Last week I enjoyed volunteering for two days at our university's Bibles for America table. Each year we pay for a spot in a fair that takes place before classes start that showcases clubs and community services. For over 20 years I've had a rewarding experience volunteering at this fair. It's definitely always been one of my year's highlights. This year we gave out Gospels of John with a Free NT card tucked inside.
My favorite part is talking with the students. I usually start out by asking them how long they've been reading the Bible. One girl I talked to this year said since she was four years when her mother started reading it to her. I could tell she loved the Bible. Whenever students tell me that they already have a Bible, I like to tell them, of all the Bibles I own this is my favorite because of the footnotes. Then I open it up and let them see some of the lengthy notes. That's usually enough, and they take a Gospel of John with a smile.
Some of them want to know what version it is, and I show them on the cover that it's the Recovery Version. Most of the time this will cause them to give me a blank look which is my invitation to tell them that after a thousand years of the Dark Ages and beginning with Martin Luther, many lost truths of the Bible started to get recovered. These footnotes reveal these lost truths; plus they also give Greek meanings and historical and Biblical backgrounds that help you better
understand the meaning of the verses. That's probably why the BFA T-Shirts that many volunteers wear say--"A Bible You Can Understand."
I also like to tell students that when this version was being worked on, the translators laid out all the best Greek translations and then chose the best rendering for each passage. That's a real labor of love if you ask me.
This year a student asked me a thoughtful question that I don't think anyone has ever asked me while volunteering. He asked me what our big vision was in being at the university's info fair. I thought for a second and then this answer welled up in my heart, The Bible helps build up the Body of Christ.
Today as I was writing the draft for this post, I was thinking about that answer and how it connects to 1 Corinthians 14:26 which really gives a window on how the New Testament believers used to meet. "What then brothers? Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up." And without the footnotes on this verse, I wouldn't have seen the whole picture:
"...This is like the Feast of Tabernacles in ancient times. The children of Israel brought the produce of the good land, which they had reaped from their labor on the land, to the feast and offered it to the Lord for His enjoyment and for their mutual participation in fellowship with the Lord and with one another.... " (Holy Bible, Recovery Version, Living Stream Ministry: Anaheim, California 2003).
As we each read the Bible every day certain verses will jump out at us and give us hope or strength. Then when we gather with our fellow believers, we have something just like this verse says from the Bible to feed and build up the Lord's Body.
If you would like to receive this study Bible, you can click on this link, Bibles for America will send you a free New Testament study Bible. If you have some questions about God, you can also listen to some of their gospel videos like one which says, Why Do We Exist?
List of Posts on Handing out Bibles & Gospel Tracts
Why Do I Volunteer For Bibles for America?The Best Things in Life are Free! - Bible for America Distribution at WWU
Adventures in Handing out Gospel Tracts - Part 1 of 1
Adventures in Handing out Gospel Tracts - Part 2 of 2
Volunteering for Bibles for America - Part 1 of 2 Volunteering for Bibles for America - Part 2 of 2
