Verse by verse
The most popular scriptures have been revealed after an internet survey of 37 million Bible references. The survey results rank every Bible verse by popularity and are published on the TopVerses.com Web site.
A new search was created from the rankings to find Bible verses more quickly.
Instead of starting from Genesis, the ranked search shows popular verses first. Eighty-seven of the top 100 verses are in the New Testament, and these can now be found without looking through the Old Testament first.
Top Verses ran the survey in August by counting how often every Bible verse is referenced in Web pages across the internet. The 31,101 verses were ranked by the results. As well as listing top verses overall, the site uses the results to rank Bible books and chapters.
The most popular verse was John 3:16, with over twice the score of its nearest rival, John 1:1. Although John was the most popular Gospel, it was only sixth overall, with Ephesians taking first place. Shorter books scored better, and Malachi was the first Old Testament book at 19th, with 5 verses in the top 1,000.
The benefit of a ranked search is demonstrated by typing “world” to find John 3:16.
Starting from Genesis, 96 verses match before John 3:16. Simply ranking the results places John 3:16 first, and saves 9 pages of wrong hits.
The man behind the not-for-profit site, Peter B. Chapman, spoke of the impact it is having
having on the Internet community.
“Putting the most popular verses first makes the Bible much more accessible. All sorts of people are visiting the site and seeing the Bible in a new way. I love finding old favorites in Psalms. You can see the top 10 Proverbs by simply clicking on Proverbs.”
Top Verses can be visited at www.topverses.com .
Background
The Top Verses website (www.topverses.com) was launched in October 2007 as a
not-for-profit service to make the more Bible accessible. Over 37m Bible references
were analysed to determine the verse rankings. These are published on the website
and used in a ranked search which finds the most popular verses first. Top Verses is
funded by private donations and the sale of Bible based resources.
The website was founded by Peter B. Chapman to make scripture more accessible to
a media-aware generation. Mr. Chapman earned his B.Bus. from the University of
Technology at Sydney and M.Sc. from Edinburgh University. He has worked
internationally in the IT industry for over a decade and is actively involved in the
local church.
Results
Top 10 Verses
Verses are taken from the NIV
1. John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only
Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
eternal life.
2. John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
3. John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No
one comes to the Father except through me”.
4. Matthew 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit.
5. Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
6. Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and
this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.
7. Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
8. Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on
you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all
Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
9. 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching,
rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.
10. Romans 10:9 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and
believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you
will be saved.
Top 10 Books
_ Ephesians
_ James
_ Titus
_ 1 John
_ 2 Peter
_ John
_ Philippians
_ Colossians
_ Romans
_ 1 Peter
Top 10 Chapters
_ 2 Peter 1
_ Psalm 1
_ John 2
_ James 4
_ Romans 12
_ Isaiah 53
_ John 3
_ Romans 1
_ James 1
_ Acts 1
Contact:
Claire Chapman , Marketing Manager , TopVerses.com , +61 2 9016 4142 ,
Power switch
The Rev. Wayne Childers always expects a larger than usual crowd at South Lindsay Baptist Church on the Sunday before Christmas.
This year he’s expecting the holiday service to draw more people, but for the last few days he had been afraid folks would flock to the church at 3300 S Lindsay — only to find noone there.
The reason behind his anxiety?: Church leaders decided this afternoon to hold Sunday’s services at Wheeler Elementary School, 501 SE 25, instead of the South Lindsay church building.
The building had been without electricity since Dec. 10 because of the ice storm. He said electric company representatives had told him the power would be restored Dec. 19 or 20, but he began to fret when that didn’t happen.
Electric company crews restored power to the building at about 3 p.m. today (Dec. 21) , a few hours after Childers said he and other church leaders made the decision to move services to the school.
But another few hours after the change had been made, there was another switch (pun intended).
Childers said the decision was made to switch the services back to the church late this evening.
So it looks like the South Lindsay Baptist sanctuary will likely be filled with people come Sunday just as the pastor had envisioned.
“It’s Christmas Sunday — one of the biggest Sundays of the year,” he said.
Envy … lack of contentment
Editor’s Note: This is the third in a seven-part series, “Seven for the Season,” focusing on the Seven Deadly Sins.
Envy, according to www.deadlysins.com is the desire for others’ traits, status, abilities or situation.
Merriam Webster Dictionary says it is the painful or resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another joined with a desire to possess the same advantage.
The three major religions basically agree that where there is envy, there is lack of contentment.
Christianity, for instance, explains the sin of envy in the Gospel, ”Take heed, and beware of all covetousness; for a man’s life does not consist of his possessions (Luke 12:15).”
Envy — covetousness — is also addressed in the 10 Commandments.
According to Beliefnet.com’s Seven Deadly Sins series, Islam also has strong words to say about envy. According to the site, the Quran warns against envy, encouraging believers to be satisfied with their lot: “And do not covet what we bestowed upon any other people. Such are temporary ornaments of this life, whereby we put them to the test. What your Lord provides for you is far better, and everlasting.
According to the site, Jewish texts explain that envy is not just wanting what one doesn’t have. It includes these qualities: longing for another’s possessions, discontent with one’s possessions because one prefers those of another, and the appropriation of the property of another.
It gives us something to think about this holiday season. When money is tight or circumstances are not ideal (ill health, job loss), will you look at your neighbors lot with envy in your heart or will you be content where you are?
