will be thrilled that the Keynote Remote on the iPhone can be used to control slides. The Keynote remote even gives access to presentation notes for complete classroom wandering! The two devices connect over WiFi.

Enable remote from within Keynote on the iPad (cropped image from Keynote on the iPad)

Control Keynote slides with an iPhone or iPod Touch. Presentation notes included! (iPhone screenshot) 

While the new iPad features of iWork are the most exciting to me, no doubt many will find the new iPhone/iPod Touch versions of these apps to be the really big news.

While I couldn't imagine doing serious editing of a Keynote slideshow on my iPhone, I have to admit it offers some new possibilities worth pondering. It was just a little over a year ago that we neded a full-blown laptop to use presentation graphics software. The iPad last year scaled those hardware requirements considerably. But can you imagine now—walking into a classroom and simply pulling an iPhone and an adapter out of your pocket as the only hardware needed for a presentation (assuming the projector is already in the room)?

Keynote on the iPhone: Create a presentation natively or import a PowerPoint or Keynote file created elsewhere.

Creating a new document in Pages for the iPhone

The same templates available in the iPad version are also available in the iPhone version of Pages.

 

Typing in Pages on the iPhone

 

Editing text in Pages on the iPhone

Insert a chart: all the same features available on the iPad version are available in the iPhone/Ipod Touch versions.

Again, I'm not totally psyched about the smaller versions of these apps as I doubt I will use them that much (although I may experiment with using Keynote from my iPhone), but simply giving some file management features as well as allowing remote control of presentations really begins to bring the experience up to par with using an actual laptop.

And yes, I know I've offered no screenshots for Numbers, but the same principles above (with the exception of the Keynote remote) apply to that app, too.

The Fallacy & Legalism of the Church Tithe

"The Widow's Mite" by Gustave Doré, Mark 12:41-44 (source: Accordance)
Earlier this week, T. C. Robinson delivered a short post, "What I've Come to Believe about Tithing" which generated a good bit of healthy discussion. Last year, in private correspondence, I laid out my own beliefs about the subject, but did not make them public at the time. While I hope this post doesn't come back to haunt me later, I'm encouraged by the overall response to T. C.'s post to offer my own thoughts here. The idea of a tithe has a "sacred cow" status in many of our churches, and for this fact alone, should be re-examined. The content below is adapted from my private correspondence from last year with personal content removed.

From the outset, despite the title, I do believe in supporting one's church financially, which I see as a different issue than giving a tithe. One's support of a church is even more important if you have covenanted with a church as a member or participant and take part in its ministry and/or receive the benefits (spiritual or otherwise) of its service. Moreover, if one's church has a set budget, members and regular participants in the church's ministry are obligated to seeing that its financial obligations are met.

As I hope to demonstrate, I don’t believe the idea of a church tithe is biblical. And I find it ironic, after spending my entire life in Baptist churches that seemed so careful to separate themselves from the very idea of tradition because somehow that seemed to be Catholic, the reality is that we have numerous traditions of our own, while not always recognizing them as such. Actually, I don’t mind having traditions at all if we can all agree on them and recognize them for what they are. But I do have a problem with holding to a tradition, while masking it under the label of biblical imperative.

Let me try to summarize as briefly as I can my objection to tithing as a model for church giving.

1. The term itself.
As the most minor of points, I don’t care for the word tithe in general. It is an adaptation of a 12th century Old English word, teogotha, that originally simply meant tenth. The problem, for me, lies in the fact that the current English word tithe has taken on religious baggage over the years that the original word never meant.

While this is ultimately a semantic issue and doesn’t matter in the big picture, I have noticed that the HCSB—the Southern Baptist, Lifeway-sponsored and owned translation of the Bible used in our Sunday School literature—never uses the word tithe, opting to more specifically translate the Hebrew word מַעֲשֵׂר/maaser and the Greek words ἀποδεκατεύω/apodekateuo and δεκάτη/dekate as tenth or, when in the verb form, give a tenth.

Regardless, I’ll use the word tithe as needed below for sake of common terminology.

2. The Old Testament context does not resemble the context of the church.
The practice of Israelites giving a tenth of their annual yield comes primarily from Levitcus 27 and Numbers 18. The Levites, as a priestly class, were to be supported by the other tribes because they did not have a tribal land allotment of their own. Having no land meant that crops could not be grown and cattle could not be bred. “Since the Levites do not possess any land and therefore cannot readily produce their own food, they are given the agricultural tithes of the people for their sustenance and as reward for their service in the tent of meeting.” [J. Christian Wilson, "Tithe," in The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992). 6:579.]

Essentially, the Old Testament practice of giving a tenth/tithe was a stipulation of the civil and cultic law for the ancient nation of Israel (as opposed to any other nation, let alone non-nationalists, which would include the church). “The tithe was subject to a variety of legislation. Numbers 18:20-32 provides for support of the Levites and the priests through the tithe. The Deuteronomic code stipulated that the tithe of agricultural produce be used for a family feast at the sanctuary celebrating God’s provision (Deut. 14:22-27). The same code stipulated the third year’s tithe for care of the Levites, orphans, widows, and foreigners (Deut. 14:28-29).” [Chad Brand, Charles Draper, Archie England et al., “Tithe,” in The Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), 1600-01.]

This also means that quoting Mal 3:10 as a model for giving in the church (which I've often seen over the years) is not only invalid, but completely ignores the context of the verse. Here God was speaking to post-Exile Israel, who was in danger of falling back to the position their ancestors were in before the Exile. They were not keeping the commands of giving a tenth to support the Levites as had been commanded in the Law (among their other offenses). This was partly out of greed and partly out of a lack of faith. While we can certainly draw valid application from this to a church context today, to say that this application for us centers on the tithe is wholly mistaken.

If we’re supposed to bring “the whole tithe” as is often promoted in church stewardship rhetoric, from a biblical basis, this would have very little to do with our paychecks, but would require among other things, any cattle farmer in our church bringing a tenth of any livestock born this year (what a mess that would make of the average church sanctuary!). I would need to bring 10% of any new food I’ve put in my pantry this year. And frankly, I don’t know of any Levites on the church staff to receive any of this. Now, you can say I’m being overly literal here. But to hold up Mal 3:10 as a model for church giving—that we must “bring in the whole tithe" as the biblical standard—means that we can’t simply pick and choose which parts of the biblical commands to follow. If we're going to be biblical, let's bring in the cows. Seriously, because I want a front row seat to see it.

3. No Support for the tithe in the New Testament or in the early church as described in the New Testament.
While the tithe is mentioned in the New Testament (Matt 23:23; Luke 11:42; Luke 18:12; Heb 7:2, 4-6, 8), none of these instances are in reference to any kind of command to the church to implement a tithe along the lines prescribed by the Old Testament Law. All of these references in the New Testament refer to either Jewish practices during Jesus’ ministry or, as in the case of the references in Hebrews, to Old Testament practice.

Don’t misread me at this point to think I’m saying that just because something is in the Old Testament that it is to be ignored by the church. I don’t believe that at all, but as mentioned in the point above, the practice of giving a tenth in the Old Testament is part of the legal and cultic system of the nation of Israel, not as something prescribed for those outside that nation, including the church. Every New Testament reference to the tithe is in the context of Israelite Law (or Abraham and Melchizedek, which was part of the foundation for Israel’s laws on tithing).

Let me be perfectly clear on this: There is neither biblical nor historical evidence that the New Testament Church practiced anything similar to a tithe. The Old Testament tithe was not even really about money, which is nearly always the emphasis for modern church stewardship campaigns. It was primarily about giving a tenth of what was mostly agricultural yield in support of the Levites who had no land of their own.

And no doubt, some in the early church gave much more than a tenth of their income for both church needs and for charity, but also many probably gave a lesser percentage.

In fact, while there is much about generosity in the New Testament (and the Old Testament), there is no reference to regular offerings as practiced in today’s church at all (although don’t misread me to think that I’m opposed to regular offerings as we have each week; I’ll address this below).

The earliest reference in church literature to a regularly taken offering comes not from the Bible, but from the Didache (probably early second century) which reads: “As for money and clothes and any other possessions, take the first fruit that seems right to you and give in accordance with the commandment” (Did 13:7). Note that “seems right to you” echoes 2 Cor 9:7: "Each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not reluctantly or out of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver" (HCSB, emphasis added). Note carefully that there is no percentage model given.

4. Often the idea of a church "tithe" results in church members giving less.
This happens in two ways. I've heard one prominent Christian financial guru say, "If you can't live on 90%, you can't live on 100%. Well, that's probably true most of the time, but certainly if the household income is $3,000 a month it's easier to live on $2700 than to live on $900 when one's income is only $1,000 a month.

I've seen low-income believers give very generously in my lifetime. I've seen people who ought to be receiving help from the church, give sacrificially. In Mark 12:42, Jesus praises the widow who gives a 100% offering.

YetI've also seen a different scenario in which for people in desperate financial situations see the tithe as nothing but one more burden in their lives. I've known people, who knowing they couldn't give ten percent of their income, simply give nothing at all. I was in a situation similar to this many years ago. I had so many bills and expenses that I didn't feel like I could reach the 10% my church was teaching. So, knowing my inability to meet that goal, I simply gave up and gave nothing at all for a period of months. Then, I heard a financial speaker at our church say, "If you can't give 10%, give something." Suddenly, "giving something" was endorsed from the pulpit, and I knew I could do that. So, before the next Sunday, I sat down to write an offering check. I intended to write out the check for $25 because I knew that was a good manageable beginning. But instead of writing $25, my hand wrote out $50, which was a bit of a risk to me at the time, but something I felt I could trust God with. From that small start, I was able to begin giving to the church again and eventually go beyond that amount.

I've seen the opposite happen, also. I've seen people for whom giving 10% is nothing. They would have to give much more than that for the gift to come anywhere close to being sacrificial. But they give only 10% because that has been taught to them as their Christian obligation. Supposedly, if they give 10%, they're in good standing with the church and with God. But this may actually be very far from the truth.

With either scenario, blind allegiance to the idea of a tithe in our churches keeps us from receiving the offering amounts than we're capable of as a whole.

5. The emphasis on a church tithe promotes legalism.
Most of the churches with which I'm most familiar  would quickly tell their members and the community at large that they preach the grace of Jesus Christ. Yet beyond this grace are little pockets of works and legalism. If it's promoted that good standing equals a tithe, this is legalism, plain and simple. If taking on a responsibility within the church such as teaching or some committee position or a role like deacon requires giving at least 10% of one's income, this is legalism by its very definition. And yet these same churches supposedly believe they promote God's grace in all areas. Sadly, they do not.

So what is an appropriate New Testament model?
A good friend of mine has written, “God owns 100%, not just 10%. We are accountable for how we use all his gifts for His glory,” and I agree. Ultimately this is true in both testaments (see Psalm 50:10 for foundation in the Old Testament) as true stewardship is not just about giving to the church, but also about (perhaps more about) what we do with (i.e. how we manage) what we “keep.”  Of course, the standard church stewardship committee never seems to discuss this part of the Christian financial obligation, even though it's probably a more significant issue.

Ultimately, there is no New Testament “policy” or “standard” given to the church on giving, but I do believe we can draw some solid principles.

The first principle is mentioned above—that 100% of what we have belongs to the Lord.

Paul says a lot about giving, especially in 1 & 2 Corinthians, but none of this can be called church “policy” or commands for standard practice. Everything Paul says to this subject in these letters was in the specific context of the offering he was collecting among the gentile Christians for the poor in Jerusalem.

Paul’s command in 1 Corinthians 16:2 that “On the first day of the week, each of you is to set something aside and save to the extent that he prospers…” (HCSB) is in reference to this collection for the poor in Jerusalem. So, while we can’t call that policy given to the entire church, we can say that when the church has a reason for collecting funds (and a voted-on church budget surely counts!) this collection ought to be done regularly. Thus, we have a solid second biblical principle—that we can take up regular weekly offerings (but we can’t call it biblical command or policy to do so).

How much does one give?
The “cheerful giver” label in 2 Cor 9:7 is often touted as to what our response should be in giving to the church. I agree, but this, as evidenced in earlier points, has nothing to do with a tithe. The context here, too, had to do with Paul’s collection for the poor in Jerusalem. But if we draw a third principle from his statement, we must surely read the whole verse: “You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. ‘For God loves a person who gives cheerfully’” (emphasis added, NLT).

What’s the principle here? We should give based upon our own convictions with no outside pressure and no set requirement (such as a tithe). And if we follow the principles of Paul, we must be willing at times to give sacrificially (he writes about this in 2 Corinthians especially) meaning we give more than what we can really afford to at times, trusting that God will provide for any shortfall in our personal budgets.

No doubt our churches suffer from members who give less than what they ought. But rather than hold that 10% mark over their heads, why not have members determine what percentage they are actually giving and encourage a 1% increase every year? That will inevitably reach its own limits after a while, but it won't hold an artificial mark of spirituality over anyone's head or prevent someone from giving beyond this artificial mark.

So there’s my little theology of giving to the church. It has nothing to do with tithing, it’s not legalistic, and I certainly believe it reflects biblical principles. And honestly, I believe that if it was fully taught, we’d never have trouble meeting budget.

If we're to have traditions, let's recognize them as such.
Now, it may be that a particular body of believers gets together and decides that 10% is a good measure of what a their members ought to give as a minimum. But let's not be all pious about it and resort to the kind of spiritual manipulation that I often hear such as "To be a Christian in good standing with God and the church, you must be giving at least 10% of your income." No, let's call this what it is: tradition. As I said, I'm not opposed to tradition if we can acknowledge it for what it is. Let's just not dress it up in Bible verses taken out of context and call it something that it's not.

As always, your comments, thoughts, questions and rebuttals are welcome below.

Territorial Spirits

Tomorrow night, I'm going to hear Kenneth Slawenski, owner of the dead caulfields website, discuss his recent book, J. D. Salinger: A Life. I won't be able to finish the book in time (my Kindle tells me I'm at 27%), but when I do, I'll post a review here. In truth, I've never been a huge fan of Salinger, who is most known for his one published novel, Catcher in the Rye. No, I'm not opposed to Catcher for the reasons some have wanted to censor it over the past six decades. I actually find the book to be well-written and very creative.

My problem with Catcher results from the reality that I simply read the book too late in life. I feel that if a person is really going to connect with the book's protagonist, Holden Caulfield, it needs to be read around high school or college age. I was around 40 or 41 when I first read Catcher in the Rye, and I think it was simply too late for me to make a spiritual or emotional bond with the character. By the time I got around to reading the book, I'd already had a good bit of adult experience in life. Yes, I don't have much patience with phonies, either; but having been at an age where I'd already spent one part of my life teaching high school students, I simply wanted to wring Holden's neck at times while I read the book. Having already lost much of my own youthful ideals and having given in to life at times through compromises of my own, perhaps Holden would have called me a phoney!

And yet, I don't feel that same disconnect when I've re-read Huckleberry Finn a couple of times in recent years. Why? Perhaps because I first read Huck when I was around 14, and I very much connected with him then.

Moreover, Salinger's somewhat abrupt disengagement from public life had always struck me as a bit of a narcissistic act. I suppose I've always thought of him as a bit of a literary prima donna.

However, I was curious enough about Salinger, the man, to request tickets to hear Slawenski. And in reading the first quarter of his book, I have to admit that I'm beginning to have new appreciation for both Salinger and his writing. The portrayal of Salinger presented in what I've read from Slawenski, so far, gives me reason to think that perhaps I judged Salinger too quickly and too harshly.

So, I went back to the Amazon page for J. D. Salinger: A Life to look at some of the reviews of the book. I tend to often take reviews of books or movies with a grain of salt—perhaps because I occasionally write some of them myself. But I was surprised to read some of the harsh words that some reviewers, specifically those who only gave one or two stars to the biography, had for this book.

As I read through the negative reviews, I feel like I perceived a few themes, such as Slawenski offers nothing new and Slawenski defends Salinger too much. One review even mentioned that NPR called the book "sludge." Now, I wouldn't say that the book is perfect. What biography is? Yet some of these reviews are more harsh than necessary—and this evaluation is coming from me, someone who's never really appreciated Salinger or The Catcher in the Rye all that much. And then it struck me why I believe the writer was receiving such a tough time: Slawenski is an outsider. He's perceived as someone who's "merely" a fan (with a fan website to boot!). It doesn't matter that he worked on his book for years and it was published by a major publisher (Random House) with their own team of editors and fact checkers. How dare someone like him try to interpret Salinger's life and works for us!

Of course, whether Slawenski's critics like it or not, considering his work is the first book on Salinger published after the writer's death—at least for the moment—J. D. Salinger: A Life is pretty much the definitive biography of the writer's life.

Reflecting on this drew me back twenty something years ago to when I was in college at Louisiana Tech University. I had decided to major in English after enjoying my first two classes in the subject that everyone in most liberal arts programs was required to take. My first English class specifically in my major was a course in American literature. We had to write a paper for the class that was based around a book by a major American author. In the first few days, I learned that my instructor (I'm tempted to state his name out of spite, but I'll refrain) was a published "expert"on three subjects: Twain, Faulkner, and the King James Bible (referring to the literary aspects of the KJV, as I never detected any spiritual devotion to the Bible in the man).

In my eager (and naive) attempt to impress this man, I decided to write my paper on William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, which I had never read before this class. The image you see to the right is the exact same cover as that of the paperback copy I bought for the class (which I still have). I wanted my own copy instead of checking one out at the library, so I could make notes in the margins for my paper. I worked very hard on the paper—much harder than my "Bartleby the Scrivener" paper which had been assigned to me by my teacher in my previous English class after I waited so long to pick a topic.

On the day we were to begin presenting our papers, I let a couple of other students read theirs first, so I could get a feel for my instructor's reaction. After two successful papers, one on a Steinbeck novel and another on a Hemingway title, I volunteered to read my paper. I was certain that my professor would be pleased that I had picked a book by one of his favored American authors. I couldn't wait to get the paper back with "A" and "Excellent insights!" written across the top in red ink. How was I to know that the grade would actually fall two letters lower?

As I reached the mid-point of the third page of my paper, the professor completely stopped me. This was a bit of a shock to both my classmates and me. I thought everything had been going quite well. Over two decades later, I still remember his expression of frustration and his exact words that continue to bounce around in my cranium from time to time. "Did you even read the book?" he asked. I think I may have stammered a "Yes," but if I did or if he heard me, it didn't really matter.

I was humiliated. He then spent the rest of the class taking apart the points I'd already made and explaining the book to me. At some point in this, when I realized he wasn't going to let me finish my paper, I simply walked back to my desk, sat down, and listened to him continue his rant. When we met for the next class, no one would volunteer to read their paper, so the professor began calling readers randomly.

As I said, I was naive. I had no idea that some profs were egomaniacs. While I thought I was gaining favor by writing on a topic he was interested in, I had no idea that to him, since he was the expert on the subject and I was the neophyte, there was simply nothing I could possibly contribute to the the discussion—at least not in his view. Fortunately, I stuck with my major, and I also still enjoy reading Faulkner, but it's a wonder I didn't give up on both after that experience.

I've often said that much of how I relate to my students today comes as a reaction against some of the jerks I had in college. Yes, I read papers from students with which I disagree. I even read papers occasionally, where beyond mere disagreement of opinion, I believe the student is simply wrong in his or her assertion of the facts. But I don't belittle the student. I don't present myself as the expert and the student as the imbecile. I tell my students that I often learn new things from their papers; I often see insights to familiar subjects that I'd never thought of before.

It's too bad so many of us go through life putting up walls of superiority between ourselves and others. It's too bad that we become so territorial in our own little worlds of ideas that we have no patience for outside voices.

John said to Jesus, "Teacher, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he wasn't in our group."

"Don't stop him!" Jesus said. "No one who performs a miracle in my name will soon be able to speak evil of me. Anyone who is not against us is for us." (Mark 9:38-40, NLT)

Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) for Kindle & Nook

Kindle Edition
Nook Edition

Popular eReaders like the Kindle and Nook are still new technologies essentially. As such, there are features not yet present in eReaders, such as the ability to display right-to-left languages like Hebrew and Arabic. To my knowledge, because of this limitation, there have not been any Hebrew Bibles available for the Kindle or Nook until now.

Last week, Miklal Software Solutions, Inc. released a true Bible in Hebrew for both the Amazon Kindle and the Barnes and Noble Nook. Here is the description from the company website:

Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) is a complete Hebrew Bible in an aesthetically pleasing Hebrew script. It contains all of the consonants, vowels, cantillation marks (accents), and other symbols. It follows the text of the Leningrad Codex as digitized by the J. Alan Groves Center for Advanced Biblical Research. This is the same manuscript underlying Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) and Biblia Hebraica Quinta (BHQ).

In addition, the Kindle version has The Comprehensive Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic Glossary, by Humphrey H. Hardy, appended to it.

The reference to an "aesthetically pleasing Hebrew script" is no exaggeration. Drayton Benner, president of Miklal Software, sent me review copies of both the Kindle and Nook versions of the text. Although I think I'm probably biased at this point toward E Ink displays, honestly, the text in both versions looks as professional as the type in my hardcopy Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. Here are a couple of screenshots:

Psalm 23 on the Kindle

 

Psalm 23 on the Nook Color

As you'll notice the formatting looks much better on the Kindle version than the Nook Color screen. I'm trying to get a screenshot of an E Ink Nook screen for comparison, and if I do, I'll update this post. My hunch is that the E Ink Nook will display this text better than the Nook Color, which is essentially an Android tablet. This version of the Hebrew Bible seems primarily intended for dedicated eReaders as there is a warning that the formatting has mixed results on some mobile devices (the iPhone is specifically mentioned). I'll come back to this subject toward the end of the review.

Regardless of the differences, the final result is impressive when considering the limitations of a device like the Kindle or Nook when it comes to right-to-left text. Benner is not currently revealing his method of reproducing the Hebrew text on these devices, but I have a few hunches. For instance, the text itself cannot be increased or reduced like normal English text on a Kindle or Nook. When navigating through the text with the Kindle's five-way controller, the insertion point jumped letter by letter instead of word by word as with other titles. This leads me to believe that perhaps each Hebrew character, including vowel markings and cantillations, are essentially small graphic files, but I may be wrong. I checked file sizes to see if this title took up an inordinate amount of space on my Kindle, but it does not; I actually have a number of other titles, including some English Bible translations, that are much larger in size. But in the final analysis, none of this really matters because it's the end product that counts, and the end product is quite impressive.

The Hebrew Bible for Kindle and Nook includes a fairly sophisticated navigation system—one that is more feature rich than most eReader titles. Like a handful of other better-formatted Bibles, there is a fully interactive table of contents allowing the reader to go from the listing in the contents to the text and then back very quickly. But there's even greater flexibility than that. The search feature built into the device allows for strings such as "Joshua 4" to be entered as one means for accessing a chapter. If you don't want to type that much on an eReader keyboard, no problem, as there is a table included in the preface that offers abbreviations such as "jos" instead of the aforementioned "Joshua." While in a passage, pressing left or right on the five-way Kindle controller moves to the previous or next chapter respectively.

Interestingly, the order of the books matches that of most English Bibles rather than the traditional order found in Hebrew Bibles.

The Kindle edition has one advantage over the Nook version: the inclusion of a concise Hebrew glossary. Here is a sample screenshot:

Representative page from The Comprehensive Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic Glossary, by Humphrey H. Hardy

The navigation system for the glossary has received a good bit of thought as well to make navigation as quick as possible.

So, what's the true need for something like this? Even though there are Kindle and Nook apps on iOS and Android devices, those are not the platforms for which this title is really intended. The more advanced mobile devices all have dedicated Bible apps that make displaying and reading the Hebrew Bible a breeze. In fact, I tried viewing the Nook version of this Hebrew Bible on my iPad and the Nook app repeatedly crashed. I viewed the Kindle version on my iPad, and it was stable; but again, it wasn't overly necessary for that device.

When I got my Kindle, I wondered whether I needed a Bible installed on it. Bible reading and study on the iPad becomes more and more practical as the software and platform continue to improve. But after installing a few English translations of the Bible on my Kindle, I discovered that I ended up accessing the biblical text much more often that I initially imagined I would. That's what this Hebrew Bible is for. If you need access to an original language text on your Kindle or Nook, this is it. And what's more, this isn't something that you have to "settle for" simply because it's an only option. Rather, this edition of the Hebrew Bible is put together with quite a bit of thought and skill, and more impressive navigationally and in other ways than many "normal" Kindle books in English.

So, if you're a student of Hebrew, and if you have a Kindle or a Nook, you're covered. Be certain to look at the Miklal website for more information, and pick up either version for only $9.99 each, which, incidentally, is much less expensive than the average print copy of a Hebrew Bible.

This Lamp Now Available for Kindle Subscription

I'd like to take a quick moment to announce that my blog here at This Lamp is now available for Kindle subscription from Amazon. For 99¢ a month, you can have the most recent posts on This Lamp wirelessly delivered to your Kindle as they're updated.

Now the first question some of you may ask is "Why would I want to pay 99¢ for something I can already get for free?" (that's assuming, of course, you're not asking the more fundamental question, "Why would I want to read This Lamp at all?"). Well, that is a good question (the first one, not the parenthetical one), and the reality is that most people will not want or need to subscribe. This is merely an option that may be a convenience for some readers who might have a busy schedule—and receiving a digest version of multiple posts, directly to their Kindle, will allow for greater ease and portability. For instance, if you're like me, you may often let your Kindle read books and magazines to you while you drive. I do this regularly with Time Magazine on the Kindle or with articles I've clipped and sent to Instapaper.

This is merely another option for distributing This Lamp. Amazon sets the price, not me, and I have no plans to make any significant money on this venture. You'll have to decide whether or not it's worth the cost to you. If you're unsure, here's the good news: the subscription is on a month-to-month basis, so if you decide it's not for you or not worth the cost, you can cancel at any time. I have set a goal to have at least three posts a week on average, although there will sometimes be more and rarely less, I hope moving forward. Sometime later this year or perhaps next year, I may launch an audio podcast version of This Lamp that will feature an interactive discussion of the topics from the previous week. That won't be any time in the immediate future, but stay tuned.

Amazon actually offers a number of blogs for subscription on the Kindle, and you can add yours, too, as a convenience for some of your readers. In regard to the content, Amazon states,

"Kindle blogs are fully downloaded onto your Kindle so you can read them even when you're not wirelessly connected. And unlike RSS readers which often only provide headlines, blogs on Kindle give you full text content and images, and are updated wirelessly throughout the day."

Yes, I know most RSS feeds provide more than just headlines, but I didn't write that.

I had to subscribe to my own blog to see how it looked on the Kindle. I've actually been fairly impressed that it captures graphics and retains formatting such as bold and italics. External links are retained such as URLs that will launch the Kindle browser. Images can be enlarged, too.

As always, anything on a Kindle looks best when looking in person at the device, but here are a couple of screenshots to give you the idea of how This Lamp is formatted on the Kindle:

A recent post. Notice the retention of bold and italics.

Above is a standard page seen when reading any post. Note the retention of bold and italics, as well as different fonts and external links. The title of the next article is listed at the bottom as well as an option to view all available posts.

There is an "Articles List" view similar to that in Kindle magazine subscriptions.

The Articles List above acts as a table of contents. There are three articles listed on three pages for a total of nine articles in this edition. If a post contained graphics, a thumbnail of the topmost graphic is included here while a larger version remains in the article itself.

Having now received two downloads of This Lamp to my Kindle, I noted that the previous edition was moved automatically to my periodicals collection folder just like issues in my Time Magazine subscription. Presumably, unless an edition is designated "keep" (and why would you?), it will be deleted after six or so downloads accumulate. Of course, you can also always manually delete it yourself.

Currently, This Lamp Kindle Edition, like other Kindle blogs and periodicals, is only available on dedicated Kindle devices, including all previous Kindle models. I hope that eventually all Kindle apps (on computers, Android and iOS devices) could carry these types of periodical writing. Although the subscription itself is 99¢ a month, like all periodicals on the Kindle, there is a two-week free trial period. So, feel free to try it out, and if it's not for you, cancel within that 14-day window and you won't be charged.

Of course, if you want to leave a comment, you'll still have to come back to the website for that!

More Thoughts on Forgiveness

Last week, I shared some thoughts on forgiveness that I had earlier shared with some of my students and a few members of our church. As I mentioned, I received numerous responses to this subject. One notable question came from a member at our church who asked about the limits of forgiveness—specifically whether we are required to forgive those who do not actually ask for forgiveness. She said that she heard a prominent minister on television (you would recognize the name, but I'd prefer not to mention it since I cannot confirm the statement) say that we aren't required to forgive those who never ask for forgiveness.

This is certainly an interesting idea, but I think at the root of it might be an excuse not to offer forgiveness to those who are the most difficult to forgive. Forgiveness is never easy. It is the difficult option, not the easy one.

With all due respect to the minister my fellow church member mentioned, I disagree with this position, and here’s why.

It’s true that there are passages in the Bible that refer to a direct connection between repentance and forgiveness such as

“Be on your guard. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him” (Luke 17:3—all references in this post from the HCSB). However, I don’t ever see any direct statement in Scripture that echoes what this minister was saying—that we don’t have to forgive someone if that person does not ask for forgiveness.

This is in spite of numerous passages about forgiving others which never mention anything about forgiveness being dependent upon repentance or a request for forgiveness:

"And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors" (Matt 6:12).

"And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your wrongdoing" (Mark 11:25).

In fact, Luke 11:4 says we are to forgive everyone in our debt:

"And forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves also forgive everyone [πᾶς = all, the whole]
in debt to us.”

Most importantly, I think Jesus offers the greatest example in his words from the cross:

"Then Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing'" (Luke 23:34).

Those who crucified Jesus certainly didn’t ask for forgiveness. I think this alone counters the idea that a receiver of forgiveness must request it first. [Note: I realize that there are issues regarding the manuscript evidence for this statement by Jesus, but strong arguments can be made on both sides. For recent discussions, see Marshal (NIGTC) and Comfort (NTTTC).]

Now all of this is not to diminish the horrendous acts people commit against one another.Forgiveness can often be a long process and is rarely quickly resolved. In fact, there are some who have suffered such horrible acts that I would not judge them at all if they could not reach the point of forgiveness in this life.

However, the other side of forgiveness is that not only does it rob power from the offender, it also creates power in the victim over the offender. To say to someone who doesn’t ask forgiveness, “I forgive you” accomplishes what Paul said when he wrote

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him.
If he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
For in so doing you will be heaping fiery coals on his head” (Rom 12:20).

Forgiveness is not always easy, but it is liberating if it can be achieved.

Finding Forgiveness

A few weeks ago, I was leading my New Testament Survey class in a devotion based upon 1 Corinthians 13, and for a while we got stuck on v. 5: “love…does not keep a record of wrongs” (HCSB). I made the statement, "Sometimes, I hear people say, ‘I’ll forgive, but I won’t forget.'" I questioned the level of forgiveness offered if someone makes such a statement.

Of course, this opened up a floodgate of questions about what it really means to forgive someone. A number of my students opened up about very deep hurts they had faced in life with some describing how they had found forgiveness for the person who had hurt them and left emotional scars felt for many years. Another student described her hurt and admitted that she had not forgiven the person and didn’t know if she ever could or even wanted to. She was encouraged by those who had faced similar situations and had managed to overcome what had been done to them.

It was a very emotional time; lots of tears flowed. My fifteen minute devotional and prayer time lasted an entire hour! Of course, it was a New Testament Survey class, and we were studying Paul’s epistles that evening, so I had my justification ready if administration had walked in and asked why we were taking so long for our devotional.

Anyway, I’ve continued to think about this discussion, and a few days ago I wrote a devotional for another class, which is online. I thought I would share it with all of you here. Surely there are not easy answers for the most deep-seated hurts in our lives. But I do personally know that forgiveness is freeing and allows us to move forward in the journey to which God has called us.

Here’s what I shared with my online class:

Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how many times could my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”

“I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus said to him, “but 70 times seven.”
(Matt 18:21–22 HCSB)

When Peter asked Jesus if he should forgive his brother’s sin seven times, he thought he was being generous. Jewish tradition (but not biblical command!) said a person should be forgiven three times. So, Peter was offering twice that plus one!

Surely Peter thought he was being quite generous. I’m certain he was not expecting Jesus’ response that we should forgive each other “seventy times seven.” What does this mean? Well, Jesus wasn't raising the bar to simply a higher number—that is, 70 x 7 = 490. My wife sometimes jokingly says, “Sorry, that’s 491, and I’m all out of forgiveness for you!”

No, Jesus was saying that we simply shouldn’t keep count. That’s easier said than done for most of us.

I have occasionally heard people say, “I might forgive, but I won’t forget!” I think just making that statement proves one hasn’t quite reached the state of forgiveness yet.

Of course, someone can easily respond, “But you don’t know what so-and-so did to me.” Well, it’s true that there are very deep hurts that we often experience in life. And, let’s be honest, there are different levels of hurt. There’s a scale of offense, is there not?

There’s the hurt of someone lying to us, or breaking a confidence, or failing to keep a promise. There’s the pain of hurtful words and betrayal. And then there’s the hurt that is nearly unfathomable: abuse, molestation and even taking the life of someone we love. Those who survive such atrocities are usually never quite the same.

What does it mean to forgive? I believe the starting place for understanding forgiveness is to look at what happens when God forgives us. The Psalmist writes,

As far as the east is from the west,
so far has He removed
our transgressions from us.
(103:12 HCSB)

When God forgives, our offenses no longer count against us in regard to our relationship and standing with Him. How do we offer the same level of forgiveness with each other?

Well, it’s one thing to be forgiving of the neighbor who borrows your lawnmower and returns it without telling you he hit enough rocks that you’ll have to get the blades resharpened. But those more serious offenses aren’t always so easily resolved.

Remember when we were children? One of us might get angry at another and say something unkind or worse, strike our playmate. Our parents or teachers then made us say we were sorry. We quickly made up, forgave each other and went back to playing. But it’s not so easy in the “adult” world, is it?

I believe we have to start with being willing to be forgiving in the little things. From there we can develop an attitude of forgiveness that allows us to seek reconciliation whenever we can.

Certainly, it’s true that we can’t simply say, “I forgive” and it be so. But we can work toward that. In those really big offenses, and especially in those horrendous acts that sometimes occur in life, we may need a great amount of time to process our movement toward forgiveness. We might need the help of a Christian counselor or other mature Christians who can help us down this part of our journey.

Even actual forgiveness doesn’t mean that we put ourselves or our loved ones in harmful or vulnerable positions. However, if we keep unforgiveness in our hearts, we risks our own hearts becoming hardened. If we refuse to forgive, then we allow the one who wronged us to still have power over us. We let the offender win—we even risk letting evil win.

God wants more from us because he wants us to be whole. Sometimes the journey is uphill. But ultimately, we must forgive just as he forgave us. And aren’t we glad he did, in fact, forgive us!

Is there any unforgiveness in your heart toward someone who hurt you—perhaps even long ago? What steps will you take to find forgiveness so that you can move past whatever it is that is holding you back emotionally and spiritually?

_______________________________________

I also shared these thoughts via email with a Bible study group I teach at church. I've received a number of positive responses from friends of mine who were struggling with forgiveness toward individuals who had wronged them. One person asked me a very good question—almost a rebuttal to the ideas presented above. I'll come back and share that question in a couple of days as well as my response.

 

NIV 2011 Now Available for Accordance

Earlier today, OakTree Software released the new 2011 New International Version text for Accordance Bible Software. A number of you have asked me if/when I'd write something more in-depth about the revised NIV text, but I had wanted to wait until it was available in Accordance. In spite of the fact that I already have the 2011 NIV on other platforms, Accordance makes comparisons with other text incredibly easy to examine.

The whole family: NIV 2011, NIV 1984, TNIV, and NIRV

Of course, this doesn't mean I'll have a review of the 2011 up immediately (these things take time), but at least now I can seriously look into it.

Pricing information from the Accordance forums: If you already own the NIV 1984, the NIV 2011 is a $25 upgrade, otherwise it is $30. As a separate module, the NIV 2011 will not take the place of the NIV 1984 in Accordance, but rather will show up in your library as NIV11. That means that if you own both, you can view the two Bibles in parallel. If you purchased the NIV 1984 earlier this year (January 1, 2011 or later) you can upgrade for $20 with coupon code NIV11up. The NIV11 also happens to be today's featured product in our Bible of the Day Sale, so if you act fast you can find an exclusive 24-hour deal on our Facebook and Twitter pages!