MIA in the NIV

Everyone, get out your New International Version Bibles.

Turn with me to Matthew 18:11. I'll wait while you find it, go ahead: look it up.

...still waiting....

Can't find it, can you?

What about Acts 8:37?
No luck? How about 1st John 5:7?

Amazing, isn't it? Those verses just aren't in your NIV. They just blatantly skip right over them.

And listen to what they say:
Matthew 18:11 speaks of Salvation: "For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost"

Acts 8:37 mentions the diety of Jesus: "...I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God"

1st John 5:7 speaks of the Trinity: "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word,and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one"

Whoa! Why would you leave that stuff out? So is NIV really the inspired Word of God? Don't these Scriptures sound like Truths that God desires for us to know? Or are these minor points worth skipping?

These aren't the only verses the NIV omits. Try to find these:
Matthew 17:21
Matthew 23:14
Mark 7:16
Mark 9:44, 46
Mark 11:26
Mark 15:28
Luke 17:36
Luke 23:17
John 5:4
Acts 15:34
Acts 24:7
Acts 28:29
Romans 16:24

These versions all deal with such doctrines as the Trinity, Hell, Salvation and Prayer. No biggies, right?

Did you know that the King James Version of the Bible (first published in 1611) is the only version available that is in the public domain? Anyone can publish it, there is no copyright holder.

Paul says in II Thessalonians 3:1 that "...the word of the Lord may have free course" and in 2nd Corinthians 2:12 he hopes that "we might know the things that are freely given to us of God".

Any of the modern translations, including the NIV, have to make a minimum number of changes in order for it to be recognized as a new work so that they may own the copyright. So it seems like every year some publisher comes out with the "latest Word from God", hoping of course, that you buy it from them.

Interesting, in this light,what the NIV does with some of the verses concerning money. In the KJV, I Timothy 6:10 says "the love of money is the root of all evil". But the NIV changes this to "the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil". Wow. Look at the changes there and consider the difference in meanings. Pretty major.

Not surprising then that the NIV changes Mark 4:19 from mentioning "the deceitfulness of riches" to "the delight in riches".

Do you use the NIV or some other, more modern, translation? Do you even own a King James Version? What version does your preacher or priest read from in his sermons? What version is waiting for you in the pews of your church? If it's not a King James, could you ask your preacher why that is? Do you think he even knows about the nature of these changes?

If you've learned something from this, I encourage you to point others to this page. It's all been very eye-opening for me.

Amish Paradise

Hey, everybody. This is Mrs. Def Dave, Kim, writing this post. We recently took a vacation to Lancaster County, PA. This is a trip that we have wanted to take for several years and we finally did it. I have always had a fascination of the Amish, but it wasn’t till I was older and noticed so many changes in our culture that I really have come to have a tremendous amount of respect for how they live. Our first night there we stayed on an Amish farm, in the guesthouse. It was a dairy farm and they sell their milk to Land O’Lakes. The boys showed us all around the farm. The whole family was very kind. They brought us the most delicious breakfast in the morning, everything made from scratch of course.

The next day we went for a buggy ride around some of the farms with an Amish driver. We had some questions for him, as did other people in the buggy, for instance we were all curious about their education. He explained that even though the children go to school through the 8th grade, it’s actually a 12th grade education; being done in 8 years (yes they learn trigonometry and all the other difficult subjects, ha ha). All of the Amish we came into contact with seemed very well educated. Yet what strikes you is their humbleness. And the children, they are so well-disciplined!(and none of them are drugged, which is a foreign concept to them). Amazing considering how many siblings each family has. They are like miniature adults. I noticed how happy they seemed to be. We saw several parents shopping with young children in the Amish stores and the children seemed so happy and obedient, although you could tell they were unsure of “us”, sticking really close to the parent when they would see us, and looking away from us. Not one child was screaming or crying or begging for candy. They have some of the most beautiful children we’ve ever seen too.

We stayed at a Mennonite Bed and Breakfast for 2 nights, and that was nice too. One night we had dinner with an Amish family. They raised crops and also had some dairy cows. They had 5 children. This is the family that we got to talk to the most and ask the most questions. I got some great child discipline and potty training tips from the wife, and while talking to her I found out that she is familiar with the book we are using to train Jackson. She also told us that divorce, violence, suicide and depression are unheard of in their culture. Wow. The men are very masculine and authority just emanates from them, whereas the women are very feminine, but gosh do they work hard. The women definitely are quiet and submit to let their husband do most of the talking when he’s around, but you can tell it’s out of an utmost respect for the husband as the leader in the home, not because he’s some evil tyrant. But the women will talk your ear off later, ha ha.

These people were very kind, welcoming, talkative, and funny. They are very social with each other too. They get together with neighbors and friends several times per week, and they write lots of letters. Even though they don’t have tv, they read the newspapers so they know what’s going on in the world, however they don’t approve of any outside wires coming into the home that could even possibly affect the family bond in a negative way. They weigh every decision on how it will impact their families. They do have gas lights that basically are equivalent to the lights in our homes, and they are plenty bright. They use gas-powered washing machines, but they line-dry their clothes. They have phones but not in the home, usually in the barn or guesthouse.

For these people family is the most important thing besides devotion to the Lord (they are Christians). Most married couples meet at church, which takes place at a different home in the community every week and lasts for 4 hours. Children sit quietly during church also. There is no such thing as a “nursery” or anything remotely similar in their culture. Dating usually starts at about 18, and is closely monitored (hmm…. That sounds like a familiar plan!) and the boys approach the girls’fathers for permission to see their daughters (another thing we plan to do). Everyone marries, there are no “singles” in the Amish! (unless you are widowed of course), That is good for any society, it is a stabilizer as they told us. They also do not believe in having insurance of any kind. We didn’t ask why, but we just assumed that it was because it means to them that you do not trust the Lord to provide for your needs.

We did some other things nearby also such as ride a steam train through the countryside, and we took a day trip to Philadelphia. On our last day, we spent the whole day touring the Gettysburg battlefield. One day isn't nearly enough time to take it all in, but we really enjoyed walking on such historical ground. We spent a lot of time just driving around looking at the country. It was a great trip and we hope to take Jackson there someday. We highly recommend it.

--Kim