Reading from Sunday, August 8

Hello friends. How are things? Great - me too.

Reading for August 8
Ezra 7:1-8:20
This is a fairly uneventful reading. It turns out the book of Ezra is named for something - a dude named Ezra. He is a prophet of God who comes to Jerusalem from Babylon to teach the Law of Moses to the people. Artaxerxes, the king who ruled over the Jews is a big fan of Ezra. He writes a letter to the Jews saying that they are all to listen to and obey Ezra in whatever he asks of them.

This is also, I think, the first time a monarchy government has mandated Judaism. Artaxerxes says this in his letter:

²⁶ Whoever does not obey the law of your God and the law of the king must surely be punished by death, banishment, confiscation of property, or imprisonment.

This is another key difference between the Old and New Testament teachings. In the OT, God's punishment was often carried out by man - or at least what man wanted to believe was God's punishment in some cases; in the NT Paul specifically condemns us taking revenge on each other, saying that is the job of the LORD. But in this case of the Israelites, they could be put to death for not following God's law.

I'm trying to come up with a Better Than Ezra joke, but I couldn't...who's got one for me?

1 Corinthians 4:1-21
Paul often preaches about the idea of not concerning yourself with praise from man, but to be fully concerned with the praise from God. He restates that idea here in these two eloquent verses:

³I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. ⁴My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.

I like the idea of my conscience being clear, but still being guilty. It's being fully aware of the forgiveness and grace available to us through Jesus which will clear our conscience, but our sin that makes us guilty. Then again, I don't know if that's such a good thing to have a clear conscience. I mean if you have done something awful, its that stewing-in-you-guilt marinade that keeps you from doing it again - at least that's how it works for me...I don't know...what are your thoughts?

Psalm 30:1-12
Hope.

⁵ For his anger lasts only a moment,
       but his favor lasts a lifetime;
       weeping may remain for a night,
       but rejoicing comes in the morning.

This is so hopeful. Especially for those going through some tough situations, it provides a promise that better times are coming.

Proverbs 20:28-30
 ²⁸ Love and faithfulness keep a king safe;
       through love his throne is made secure.
 ²⁹ The glory of young men is their strength,
       gray hair the splendor of the old.
 ³⁰ Blows and wounds cleanse away evil,
       and beatings purge the inmost being.

And, goodnight.

Reading from Saturday, August 7

Reading for August 7
Ezra 4:24-6:22
The temple is finally reconstructed. The way it's written here, it seems like it will stay up for a while. The Israelites have been humbled and are getting the full cooperation of their government and surrounding nations to work on this structure for their God. Not only are the surrounding nations cooperating, but they are under strict order to help them - and if they don't

a beam is to be pulled from [their] house and [they are] to be lifted up and impaled on it. And for this crime [their] house is to be made a pile of rubble.

 They're not messin around. You help them or pay the price. FO REAL!

Once the Temple is finally up, the Jews celebrate with a week-long Passover, which must have been awesome. Just like the last time they rebuilt the temple. Regardless, it seems as though this period is a time when there is peace between God and the people. No one has dropped dead in like 2 chapters.

1 Corinthians 3:5-23
Paul references Apollos here, and in a few other places. Apollos was apparently another teacher of Christianity, similar to Paul. They had different preaching styles and this caused the believers to segment themselves into "Paulists" and "Apolloists" (I just made up both of those words). As he's preached on before, Paul warns against breaking into different groups. He says

 ⁵What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. ⁶I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.

It's like saying that you are a George Washington Bridgeist because you like that way into the city, while someone else is a Lincoln Tunnelist because they like that way. But in the end, you're both going to Madison Square Garden to watch the Devils/Ranges game.

I also love this line:

¹⁸Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise.

There's a modern phrase that is similar to this - something like, "True wisdom comes from the knowledge that you know nothing." Something like that. Because of the vastness and greatness of God's character, no one can ever even come close to understanding Him. And if anyone claims that they do, they are fools. I have claimed to know God's will many times, only to be humbled by a slap in the face.

Finally, Paul talks about how we are all God's temple. The Temple of God in the Old Testament was where it was thought that God's spirit resided on earth. There was an inner room where no one could enter, except for the highest priest once a year. Now, that spirit that was so exclusive as to only see one man, once a year, is now living within all of us. There is no separation between God and man, they are one.

That is pretty incredible.

Psalm 29:1-11

³ The voice of the LORD is over the waters;
       the God of glory thunders,
       the LORD thunders over the mighty waters.
 ⁴ The voice of the LORD is powerful;
       the voice of the LORD is majestic.
 ⁵ The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;
       the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.

It's cool to conceptualize what God's voice actually sounds like. It's one of those "tree falling in the woods" exercises that makes the mind twist into itself trying to rationalize the problem. 

Proverbs 20:26-27
 ²⁶ A wise king winnows out the wicked;
       he drives the threshing wheel over them.
 ²⁷ The lamp of the LORD searches the spirit of a man ^[a] ;
       it searches out his inmost being.

Boom.

Reading from Friday, August 6

Hey dudes. I'm very excited about today. My grandparents and aunt and uncle are in town, staying with my parents and Jilly and I are going down to see them. I haven't seen any of them since our wedding nearly three years ago. I'm also borrowing the Canon 5D Mark 2 from work, so hopefully I can get some killer family photos.

Reading for August 6
Ezra 3:1-4:23
The plans to rebuild the temple began to turn into action. And with the rebuilding of the temple, also came the hope of a reborn Jerusalem and by extension, a reborn Israel. Things were looking up for our heroes, but not for long. Surrounding nations, which under the guise of helping them rebuild, were attempting to sabotage the whole operation. The current king of the region was a dude named Artaxerxes (Art-a-zerk-sees), so these enemies of Israel sent a letter to him saying that if Jerusalem is rebuilt, they will seal themselves off and avoid paying taxes to the kingdom of Persia. I think Persia was like Rome at this time. An empire that spanned many countries and peoples, so Artaxerxes who was king of Persia, was also king of the people of the new Jerusalem.

Art did some research on the Jews and found that they were a rebellious people who had a long history of rising up against kings and an even longer history of violence. This, coupled with the idea that he would lose a whole city's worth of taxpayers, compelled Artaxerxes to force the rebuilding of the temple to stop.

1 Corinthians 2:6-3:4
Paul addresses one of the most profound mysteries of Christianity: the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is something I have heard about for years, but never truly understood. I've heard people say, "the spirit is moving" and "God send your Holy Spirit" but what is it? Is it Jesus' ghost? Is it a divine adult beverage (get it? spirit?)

I know that the spirit is part of the Holy Trinity - Father, Son, Holy Ghost - which makes it equal with God and Jesus. But if Jesus is something we can wrap our head around, God is something we can think about conceptually, but never fully grasp, the Holy Spirit is even further from comprehension in my mind.

Here is what Paul says about it though:

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. ¹¹For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. [...] ¹⁴The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

So in verses 10 and 11, Paul is sort of comparing the spirit to the conscience of God. Just like our innermost feelings which give us vibes about stuff, or tell us the inherent difference between right and wrong - in the same way the Holy Spirit is like God's conscience.

But it is also something else. It is something that God sends to his followers to discern his will. So in a way, the Holy Spirit is like God's conscience within us. It isn't always in us - exhibit A: the modern world - but we must ask for it. Maybe it's like a bridge to God's presence. Like, while we're on earth, there is no way to really understand God, but the Holy Spirit acts as an intermediary to connect us to our creator.

"Wow, I just learned more about the Holy Spirit in five minutes than I have in my whole life. Thanks, Corinthians!"

Corinthians is only 19.95 and is available only during this limited time television offer. Act now and receive crazy wando plondo glow markers free! Just pay separate shipping and handling. Call now!

Psalm 28:1-9
Since I'm always posting the nice parts of Psalms, I thought I'd balance it out with some of the scary stuff:

⁴ Repay them for their deeds
       and for their evil work;
       repay them for what their hands have done
       and bring back upon them what they deserve.
 ⁵ Since they show no regard for the works of the LORD
       and what his hands have done,
       he will tear them down
       and never build them up again.

Hey, I don't like it either - but it's in here and I have to deal with it...

Proverbs 20:24-25
 ²⁴ A man's steps are directed by the LORD.
       How then can anyone understand his own way?
 ²⁵ It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly
       and only later to consider his vows.

Verse 24 is really interesting. It speaks to the idea of fate and predestination, which brings up the question of free will. Ignoring all that, I would imagine that is a peaceful thing to read for someone who's life is turned upside down.

 

Reading from Thursday, August 5

Good evening. Good evening to you all. I trust you're well.

Reading for August 5
Ezra 1:1-2:70
Nooo!! It looks like Ezra is a continuation of Chronicles. In fact, it picks up right where 2 Chronicles ends. So the King of Persia opens an invitation to any Israelites/Jews who want to participate in the rebuilding of the temple. Many people come to help build, even the neighboring nations pitched in.

The rest of this reading is a list of names and numbers. I thought we were done with all this...

1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5
Paul brings up this idea of God's weaknesses. First off, admitting - in an indirect way - that God can sometimes be imperfect, is a pretty bold thing to do. But look what he says:

²⁵For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.

Which means that all the times I thought I knew better when reading the Bible, and getting angry with God for the decisions he made were completely off. His mistakes are greater than the highest, greatest achievement I could hope for.

Paul then begins talking about we who were called to follow Christ. We the meek and mild:

 ²⁶Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. ²⁷But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, ²⁹so that no one may boast before him.

God's desire is for all of us to be equal before him - or at least see ourselves as equals with each other. And if his disciples are humble, honest people, the message they're sharing is going to be as pure as it can be. 

Psalm 27:7-14
I'm blessed with great parents, but maybe someone else could use this encouragement now:

¹⁰ Though my father and mother forsake me,
       the LORD will receive me.

Proverbs 20:22-23
 ²² Do not say, "I'll pay you back for this wrong!"
       Wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you.
 ²³ The LORD detests differing weights,
       and dishonest scales do not please him.

Pretty straightforward stuff there, Sol. 

OK, off to beat Halo...

Reading from Wednesday, August 4

Hey kids. What's goin on?

Reading for August 4
2 Chronicles 35:1-36:23
Ah, sweet release. The last chapter of 2 Chronicles.

At first it looked like Chronicles would be ending on a good note. Josiah had arranged the Passover to be celebrated with both Judah and Israel, and it says that this was the first time Passover had been celebrated since the time of Samuel. Remember him? The last judge before king Saul? That's like hundreds of years. So through this it seemed like Chronicles would be bookended with a bad king at the front - Saul - and a good king at the end - Josiah. However, there is one more chapter. Three additional kinds rule Judah before the book ends and each was more wicked than the last.

God sent messengers to the people of both nations to try to win them back. He had pity and compassion on them because they had fallen away from God. In reading this, it seems to me that God's tolerance for mankind's wickedness had gotten stronger over time. Anyway, the people rejected these messengers and God finally snapped and gave them over to the king of the Babylonians - who killed everyone ever. Then his army laid waste to the temple of God. How many times has that thing been destroyed and rebuilt at this point? 3 or 4 at least...

But then a prophetic message comes to the king of Persia, and he tasks himself with rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem. Strange, but I suppose there is hope in that after all...

1 Corinthians 1:1-17
Yay - new book!

This opens very much the same way that Romans did with greetings and prayers of thanksgiving for the people to whom he is writing. His first topic is one that was also covered in Romans, but is addressed in a slightly different way. The topic is subdivisions of Christianity, and how we should be making efforts not to divide ourselves, but to unite together.

One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas"; still another, "I follow Christ."  ¹³Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?

I think this can be applied to the modern church, or should I say churches.  There are so many little subdivisions of Christianity - Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, Evangelical, Episcopalian, Pentecostal, Non-denominational - and that's just a few off the top of my head. Each of those have their own subdivisions. And the things that split the groups are usually very minor. Granted there are some major differences between the Catholic and Protestant church, but it's the same guy hanging on a cross for the same reason - because we suck. I think that the reasons that divided the denominations are no longer as hot-button as they were when the decision to split was made, but I think as "church" (meaning the overall body of Christ) we need to unite and be strong in one faith. We can each worship in our own way and that is fine, but to condemn each other for doing things a little differently is completely counter productive.

You stupid idiots.



That was a joke.  

Psalm 27:1-6
This is pretty awesome:

¹ The LORD is my light and my salvation—
       whom shall I fear?
       The LORD is the stronghold of my life—
       of whom shall I be afraid?
 ² When evil men advance against me
       to devour my flesh, ^[a]
       when my enemies and my foes attack me,
       they will stumble and fall.
 ³ Though an army besiege me,
       my heart will not fear;
       though war break out against me,
       even then will I be confident.

Even when people are trying to eat him, David is confident in the strength of his maker. That is the kind of confidence I want.

Proverbs 20:20-21
 ²⁰ If a man curses his father or mother,
       his lamp will be snuffed out in pitch darkness.
 ²¹ An inheritance quickly gained at the beginning
       will not be blessed at the end.

Alright, yo. Be excellent to each other. 



 

1500 Hits! Woo!

I am very excited to announce that the Bible Adventure got it's 1500'th hit this evening.

The lucky customer is my friend Rebekah from Tom's River! Congratulations, Rebekah! Your prize is a future blog post about some of my fondest memories of our time working together, which will be coming shortly. (Let me know if you'd prefer me to not do that)

Thanks to everyone who reads this dumb thing. While this whole project is really about my own journey and exploration of my own faith, It's really encouraging to know that the time I spend on it isn't being ignored.

Thanks again guys. Really, it's awesome.

Reading from Tuesday, August 3

Ding dong man. Ding dong. Ding dong yo.

Reading for August 3
2 Chronicles 33:14-34:33
Three more kings are discussed in this reading. Two of them continue in the tradition of the wicked kings before them but the third continues in the tradition of David. His name is Josiah and he decides to worship God as his fathers had done. Then, when he sends some of his servants to clean up the temple, they find the book of law that had been handed down to Moses.

Josiah reads the words and freaks the heck out because he realizes all of the awful things that his people had done in the past, and knew the punishment which was due to him and the rest of his people. Upon coming to this realization, he weeps and tears his clothes and prays earnestly to God for grace and mercy. God answers him though a prophet saying that he will indeed bring destruction to the land, but because of this Josiah's prayer and faith, God will cause these events to occur after the Jo has died.

King Jo then brought the book of law before an assembly of the entire nation, read the laws to them and had everyone commit to following it.

As I approach the end of perhaps the most boring book in the Bible, I am starting to find a message hidden throughout it. The kings and people of Judah went through cycles of being faithful and obedient and being rebellious and awful. In the same way, we as Christians will go through the same cycles. There are times of great faith and belief and then there are times when we are about as far away from God as we can get. Granted we may not be as schizophrenic as Judah, but I think the message we should take away from this flip-flopping is that we will experience it in the same way, and in the end, God will still be on our side and waiting for us. 

Romans 16:10-27
Paul closes his letter with a few more personal salutations and then goes out with a huge philosophical message of faith:

²⁵Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, ²⁶but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him— ²⁷to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.

In this statement, Paul has done two things:

1. Stated that the Bible is the direct word of God
2. Everyone on earth should have the same faith in Jesus that we do. 

I heard a story on NPR today about an indie movie that had just come out called "Holy War". It's a documentary where the filmmaker followed around an Evangelical Christian Missionary and a Muslim Priest who was heavily involved with in Jihad. The striking thing about the interview with the filmmaker was when he commented on how similar both men were, and how both men sought their religion to be administered to every man woman and child on this planet. How are either of us to accomplish that objective when you have people like that who are so strongly fighting for opposite causes.

A few other shocking things:

• In Muslim extremist countries, converting to Christianity is a crime punishable by death. For both the convertee and convertor. 
• The Christian missionary believed that 9/11 was an event sent by God so Christians could witness to Muslim countries. 
• The Muslim extremist saw 9/11 as a defensive measure for the thousands of Muslims America had killed in the past. 

And yet, when Paul talks about it converting the world, it comes off as so non-confrontational. More as a fact than an opinion - and not out of any desire to be right or to make others look foolish, but it appears to me that Paul wants everyone on Earth to believe in this faith because he believes in the deepest part of his body that it is good for them to do that. 

Romans (is unfortunately) complete.

Psalm 26:1-12
My, how things change:

 ² Test me, O LORD, and try me,
       examine my heart and my mind;
  ⁴ I do not sit with deceitful men,
       nor do I consort with hypocrites;
 ⁵ I abhor the assembly of evildoers
       and refuse to sit with the wicked.

That is David talking, but those three verses I pasted are things that stuck out because of their stark contrast to how Jesus did things.

Jesus did not put his God to the test (even though David is asking God to test him)
Jesus sat with sinners and hypocrites. He criticized them for it, but he loved them.
Jesus sat with the wicked. He had dinner with Judas who, only hours later would sell him out to the Roman guards for a small bag of money.

Again I am convinced that the Old Testament is only a tool for us to realize how different things are now, and how lucky we are to be living in a time after Jesus has died for us.

Proverbs 20:19
 ¹⁹ A gossip betrays a confidence;
       so avoid a man who talks too much.


Pretty simple advice. Pretty simple advice indeed.