I am actively working on writing a book on the history of the
"King James lookalikes" -- the ones that bear
the name, "King James," or very like the King James,
but are not.
And in the process (see, it's a work in progress,
I've got my marks and everything on it),
I was reading a chapter I had just written to my family,
and my daughter said, "Oh, is this your next vlog?"
And I said, "No, this is part of my book,"
and she said, "No, this has got to be your next vlog."
So my wife concurred, and other people, and I
asked other friends on Facebook, and they think I should do it, too,
so do you mind?
Let me read you a little bit about the genesis of the New King James.
Hi, I'm David Daniels from Chick Publications.
In "The New King James Version in the Great Tradition," author
and NKJV Executive Editor Arthur L. Farstad told about how
Sam Moore, President of Thomas Nelson Publishers,
got the idea to make a new translation based on the King James Bible.
"After struggling with the archaic and obsolete vocabulary and phrasing in
the King James Version, young Joe Moore asked his father,
President of Thomas Nelson, 'Daddy, you make so many Bibles,
why can't you make a Bible that I can understand?'
This question was the genesis of the NKJV."
[I just found out from Sam Moore's autobiography.
He was 11 years old when he said this.]
Here's my problem.
I have five children.
When I came to trust the King James Bible as
God's preserved words in English (November 30, 1998),
my kids ranged from 9 to 1.
In all the years since, not once has any of my kids,
male or female, told me the King James was a Bible he or she didn't understand.
You know what that tells me?
Somebody wasn't reading the Bible with his kid.
Sam Moore started out in the USA selling Bibles door to door!
Did he not have in mind how to assist his clients in understanding
what he was selling?
"Understandest ...what thou readest?"
Here's the straight scoop.
Even a little reading each day, with a little talking about what is read,
makes a world of difference and opens up the Bible vocabulary words
like a flower in spring.
God gave us an excellent pattern for life when He spoke to the Hebrews
through Moses:
Deuteronomy 6:4-8 4 Hear, O Israel:
The LORD our God is one LORD: 5 And thou shalt love the LORD
thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul,
and with all thy might.
6 And these words, which I command thee this day,
shall be in thine heart: 7 And thou shalt teach them diligently
unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house,
and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down,
and when thou risest up.
8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be
as frontlets between thine eyes.
I'm a dad.
These words mean something to me.
So let's break them down.
"These words" --not someone else's, but God's words, the ones He chose
"Shall be in thine heart" --they only get in by reading, learning and
meditating on them "Thou shalt teach them diligently
to thy children" --they must be consistently and lovingly taught
to the kids, in the following ways:
"[Thou] shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house"
--ouch.
That sounds like the television and game boxes go off,
and the Bible is open.
"And [shalt talk of them] when thou walkest by the way"
--talking about the Bible while going from place to place
with the family
"And [shalt talk of them] when thou liest down"
--reading and talking about scripture at bedtime
"And [shalt talk of them] when thou risest up"
--reading scripture and talking about them in the morning
when getting ready for the day
[My son and I, my oldest son, when he started working at Chick,
we would read the scriptures as we drove to work.
We did the Writings, we did the Prophets,
we did the Gospels and Epistles, and now we're doing the History.
We're in 2 Chronicles.
When we finish Esther, just driving to work alone,
we will have read through the entire Bible together.
And we're only a few miles from here.]
Back to the book:
If we have spent time with our kids reading and talking about
God's words, then they will never feel the need to
beg Mommy and Daddy for a dumbed-down Bible.
Our 57 inch flat screen TV died a few years ago.
There had been a few years where we had grown to finding
"the best shows" we could find, and spending our evening hours
watching television.
But two things happened.
First, we noticed that when people came home, and
wanted to talk, we shushed them, instead of stopping everything and
letting him or her speak.
It's not that we wanted them quieted.
It's that we were hooked onto the TV show like a
hospital patient can get to morphine.
It numbs you from the pains of the day -- but it also stops communication,
even though we would talk about the shows we watched.
Sure, we talked -- but the person entering the house was only seen
as a hindrance, unless he or she sat and watched with us.
That was not good.
Second, we noticed that TV shows weren't getting any better.
In fact, they started sticking tiny compromising
scenes, especially homosexual kisses and occasional curse words,
taking the Lord's Name in vain, and physical affection and nakedness
that should not be on a TV screen.
But we had been seeking the Lord --all of us-- and it was getting convicting,
to the point that we made a decision.
If one of those scenes happened, even on our favorite show,
we would give it just one more try.
If they did it a second time, the series was over for us.
Soon we weren't watching much of anything on regular TV
--and certainly not on cable.
We had no "premium channels,"
but we started changing the way we watch television,
and came to a decision.
We stopped television altogether.
So when our huge 57" TV died, we did no CPR.
It stayed dead.
Deborah and our youngest son took the carcass out onto the street,
where someone picked it up.
Then Deborah did something monumental: she rearranged
the furniture.
Deborah and our younger kids moved furniture so everyone
faced everyone else.
Suddenly people were the focus, not entertainment boxes.
When someone came into the room, everybody turned and faced
him or her, and that person could tell all about the day,
experiences, feelings, and know all the family in the living room
was giving their attention.
You can't buy that kind of family value.
What about today?
Let me be clear: we all have smart phones.
Some have laptops.
A couple have tablets.
But we all face each other.
That changed the rules of the game.
When someone gets another's attention, off go the ear phones;
down goes the phone or laptop.
It's listening time.
Do you know we go over scripture now, have impromptu studies on any topic,
help with term papers, analyze stuff we're reading about
or watching or listening to on the Internet,
and all sorts of other things?
We do family stuff --and we can fulfill, at least in part,
Deuteronomy 6:6-7!
So we literally thank God our TV died, and that Deborah took it on herself
to rearrange the furniture.
It solved one of our few communication problems,
and it enabled us to focus a whole lot more on "Bible talk."
I said all that to say this: how dare anyone blame the Bible
for a kid not understanding what it says?
It is not the kid's responsibility to understand the Bible.
It's the parent's responsibility to teach the Bible.
Once the child understands with help from the parent, then
nobody need blame the Bible for something it was never intended to do.
The Bible is not a nanny.
It is the words of God, to be taught by a believer to the nonbelievers,
and taught by the older to the younger --and especially taught
by the parent to his or her child.
Joe Moore's words weren't an indication of a flaw
in the King James Bible.
They were an indictment of the parents'
lack of teaching Bible to their son.
That should have been the lesson that Sam Moore learned, when
his son asked that innocent question.
I hope you enjoyed the reading.
Please pray for me, as I continue this project.
God bless you, and have a wonderful day.