Even in these digital days of Bible apps, many treasure holding the Word of God in their hand. These keepsakes can range from your very first Bible or one handed down through the generations. Depending on age and use, however they can wear out. That’s where artisans step in to restore these personal treasures.

Like many of us, David Duncan recalls loved ones whose Bible served as their most prized possession.

“Growing up, my mom, always had her white King James Bible,” he told CBN News.

In it, she recorded generations of family births, marriages, and deaths.

“My whole life growing up, that was the Bible that I remembered my mom carrying, and my mom using,” David said, “And the Lord took her home, it’ll be 17 years this coming December.”

David especially enjoys seeing his own childhood scribbles in it.

“Being a good mom, I think she let me draw over her notes on one page,” he said.

When the cover fell off, David took it to Daniel Thrailkill at Logos Rebinding for restoring. Thrailkill told CBN News why he named his business “Logos.”

“‘Logos’ is in the book of John. ‘The word became flesh,” he explained, “‘Logos became flesh and made his dwelling among us.’ The thing that I’m rebinding is the word of the Lord, and of course, His word endures forever, so it’s something special to work on always.”

Daniel seeks to glorify God through his Bible rebinding.

“If your Bible’s falling apart, it can definitely be a tough thing,” he said.

Made the Old-Fashioned Way

As an artist, Daniel does almost everything by hand, starting with repairing the pages, then removing the outside.

“I actually cut out the Bible,” he said, “We call it the Bible ‘block’. So the pages itself is called a ‘block,’ and I cut that out of the old cover.”

He reinforces the spine, adds custom ribbons, then fashions the new cover. He is able to use exotic materials like ostrich and python.

“I’ve also used shark skin, and that’s a fun one to use. It’s very interesting,” Daniel laughed.

However, most customers prefer goatskin or cowhide.

So the goatskins I use are, some of my favorites are ones called Sokoto goatskin. It comes from Sokoto region of Africa,” he said, “And the cowhide I use, it’s called Badalassi Carlo, which is an Italian leather. It’s kind of got this waxy, almost marbled look to it that people really like.”

Daniel prefers super-soft lambskin for the inside cover.

He hand-chisels tiny holes around the perimeter of the cover. Customers choose the thread color that Daniel then hand-stitches around the border. Despite the beauty of the finished product, Daniel says the last thing he wants is for his Bibles to sit on the shelf. So, he tells his customers the best way to show their appreciation is by reading it as often as possible.

“I definitely tell people, ‘Don’t abuse it, but use it,'” he said, “‘Don’t just let it sit.'”

The only modern piece of equipment Daniel uses is an electrically heated stamp machines to emboss words like, “Holy Bible” on the cover, or names, scriptures such as “The Lord Is My Shepherd” and designs like the Alpha and Omega.

“It can definitely be a meaningful thing for the right people,” he said.

In addition to his mother’s white, King James Bible, David also cherishes other family Bibles, such as his late grandfather’s old preaching Bible.

“I think there’s maybe 15 or 16 sermons that have been typed on Bible paper and inserted into the inner liner of the Bible in such a way that when you close the Bible you can’t tell there’s extra pages in there,” he said.

Sometimes customers ask Daniel to restore their own, personal Bibles that have special meaning, such as the ones used when the person first came to Christ or one that helped them endure hard times.

Making New Keepsakes

While Daniel rebinds lots of old Bibles almost half of his business involves rebinding new ones that were just purchased, for people who want to create new, personalized, family heirlooms, something David is taking advantage of for future generations.

“The Lord has been so kind. All of our children are believers,” he said, “So when certain blocks come out that I know this is a block I want to have, I want to use, I want to mark it up, and they can go back and see what was going on in dad’s life, in the life of our family where he was taking solace in the scripture.”

With Bible rebinding surging in popularity nationwide, Daniel has a long waiting list.

Meanwhile, more people are also choosing electronic versions of the Bible, like the CBN Bible App. It’s a convenient way to always have the word of God right at your fingertips.

Research shows Americans under age 60 report using digital Bibles nearly half of the time.

And while all Bible reading can improve our spiritual health, research shows comprehension is six to eight times better with physical books compared to digital.

So while some might gravitate toward the convenience of reading scripture on a phone, others find nothing can replace that keepsake of paper, ink, and leather, which in many cases only increases in value.
Sources:faithwire

http://theendtimeradio.com

Televangelist and Kingdom of Jesus Christ leader Apollo Quiboloy, who surrendered to authorities Sunday after a contentious two-week standoff with police in the Philippines, has pleaded not guilty to human trafficking and the sexual abuse of children as more alleged victims have come forward.

After his arraignment in Manila on Friday, the 74-year-old Quiboloy, who calls himself the “anointed son of God,” had a simple message for his loyal followers, “Stay strong, stay strong,” he told reporters, according to Reuters.

“He is innocent,” Quiboloy’s lawyer, Israelito Torreon, also told reporters.

Joahna Paula Domingo, a lawyer of one of the alleged victims, insisted in a statement that the truth about Quiboloy and four others charged alongside him will be revealed.

“It is our firm belief that the truth regarding the alleged criminal acts of Apollo C. Quiboloy and his co-accused will ultimately be disclosed,” Domingo said in a statement.

Colonel Jean Fajardo, a spokesperson for the Philippine National Police, told reporters Wednesday that several alleged victims of the megachurch pastor, which include minors, came forward with allegations while they were trying to arrest him at the Kingdom of Jesus Christ compound in Davao City.

“During the police operation at the KOJC compound, there were various individuals who approached the PNP, saying they were also victimized by Pastor Quiboloy,” Fajardo said.

PNP chief Gen. Rommel Marbil also praised the alleged victims for their bravery in telling their stories.

“These courageous victims have spoken up, revealing their harrowing experiences. The abuse they endured shows an alarming pattern of manipulation and exploitation. These so-called ‘inner circle pastorals’ were particularly vulnerable, with victims as young as 12 years old,” Marbil said.

In addition to his charges in the Philippines, an indictment from the U.S. Department of Justice in 2021 charged Quiboloy and two of his top administrators with trafficking young women and girls in the U.S. who were coerced into having sex with him under threats of “eternal damnation.” The controversial megachurch pastor allegedly claimed that sex with him was a “privilege” and “God’s will.”

Quiboloy is a longtime friend of former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte. He claims to have 4 million tithing followers in the Philippines, 2 million more overseas and reaches 600 million viewers worldwide through his TV station.

In a 2010 interview with ABC News, Quiboloy said every member of his kingdom shared his wealth and is welcome to stay at his mansion. He further noted that God revealed to him in 1983 that he should own a jet and argued that everyone should accept what they get from God in life, even if it is poverty.

“If it is not God’s will for me to have these things I have, you can take it away,” he said. “It is God’s will that we follow. … If he wanted me to live like a rat, if he wanted me to live in wealth or in poverty, it does not matter to me. Put me there, and I’ll be happy as long as it’s God’s will.”
Sources:Christian Post

http://theendtimeradio.com

Texas-based Pastor Ed Young believes those who think megachurches are “just too big” are hypocrites.

The founder and senior pastor of the multi-site Fellowship Church in Grapevine issued the bold statement in a video shared to his Facebook page. Young’s church, for context, reported a weekly attendance of 24,000 in 2020. The preacher noted in his video many have told him his congregation “is just too big,” but asserted it’s unfair to criticize the sizes of churches in places with large populations.

“‘Your church is just too big,’” Young said, quoting what he’s heard from critics of Fellowship Church. “I’ve heard people tell me that a lot: ‘It’s too big. It’s a megachurch.’ Well, that’s got to be one of the most hypocritical statements someone can make, because the person making the statement goes to massive concerts. They would go to a game — a football game. They would go to a massive mall, and they never really say that about those entities.”

According to the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, a megachurch is a church averaging 2,000 or more weekly attenders. There were roughly 1,170 megachurches in the U.S. in 2023, a decrease from the 1,750 megachurches reported by the Hartford Institute in 2020.

Young went on to boldly assert, “Hey, if you think the church is too big, then you’re not going to like Heaven, because Heaven is going to be a big place. If a church is around a lot of people, it should be big in the context of being big.”

In 2020, a Lifeway Research study found the average church in the U.S. seats roughly 200 people, but the median weekly attendance is 65 worshipers. Megachurches, it should be noted, only make up about 0.5% of churches across the country, serving about four million weekly congregants.

Young’s comments come as a handful of megachurch leaders have in recent months faced intense scrutiny for immoral and concerning behavior.

Most recently, Robert Morris, the disgraced founder and pastor of Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, was ousted from his prominent, longtime role in the spotlight after the now-adult Cindy Clemishire accused Morris of molesting her in the 1980s, when she was 12 years old.

“Like most believers, you don’t want to do anything that’s going to tarnish the name of God,” Clemishire told CBN News this summer of why she took so long to speak out about Morris’ alleged misconduct. “You don’t want to tarnish the church, you don’t want to hurt other believers, you don’t want to, you know, cause another person to not come to Jesus.”

Her goal, she stated at the time, is to keep Morris from continuing to advance in church leadership

Morris, when he resigned from Gateway as a result of the allegations, described engaging in “inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady” in a home he stayed in during his 20s. He further stated it “was kissing and petting and not intercourse, but it was wrong.” Clemishire, for her part, took issue with the ex-pastor’s characterization of her as “a young lady,” given she was a prepubescent child at the time of the purported wrongdoing.
Sources:faithwire

http://theendtimeradio.com