Volunteering; it doesn't pay.

I think that's Yao Ming on the left. Some really sorry dude on the right.

We're in the midst of some very unseasonable and wonderful weather! The middle of June should mean daytime highs well into the triple digits, but we're in a stretch of highs in the mid-90's. I can wait until mid-morning to go on my bike ride instead of getting out the door as early as possible. Just like bad weather of any sort becomes the topic of conversation, people here are talking about how great this is.

I went to the Christian bookstore this afternoon to buy a new Bible (NASB). Depressing!
I'm not sure "bookstore" is the best term anymore. "Christian Gift Store" would seem to fit better. I understand that most Americans don't read much these days, and certainly don't study unless they're enrolled in a class of some kind. But back in the day a pastor or mature believer could go into a Christian bookstore and find scholarly commentaries, original language Bibles, or at least a selection of Bible dictionaries, atlases and other reference tools. Virtually none of that here. No reference tools, and the only commentaries on the shelf at this national chain store were a set by John McArthur. There is nothing wrong with John McArthur! But one of the first rules of evaluating a commentary is that if a guy has written one for every book of the New Testament - never mind the whole Bible - his work cannot be described as scholarly. Think sermon-level stuff. Think "big name that will sell books and make a publisher money."
Heavy sigh.

I picked up an email from the guy in Texas who is sending me a carb. He shipped it UPS today and it should arrive Monday. So hopefully I'll have Gerta healthy and back on the road by Tuesday (our UPS guy comes late in the day). Oh please, oh please, oh please. PLEASE let it be the carb.

Back in the late 90's I wrote a modest paperback, "Understanding Your Bible - An Introduction to Dispensationalism." Written for the layperson, my goal was to do exactly what the title suggests, introduce the concept of dispensationalism (a big word that describes something really pretty straightforward) so Christians could read their Bible and understand what they read.

I don't make any money from the book. Never have. I pretty much gave away the publishing rights, first to the college where I was teaching at the time and then, when it was time for a second printing, to the Grace Gospel Fellowship, the quasi-denomination I belong to. A few years ago I gave permission to a church in Minneapolis to publish it so they could give it away to visitors. That church enlisted other churches s to join them and they had a few thousand printed. My deal has always been, "You can reprint this on two conditions: you don't change any of the text and you don't make any money on it."

But you'll note that I grant the rights to publish. I hold the copyright on the book. It says that on page three using the standard paragraph found at the beginning of almost all books, a paragraph approved by the copyright office of the U.S. govt.

A couple of weeks ago I got into one of those deals where I looked something up on Google (don't even remember what it was) and started following links. Before long I stumbled across a web site that had my book, from cover to cover, in PDF form. Including the "don't do that" wording from the copyright paragraph.
But wait! There's more!
I found my book on a second site, also cover to cover, also in PDF form.
What part of "it's illegal" don't they understand?
In both cases I tried to find the home page of the site, some way to get back to the "owner" so I could write them and say, "You're breaking the law and stealing from me. That's MY book." But I couldn't in either case. Maybe someone more tech-savvy than me could have, but I didn't have any success.
It's not like I'm losing money because they've posted it. I don't make any money from the book; never have and never will. I'm surprised God has seen fit to use it to help people understand their Bible and blessed by that. Don't need no coin from it. But it ticks me off!

OK, here's the real point. I've just started sending out the curriculum to the first people who have ordered it. In addition to some financial help from a couple of very gracious people, I fronted the funds to publish this. And it's very unlikely I'll recover my costs, never mind turn a profit. That's OK!! Again, my goal isn't profit. I want teens to learn their Bibles and I think this will help lead to that. Early indications are that it will also be used for adult Bible studies and by home schoolers.

The curriculum comes on two CD's. The Student's CD has their 25-chapter text. The Teacher's CD has that text, a teacher's guide for each session, and some general resources: an Excel grade sheet, PowerPoint presentations for each lesson, a class contract, exams, and some other stuff. Only the student text and the teacher's guide are copyrighted. All the rest of it is designed for them to modify so it suits their individual needs.

I made it very clear in several ways that those two documents - the student text and the teacher's guide - should not be copied in any way, or distributed. For example, each student should purchase their own Student CD at a whoppin' $12. Both CD's require that the user click "I Agree" to those copyright restrictions before they open those documents. And yes, I included that copyright paragraph. Up until a few nights ago I naively thought people, especially Christians, would respect those restrictions. I've given up on that now that I've seen my book online. Now the only question is, how long before someone prints out the student text and hands it out. Or will I see it on the internet first?
Whassup with Christians?

A carb on Monday and a MacBook Pro on Wednesday. Next week is going to be fun!