| "The vigour of our spiritual life will
be in direct proportion to the place held by the Bible in our
life and thoughts." |
|
George Müller
(1805-1898) |
If these words of a great and Godly man of the 19th
century are true - and we believe they are - then it is vital
for every Christian to read his or her Bible regularly, and as
frequently as
possible. Confidence in the
Word has been written to encourage disciples of our
Lord Jesus Christ to do just this, so they may be built up
in our most holy faith. We especially have in mind those who, for
whatever reason, no longer read the Scriptures, or, if they
do, then they do so only occasionally.
Confidence in the Word
therefore has a
single aim: to help Christians everywhere regain and increase their
trust in the Bible. Confidence in the
Word is
offered freely to all believers, irrespective of tradition or
denomination, in the spirit of
Matthew 10:8:Give as freely as you have received.
It is our fervent hope and prayer that
the Lord of the Scriptures will be pleased to use this website to give every visitor renewed assurance that they can trust and understand the Bible for themselves, and that they will want to make reading God's Word a regular part of their daily routine from now on.
We pray, too, that every visitor will be moved to put into
practice what they read in the Scriptures and thereby deepen their love for, and
knowledge of, our heavenly Father, through his only Son, Jesus Christ, in the
power of the Holy Spirit, to whom, One God in three Persons, be all praise
forever and forever!
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The following table introduces the seven sections
of
Confidence in the Word
...
|
1.
Introductory This website
has been written out of the conviction that many
Christians no longer read the Bible because they have
suffered a fundamental loss of confidence in the Scriptures.
The author's method has been ... to allow the Bible to speak
for itself ...
More |
2. Accessing the
Bible
If you have never read the Bible before, or if you have not
used one for some time, then you are bound to find this section
helpful. It will
show you how to find your way around the Bible and guide you in
approaching the Scriptures ...
More |
|
3. Examining
the Bible's Testimony
The Bible makes many remarkable claims for
itself. Can they be justified? Where
did the Bible come from? What did the
Bible writers think about the
Scriptures? Does the Bible have a connecting theme? Is
it easy or difficult to use? What use did Jesus
make of it? ...
More |
4. Experiencing
the Bible's Power
Though convinced
that the Bible is genuinely the Word of God you may
still be hesitant
about using it. Test drive the Bible for
yourself, by exploring some representative portions of Scripture. We start with a remarkable
testimony to the healing power of God's Word ...
More |
|
5. Further Help & Thought
Would you like
some help as you start to read the Bible regularly,
either for the first time or after a break, or are
you thinking of investing in some Bible-related
resources? Do
you need some challenging thoughts about the
Scriptures to kick-start your reading? ...
More |
6. Links to
Other Websites
Would you like to
read a Bible passage in different versions or
languages, or study the Scriptures more
deeply? Are you interested in Bible work
around the world and how you can become involved?
Want to listen to Christian radio or catch-up on
Church news?
...
More |
|
7. Contact
Us
Has
Confidence in the Word
helped you to start or recommence reading the Bible?
It would be such an encouragement to us to know if
it has.
Do you still have some doubts or questions about the
Scriptures? Or do you feel that something on this
website is not right? Is one of the links
not working properly? If so, please contact us and we
promise to do our best to deal with your query or
difficulty. All correspondence will be treated in
strict confidence, and we shall contact you only if
you ask us to do so. You can write, telephone or
e-mail ...
More |
For details of the individual pages of
Confidence in the Word please visit
the complete Site Map.
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|
Unless otherwise indicated Scripture references and quotations on this website are taken from the Holy Bible,
New Living Translation copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189, USA. All rights reserved.
Scripture references and quotations marked (NIV-UK) are taken from the HOLY BIBLE,
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, copyright 1973, 1979, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of the Hodder Headline Group. All rights reserved.
We wish to record our grateful thanks to
Gospel Communications Network for making the valuable resources of the Bible Gateway freely available to all
Web users.
We also wish to record our thanks to the
Biblical Studies Foundation
for making the online NETBible
available.
The source of other copyright material is shown at the end of each item, together with an appropriate acknowledgement. While the author has made every attempt to identify and obtain permission from the owners of copyright material, he apologises for any inadvertent errors or omissions, which will gladly be made good on receipt of notification from the copyright holder.
We also wish to offer our grateful thanks to ChurchUK.net for their excellent hosting facilities.
The
author would like to record his
personal thanks to all who assisted or encouraged him in the compilation of
the original Confidence in the Word website, particularly George Georgiou, formerly of
Bible Society, for making the results of the Society's
research available
to him; to Pastors Peter Norris and David Parsons for reviewing a first draft;
to Mrs Mary Bainbridge for proof reading and making a number of helpful suggestions;
to his sons David and Luke for technical help and advice;
to David Mears of New College, Swindon for
initiating him into the mysteries of HTML; to Timothy Holloway for his
encouragement interest in the project; to Mike and Chris Barratt for their prayers; and above all
to his wife, Ann,
who encouraged and supported him throughout the months of researching
and writing, especially during the many times he was on the verge of giving it all up! No list of those to whom thanks are due would be complete without acknowledging the gracious help of the Lord himself, from whom alone comes every good and perfect gift (James 1:17 (NIV))
and the continual encouragement and refreshment of his
precious Word. To him be the glory and praise, now and forever!
The author gladly offers his thanks to all, too numerous to
mention individually by name, who have offered comments and criticisms since the
initial publication of the website. It is largely as a result of their
contributions that the revised site is now offered.
|
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Confidence
in the Word (CitW) was initially
published in January 2003. Correcting and updating has been ongoing since, including a substantial expansion
of the Links page in May 2005.
Publication of the revised presentation began in November 2005, as a Beta site. It is hoped to publish the entire website in this format by mid 2006,
when it will replace the current version.
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©
2005, Michael Kemp
mike.kemp@citw.org.uk
|
