Oh sure Miccah, I will respond to martyr's post.
I just want to say at the outset, if we are going to credit the LB and GN Bible with salvations during the Jesus Revolution in the 70s, then you should also be willing to credit the follow-up apostasy to them, too.
Most of what Martyr says is true. I don't know if martyr was saved in the Jesus Revolution era or if he was even born then. I was saved in the 70s and lived right in the middle of Berkeley, Ca., where all this was taking place. I was reading the KJV and a lot of others were, too. And people were reading the NLB and GN, also. That is true. But we were getting saved by simple truths of the Bible, the preaching of the cross, John 3:16, Romans 10:10-11, the love of Jesus through other Christians, etc. It was a tremendous move of the Holy Spirit and I really don't remember any one Bible getting any glory.
We definitely were not getting saved by reading the entire NLB or GN. I personally never read the LB or heard many sermons at all in which the LB was quoted.
During that time, the Lord brought revival that moved everywhere. From the streets amongst the rejects of society to the mainline churches. True Koinonia and community sprang up all over the land. The nominal christian was even convicted of his lostness and lack of true repentance. People left jobs to serve the Lord fulltime, home groups started, churches sprang up and God recovered important truths for His people as He brought repentance, restoration and reconciliation. It truly was an exciting and adventurous time for many.
But looking back, what has happened since then? Today, we look back and see a road littered with awful carnage. Divorce rates that rival the world, sheep scattered by unfaithful shepherds that "failed them", others using godliness for gain and the fruit of their drive for success and prestige is a defrauded sheepfold. Cynicism and disappointment replaced hope and joy and the Church is now suffering the scorn of the world. The Gospel is being preached around the world through satellite technology yet the world is no longer listening. Are we in the time of the "Falling Away" spoken of in 2 Thess 2:3?
Many Christians have returned to the world and others are finding themselves in a wilderness of such dimensions that there seems no way out. It is hard to believe that so many that walked in so much joy, are now apathetic and bitter. Is this the fruit of a strong move of God or is this the ultimate fruit of a lack of a fear of God and of making a place in one's heart for just a few idols? That was certainly always the pattern for God's people in the Old Testament. Not much has changed.
Should we let the Living Bible and Good News take the credit for the many salvations but not the credit for Apostasy?
The Spirit of God is given to convince the world of "sin, righteousness and judgment", John 16:8. Was the world convinced of sin, righteousness and judgment in the last revival? We can say now, no more than the church was convinced. What did the church do with the anointing of God? It built bigger buildings, created a program for every need and counted the nickels, numbers and noses.
Now the church has everything to attract the world except the glory of God. God's glory passed because the glory of God will not abide without righteousness. Righteousness is the carnage that has been left on the road of yesteryear.
Should we thank the LB and GN for this?
Many of the other things martyr says are true regarding being persecuted and taking any bible you can get. In the meantime, I am not in a death camp and I will continue to speak out about the corruption of God's Word.
martyr, I am glad that you have a burden for the persecuted church. We will soon be that church in America. I have followed VOM since it was called "Jesus to the Communist World, Inc". That was what their organization and their newsletter were called.
Back in the 70s they were not in Bartlesville, OK, but they were located in Pasadena, CA. During my first year as a Christian I was given a book called "Tortured for Christ". Thus was my introduction to the Persecuted Church. This was a real important event in my early Christian life, because I believe knowing about the underground church actually protected me from settling down within religious Christtendom. Something I have never been able to do. I don't think our persecuted brethren could stomach much of what passes as Christianity in America, either.
I have had a burden and love for the persecuted church my entire life with the Lord. It was a special blessing when I had the opportunity to meet Richard Wurmbrand. I remember going to a church where he was preaching and he took his shoes off and sat in a chair at the front of the church by the steps leading up to the platform. He did not wear shoes because they use to hang him upside down and beat his feet. The nerves in his feet never really recovered.
Like I say martyr, most of what you say is true. However, accuracy is the victim of readability. I have never had any problem in evangelism with the KJV. And for 400 years it evangelized the entire world. I'll take accuracy over perceived readability, any day.
Psa 12:6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
Psa 12:7 THOU SHALT KEEP THEM, O LORD, THOU SHALT PRESERVE THEM from this generation for ever.
A777
