In the Mirror, Bible language becomes heart to heart whispers of grace.
My philosophy in doing the Mirror Bible is reflected in the following example:
I do not read music, but have often witnessed our son, Stefan, approach a new piece on the piano.
His eyes see so much more than mere marks scribbled on a page;
he hears the music.
His trained mind engages even the subtleties and the nuances of the original composition, and is able to repeat the authentic sound,
knowing that the destiny of the music would never be reduced to the page;
but is always in the next moment,
where the same intended beauty is heard, and repeated again!
The best translation would always be the incarnation!
I so value the enormity of the revelation of the incarnation.
Yet, before flesh, the Word was προς
face to face with God!
And fragile text
scribbled through the ages in memoirs of stone, parchment and papyrus pages
carrying eternity in thought
and continues to translate faith
to faith!
Now we have the same spirit of faith as he encountered when he wrote...
“I believe
and so I speak!”
Conversation ignites!
Did not our hearts burn within our being when He spoke familiar text of ancient times, in the voices of Moses and the prophets and David and Abraham,
who saw his day
and announced its dawn in our hearts!
The mystery that was hidden for ages and generations
is now revealed!
In dealing daily with ancient text,
rediscovering thoughts buried in time, I am often overwhelmed and awed at the magnificence of eternity captured in little time capsules,
opening vistas of beauty beyond our imagination -
face to face with the same face to faceness of the Logos
and God
and us - conceived in their dream!
And irresistibly intrigued by the invitation to come and drink -
to taste and see -
from the source -
and to hear a saint reminiscing and reminding himself of the utterance of another earth dweller-brother, David, who wrote a song 3000 years ago,
“Return to your rest oh my soul!
For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you!
I believe and so I speak!”
And with fresh wounds bleeding from the many angry blows he was dealt with, Paul echoes,
“We have the same spirit of faith as he had who wrote, ‘I believe and so I speak!’ We too believe and so we speak!”
Let’s celebrate the “sameness” of Jesus
yesterday - yes, as far as history and beyond time can go -
and today! This very finite, fragile moment -
plus the infinite future!
Inexhaustible, beyond boundaries and the confines of space and time!
Lydia and Francois met on the 25th of August 1974, while he was working with Youth For Christ. She was sixteen and he nineteen! The following year he studied Greek and Hebrew at the University of Pretoria for three years while Lydia completed her nursing training. In 1978 Francois also spent a year with Youth with a Mission. They married in January 1979 and are blessed with four amazing children, Renaldo, Tehilla, Christo and Stefan; also, two darling grandchildren, Nicola and Christiaan. They worked in a full-time mission for fourteen years, during which time they also pastored a church and led a training facility for more than 700 students over a five-year period. They then left the ministry and for ten years did business mainly in the tourism industry. They built and managed a Safari Lodge in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve and eventually relocated to Hermanus where they started Southern Right Charters boat-based whale watching. In December 2000 Francois began to write the book, God believes in You which led to him being invited to speak at various Christian camps and churches. Since February 2004, they travelled regularly abroad and into Africa as well as South Africa. Francois has written several books in both English and Afrikaans, including God Believes in You, Divine Embrace, The Logic of His Love and The Eagle Story; these are also available on Kindle. Also Kant En Klaar [Done!] In order to focus their time on writing and translation, they relocated from Hermanus in 2015 to a remote farm in the Swartberg Mountains. They have also stopped most of their travelling. Lydia already wrote 5 amazing children's stories of which one, Stella's Secret is already published in print and on Kindle. Francois continues to be passionately engaged in his translation of the Mirror Bible, which will eventually include the entire NT as well as select portions of the old. The 1st 200 page Edition was published in 2012. The most recent 8th edition Mirror Bible is now almost 800 pages of bliss! This will also be available in a special hardcover edition. Until the completion of the New Testament, future editions will only be added as separate books as well as a possible 3-Volume edition Mirror Bible. The current 8th edition will still be available as a one volume book. Some of his work is being translated into several African languages as well as Chinese, Russian, Hungarian, German, French, Polish, Portuguese, Dutch and Slovakian. The Mirror Bible is already up to date in Spanish, Shona and Xhosa and large portions in German. Thousands of people subscribe to their daily posts on Social Media; Lydia has her own fb page and Francois has 5 English pages on Facebook. You can get more detail about them on www.mirrorword.net.
