The Blind Beggar

Great spoken word poem.

The Christian Booksellers Association has just published its list of best selling bible translations. Here are the lists for 2011, but keep in mind that the ranking is based only on sales in U.S. Christian retail stores.

2011 - Based on Dollar Sales

1. New International Version
2. King James Version
3. New King James Version
4. New Living Translation
5. English Standard Version
6. Holman Christian Standard Bible
7. New International Readers Version
8. The Message
9. New American Standard Bible
10. New Revised Standard Version

2011 - Based on Unit Sales

1. New International Version
2. King James Version
3. New King James Version
4. New Living Translation
5. English Standard Version
6. Holman Christian Standard Bible
7. New International Readers Version
8. The Message
9. New American Standard Bible
10. Common English Bible

When comparing with the 2010 list, the top seller are the same. At the bottom of the list, the “Reina Valera 1960 (Spanish)” version has been replaced with the “New Revised Standard Version” and “Common English Bible.”

As you can see from the 2006 list below, the “Reina Valera 1960 (Spanish)” version has been in a steady sales decline. Everything else is pretty stable.

2006 - Based on Unit Sales

1. New International Version
2. New King James Version
3. King James Version
4. New Living Translation
5. English Standard Version
6. Reina Valera 1960 (Spanish)
7. Holman Christian Standard Bible
8. New American Standard Bible (updated)
9. The Message
10. New International Readers Version

I doubt much would be different, but research related to online sales would be interesting.

For me, I’ve been switching between the English Standard Version and the new 2011 New International Version. I’m enjoying the latter.

If Robert E. Lang and Arthur C. Nelson are right, there is a birth of a new geography: “megapolitans,” regions that encompass counties and cities linked through man-made and natural connections sharing common economic, landscape, social, and cultural characteristics.

Their new book details this urban geography. It predicts that by 2040, there will be 10 distinct clusters composed of 23 megapolitan areas in the contiguous 48 states of the USA.

The rise of megapolitan areas points out the differing pockets of social and cultural characteristics growing within the USA. The old divisions like East/West, North/South, and inland/coast continue to need reexamination.

So I’m wondering how the authors premise might help develop our understanding, practice, and communication of what it means to be a Jesus follower within this new geographical framework.

No answers yet, but certainly worth some time to contemplate.

I have the Kindle books listed below that can be loaned once for a period of 14 days, at no cost to you. If you have a Kindle (or a Kindle reading app) and would like to read one of these titles, just leave a comment telling me which title you want* and your email address.

In a couple of days you will get an email from Amazon with instructions. You have only seven days to respond to the email and only 14 days from that response to read the book.

* Just one title per person please so we can spread the love (if a title is still available after 14 days, then feel free to pick another). Titles will be loaned on a first-come-first-served basis and Amazon will only let me loan a title once.

List of Books Available

The Missional Church in Perspective (The Missional Network) - Craig Van Gelder and Dwight J. Zscheile

Journeys to Significance: Charting a Leadership Course from the Life of Paul (Jossey-Bass Leadership Network Series) - Neil Cole

The Strategically Small Church: Intimate, Nimble, Authentic, and Effective - Brandon J. O’Brien

Church Unique: How Missional Leaders Cast Vision, Capture Culture, and Create Movement (Jossey-Bass Leadership Network Series) - Will Mancini

Affirming the Apostles’ Creed - J.I. Packer

Linking Arms, Linking Lives: How Urban-Suburban Partnerships Can Transform Communities - Ronald J. Sider

Missional Renaissance: Changing the Scorecard for the Church (Jossey-Bass Leadership Network Series) - Reggie McNeal

Transformational Church - Ed Stetzer and Thom Rainer

Untamed: Reactivating a Missional Form of Discipleship (Shapevine) - Alan Hirsch and Debra Hirsch

Simple Life - Thom Rainer and Art Rainer

“Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ.” — 1 Corinthians 3:1

“Have we made the church a gigantic nursery full of spiritual infants, some of whom are well into their senior years? May God raise up those who can lead us out of infancy into maturity!” —AW Tozer

The Barna Group has spent the last five years exploring the lives of young people who drop out of church. The research provides many insights into the spiritual journeys of teens and young adults and uncovers these five myths:

Myth 1: Most people lose their faith when they leave high school.

Myth 2: Dropping out of church is just a natural part of young adults’ maturation.

Myth 3: College experiences are the key factor that cause people to drop out.

Myth 4: This generation of young Christians is increasingly “biblically illiterate.”

Myth 5: Young people will come back to church like they always do.

You can read the full details here: Five Myths about Young Adult Church Dropouts