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Jonathan Petersen
August 23, 2013

Bible Gateway Now Offering Daily Meditations from Beloved Author C. S. Lewis

NEWS RELEASE
News Release Archive | Newsroom

Content is Taken from Eight of Lewis’ Most Famous Books

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (August 23, 2013)—Devotional material by one of the 20th century’s all-time best-selling authors, C. S. Lewis, is now available on Bible Gateway, the world’s largest Christian website (http://bg4.me/11Km8QK). Email subscription signup is at http://www.biblegateway.com/newsletters/.

The late Oxford and Cambridge professor Lewis, acclaimed author of “The Chronicles of Narnia” and more than 30 other books, is recognized for his contributions in literary criticism, children’s literature, fantasy literature and popular theology. For the first time, Bible Gateway will provide daily meditative messages to site visitors and email subscribers, pulled from eight of Lewis’ most famous books.Excerpts from “Mere Christianity,” “The Screwtape Letters,” “The Great Divorce,” “The Problem of Pain” and “A Grief Observed,” as collected in the book “A Year with C. S. Lewis: Daily Readings from His Classic Works” (HarperOne, 2003), have been carefully selected for Bible Gateway’s offering. Themes such as the nature of love, the existence of miracles, overcoming loss and discovering profound faith are explored through Lewis’ unflinchingly honest insights for each day of the year.

“Bible Gateway is honored to be able to help people easily access the rich and deep thinking of C. S. Lewis that is as relevant today as it was when he first wrote it,” says Rachel Barach, general manager, Bible Gateway. “Lewis’ writings are a natural and exciting addition to the robust features and resources already offered on Bible Gateway, including audio Bibles, reference materials, advanced Bible search tools and accessibility to global users from any computer or mobile device.”

“C. S. Lewis is arguably the leading voice for people of faith in the English speaking world,” says Mark Tauber, SVP and Publisher of HarperOne. “We’re thrilled to partner with Bible Gateway to bring his inspiring words to an even wider audience.”

This new feature is the latest to be added to Bible Gateway’s 35 devotional titles (http://www.biblegateway.com/devotionals/) and 62 email newsletters (http://www.biblegateway.com/newsletters/).

The availability of this material online is with the collaboration of HarperOne (http://harperone.com) and the C. S. Lewis Estate (http://www.cslewis.com).

___________________________________________________________________________________

About HarperOne

HarperOne, a division of HarperCollinsPublishers, strives to be the preeminent publisher of the most important books and authors across the full spectrum of spirituality, healthy living, family & relationships, social change, and personal growth literature, adding to the wealth of the world’s wisdom by stirring the waters of reflection on the primary questions of life and affecting authentic change.

About Bible Gateway

As the Internet’s largest Christian website, Bible Gateway seeks to encourage Bible reading and scriptural understanding among Bible readers everywhere. Celebrating 20 years online, Bible Gateway offers free access to the Bible in more than 80 languages and 170 different translations. Bible Gateway’s website and app are visited by more than 16 million unique visitors per month. The company is part of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc. Please visit Bible Gateway at www.biblegateway.com.

Links:

 

Jonathan Petersen
August 22, 2013

Pastors and Church Leaders: Our “Ministering the Master’s Way” Leadership Devotional is Back

Ministering the Master’s Way, our weekly newsletter for pastors and church leaders, is back! It starts tomorrow, and will continue every Friday for eight weeks.

Ministering the Master’s Way debuted in January and is now returning for a limited time. It’s a practical devotional especially for pastors and anyone in church leadership. You can sign up to receive it here. When you subscribe to it, you’ll receive a weekly newsletter covering such topics as:

  • Teaching your congregation the value and power of prayer
  • Conducting funerals with grace, and counseling the grieving
  • Enacting church discipline with care
  • Identifying and affirming the gifts within your congregation… and helping people put them to use
  • Preserving your health and mental well-being amidst all the pressures of ministry
  • …and many others

Ministering the Master’s Way is drawn from a line of books of the same name produced by the UK-based Day One Publications. The newsletter was very well-received when we ran it earlier this year; if you missed it the first time, here’s your chance to experience one of our most practical leadership resources.

If you’re a pastor or ministry leader, you’ll find Ministering the Master’s Way to be a valuable part of your week. Sign up for Ministering the Master’s Way on our Newsletters page—and while you’re there, sign up for other devotionals for leaders, including Tozer on Christian Leadership and The Bible-Inspired Leader! And tell others to subscribe as well. Thanks, and enjoy Ministering the Master’s Way!

August 21, 2013

Un Día a La Vez: New Spanish Devotional by Claudia Pinzón

We’re pleased to announce a brand-new daily devotional in Spanish: Un Día a La Vez!

Every morning, Un Día a la Vez offers practical, straightforward spiritual guidance from well-known author and radio host Claudia Pinzón—helping you through life’s daily challenges while also encouraging you to return to (or start!) the habit of reading Scripture every day.

Claudia Pinzón, author of the Un Día a La Vez devotional.

Claudia Pinzón has been a leader in Christian radio and community work in the Miami area for many years. Under her direction, radio programs like Buenos Días Familia and Nuestra Gente have supported local health initiatives, prison outreach, and aid programs for abandoned children. She’s won many awards for her radio work, and even has the distinction of having a local holiday named after her (Día de Claudia Pinzón is April 17!).

With her family-focused ministry background, Pinzón knows that it’s easy to get overwhelmed with the demands of your family, job, and other everyday responsibilities. Her devotional writing shows how to take your faith one day at a time.

To sign up, visit our Newsletter signup page. Once there, just check the box next to Un Día a la Vez and scroll down to the bottom of the page to provide your email address and sign up. Once you’re signed up, you’ll receive a new devotional in your inbox first thing every morning.

We’re very excited to make this devotion available to our Spanish-speaking visitors. If you or someone you know has lamented the lack of Spanish devotions on Bible Gateway in the past, we hope you’ll find Un Día a la Vez to be just what you were waiting for. Sign up today!

Andy Rau
August 20, 2013

Annie Downs: Words That Kill… And Heal

Annie Downs is an author who loves helping young people—especially teen girls and young women—overcome the challenges that life puts in the way of their spiritual development. Today, in the first post of a new series, Annie shares what she learned about the power of Scripture in the course of writing her book Speak Love: Making Your Words Matter.

I sat at my favorite coffee shop in Nashville today. It’s often quiet, library kind of quiet, and that’s what a lot of us freelancer-types really like. Except earlier this afternoon there was a table of five loud twenty-somethings all dressed far more hipster than I know how to pull off.

I got all my things out on the table, put my headphones in, and had my almond milk chai ready to hydrate this session of writing. But before I could start my music (Ellie Holcomb’s new EP With You Now, if you were curious), I began to eavesdrop.

It’s one of my favorite pastimes. Forgive me.

The girl with the too-trendy bowl cut and big round glasses began to talk about a fake profile she had seen on Instagram, and then relayed her own Catfish-like story. “Well, when I was in tenth grade, I hated a girl in our class so much that I created a fake profile of the guy who liked her and made her think it was him. I broke her heart in the end.” And as I looked over, she smiled wickedly at her friends.

The rest of the table didn’t smile at all. In fact, they seemed pretty disturbed. “Wow,” another girl said, “I have had some people in my past I didn’t like, but I’ve never done ANYTHING like that.” And everyone kinda just started muttering to themselves.

She was embarrassed, realizing how it sounded coming out of her mouth (crazy!) was way different than the justifiable experience it was in her head. And? I felt something rise up in me that was controlled only by the tiny bit of wisdom I possess. Because I don’t have a lot of patience or love in my heart for mean girls.

What an ugly thing to do to another human. What a waste of time and words and anger.

I decided against going all Justice League on the girl and instead, I rallied up some compassion for her. (It wasn’t easy, but I tried.) My pastor at CrossPoint Church, Pete Wilson, always says, “Hurt people hurt people,” and I am sure she was hurt.

She was hurt with words. So she hurt with words.

Words have that kind of power—to wound deeply and to heal profoundly. The longer I sat beside her, the more my heart softened and the more I wanted to tell her she is loved, she is accepted, she is valuable.

Sometimes that’s all it takes, isn’t it? A kind word or two.

The Bible is full of God stepping into stories and saying just the thing that the hurting human needs to hear to set them free, to heal their hearts, to redeem and restore and bring life where death had claimed victory. And we are made in His image—just like He creates with His words, we do as well.

Proverbs 18:21 says, “The tongue has the power of life and death,” and if you have lived on this planet for any amount of years, you know that is true too.

I’ve seen it firsthand—I’ve been hurt and I’ve been healed by words. Also, ashamedly, I’ve hurt with words. Over and over again. But now I’m spending my life trying to teach girls a different way, a healing way, a life-giving way, of using words. My book Speak Love covers exactly this topic, in three main areas—how we speak to God, how we speak to others, and how we speak to ourselves.

God is always speaking love to us, so we should be speaking it to others (and ourselves!) as well.

Annie Downs is an author and speaker based in Nashville, TN. Flawed but funny, she uses her writing to highlight the everyday goodness of a real and present God. Her second book, Speak Love, releases this week. Read more at annieblogs.com and connect with Annie on Twitter @AnnieDowns and facebook.com/annieblogs.

Andy Rau
August 13, 2013

“C.S. Lewis Daily” Begins Tomorrow

Just a reminder: C.S. Lewis Daily, our new daily email featuring the best of C.S. Lewis’ writing, begins tomorrow! See our blog post last week for more information about it, or hop over to our Newsletters page to sign up.

Whether you’re already a Lewis fan or not, C.S. Lewis Daily is a great way to start off each day. In the first week alone, you’ll read material from his provocative The Screwtape Letters, a passage from his woefully under-appreciated Space Trilogy, and excerpts from his personal letters. There’s no better way (short of reading everything he wrote) to experience the incredible diversity of Lewis’ writing.

And while we’re talking about email devotionals, yesterday marked the launch of our completely revised Women of the Bible weekly devotional. The first entry in the updated devotional, which focused on the “Proverbs 31 Woman”, is already getting great feedback from subscribers. Here’s a short excerpt from this week’s Women of the Bible entry:

Many women find Proverbs 31 discouraging. Don’t let that happen to you. Remember, this very capable woman is ultimately praised not so much for all she accomplishes as for one thing: She fears the Lord. The woman who is worthy of praise is not necessarily the one who does all her own sewing or is a great cook or is a natural beauty—the woman who gets the praise is the woman who fears the Lord. That’s the target to aim for. Not outward beauty. Not a perfectly decorated home. Not even more intellectual knowledge or business acumen. Instead, aim for a bold, all-consuming love for God. Then you too will be worthy of praise.

If you’d appreciate devotional content like that in your inbox each week, sign up for Women of the Bible at our Newsletters page.

Andy Rau
August 9, 2013

Reciting God’s Word as a Community

The Willow Creek Association’s Global Leadership Summit is wrapping up today. Bible Gateway’s Jonathan Petersen was able to attend, and recorded a short but moving video of the audience reciting a Bible verse in unison:

The verse they’re reciting is Joshua 1:9:

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. (NIV translation)

This verse is part of an address given by God to the Israelites after the death of their long-time leader Moses. God assures the people that despite Moses’ death, they need not fear that God will abandon them or forget the promises he made to them when Moses was alive.

I’ve rewatched the above video several times today. There’s just something compelling about hearing God’s Word spoken aloud not just by a lone preacher or reader, but by an entire gathered crowd of believers.

Most of us are accustomed to hearing the Bible read to us, and to reading it quietly to ourselves. But when was the last time you read a Bible passage out loud in unison with others? Give it a try the next time you’re gathered at a family dinner or with group of believing friends. You might be surprised at how appropriate it feels to read the Bible out loud in community.

Do you have the opportunity to regularly read Scripture out loud with others? Does your church incorporate communal Bible reading into its worship services? And even if you don’t have the chance to recite Scripture with others, have you ever tried reading the Bible out loud to yourself? Stop by our Facebook page to share your experience.

Andy Rau
August 8, 2013

C.S. Lewis Comes to Bible Gateway! Announcing the “C.S. Lewis Daily” Newsletter

When and how did you first “meet” the author and theologian C.S. Lewis? For me, it was through The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe and its sequels, which I fell in love with as a child (and still appreciate today). In the years that followed, I moved on to Mere Christianity, The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters, and other books—all of them thoughtful and challenging explorations of faith. Each spoke to me at a different point in my mental and spiritual growth.

You might have your own “C.S. Lewis story”—a favorite Lewis book you’ve re-read so many times it’s physically falling apart; your own memories of Lewis insights that challenged you just when you needed to be challenged. C.S. Lewis is one of those authors you can truly grow up with—because he wrote books suitable for such a wide range of audiences, his writing is accessible to everyone from children to adults, from faithful Christians to questioning skeptics.

That is why we’re truly excited to announce C.S. Lewis Daily, a new everyday newsletter on Bible Gateway that features short, provocative insights drawn from all across Lewis’ written work. Each day’s entry is a different short reading from one of Lewis’ books—from theology classics like Mere Christianity, to the beloved Narnia novels, to C.S. Lewis’ personal letters, and more. Lewis’ most interesting ideas were not confined to a single book. C.S. Lewis Daily brings you the best of his spiritual insights.

If you’re not familiar with Lewis’ writing, you’re in for a treat—and this is a perfect way to get to know the man and his ideas. If you’re already a C.S. Lewis fan, C.S. Lewis Daily will walk you through his best work, and perhaps introduce you to Lewis insights that you’ve missed in the past.

C.S. Lewis Daily is sent out each day via email starting Wednesday, August 14. To receive it, you need to go sign up (it’s free) on our Newsletters page. It starts next week, so sign up today!

Click on the image below or visit our Newsletters page to sign up.

Jonathan Petersen
August 7, 2013

What Can Christians Learn from Ramadan?

Muslims praying toward Mecca.

Ramadan is the ninth and holiest month of the Islamic lunar calendar. It’s when 1.2 billion Muslims worldwide are told to fast from dawn to sunset, replacing food and water with increased prayers and recitation of their scripture, the Koran. Eating and drinking are allowed nightly. This year Ramadan began July 8 and will conclude tonight, on the evening of August 7.

In Understanding the Koran, Mateen Elass says, “Christians need to become much more familiar with the teachings of the Koran and the practices of Islam so as to more ably explain to Muslims the reason for the hope that lies within us because of Jesus Christ.” Another aspect to consider, however, is what Christians can learn from the devoted practices of Muslims, such as the observance of Ramadan.

Strictly speaking, fasting is simply the practice of abstaining from food, drink, or both for a certain period of time. But most major religions, including Christianity, assign to fasting a spiritual component that is at least as important as the physical component. Isaiah 58:6-7 says that an acceptable fast is more than abstaining from food or water; it’s intended to be a mark of a person’s decision to fully obey God’s command to care for the poor and oppressed. Fasting is a way for a person to pursue humility and appeal to God.

Because the New Testament church is not specifically commanded to fast, fasting is somewhat downplayed in the modern Christian church, particularly within its Protestant branch. But fasting was important to ancient believers in both the Old and New Testaments. Just as the Koran stipulates a time of fasting for Muslims, the Bible set aside one day a year when Israelites were expected to fast on the Day of Atonement. Jesus instructed his followers based on the assumption that they were already regularly fasting: when you fast, not if you fast. And of course Jesus himself fasted for 40 days. The late Dr. Bill Bright said, “Fasting is the most powerful spiritual discipline of all the Christian disciplines. Through fasting and prayer, the Holy Spirit can transform your life.”

There is no exact analogue of Ramadan within Christianity. What may be the closest Christian comparison to Ramadan is the season of Lent—the 40 days leading up to Easter every year. During these days Christians are encouraged (but not required) to observe some type of fast or self-denial to commemorate Jesus’ sacrifice and to reflect, repent, and pray in preparation to celebrate Christ’s resurrection on Easter Sunday. Too often, though, Christians are content to minimize their abstentions by laughingly asking, “What are you giving up for Lent?,” referring to a trite, comfortable sacrifice without considering the spiritual purpose behind abstaining.

Perhaps, as the fasting of Ramadan comes to an end, we Christians should reconsider how personal fasting can lead to a better understanding of our faith and a closer walk with God—and take it more seriously. Read through some of the Bible passages linked above to learn how fasting was understood by believers in ancient times. Ask yourself if fasting, or certain elements of fasting, might be an appropriate way to express and strengthen your faith.

On our Facebook page, tell us whether you fast and how it’s affected your personal faith. And tweet about it using #biblegateway.

Resources for further reading:

Photo of Muslims praying by Antonio Melina/Agência Brasil.

Andy Rau
August 6, 2013

Our “Women of the Bible” Devotional is Re-launching with Brand New Content!

Our popular devotional Women of the Bible is re-launching next week with all-new devotional content!

Women of the Bible was one of the first email devotionals Bible Gateway offered. It offered a weekly look at one of the women who made Bible history—famous and obscure, heroic and villainous, it had something to say about each. Since we made it available, it’s consistently been one of the most popular email devotionals at Bible Gateway.

Well, now that Women of the Bible has been running for several years, we thought it was time to refresh the devotional. Among other things, we wanted to shift this newsletter (originally based on Herbert Lockyer’s encyclopedic book All the Women of the Bible) in a more devotional direction.

For a more devotional take on the women of the Bible, we turned to one of one of our favorite writers: Ann Spangler, who you’ve seen in our 20th anniversary interview series. Ann is the author (with Jean Syswerda) of a book called Women of the Bible: A One-Year Devotional Study of Women in Scripture. Ann and Jean review the Biblical details of each woman’s life, but add a devotional emphasis, looking for ways to apply the lessons of each woman’s life to the modern life of faith.

The Women of the Bible re-launch happens next Monday, August 12. If you’re already subscribed to Women of the Bible, you don’t need to do anything to start receiving the new, revised version of the devotional when it launches this Friday—it will continue to be delivered to you each week. If you aren’t subscribed to Women of the Bible, or if you subscribed in the past but opted out at some point, this is a perfect time to jump in.

We’re very excited about the revised and re-launched Women of the Bible! It features all new content, written by some of the church’s sharpest devotional writers. Whether you’ve been reading Women of the Bible for years or are just now joining us, we think you’ll love the new version of this devotional. (And note that while we’re retiring the previous version of the devotional, its content remains available online in our devotionals library.)

Sign up for the new Women of the Bible at our newsletters page!

Update: An earlier version of this post mistakenly stated that the revised Women of the Bible devotional begins on August 9. The correct start date is Monday, August 12.

Andy Rau
August 2, 2013

Ann Spangler: Finding Time for the Bible in our “Time-Poor” Lives

We’re closing out the week with another video interview in our 20th anniversary series, this time with author Ann Spangler. Ann has written and edited many books, including Praying the Names of God and The One Year Devotions for Women.

We asked Ann “why don’t we read the Bible more?”

Here’s what she shared in response:

“Lack of time” is a common answer to this question; several of our other interviewees noted this in their responses. (I’m very fond of Ann’s phrase “time-poor” to describe our lives these days.)

But Ann adds a interesting new idea: it’s not just a lack of free time that keeps us from the Bible; it’s that we have too many competing sources loudly demanding a piece of that limited time. The Bible doesn’t scream at us for attention the way TV news, advertisements, work responsibilities, and family duties do—it invites us to engage with it. But it’s hard to hear that gentle invitation when our ears and brains are tuned to respond to only the loudest and most immediate demands.

So how do we re-wire ourselves to be open and receptive to the daily invitation of God’s Word? If it were easy to do, we wouldn’t be talking about this in the first place. But there are practical things you can do to move Bible reading higher on your priority list. See yesterday’s post “Reading the Bible on a Tight Schedule” for a few simple ideas to get you moving in the right direction.

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    The Bible Gateway Blog features the latest news, announcements, and reflections from Bible Gateway. We hope what you find here will add to your understanding of and appreciation for the Bible.