Appearing on The Jim Bakker Show was a great experience. The episodes where I am interviewed began airing this week and the response to our offer of the Modern English Version of the Bible was so great I want to offer it to my readers now.
Since the release of the MEV last year, I have made many trips to introduce it. But, never was I so warmly received as with Jim Bakker. I think a good connection came through on the program. If you missed the show, click here to see it online.
I’ve known Jim Bakker since the late 1970s. I was a guest a few times on the old PTL show. In 1984, I traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina to interview Bakker. The result was a 7,000 word article that I found interesting to reread after all these years. This was four years before the big collapse of PTL. Bakker already had become controversial. I asked him the tough questions. But it was no hatchet job. Instead, I came away impressed with his heart and his vision.
In my last Strang Report, I wrote about how I admire the way Jim Bakker has come back. Never has one man lost so much and rebounded as he has. He could have given up. He didn’t. At 75, he is working as hard as he did when I interviewed him in 1984.
On the show, he surprised me by telling his audience one of the Scriptures that made him warm up to the MEV was 3 John 2. In the King James Version it reads: “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” This is the verse that has given rise to what some call the “Prosperity Gospel.”
In the MEV, however, the same verse reads this way: “Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, even as your soul is well.” What a difference! It’s what the original languages say.
Bakker acknowledges that the Prosperity Gospel is what got him off track at PTL all those years ago. Now that he’s back on track, he wants others to believe that God loves them and wants them to live a good life. But, that’s a long way from the belief that God wants you to prosper financially.
Jim knew me as founder of Charisma magazine which continues to be our flagship. But, I believe the most important thing I will ever do is publish God’s Word in modern English in this important new translation. Thankfully, many like Bakker are saying how much they like the MEV and are using it—and the sales are showing this. In only one year, the MEV placed in the top 10 Bible translations (and this is with many well-established versions such as the KJV, the NIV and the New Living Translation ahead of it).
We have many different styles and sizes of the MEV and some of them are on the Bible “best-seller” list—including the large print version in Cherry Brown, which is a very pretty version. This was also popular with the Bakker audience and, in only a few days, they’ve had to reorder stock.
What does this mean to you? Ordinarily, we work with retailers and distributors rather than making special discounts to those who would buy from us directly. But when I saw the program, I saw the “special deals” that Bakker and his team put together. All were discounted. With their permission, you can buy these Bibles—and other items—for the same price by visiting their website or by calling 417-779-9000.
A description of each product and their prices, along with a link to find them, is listed below.
Description: Bound in a beautiful soft-touch cover, this product features: gilded edges, presentation page, concordance, words of Jesus in red, maps and cross references system along with a satin ribbon marker to make daily reading easier.
Price: $30
Available colors: Blue and Black
Description: With twelve-point font this product is visually comfortable and allows the user to further appreciate the clarity, accuracy and reverence of the MEV text. This product features: concordance, presentation page, ribbon marker, words of Jesus in red, gilded edges and is smyth-sewn.
Price: $35
Available colors: Cherry Brown and Tan
Description: The SpiritLed Woman Bible was developed for the woman in passionate pursuit of God. This product features: 40 teaching articles from well-respected voices, 65 profiles of biblical women and other heroines of the faith who have inspired others and made an impact for the kingdom of God, 400 daily inspirational thoughts and prayers that affirm you as a woman of God and connect you to the power of the Holy Spirit, cross-references system along with concordance, and eight full-color maps.
Retail Price: $64.99 (discounted 38 percent)
You Pay: $40
Available color: Lavender
Description: These two translations have been set side by side to compare and contrast, making it easy to see the richness, beauty and theological clarity maintained by each.
Retail Price: $39.99 (discounted 38 percent)
You Pay: $25
Format: Hardcover
Description: The Fire Bible is the premiere study Bible for the Spirit-led believer, and it is now being made available in the Modern English Version (MEV). A reference library in one volume, this study Bible will assist those who want to deepen their understanding of the Spirit and His work throughout the Scriptures and who also desire to actively live out their faith. This product features: 70 plus articles, in-depth study notes for key verses, helpful book introductions, maps, charts, words of Jesus in red, cross references, topical index and a reading plan.
Retail Price: $49.99 (discounted 23 percent)
You Pay: $35
Format: Hardcover
Not often do I offer something for sale. But I wanted you to have an opportunity to buy at these special prices. Bakker urged his viewers to buy Bibles for Christmas. I urge you to not only buy for yourself but for others as gifts and also for Christmas.
And talk this up with your friends. Leave your comments below and share this on social media to help us get out the word on this important new translation. {eoa}
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