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Speaking the language of the bible.

How do you engage with scripture?

I was excited to read on the Bible and Mission blog an article about the Bible and orality – taken from a recent Lausanne World Pulse.

Some higlights:

The word of God is unchangeable, but the manner or method in which it is communicated does change. We celebrate that God has worked intentionally throughout history to bring his word to the peoples of the world utilizing various media formats, including oral communication, scribe and hand written text, the printed page, and digital means.

The Gutenberg Press enabled a print revolution and unprecedented spread of the word of God. Oral means were available prior to Gutenberg, but a scripture literacy revolution was empowered by means of making the full Bible available to every person who could read. We stand today at another seminal point in history in which digital technology makes it possible for every oral learner to engage with God’s word in audio and audio/visual formats.

You can read the original post on the Bible and Mission blog, the Lausanne World Pulse, and find out more about the International Orality Network.

Photo: Mustafa Khayat (CC)

world student day: 21 October

World Student Day is an annual event that brings the IFES Fellowship together to celebrate the work of God in the lives of students, and to pray for one another and for specific situations facing students around the world.

World Student Day will take place on Friday 21 October 2011, starting as the day begins in Tonga, and drawing to a close 48 hours later as the day ends in Samoa.

I’m very excited about this upcoming event – and by the work many people have already put into making it happen; specifically my team back in Oxford who have pulled out all the stops whilst I am away for meetings, and Tim Pieszka for his creativity in making the promo video below.

Will you join us?

how long is a day?

If you thought the concept of the IFES World Student Day was confusing – squeezing 48 hours into one day – you should try reading Augustine on time.

And yet, Lord, we perceive intervals of times, and compare them,
and say, some are shorter, and others longer. We measure also, how
much longer or shorter this time is than that; and we answer, “This
is double, or treble; and that, but once, or only just so much as
that.” But we measure times as they are passing, by perceiving them;
but past, which now are not, or the future, which are not yet, who
can measure? unless a man shall presume to say, that can be measured,
which is not. When then time is passing, it may be perceived and measured;
but when it is past, it cannot, because it is not.

If you’d like to read more, do get a copy of The Confessions of St Augustine.

And if you’d like to know more about the IFES World Student Day (Friday 21 October 2011), check out the web page, facebook page, twitter account, and the #ifeswsd hash tag. Oh, and there’s a promotional video coming very soon.