"The Bible tops coffee, social media and sweets as a daily necessity for only 16 percent of the population, according to new research commissioned by the American Bible Society (ABS)." BPNews
Reposted with permission from Dispensational Pubishing House.
The following is an exert from A Christian’s Guide to Kipling, co-authored by Randy White and published by Trust House Publishers, a division of Dispensational Publishing.
I’m not the first to suggest that poetry is the supreme art. Philosophers and common-folk alike have come to this simple conclusion. While one may prefer the art of the canvas, created by paintbrush or camera, or the art of sculpture, created by clay, wood, or stone, I’m not talking about preference. I’m talking about the art that reigns supreme.
Setting aside all art save those related to words, I still believe that poetry is supreme. There are other word-based arts, of course. I regularly practice the art of oratory through preaching. It is a combination of the spoken word and (hopefully) sound logic. I also frequently make use of the art of rhetoric in the written word, which is somewhat more limited in persuasion from oratory. The sights, sounds, and immediate feedback from oratory outshines the written word on almost every occasion. All of us love drama, in varying degrees, and drama is certainly a word-based art. But drama takes a stage, an actor, a script, and, more often than not, a cast.
"[R]esearch by Barna, commissioned by the American Bible Society on Bible reading habits showed an overall growing positive attitude towards the Bible among Americans." World Religion News
Teens who "attend church at least once a month, and say their faith is very important in their lives—who read their Bible do so the same amount all year long (73%) . . . Of those who are left, 18 percent of practicing Protestant teens read more during the school year; only half that amount read more during the unstructured summer (9%)." CT
"The Barna Group conducted research commissioned by the American Bible Society that uncovers surprising facts about the role the Bible plays in the lives of teens and the attitude they take toward God’s Word."
Women and artistic Bible journaling: "The opportunities are endless! It’s like scrapbooking on crack! . . . It guarantees they will be posting shots of their 'quiet time' on Pinterest and Instagram. It’s hard enough for women to carve out time to read their Bibles regularly. This seems to add to the supplies and expectation rather than help."
