The KEY to Success, or Take NOTE!

So last week my wife and I were talking (great marriage building method, guys), and she says to me "Honey, when we're singing in church, can you please pick an octave and stick with it?"

To which I reply "Gladly, babe...If I knew what you were talking about!"

You see, I have very limited musical talent and even less musical knowledge or training. I would like to say it is simply because I've never applied myself, but the fact is, I'm just no good with those things. I couldn't tell you the difference between octave and tone, note and key. They're foreign concepts, the likes of which my brain refuses to latch hold.

That's OK, though. You see ,Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4 all remind us that everyone has been blessed with differing gifts, not according to what makes me look good in public, but according to what God has called me to do. I personally have felt a calling to teach and evangelize, therefore God has given me gifts that enable me to do just that. By my inability to follow a few lines of sheet music, one can quickly realize that I am not gifted or called to exhort my brothers and sisters with music, and I'm ok with that.

This is important, because I think that we in the church get caught up in a few "flashy" gifts, and think that if you aren't in the pulpit, the mission field or the choir, you are not important. This is NOT God's purpose with the Gifts of the Spirit! Read the passages I referenced above and you will soon come to understand that all gifts are intended to help us spread the gospel and encourage the Church to persevere.

I want to encourage you to consider where God has called you to serve, first of all, and through that, you will likely find you have a skill or natural ability that will greatly assist that calling. If you are not sure, there are several "Gifts Inventories" which can guide you. They work similar to personality tests, and many vary depending on which denomination created them.

As a final point,we would all do well to remember Paul's words to the Corinthians, right after he talks about the spiritual gifts:

1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. (1 Cor. 13: 1-3, NIV, 2011)

Scripture courtesy of Bible Gateway

Gettin' the Word out

Consistently, the #1 selling book in print is the Holy Bible.  Obviously, people want to read the Scriptures. Obviously, the sales of this book have produced substantial income. So why is it that right now, the KJV is one of only a handful of translations available for free electronically?

 In the United States, a work becomes public domain 70 years after the author’s death, or 95 years after publication (it’s more complicated, but that covers the basics).  The obvious problem is the legality of public domain, and that only amplifies the seriousness of my question.

 In the current age, the premium on information is falling.  Even excluding the casual availability of books in public libraries, anyone with a computer and access to the Internet can glean hundreds of thousands of books, legally, at any time.  The popularity of electronic readers further enhances the user friendliness of these books. 

Are the publishers of other versions so attached to their “best selling” profit margins that they cannot release this, the most important words ever printed, into public domain?  What would happen if these versions were made legally available?  If the person seeking truh could log into sites like Project Gutenberg and download the NIV, CEV, or RSV Bible, maybe the American public would stop thinking us archaic and stubborn.