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Scripture Union was born one summer evening in London in 1867. A young British office worker, Josiah Spiers, took a group of children from his Sunday School to a special meeting, conducted by an American named Payson Hammond. There were hundreds of children and the service was unlike any other Spiers had ever seen. The children were lively and enjoying themselves-and they could actually understand the teachings of the Bible! Spiers was greatly impressed with this lively, informal and effective approach to ministry to children. Soon, with the help of others, he began holding regular services for children with attendance in the hundreds. The Children’s Special Service Mission (CSSM) (which later became Scripture Union) was born.
The next summer Spiers was vacationing at the beach in Llandudno, Wales. As he watched some children making a garden of stones and seaweed in the sand, it occurred to him that the children could just as easily be making a Bible text. He was clearly concerned that the children should hear about Jesus, and how much God loved them. Calling the children around him, he began writing “God is Love” in the sand. Spiers encouraged them to decorate the letters with shells and sea weed. As the children played, he told them stories about Jesus. Those beach programs were a vital step forward for Spiers and the CSSM, enabling him to make contact with wealthier families who could help fund this effort and giving him needed publicity. Soon after, he began receiving invitations to hold children’s special services around the country and the CSSM began to grow. Spiers stayed in leadership of this new ministry for forty years until his death.
From those humble beginnings, Scripture Union spread around the world. Today Scripture Union is active in over 130 countries worldwide, still working to introduce children and young people to Jesus and promote regular, serious Bible reading. The aims of SU are achieved in a wide range of ways appropriate to the country, culture and situation in each country. Movements in different countries or continents may run camps, school seminars, Primary and Secondary Bible study groups for students, produce Bible reading materials and other resources for churches, offer family counselling, education about AIDS, training for churches and children’s workers, and minister to urban children and youth or the handicapped.
SU is primarily a volunteer organization with a small number of staff who train, encourage and coordinate the many ministry workers worldwide. Scripture Union in each country is an autonomous organization. Scripture Union / USA, like each of the 130 movements, is governed by its own Board of Directors which meet three times annually. All Scripture Union movements and linked together by shared principles and a common calling. (Source: downloaded from the Internet)
Ever since God’s Word gripped my heart and changed my life under the Spirit-energized ministry of Dr John Sung, my one ardent desire and ambition has been to promote regular systematic Bible reading among believing Christians. When Life Church began in 1950, I assumed the role of Scripture Union (SU) secretary for church and Sunday School.
In those days SU writers were conservative “old evangelicals” and based their notes on the Authorised Version or the King James Bible. With utter devotion to this God-sent task, I introduced SU materials at all age-levels, from the youngest to the adults. There were four or five different categories of daily Bible reading guide notes, the most popular being “Daily Bread” and “Daily Notes. ”
As Life Church and Sunday School grew, our subscription to SU materials grew until we became the largest consumer in Singapore. Then the SU Council asked if I would become a Council member. This I gladly agreed. This was in the decade of the 1960s.
In course of time, the “falling away” prophesied in God’s Word gathered momentum and SU fell victim to the modernizing movement of ecumenism. The King James Bible was cast aside, displaced by the Revised Standard Version (RSV). You may ask, “What is wrong with that? ”
Unknown to most readers, the RSV is a flawed and doctored translation of God’s Holy Word. The translators have corrupted vital doctrines pertaining to the essentials of salvation. I will quote only three instances of altered and mutilated texts:
a) Isaiah 7:14 : The KJV says, “A virgin shall conceive.. ” but the RSV has, “A young woman... ” thus destroying the biblical record of the vital doctrine of the virgin birth, reducing our Lord Jesus to a mere man.
b) Micah 5:2 : The KJV says our Lord’s origin was “from everlasting” but the RSV has, “from ancient days. ” This change destroys the eternal sonship of Christ.
c) John 6:47 : The KJV says, “... he that believeth on me hath everlasting life, ” but the RSV has, “He who believes has eternal life” leaving out “on me”. This corrupted translation opens the door of eternal life to every religion.
As a Council member I objected to the change from KJV to RSV, but the other members over-ruled my objection. They had defected to the New Evangelical camp. God’s Word had predicted such a defection two thousand years ago ( 2 Thess 2:3 ).
But the worse was yet to come. As SU secretary for Life Church, it was my duty to monitor the texts of the SU publications. In 1980, the writer ridiculed the Bible account of the Fall of Adam. The text went something like this: “In this day and age, of course, we no longer believe in talking serpents and angels with flaming swords standing guard in the Garden of Eden. ” The Genesis 3 record was demolished by some unbelieving SU editor. How sad!
From then I stopped using all SU materials. In 1982, by the prompting of God’s Spirit, I took on the challenging task of writing our own Daily Bible Reading Guide Notes: “READ, PRAY, GROW” (RPG). From a humble and modest beginning, this publishing ministry has grown into a global outreach into forty countries with a circulation of 18, 000 copies.
Our writers and editors are fully committed to the inerrant, infallible, unchanging Word of God. We use exclusively the KJV Bible, to the total and permanent exclusion of the Modern English Versions. We are fully persuaded that only this translation faithfully conveys the Word of God to a sinful and needy humanity. We must please God rather than men.
Let RPG Notes help nourish your spiritual life
a) “RPG” for adults
b) “Junior RPG” for children
Dear reader, these notes are produced at great cost and effort, for the benefit of those who do not have a regular and structured method of Bible reading. If you have not been in the habit of reading God’s Word on a consistent daily basis, RPG will help you: IT IS WRITTEN SPECIALLY WITH YOUR NEEDS IN VIEW.
RPG NOTES are true and faithful to God’s Word and tailored just for YOU!
RPG IN CHINESE. For our Chinese-speaking readers, we strongly recommend RPG NOTES in Chinese.
RPG NOTES are available at Tabernacle Books, 201 Pandan Gardens, Singapore 609337, email: tabks@pacific. net. sg; fax: 65611861.
Psalm 119:11 , 18 , 97 , 105
Psalm 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
Psalm 119:18 Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.
Psalm 119:97 O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.
Psalm 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.