Speak, O Lord, as we come to You
To receive the food of Your Holy Word.
Take Your truth, plant it deep in us;
Shape and fashion us in Your likeness,
That the light of Christ might be seen today
In our acts of love and our deeds of faith.
Speak, O Lord, and fulfill in us
All Your purposes for Your glory.
Teach us, Lord, full obedience,
Holy reverence, true humility;
Test our thoughts and our attitudes
In the radiance of Your purity.
Cause our faith to rise; cause our eyes to see
Your majestic love and authority.
Words of pow'r that can never fail—
Let their truth prevail over unbelief.
Speak, O Lord, and renew our minds;
Help us grasp the heights of Your plans for us—
Truths unchanged from the dawn of time
That will echo down through eternity.
And by grace we'll stand on Your promises,
And by faith we'll walk as You walk with us.
Speak, O Lord, till Your church is built
And the earth is filled with Your glory.
"Speak, O Lord"
Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2005 Thankyou Music
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Thursday, October 20, 2011
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
My Heart Language
I'm a guest on LBT News today, sharing about my heart language. Check it out here.
What's your heart language?
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
God Sings
The LORD your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
Zephaniah 3:17
Goosebump-ingly amazing.
Read the chapter.
It'll wow you!
Monday, June 27, 2011
"A Translator is a Traitor"
This phrase first attacked me from required reading for a Second Temple Judaism course I took in 2005. The book was about the Dead Sea scrolls, and I was caught off guard. I didn't like it.
"A translator is a traitor" is from the Latin play on words traduttore, traditore, literally "translator, traitor." Now I doubt that the one who thought of this brilliant combination intended to attack. His or her point was probably a bit simpler than challenging my "life calling" and deepest desires to be involved in Bible translation. All the same, I felt conflicted.
I was reminded of the phrase again when I saw and retweeted this quote:
Haim Nachman Bialik (Jewish Poet, 1873-1934)
Both phrases have a similar message, as does the Hungarian fordítás: ferdítés, roughly "translation is distortion." You lose something in translation. Form and meaning are meant to work beautifully together in an original work. In translation, they're often in conflict and form bows to meaning, at least in a good translation.
I love studying linguistics and everything that goes with it - translation theory, hermeneutics, exegesis, discourse analysis, semantics, pragmatics, Greek, Hebrew, and all kinds of subjects to better understand what it takes to take a message in one language and communicate it in another. But when I hear these phrases, I'm intimidated.
These may be obvious truths, but often intimidation clouds truth and leaves fear and doubt. So I have to remind myself from time to time that...
"A translator is a traitor" is from the Latin play on words traduttore, traditore, literally "translator, traitor." Now I doubt that the one who thought of this brilliant combination intended to attack. His or her point was probably a bit simpler than challenging my "life calling" and deepest desires to be involved in Bible translation. All the same, I felt conflicted.
I was reminded of the phrase again when I saw and retweeted this quote:
"Reading the Bible in translation
is like kissing your new bride through a veil."
Haim Nachman Bialik (Jewish Poet, 1873-1934)
Both phrases have a similar message, as does the Hungarian fordítás: ferdítés, roughly "translation is distortion." You lose something in translation. Form and meaning are meant to work beautifully together in an original work. In translation, they're often in conflict and form bows to meaning, at least in a good translation.
I love studying linguistics and everything that goes with it - translation theory, hermeneutics, exegesis, discourse analysis, semantics, pragmatics, Greek, Hebrew, and all kinds of subjects to better understand what it takes to take a message in one language and communicate it in another. But when I hear these phrases, I'm intimidated.
These may be obvious truths, but often intimidation clouds truth and leaves fear and doubt. So I have to remind myself from time to time that...
- God intends for the Bible to be translated. Ever since before the Scriptures were compiled into the form we have today - the Bible - God has supported translation. The Ethiopian eunuch read from the Septuagint translation. Jesus quoted from it.
- God uses translation to help us understand Himself.God came to earth through Jesus in a form we could understand and recognize.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14, ESV)
- God wants to communicate with us. God wants to communicate with us today, not just a couple thousand years ago.
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
- God loves the variety in languages.
Though the variety in languages came out of a curse, God has brought Himself glory in it all.
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”(Revelations 7:9,10)
- God gives us the ability to learn and is with us!
Though the earth was cursed at Babel with what has come to be thousands of languages, God has given us the ability to learn another language or several languages. He is able to communicate with us, we are able to communicate with Him (because of Jesus), and we are able to communicate with each other.
And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20)
Is a translator a traitor?
No.
Translation is a used to communicate life-giving Truth.
And I am thrilled to play a part... whatever that might be.
If God spare my life, before many years I will cause a boy that drives the plough
to know more of Scripture than you [priests] do. (William Tyndale, 1494-1536)
 |
The worldwide status of Bible translation (2010) - Wycliffe Bible Translators |
Monday, April 18, 2011
Don't Stop at Vision 2025
"Isn't it incredible that there's a vision to begin a translation in every language that needs it by 2025?!"
I would love to get a dollar for every time I hear this. It's a common response when people hear that Josh and I are training for translation work. I'm not interested in debating here the likelihood of accomplishing this Vision (also known as Last Languages Campaign). Or what it's going to take. Or how good of an idea it is. Like in my What's it like being an MK? post, I want to respond from my heart to a question that rubs me the wrong way - though this one is rhetorical.
Yes, it is an incredible endeavor, and God is using Vision 2025. But. Please don't stop at Vision 2025.
One of my heroes from Bible Translation history, right along with Luther, Tyndale and Wycliffe, is William Cameron Townsend, founder of Wycliffe Bible Translators, affectionately known as Uncle Cam. You may recognize this famous quote.
This quote was instrumental in drawing me into Bible Translation. But as the years have gone by, through more reading, more discussing, more training, and more praying, I find that this quote is not what it's all about. And I don't think Uncle Cam would have thought so either.
In the same way, I don't think that those who had Vision 2025 believe that Vision 2025 is what it's all about. But I do wonder if that's the message that the church is getting... that you're getting. When thinking about the unreached, have you ever thought, "If only they had the Bible...." I have. People like accomplishable-in-my-lifetime goals. Quantifiable ones. Visible ones.
As Josh and I talk about what we want to be involved in, what we want our lives to be about, we have plenty of questions. But we do know that our end goal is not Bible accessibility.
There are many things that disturb me about Vision 2025 becoming the face of Bible Translation. Does the church know that a Bible translation is considered outdated linguistically about every 10 years? Does it know that the languages considered "still needing one" in Vision 2025 don't include every language that doesn't have Scripture? Does it know that the written Word is locked to someone who can't read? Does it know that Bibles can and do end up in warehouses? Does it know pages of Bibles can and are used to wrap food or as toilet paper? Does it know that the majority of people in Heaven could very well have never held a Bible in their lifetimes?
The Vision is wonderful, ambitious, and inspiring... but please don't stop there.
Our mission is not accomplished when people have access to the Bible. It's when every heart bows in submission to Jesus. And we all know that access to the Bible does not ensure this. I'm grateful for the translators and missionaries who have come off the field and said that we need to give more. We need Scripture engagement activities, literacy workshops, leadership training, and ethnomusicology. National leaders need to be identified and trained to carry on the work. God brings people to faith, and we can partner with Him in all sorts of ways. But please. Let's not stop at accessibility.
I would love to get a dollar for every time I hear this. It's a common response when people hear that Josh and I are training for translation work. I'm not interested in debating here the likelihood of accomplishing this Vision (also known as Last Languages Campaign). Or what it's going to take. Or how good of an idea it is. Like in my What's it like being an MK? post, I want to respond from my heart to a question that rubs me the wrong way - though this one is rhetorical.
Yes, it is an incredible endeavor, and God is using Vision 2025. But. Please don't stop at Vision 2025.
One of my heroes from Bible Translation history, right along with Luther, Tyndale and Wycliffe, is William Cameron Townsend, founder of Wycliffe Bible Translators, affectionately known as Uncle Cam. You may recognize this famous quote.
"The greatest missionary is the Bible in the mother tongue.
It needs no furlough and is never considered a foreigner."
- William Cameron Townsend
It needs no furlough and is never considered a foreigner."
- William Cameron Townsend
This quote was instrumental in drawing me into Bible Translation. But as the years have gone by, through more reading, more discussing, more training, and more praying, I find that this quote is not what it's all about. And I don't think Uncle Cam would have thought so either.
In the same way, I don't think that those who had Vision 2025 believe that Vision 2025 is what it's all about. But I do wonder if that's the message that the church is getting... that you're getting. When thinking about the unreached, have you ever thought, "If only they had the Bible...." I have. People like accomplishable-in-my-lifetime goals. Quantifiable ones. Visible ones.
As Josh and I talk about what we want to be involved in, what we want our lives to be about, we have plenty of questions. But we do know that our end goal is not Bible accessibility.
There are many things that disturb me about Vision 2025 becoming the face of Bible Translation. Does the church know that a Bible translation is considered outdated linguistically about every 10 years? Does it know that the languages considered "still needing one" in Vision 2025 don't include every language that doesn't have Scripture? Does it know that the written Word is locked to someone who can't read? Does it know that Bibles can and do end up in warehouses? Does it know pages of Bibles can and are used to wrap food or as toilet paper? Does it know that the majority of people in Heaven could very well have never held a Bible in their lifetimes?
The Vision is wonderful, ambitious, and inspiring... but please don't stop there.
Our mission is not accomplished when people have access to the Bible. It's when every heart bows in submission to Jesus. And we all know that access to the Bible does not ensure this. I'm grateful for the translators and missionaries who have come off the field and said that we need to give more. We need Scripture engagement activities, literacy workshops, leadership training, and ethnomusicology. National leaders need to be identified and trained to carry on the work. God brings people to faith, and we can partner with Him in all sorts of ways. But please. Let's not stop at accessibility.
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