The Minimalist Home....The Joy Of Less....The Minimalist Way.....The Minimalist Budget. My wife is a minimalist. I'm lucky I still have my MacGregor golf clubs....circa 1965. I haven't played golf in twenty years....and probably will never play again....but you never know. You just never know! In one of my more wickeder moments I thought of collecting books like the titles above....searching garage sales for them....just to pack them up in the basement....in full view of my wife....as she walks by my bowling ball....of which I haven't used in fifty years. I love the Bargain Store on the second floor of Boscov's. My wife tries not to let me near the escalator. The last time I was there I bought a really bright flashlight....As Seen On TV....a real cheap tarp....to go with my other five tarps....a copper 12" skillet....for the eggs....to go along with our 12" skillet for the bacon....and twenty handy little clipboards....5" x 7".....$.29 each! She calls this a sickness....I call minimalism a sickness.
OK....there's a little bit of embellishing there....I do have a use for the clipboards.....I've already done it....I put the address of this website on the back....and leave them in little stacks at colleges.....with a sign saying....FREE.
In our basement right now I probably have twelve different Study Bibles.....collected over the years.....each one highlighted throughout....with notations. That's the general way that it works with new Christians. I had someone tell me that forty years ago....and that's the way it turned out. We buy a new Bible.....and love it....but a couple of years later a new Study Bible comes out.....with new features....and forty years into this....Lord willing....you have a collection. They are not ideal to give away because of all the markings....and the pages being worn....but minimalism or no minimalism....I'll never throw a Bible away!
All of the above just to lead into some advice for a new believer in buying a Study Bible. So here is that advice....
Be patient until you find the bible with type that you can easily read! It does not have to be a Giant Print Bible. Some types are much easier on the eyes....and from what I have found....if you have to strain to read....then you will wind up letting the Bible sit there! I found that the John MacArthur Study Bible is very easy to read. I would probably use the Reformation Study Bible....that I have sitting here....for the commentary is a little better....but once again....if it is easy to read....you will pick it up more often.
There are different translations.....and most of them are good. The NIV....eh....a little too modern for me....and it is more of translating a concept rather than translating the actual words. I prefer the New King James Version.....because the language still has more of a reverence to it. The ESV may be the best....but I go to the New American Standard when I need to dig deeper into the words themselves beyond the modified terminology.
The notes are important in a Study Bible. Who is giving them? That's why R. C. Sproul and John MacArthur are the best options.
The 'helps' are important also....the maps and diagrams and lists and graphics....especially for a newer believer. I always have a MacArthur and a Reformation.....(Sproul).....and an Evidence Bible handy to give away....depending on the person. There is a lot of prayer involved here....for I cannot give Study Bibles away like candy. To the inquirer....the person who has a genuine interest....and knows little to nothing.....I choose Ray Comfort's Evidence Bible.....even though I do not agree with all the commentary.....for again....if the person does not read the Bible.....then what good will it do them?
There are different layouts to the Bibles that you will come across in a bookstore. Some have the words in long paragraphs.....some have the verse by itself....with the verse number before it. The paragraphs give a better continuity to what you are reading.....but the individually numbered verses are much easier for research. You may not have noticed this....so check it out.
My first eight or so Study Bibles were leather....it looks cool....it made me look cool. Maybe I'm being too hard on myself....but I found that a hardback is much easier to set on your lap and read.....as the leather flops all over the place.
As for color....you have to get a dark blue! Hey I'm kidding here folks. That's just the end of this post.
