Bible in the Hand

The idea of Bible marking is as old as the message. A marked Bi­ble is a prized Bible. Marking seems to send the arrows of the Spirit home to the heart with clearer aim. The message of the Word seems to be made more po­tent by a mark of red or blue or black. In fact, in all our literature few books have had a wider cir­culation and more evangelistic appeal than the simple narrative of The Marked Bible. For close to half a century it has done its work.

However, up until the last decade, Bible marking has generally been accompanied by certain encumbrances, certain blocks.

First, it was necessarily slow and some­what awkward because of the unfamiliarity with the Scriptures, which was to be ex­pected in new Bible students. They were understandably embarrassed because they were slow in finding the texts.

And then the plan was often made cum­bersome by the attempt to use complex chain-reference systems. These systems had been carefully worked out, but however helpful they may be for the mature Chris­tian or for the layman who wishes such a plan for his own guidance in giving stud­ies to others, yet it was found that in normal procedure the study bogged down.

The student was so burdened with mechanics that the message was to a degree obscured.

Then, in recent evangelistic his­tory, there came experimentation, first in classes, with the idea of distributing Bibles with identical paging so that texts could be looked up by page number rather than by chapter and verse.

The response was immediate.

Now there was no awkwardness or embarrassment. Time was saved. Attention could be focused on the message itself. And, best of all, interest did not tend to lag as before.

Evangelists and pastors caught up the idea, cautiously at first. If the plan was good in classes, why could it not be used in the large public meetings? Our men stepped out in faith and ordered tons of Bibles for meetings across the country.

It worked. Results were amazing.

It was such a simple idea. But every­where it brought success. No longer need an evangelist look out over an audience and feel not quite sure that the people were following. Now, as he announced the page number from the desk, he could see every head bowed as those present turned the pages together, read together, and marked together.

The Bible was now "the star of the show." As the visitors left the meeting they were not talking about the speaker or his personality but were tremendously im­pressed by the message itself and by the fact of their own participation in the learn­ing process.

Best of all, and most amazing, was the fact that here, unexpectedly, seemed to be the answer to dwindling evangelistic audi­ences. The pattern of evangelistic attend­ance, which too often had followed a steady line downward from the first night to the last, was now changed. Attendance on the closing night was often as good or better than on opening night. Nor were there the great drops on week nights that we have grown to expect. It was amazing what peo­ple would do, how far they would travel, to get that Bible, which was to be theirs after attending ten nights.

The plan seems to have universal ap­peal. In the past few years it has been used in various parts of the world. And wher­ever the plan has been carefully carried out, the increase in baptisms has been phe­nomenal.

But now laymen, eager for a tool of their own, picked up the idea. If it worked in public, why not in the home? They were quick to sense the vast potential of this sim­ple plan.

And again, it worked. The plan is so sim­ple but so fundamentally basic. Attention is riveted in total simplicity upon the naked Word. Just as in the public meeting, world­lings, so easily identified by their dress and demeanor, were held spellbound by the message. Whether in the living room or the great auditorium, it was the same.

Here was a plan of many uses. Not only was it effective in the large evangelistic meeting but also in the smaller meeting, the follow-up class, the personal Bible study where laymen distributed Bibles in the group. It was especially successful in the pastor's Bible class, which, of course, is a funnel for church baptisms.

A simple idea. But evidently a Heaven-born one. Said one evangelist to another, "This idea is neither yours nor mine. It's God's idea."

Elder H. M. S. Richards and his son have recently conducted great radio Bible-mark­ing campaigns in Atlanta and southern Georgia. Each day for a month people telephoned in for Bibles, in response to a radio announcement. These Bibles were de­livered by laymen. Seventy-two calls were received during the first ten minutes after the offer was made. Eight telephones were used. Can this mean anything less than a tremendous advance in mass communica­tion evangelism?

After our recent meetings in Southern California the home missionary depart­ment of the Pacific Union, under the lead­ership of Dan Dirksen, endeavored to fol­low through to meet specific needs. A series of Bible-marking lessons, entitled Your Bi­ble Says, was prepared. J. L. Shuler had done considerable experimentation along this line. This series of lessons was ac­tually authored by R. H. Libby, one of our ablest Bible course authors, with the help of men in Southern California. The first printing of 20,000 sets was snatched away from the printer before the presses had completed the run.

In some areas surveys are being made of people who have completed the Take His Word series, and they are encouraged to participate in Bible-marking groups guided by laymen and using the Your Bible Says series. Such a plan could be used to follow any of our Bible courses, or for interested persons whatever the origin of their con­tact with truth.

But now to still another adaptation of the plan. It has been noticed, ever since the Bible Marking Plan has been used in the large public meetings, that a great num­ber of laymen were recording the sermons on their personal recorders. These record­ings were passed around and played again and again in small groups. Laymen, on their own, ordered Bibles and distributed them so that the texts could be looked up by page number, just as in the large meet­ings. In fact, one doctor ordered a hundred Bibles for his own use.

It was felt that the time had come to produce some high quality long-play records. Therefore, plans quickly matured, and two albums, each containing ten decision ser­mons, are now available.

These records, presenting the funda­mentals of our message, will find many uses. They will be a particularly effective means of reaching individuals or families already interested in the message as well as fresh contacts who desire to study the Word of God seriously through this fascinating technique. A little imagination will sug­gest many ways in which this new medium can bring truth, with actual participation in the study and marking of the Scriptures, into the home. It is also planned that these records be made available to tele­vision viewers through a unique plan that has been worked out.