A Tribute to a Tailor of Scripture

God, bless the memory of a man
whose aim was that we'd understand
the book King James had authorized
that we find hard to read.

Ken didn't use a spool of thread.
His stock in trade was words instead.
He tailored Scripture for our times
with phrases that made sense.

His Living Bible fit our day.
With seamless grace, he found a way
to bring God's timeless truth to bear
upon a changing world.

But publishers would not accept
a paraphrase they thought suspect.
And that is when Ken said, "O.K.
I'll do it on my own."

And so he did and so he thrived
because Ken's Bible seemed alive.
It wasn't stiff and cold at all.
That's how Tyndale was born.

His growing House became a home
where editors would tweak and hone
the manuscripts that writers wrote
that soon turned into books.

Those books gave voice to one who strained
to speak a word or say his name.
In whispered words Ken spoke his mind
to colleagues and to kin.

And now that raspy voice is gone.
But what he birthed will long live on.
The living book Ken left behind
cannot be overlooked.

Copyright 2005 by Rev. Greg Asimakoupoulos.
All rights reserved.

See also The Writings of Greg Asimakoupoulos.