The Struts release the second of two new singles this month‚ in the wake of How Can I Love You (Without Breaking Your Heart)

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Discouragement is a dangerous foe‚ but we have power through God’s Word and the Holy Spirit to loosen its hold on us. We can speak truth to our weary hearts‚ seeking Jesus as we trust him to respond. God Almighty loves us and has called us to a great purpose.

In an age of technological breakthroughs‚ artificial intelligence (AI) stands poised to assist in one of the most crucial tasks facing the church today: translating the Bible into the heart language of every people group on earth. Major Bible translation organizations have set aggressive goals to complete the task of making the Bible accessible to everyone without the barrier of learning another language‚ and AI could make that goal attainable in less time than we ever imagined. Approximately 3‚700 languages remain without Scripture‚ most of which present significant challenges to the translation task. Many have few‚ if any‚ printed resources available‚ making that job even more daunting. For these languages‚ AI is catalyzing change‚ accelerating the translation cycle‚ and even enhancing the product’s quality. Using machine learning‚ whole Bible translations can be completed faster than at any other time in history. Accelerated Translation Cycles Before I go any further‚ I need to explain the role of AI in Bible translation. There’s much misunderstanding and confusion around this issue. We’re not talking about dropping the Greek New Testament text into a tool like ChatGPT or Google Translate and expecting it to output a polished translation in any language. This isn’t possible even for resource-rich languages like English‚ much less for small and low-resource languages. Using machine learning‚ whole Bible translations can be completed faster than at any other time in history. If we aren’t talking about cut-and-paste translation‚ how does AI contribute? One way is by leveraging AI models‚ trained on portions of Scripture already manually translated by humans‚ to provide a first draft of a full translation. That draft can then be used by translators to complete a final translation. In other words‚ previously translated portions of Scripture are used by AI to generate drafts of other portions of Scripture that are then checked and developed by translation teams. Organizations like Avodah have pioneered this model by working with mother-tongue speakers to translate around 1‚200 verses and other resources. Each translation represents a different biblical genre‚ grammar‚ and vocabulary. These teams then train an AI model on these verses and resources to produce an entire Bible draft. This draft is checked by mother-tongue translators‚ refined‚ and tested in the community. A big strength of AI in Bible translation is that it’s not a static model being developed but a learning process where the model becomes more competent as work progresses. In traditional models‚ an average translation takes 23 years and costs over a million dollars‚ But Avodah’s model takes about four years to produce a completed Bible for roughly $500‚000. Avodah is currently using this model in a 10-language cohort‚ putting them on track to provide 10 new translations by 2027. Enhanced Quality Speed is only one area where AI is helping. Organizations like SIL International are at the forefront of developing AI tools for quality assessment in Bible translation. These tools help teams identify and address problems earlier in the process. They’re also being used by consultants to check the translations more thoroughly and consistently by assisting with identifying common translation challenges. SIL and other organizations have also developed AI tools that significantly speed up the process of drafting and improving translations of new Bible books once other portions are completed. Concerns about AI being turned loose to translate with little or no human interaction aren’t based on reality. AI works as a copilot. Sometimes it makes drafts and other times it facilitates the repetitive translation process or assists teams in identifying issues. As AI learns from the corrections given to it by humans‚ future iterations of AI-assisted translations continue to improve. Humans working under the Holy Spirit’s leadership remain indispensable at every stage. AI is simply a tool used for the creation of clear‚ accurate‚ natural‚ and acceptable translations. According to Shawn Ring‚ CEO of Avodah‚ Bible translation is “not about the technology; it’s about the human.” Future of AI and Bible Translation While this article has focused on AI’s role in advancing Bible translation‚ there’s an interesting plot twist about the effects of Bible translation on AI. Meta has taken on the lofty goal of developing text-to-speech AI tools in more than 4‚000 languages. Most of these languages have few‚ if any‚ resources that can be used for comparison to other languages. Concerns about AI being turned loose to translate with little or no human interaction aren’t based on reality. The one book often found in these languages is the Bible. Translation organizations have produced text and audio versions in over 1‚100 languages. Companies like Meta rely on these resources to train their large language models to facilitate text-to-speech models. In an odd turn of events‚ Bible translation is fueling AI solutions for many smaller languages. But what will be AI’s effect on Bible translation? It’ll result in more people having quicker access to the gospel in their heart languages. Most significantly‚ it’ll result in more people hearing‚ believing‚ and being saved (Rom. 10:14–15). As one leader working among unreached people groups shared with me‚ AI-assisted translations will contribute to unprecedented access to the gospel and the incredible expansion of Christianity in the next 10 years. “Whether most of the church understands this yet or not‚ AI-assisted Bible translations are a global priority.” They’re also an incredible global opportunity.

When my husband and I moved out of state for his new senior pastor role at a small rural church‚ our sending pastor prayed for our future suffering in ministry. At the time‚ I couldn’t understand why he’d pray about such a thing. What kind of suffering was he anticipating for us? Wasn’t church the safest place for a pastor and his wife? That was nearly 20 years ago‚ and if I could go back to my younger self‚ I’d tell her that little would bring her more sorrow than the local church. But I’d also say her suffering in ministry would absolutely be worth it. Friendly Fire Hurts the Most Ten years into our ministry‚ my husband and I were ready to throw in the towel. Pastoring was hard work‚ with emotional and spiritual burdens we couldn’t untangle from the other parts of our life. I struggled to make friends in our church because I wasn’t sure who I could trust. Members who had previously sworn allegiance left in droves. Criticisms about methodology almost always became personal character attacks‚ and if people were unhappy with my husband‚ I usually heard about it. Maybe the comments and complaints weren’t aimed at me‚ but they stung just the same. I was surprised by how deeply ministry life hurt. The church is a family‚ and the wounds inflicted by brothers and sisters cut deep. During those early years of church turmoil‚ a missionary on furlough stayed with us‚ and we shared some of our struggles with him. “Friendly fire always hurts the most‚” he told us. He’d endured deep persecution from people hostile to the gospel in the country where he’d served‚ and yet‚ he explained to us‚ nothing hurt as much as problems within his church and between other missionaries. As people united by the gospel and reconciled to both God and one another through Jesus‚ we’re supposed to not only get along but love one another with “brotherly affection” (Rom. 12:10). When we fight and stand against one another‚ that reconciliation threatens to unravel. The place we’re supposed to be safe and loved can become the place we most dread. Church became that place of dread for me‚ but I couldn’t walk away from the body of Christ because I knew Jesus loved her. Somehow‚ so must I. Jesus Loves His Church Throughout the New Testament‚ Jesus is called the Bridegroom‚ and we learn he’ll one day present the church as his pure and spotless Bride before the Father (Eph. 5:27). Paul used the marriage metaphor to help us see how important the church is to Jesus. He laid down his life to make her new and righteous. If Jesus is committed to the church‚ we should be too. I couldn’t walk away from the body of Christ because I knew Jesus loved her. Though we can damage relationships there by our sinfulness‚ the church is one of the primary means God has given to us for sanctification and perseverance in the faith. It’s not an optional activity (Heb. 10:25). It’s God’s gift to each of us who used to be far off but have been brought near by the blood of Christ. The church is a means of grace by which we’re sanctified‚ taught‚ disciplined‚ and encouraged. Paul wrote‚ “Warn those who are irresponsible‚ comfort the discouraged‚ help the weak‚ be patient with everyone” (1 Thess. 5:14‚ HCSB). The body of Christ offers protection for the wayward‚ comfort for the grieving‚ provision for the poor‚ and teaching for all. John repeatedly called believers to work out their obedience with love for one another‚ noting many times that this very love would distinguish them from the world (John 13:35; 1 John 4:20–21; 5:1). Love means exercising forgiveness and kindness to one another as Christ has done for us. It means presuming goodwill‚ leading with grace‚ and bearing up with those who are struggling. Obedience is the path forward when we struggle to love the church. Church Can Hurt—and Heal In God’s kindness‚ our church survived a decade of turmoil and began to heal from dissension. Around that time‚ I attended The Gospel Coalition’s women’s conference for the first time. I signed up for a breakout session on church hurt‚ and with tears in my eyes‚ I listened to Jackie Hill Perry say‚ “God can use the church to heal your church hurt.” Was it possible that healing could take place in the same church where I’d been hurt so deeply? I believed it was. I went home with renewed fervor to love the body that God called us to. As my church family grew closer and learned to trust one another again‚ I tentatively sought deeper friendships that I still hold tightly today. Was it possible that healing could take place in the same church where I’d been hurt so deeply? I believed it was. My husband and I will soon celebrate 19 years with our church family‚ and we’re living proof that God has good purposes for his people. He may call us to suffer in ministry‚ and he may have long lessons of faithful endurance to teach us—but I can assure you it’ll be worth it. The joys of loving my church family far outweigh the sorrows. We won’t always get it right‚ but we can hold fast to Christ’s promise to one day present us pure and spotless before the Father.

Ahh ... Florida

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