Tithe Definition from Dictionary.com:

tithe   [tahyth] noun, verb, tithed, tith·ing.

I like to spread the wealth

While at year-end when I do taxes, I see that I haven’t given close to 10% of our income (pre- or post-tax) to charity, I think we’re doing pretty darn good. And each year we give out more and more. But I don’t like to just give to one place. I like to give to my church, to animal shelters, to rebuilding efforts, and also to friends and family (discussed in a bit).

I have a friend who insists he is a good Christian because he tithes 10% of his income before spending on anything. Good for him. However, I also know about his financial situation outside of his charitable donations and I also know about his charitable WORK because he’s told me directly…

It’s not all about the money

This friend of mine thinks that he’s following “the law” and giving his money, so he’s saved (well, in addition to going to church and not swearing or drinking. That’s about it in his mind). But let’s focus on “the law”. It’s great to give up a good chunk of your pay to your church, or anywhere, but to me, giving away money is the easy part. I want to know WHAT ARE YOU DOING for your fellow man? I’m a leader in a charitable organization associated with our church, and in that capacity, just this year, I’ve spent over 100 hours of my time rebuilding a home for a needy woman, unloading and selling hundreds of Christmas trees for our church, running charity dinners and more. When a neighbor asked for help to disassemble a weight machine and deliver it to a local Hispanic shelter for their gym, I was right on board. I even stayed overtime to put it all back together, although I crushed my hands in the process.

While I don’t like leading, when someone asks or I see someone in need, I will jump in. Recently another neighbor’s church adopted a family. They were calling for toys for the kids, but what the family needed most was rent money. I contributed 25% of their large rent bill and got the fellow neighbors to kick in for the rest. The kids got toys for Christmas, but more importantly, the family didn’t get evicted (for at least one more month).

So my question is when it’s time for action, what do you do? Are you the type to just throw money at it and walk away or do you jump in and see how you can do more? It’s not just about money. Tithing is just one part of the equation, and in my opinion, a very small part. I think DOING makes much more of a difference.

And where do you think your money goes? Ok, put it in the collection basket or mail it in, but do you follow up to see how it’s being used? Do you see it’s going to help support a soup kitchen? If so, do you offer up your TIME to serve at that soup kitchen? Follow the money and you’ll find there has to be someone at the end volunteering their time and they always need more volunteers.

When it’s hurting you financially…

Let’s get back to my friend. I already cracked down on his lack of DOING (because he thinks the financial donation is enough), but I also mentioned I know more about his financial situation. Sure, 10% “goes to God”, but what about his other 90%? They make good money, have 2 kids and a nice house in a outer suburbs of the D.C. region. The problem has always been, though, that he loves spending. They are so jacked up in debt, they can barely breathe! Now, I’ll put this out there that if they weren’t the tithing type, they would still be swimming in debt, so if they wanted to help themselves, they would have to pair up stopping tithing and enforcing control and discipline to reduce their debt.

Why am I picking on them? They make almost as much as my wife and I combined, but he has no college degree and he’s 9 years older than me. He cares more about shopping for deals at work than working, even though he works for a university AND SHOULD BE GETTING HIS DEGREE! (his boss and boss’ boss are pushing him to do it now). He’s still paying the minimum on his one car (Acura) and they bought a shiny, new Acura MDX last year. And, of course, they’re paying the minimum on that. They’re not really saving up for their kids’ college education because he assumes he’ll stay at the university and get a cheap education for them…but we all know that might not work out. What if he loses his job, what if they want to go elsewhere, etc. Lastly, they keep refinancing their house to use the home equity to pay down their credit cards and then rack up more debt! (And it costs money to refinance too, remember?).

Dumb. Just dumb.

Contrast that now with my wife and I. We have no kids. Our house is half the size, but twice as costly, but we have 25% of it paid off already in just 7 years (I’d do more, but I’d rather invest than sink it into a stagnant housing market). We have no credit card debt. We have no card loan debt. We have no student loan debt or personal loan debts. Just one mortgage and that’s it.

Does that mean we should be giving even more than 10%? In my opinion, and to close the article, I think we’re doing just fine with the combination of money, gifts AND time we donate to various organizations and individuals around us. I always feel guilty that I should do more, but I live with that and work with it. I do more when I can and pull back when I feel overloaded. I don’t and won’t just throw money at a problem and walk away. I dig into it and find out how I can do more.

So, tithe if you want and/or feel obligated to, but don’t just toss the money in the collection plate and walk away. Spend your time too. Do, don’t just pay.

Every month the Love Drop community will come together to raise as much support and awareness as they possibly can. It’ll start on their website – LoveDrop.us, get spread across their entire network of blogs, continue through their forums where all their members will be brainstorming, and finally land on the front steps of their recipients. Literally.

At the end of every month, Nate (co-founder) and J Money will show up in the town the recipient lives to deliver this pile of goodness to them. The money, the gifts, the services, everything! It’ll all be on film, and it’ll all end with an amazing outpour of love. And then it’ll start all over again the next day!

(Email all ideas/questions to team (at) lovedrop.us, we’ll make it happen)

That’s it guys. It really is that easy to help. Come join their mission and be a part of something COOL! It’ll be like Home Extreme Makeover, only different every month Love Drop starts NOW.

The first Love Drop was Jill, a single mom who lost her job, then lost her daughter. After she was homeless, she finally found housing, only to lose everything to a fire. The goal was to raise $2,500, but the team, Kona Grill and the members of Love Drop helped excel above and beyond the original goal with even more gifts.

Watch the Love Drop unfold below and read more over at J Money’s site. Oh, J Money is the dude with the ‘hawk if you can’t tell. And this is his first public appearance outside of us bloggers who have met him in person. You just learn to not judge a book by its look:

You may have to click through the RSS or email article to watch the video.

I’ll be writing about the next Love Drop very shortly, and it’s a big one so go over and join Love Drop now and help out!

Love Drop is a micro-giving network of people who unite as a community to help one person or family a month. By subscribing to the team for as low as $1, they make it easy for their members to change lives in a fun and tangible way. Each month Love Drop delivers a unique combination of unexpected financial gifts, personal encouragement and the support of local and online communities.

As you can see from Jill’s video above, there are SO MANY people out there that need our help. Every day people like you and me who are going through some tough times right now. It’s our mission to change the lives of 12 of these families for the next entire year.

Every month the Love Drop community will come together to raise as much support and awareness as they possibly can. It’ll start on their website – LoveDrop.us, get spread across their entire network of blogs, continue through their forums where all their members will be brainstorming, and finally land on the front steps of their recipients. Literally.

At the end of every month, Nate (co-founder) and J Money will show up in the town the recipient lives to deliver this pile of goodness to them. The money, the gifts, the services, everything! It’ll all be on film, and it’ll all end with an amazing outpour of love. And then it’ll start all over again the next day!

They’ve partnered up with some great companies to help get started (Groupon, Give Back, Hildebrand Creative), but the very first to truly believe was restaurant champs Kona Grill.

How you can help

This project is all about coming up with creative and fun ways to make a difference for someone. Here’s what you can do to make the first Love Drop special for Jill and her family:

• Join the team – Become a member by paying whatever you want. Even $1.00.
• Join the blogger network – Blog about their Love Drops once a month! It’s easy, it’s rewarding, and it REALLY helps spread the word (which in turn helps the families!). We’ll give you all the content you need.
• Give a gift – Gift cards, clothes, a homemade scarf, a bike, whatev.
• Provide a service – Web design, tax help, legal services, etc.

(Email all ideas/questions to team (at) lovedrop.us, we’ll make it happen)

That’s it guys. It really is that easy to help. Come join their mission and be a part of something COOL! It’ll be like Home Extreme Makeover, only different every month Love Drop starts NOW.

I had just initiated the sequence to add money from my SmartBenefits account (I use WageWorks through my employer) to my card when I saw their machine spit out money. The station was pretty empty, so no one else was around to witness this event. I canceled my transaction and walked to their kiosk to see what happened. Apparently they didn’t push a button to finalize the transaction, so the machine timed out and returned the money: a crisp $20 bill!

I won’t lie because the thought crossed my mind to just throw that $20 onto my card and they wouldn’t know any better until they tried to use their card later. But I’d like to think I have higher moral standards than that (I usually do at least), so I grabbed the $20 and ran after the couple. They almost made it out of the station when I called out to them. I explained what went wrong, and then showed them the right way to add money to their card. They were very appreciative.

In my high school and college days, I know I had a “finders keepers” mentality, but I did return a wallet or two as well. It’s not pleasant to know I had a mini-dilemma in my head, even if it lasted just a second, but I’m personally glad I made the ethical decision.

But how about you? Have you had a similar experience and decided to keep the cash when you had a chance to return it directly to the owner? Have you lost cash and had it returned (or not)? Comment and let me know!

• Spain 2004 – Just a week or two later, terrorists killed 191 people and wounded 1,755 in coordinated train bombings.
• Sicily – Just days after visiting Mt. Etna, it erupted (I don’t know which year)
• Iceland 2008 – Just a week after leaving Iceland, its entire economy collapsed.

And now just over a month after leaving Israel, it’s entering into all-out war!

We weren’t anywhere near Gaza Strip during our tour in November, 2008, but we were in the north close to Syria and Lebanon. And now Lebanon is amassing troops in preparation for war with Israel.

Actually we thought the terrorist attacks in India (a week after our Israel tour) were meant for Israel and someone just got the wrong “I” country, but I guess I was looking for problems too soon after coming back.

Each time the church tours a country, they never have problems during ther visit. It’s only when they leave that all heck breaks loose. So I guess I’ll give you all fair warning when our church is touring a country so you don’t plan your vacation in the next few weeks!

(And no, I’m not superstitious, but I do like the stories you can create with just a few coincidences. It makes life a little more interesting.)

Photo from Wikipedia.org

Merry Christmas! The photo that you see above is the birthplace of Jesus in the city of Bethlehem, Israel in the Church of the Nativity. The city is now Palestinian-controlled, and isn’t really the “little town of Bethlehem” from the Christmas song anymore.

According to Wikipedia:

The Grotto of the Nativity, an underground cave located beneath the basilica, enshrines the site where Jesus is said to have been born. The exact spot is marked beneath an altar by a 14-pointed silver star set into the marble floor and surrounded by silver lamps. This altar is denominationally neutral, although it features primarily Armenian Apostolic influences. Another altar in the Grotto, which is maintained by the Roman Catholics, marks the site where traditionally Mary laid the newborn Baby in the manger.

The other grotto (the manger) is just a few feet from the 14-pointed star marking Jesus’ birth spot. I have to say it was like waiting for a Disneyland ride; hundreds of people inching slowly towards the door, only to find out it leads to another waiting room. After that room, we go downstairs where we immediately happen upon the birthplace of Jesus.

You can see me touching the star below. Would have been a better photo if I took my name tag off:

Clever Dude at Jesus' Birthplace

Unfortunately, we had to wait two times to see the star because halfway through the first wait, we had to make our reserved mass time in the Church of St. Catherine. It was a beautiful church (the monk was not from our tour group):

Church of St. Catherine by Clever Dude

Here are some notes about the church from Wikipedia:

The adjoining Church of St. Catherine, the Roman Catholic church, was built in a more modern Gothic revival style, and has since been further modernized according to the liturgical trends which followed Vatican II. This is the church where the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem celebrates Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. Certain customs still observed in this Midnight Mass predate Vatican II, but must be maintained because the “status quo” (the customs, rights and duties of the various church authorities that have custody of the Holy Places) was legally fixed by a firman in 1852, under the Ottoman Empire, that is still in force to this day.

If you ever have a chance to visit Israel, I highly recommend seeing Bethlehem, even if it is a bit of a pain to enter and leave. On that note, I’ll leave you with a shot of Bethlehem at night, which I took from the bus window:

Bethlehem at Night by Clever Dude

Well, you should invest wisely and make a healthy profit. Well, that’s before Jesus declares war on the final non-believers and destroys Earth as we know it.

What kind of investments should you make before the Apocalypse?

Good question. Luckily authors Steve and Evie Levy gave us a guidebook for profiting from the rapture titled, appropriately enough, “How to Profit From the Coming Rapture: Getting Ahead When You’re Left Behind“! Actually, they didn’t write the book; they “told” it to authors Ellis Weiner and Barbara Davilman.

Steve and Evie gives us these wise pointers, along with many others, specific to each point in the seven years:

• Buy up land in Israel (before the Rapture) so you can cash in on all those who want to be close to the action.
• During the actual Rapture, take photos of those being taken up to heaven and cash in by selling them as mementos to those “left behind”.
• Create your own tourist attractions, since all the others (Eiffel Tower, Grand Canyon, the Moon) will be obliterated by the forthcoming natural disasters.
• Start your own for-hire armies for wealthy citizens who want protection from the hordes of starving, sunburned and/or crazy people.
• Invest in peanut butter and tuna fish (in canned form).

In addition to these ideas, the Levys talk us through unique investment vehicles such as “Aunti-C” and “F-Pick” bonds (investments directly in the Antichrist). Yeah, you might have to throw all morals and ethics out the window if you want to implement all of the Levy’s ideas, but there’s a reason you weren’t taken up in the first wave, right?

Yes, it’s a humor book

When the rep emailed me to review this book, I thought it couldn’t be a serious book. When I started reading it, it was evident that everything should be taken tongue-in-cheek, and you have to have a sense of humor about your faith, or lack of faith.

As someone who has read the entire Left Behind series (12 books plus 3 prequel books), I was able to catch on immediately, but the author does give you enough background information if you’re not familiar with the more literal translations of Revelation and other Messianic prophecies. In fact, the authors actually used LaHaye’s and Jenkins’ writings as their source material for the Rapture and Tribulation.

As the book got near the end, the author clearly ran out of ways to make a profit as it’s pretty difficult when everyone is just trying to stay alive. But at least the first half made me laugh out loud, which is inconvenient as I was on a packed train at the time. And I felt like I had to hide the book’s cover from my fellow passengers as they would wonder “what in the heck is he reading???”.

It’s a fast read, and for around $10 (as of this writing) on Amazon, it’s a pretty affordable, humorous book. I will warn you, again, that you need to have a sense of humor about religion and other touchy social subjects to find the book entertaining. If you’re a stick in the mud, you’ll probably be offended.

And feel free to check out the Left Behind books (starting with the first one). They’re also entertaining, but in a dramatic way, and they give you an idea of one way to interpret the Bible, whether you believe in it or not. Most libraries have numerous copies of all 15 books in the series, so see if you can read them for free.

Money Grubbing Lawyer is a young Canadian lawyer who blogs about money and all the silly things he likes to spend it on. He also posts on a range of topics not normally considered “personal finance”, including food, technology, and as in this guest post, spirituality. Check out his site and be sure to subscribe to his feed.

I was raised a good Irish Catholic boy and still have the crushing guilt to prove it. I went to a Catholic school, took communion, went to confession and was confirmed in Grade 8. If the IRA had organized a youth wing in rural Newfoundland I would have been there, ready to fling a Molotov cocktail at the local Orange Order.

For a brief period in Grade 1, my stated ambition in life was even to become a priest, although this quickly disappeared when I realized that a priest couldn’t afford the white Lamborghini Countach that adorned the poster on my wall (and the wall of every young boy in the 1980’s). Every weekend, my mother would religiously (in the most accurate sense of the word) take my sister and I to mass, and I would regularly watch my grandmother burn candles, pray the rosary, and break out the holy water when I was sick. As an interesting aside, I recently found out that my grandmother has taken to buying candles in bulk at a local dollar store and having them blessed by the parish priest, as it’s significantly cheaper than buying the individual pre-blessed candles sold by the Church. That’s a frugal tip if there ever was one!

Then, in about Grade 9, I did a religious 180- I abandoned and denounced the Catholic Church, much to the dismay of my family. I think my family would have been more understanding if I had left in order to pursue leather jackets, death metal, cigarettes and loose women behind the school like so many of my peers. But instead, I had left for much more sinister reasons- to attend another church. And not just any other church, either- a respectable Anglican or Presbyterian congregation might have been okay, but I had absconded with the hand-raising, singing, shouting, no-drinking, no-dancing Pentecostal church.

My move to Pentecostalism was founded in the exuberance and rebellion of youth, in that boundless search for anything new and exciting. I was enthralled by the youthfulness of the church and the vibrancy of the services. The pipe organ of my Catholic home was replaced with electric guitars and drums, centuries old hymns replaced with contemporary worship songs, the predictable and formulaic masses supplanted by seemingly spontaneous and free-flowing services (it would take a couple of years before I realized that the Pentecostal services were actually just as regimented and scripted as those Catholic masses of my childhood, the Pentecostals just didn’t have the courtesy to provide the gathered faithful with a handy printed program). This church offered everything a spiritually searching teen could want- acceptance, energy, and most importantly, parental disapproval and oh-so-innocent teen girls. Praise the Lord, I was saved.

My involvement with the Pentecostal church lasted a few years, but my relationship became increasingly strained as I grew spiritually and intellectually and began to question the things I had previously taken on blind faith. I found the church that had taught me the importance of Scripture and a personal Jesus to be increasingly intolerant of my attempts to explore the details of this relationship and to question the precepts of the faith. What I had initially seen as devotion soon became apparent as dogma, and I became disillusioned with the social conservatism and intolerance that permeated the church. My attempts to genuinely explore Scripture and question beliefs were shot down, and so I did exactly what I had done several years before- I walked away.

Fast forward ten years. Since leaving the church, I have been on what I would call a self-guided spiritual quest, sort of like a distance-ed course in religion. I’ve explored Scripture and commentary and well acquainted myself with the modern canon of Christianity and the volumes of criticisms. Nothing has been off limits, and my schizophrenic bookshelf is a testament to this- C.S. Lewis mixed with the Dalai Lama mixed with Richard Dawkins, all dog-eared and covered in my personal scribbles. During this ten year sabbatical, I have only set foot in churches on perhaps a dozen occasions, mostly for weddings and funerals. But for some strange reason, I now find myself searching for spiritual home once again.

Many people despise the phrase “church shopping”, yet that is exactly what I find myself doing. My wife and I have visited a couple of churches so far, trying to find one that will “fit”. I have even developed a bit of a spiritual shopping list of the things that are important to me:

• The essential Jesus – The most basic and fundamental messages preached by Jesus were love your God and love your neighbor. Anything else is gravy.
• Open and inviting – I’m a pretty friendly and easy going guy, and I’d like a church that is laid back and genuinely welcoming. More Ned Flanders, less Rev. Lovejoy.
• Non-fundamentalist – I don’t believe that the Bible is the literal, infallible, historically and scientifically irreproachable word of God. Not even close.
• Theologically and socially liberal – If you think a woman’s place is in the home, gays are the scourge of the earth, and bingo is the devil’s game, we’re probably not going to get along. I think stem cells are neat and might name one of my children Darwin. And if you tell me not to drink beer, all bets are off.
• Tolerant of other belief systems – You don’t have to agree, but at least be respectful. You can’t win the “my God is better than your god(s) / lack of gods” argument; don’t even try.
• Non-repetitive and non-repetitive – You don’t need to sing that song 5 times, and you certainly don’t need to repeat the message of your sermon half a dozen times. I’m not an idiot, I got it the first time.
• Open to debate and discussion –I’m open to discussing and debating all the things I’ve got listed above, and I’ll even entertain the possibility that I’m wrong. Are you?
• Eggs, milk, and Shake n’ Bake – Oops, that’s from my real shopping list.

I don’t realistically expect to find a spiritual community that I fully agree with and that fully agrees with me. Unless I decide to start my own cult (still a viable option), I recognize that I may need to compromise and accept some theological differences. That’s probably a good thing, too- “yes men” and groupthink rarely produce good results. Yet I still feel a little strange picking through denominations like I’m going through the bargain bin at K-Mart, searching for just the right color and style. Surely, a church isn’t something you should “shop” for… is it?

Our approach to finding a church so far has been to talk to friends, to get recommendations, and to stop by and see for ourselves. It’s a bit of a clumsy way to go about things, but I’ve yet to find a nice Excel spreadsheet or online questionnaire of some sort that will magically tell me which church best suits us. I asked my engineer wife to develop a fancy algorithm to make things easier, but she just rolled her eyes and muttered something about wanting a church that permitted divorce. I’d be interested to hear just how Clever Dude readers settled on their church (if they have one), and any tips to make my search a little easier.

Last week, I gave you a sneak peak of a new “version” of the Bible called “Bible Illuminated: The Book“. It’s really just a new presentation of an existing New Testament Bible translation called the “Good News Translation“, which was first published in the 60′s. Now that I have the book in my hands, versus the electronic preview copy, I can provide a more detailed review.

What is Bible Illuminated?

As I mentioned, it is a new way of presenting an existing translation of the Bible. It’s a full-color, magazine-style book with some beautiful, and some disturbing, photos. The author selected some very intriguing images to accompany the text or to add commentary. To me, some fit well, while others seemed to be a stretch.

For example, the author picked a photo of 3 street thugs to represent the 3 wise men from the Gospel of Matthew. Something tells me that the Magi didn’t show up in gold chains, busting a pose like they’re on a rap album cover. And the intro photo to the Gospel of Luke probably didn’t need to show a mother holding a baby, with the baby’s “winkie”in full view, but then again, the intent is to show realistic, meaningful photos to create a sensory experience when reading the Bible. It’s up to the reader to determine whether they help or hinder the reading experience.

Is the Good News Translation the right one?

Ok, I admitted in my sneak peak review that I’m not going to comment on the translation chosen for this Bible, but after reading through Matthew, I have to say that the text seems to dilute the Scripture to the point that I just don’t get the impact I normally would from translations such as the NIV or NAB. While the lack of verse notations or footnotes make for much quicker reading, the main reason for reading the Bible is the history and lessons it teaches. If those lessons are changed too much to make it easier to read, then they’re not the same lessons.

An alternative to the Good News Translation that is more widely accepted, at least among Evangelical Christians (of which I am not), is The Message. After comparing both versions of Matthew (using the Bible Gateway to read The Message), I think The Message is much closer to the original Bible text and intention, but still in more contemporary syntax. Granted, I’m still a Catholic and our “approved” Bible is the New American Bible, but like I said before, if it makes it easier for me and others to read and study the text, and it’s “close enough”, then I think it’s worth the risk.

Physical Review of Bible Illuminated

Click to see larger version

As I stated, the book is in “magazine format”. While it’s the same dimensions as a regular magazine, the front cover and inside pages are very similar in thickness and texture as a National Geographic. That means that since it feels more like a weekly periodical, it’s probably not made to withstand the normal wear and tear of a standard Bible. I know many Christians reference their Bibles so much that even leather-bound books can look decades old after just a year of use. Therefore, this version is not meant to be used as a daily reader, Instead, it’s better for those new to the Bible who want to get their feet wet by reading the New Testament cover-to-cover in contemporary language. For more serious study, I recommend getting a properly-bound version of the NAB, NIV, Message or other high-regarded translation.

As far as the colors, font, etc., the book is laid out very well. Images take up one page or spread across two, while the text runs across 4 columns per page in relatively easy-to-read font. Interspersed in the text are highlighted sections that indicate there is an accompanying image to that text.

And while there are no verse notations or footnotes, each book or letter of the New Testament still has the appropriate chapter/section headings so that it’s not just a series of paragraphs jammed together. Again, since there are no verse notations, this isn’t a good reference Bible.

One thing I had to ask the publisher (via my book agent) is why the cover has a little table of contents that, when I go to those pages, doesn’t quite match up in content with the book. For example, there is a pointer to “A Good Investment” on page 93. When I go to page 93, there’s no section of the same name. Instead it’s just normal Bible verses. If I really stretched, I could infer that it refers to either “Riches in Heaven” or “The Parable of the Rich Fool”, but I was expecting a heading titled “A Good Investment”.

The response from the author was:

“The cover is meant to be like the headlines on a magazine, something that will drive you in and get you to investigate.  There is not always a direct correlation. It is meant to get you to think about how it relates.”

Yeah, that’s stretching it. Especially when sometimes it’s just pointing you to a picture. I was expecting a commentary on how the Bible relates to common investments or something.

Overall Impression of Bible Illuminated

While the magazine format of this Bible is new and perhaps unique, I would have liked either a smaller (width, height) version to make it more portable. In addition, as I’ve stated, it’s not a good daily reference due to the delicate nature of its cover and pages, and the lack of verse notations. Lastly, I think it would be much more relevant if the author selected a better version than the Good News translation. But with that said, any text that will get Christians and non-Christians studying the faith more is a good thing (assuming the Scripture is taken in the correct context, which is never seems to be). More educated arguments within Christianity and between religions/atheists can help our world community better understand other points of view.

Pricing

The cover price of this book is $35. However, I would never pay that much for a standard Bible, much less one that has a more niche purpose. But currently Amazon lists the Bible Illuminated at $23.10 (subject to change). If you’re comfortable and familiar with the Good News translation, and want a new perspective on the Bible, then consider purchasing this version. If you want an easier to read Bible version, in everyday language, consider The Message: New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs for $9.99 (actually, I’m going to check this one out myself), or just read it “The Message” version through the Bible Gateway for free until you know you want to buy it.

I commend the author for combining such vivid photographs with the text in a unique layout and format. Perhaps they will decide to reissue this book in a smaller, more compact version with stronger binding, and maybe in multiple translations. Having an notation-less magazine version definitely makes reading easier and more enjoyable as there’s fewer distractions, but I’d like the have the whole package at my fingertips rather than multiple versions.