Reading from Saturday, April 3

This is why I was late posting stuff from this weekend. These are shots from Tim Bennett's Bachelor Party. It. Was. Awesome. That top shot is me eating a burrito. The other two are from the dance studio we went to to learn a hip-hop dance. That's right. Dancing. As you can see from the last picture, we're all very good. Alright, time to catch up...

Reading for April 3
Deuteronomy 23:1-25:19
The majority of this section is actually titled "Miscellaneous Laws"  - which is what they are, but they also so God's loving side. He commands his people to do things such as:

• Be kind to slaves and the poor
• Don't charge interest to your brother
• Caring for aliens (Non-Jews, not space aliens, that type of alien is covered in the book of Kodos)

It's nice to see the loving side of God after about 5 chapters worth of the vengeful God. However, the thing that really jumps out to me in this whole section is this line:

 ¹² Designate a place outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourself. ¹³ As part of your equipment have something to dig with, and when you relieve yourself, dig a hole and cover up your excrement. ¹⁴ For the LORD your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, so that he will not see among you anything indecent and turn away from you.

And, no! Not just because God is talking about poo (tee hee). But, think about this in the context of Adam and Eve. God created humans in this paradise where they could co-exist with God happily, and completely in the nude. I also imagine that Adam and Eve would have had to take the occasional dump, apples are high in fiber...OK enough poo jokes...

My point here is that God now finds natural bodily functions "indecent". So much so that the Israelites had to leave their camp and dig a hole and bury their crap so God wouldn't see it. I mean, it's a good practice, don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to be stepping in someones poo, but its just the way its worded here. God created man, and by extension, the digestive tract, and by even further extension, poo. God created poo. That's right. God created poo. And he now finds it indecent. That's a shame, I love poo.

I'm glad I'm mature enough to deal with this subject in an adult fashion.


Luke 10:13-37
In the previous reading, Jesus gathered seventy two people and gave them power to drive out demons. Basically he was delegating some responsibility to others to help him in his mission, I think. Or he was empowering others to stand firm for God. Maybe that one sounds better...Anyway, here's the thing I thought was cool about this group of 72.

¹⁷The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name."

[...Jesus replied] ²⁰However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

I take this to mean, don't be happy with what you can do on earth, but that the result of those good works through faith is eternal life. Word.

Psalm 75:1-10
It's interesting that the previous psalm was so full of what appeared to be doubt surrounding God's presence and plan, and yet, this guy Asaph is so firm in his belief of not only God's existence, but his mighty power:

¹ We give thanks to you, O God,
       we give thanks, for your Name is near;
       men tell of your wonderful deeds.

 ² You say, "I choose the appointed time;
       it is I who judge uprightly.

Who is this Asaph guy anyway?

Hmm...no one seems to know. And when I say, "no one" I mean "Wikipedia"

Proverbs 12:12-14
 ¹² The wicked desire the plunder of evil men,
       but the root of the righteous flourishes.
 ¹³ An evil man is trapped by his sinful talk,
       but a righteous man escapes trouble.
 ¹⁴ From the fruit of his lips a man is filled with good things
       as surely as the work of his hands rewards him.

OK bedtime. Sleep. Go. Love. Sleep. Buh.