Recently, my family threw a baby shower for us. Last week we put together some of the items we received, such as the stroller and car seat. Yes, yes, pics of those will follow after while.
But putting those things together really made reality start to sink in for Tricia and I. I realized (selfishly, of course) that all these neat toys I was building weren’t mine. So I decided to look for a project I could do to make myself feel better. 
What I came across was Tony Reinke’s “blank” Bible.
This is exactly what I needed. I have long wanted a note-taking Bible but didn’t really like the options available. Wide-margin Bibles have been hard to find for some reason, especially in the translations I want. The ESV Journaling Bible is nice, but still not really want I want. Then after getting a link from Justin Taylor about another thing, I browsed Tony’s site and found his blank Bible project. I was immediately sold. And for that I blogrolled the guy.
What is a “blank” Bible? A blank Bible is simply a Bible that has blank pages in it for note-taking. For example, you’ll have a page of text, a blank page, another page of text, then another blank page, and so on. The pictures on Tony’s site will make clear what I mean. Just imagine! To be able to keep all of your sermon and personal study notes right next to the text of the Bible! The possibilities for personal spiritual maturity and insight are endless when that happens.
How do you make a “blank” Bible? Well, first you need to select a Bible. I will be using the ESV Wide-Margin Reference Bible, hardcover to build this book. To actually put it together, Tony has divided the entire process into 8 steps: cut, rip, clamp, saw, slice, stuff, punch and bind. Yes, I am actually going to cut up and do various painful and otherwise blasphemous things to this Bible. In the step marked “stuff,” I will actually put the blank pages into the Bible itself. Then it will be spiral bound into 3 volumes for ease of use.
I fully intend to make this blank Bible my personal study Bible. The advantage of a blank Bible, besides having your notes right there next to the text, is that you can add pages for more notes if needed. So you could imaginably have a page for expository notes, a page for study/sermon notes, a page for illustrations, a page for questions, or even (in my case) a page for application to the Deaf (or your ministry focus). I salivate to think of how much more rich my sermons and personal study could become.
A quote from Tony about the blank Bible:
“It is awesome to know that God, through His Spirit, can fill every blank page through humble meditation as the “living and active” Word of God comes alive. Each blank page represents our anticipation that God will open up His Word to reveal more of the width and height and depth and length of God’s love in the Cross!”
If you’re interested in making your own, Tony’s series on the blank Bible can be found here.
October 31, 2007 at 12:02 am
What a great idea! I never thought of that. I have like 3 journals full of notes and things that Ive jotted down from all my years of ministry. I may end up doing this as well. But I aint got no table saw though. smile! Thanks for passing the idea on!
October 31, 2007 at 5:22 am
Heh! Tony says, incidentally, that you can take it to a printer and have them cut it rather than use a table saw. That’s what I’m planning to do. I won’t go to Kinko’s but go to one of the “professional” printers like Minuteman Press or someone like that.
October 31, 2007 at 11:59 am
would a chainsaw work? smile
October 31, 2007 at 12:23 pm
Do you want a wedding invitation? If so I need your address…
November 7, 2007 at 6:24 am
[...] November 7th, 2007 — Stephen Newell I recently told you I was going to make my very own “blank” Bible. I got started Monday. It was both a failure and a success. I’ll be elaborating on both in [...]