We continue to make tweaks to the Read the Bible series of posts. By the time we finish Genesis, I hope we have the design elements of the posts, the quality of the audio – maybe find a good place to record – everything just right. We started Happy Monday in 2012 and that took a little while to find itself. Here is the latest post, Genesis 28, and I think we’ve just about got it. If anyone comes along later and starts at Genesis 1, that will be a fun trip.
Continue readingAs we have gone through the book of Genesis one chapter at a time, this series has been a work in progress. I started Read the Bible as something of an experiment, not sure how well things would work out. There have been changes in an effort to get better; the goal is to settle down at some point once we have the bugs worked out. I know that some of you would like to read along as I read out loud. What I am reading begins with the KJV text and then I make adjustments to update some of the archaic language. It is not a published translation, I have no desire to create my own paraphrase; but I cannot read any modern translation in its entirety because of copyright laws nor do I want to read a public domain text such as the KJV or ASV. But what if, for the benefit of those who wish to see what I am saying, the text was included with each post?
Continue readingWow, this one has been a struggle. I’m not going to burden you with all the details of my life but surely this post or this series of posts are going to do great things or mean something to someone because the work has been opposed at every turn all day today (Thursday).
Jacob has previously taken his brother’s birthright. Jacob and his mother Rebekah are crafty, and Esau gets mad enough to kill somebody.
We live in a noisy world. I have known that for a long time. Some of those noises are naturally occurring and some are voices trying to get or hold your attention. Some of those voices we should be listening to while others need to be tuned out. Only when I started recording the Read the Bible series of posts did I truly realize how hard it is to eliminate all sounds, whether they’re barking dogs and singing birds or traffic and locomotives.
I’m going to write this post for those that perhaps miss reading a long form blog post and also upload an audio clip that plays for about 15 minutes and hopefully illustrates what I’m talking about. You can hear songbirds and traffic but to my surprise no train went by during that 15 minutes and none of dogs barked even once. We need to be deliberate and intentionally about what sounds and which voices we pay attention to. Listening is a discipline and as such requires a little bit of effort; some work and practice to get it right.
We need to make a short list of things that deserve our attention and then prioritize the things on that list. Maybe everybody doesn’t have ADHD but like a lost of conditions and disorders it is becoming more prevalent. Identify the things that deserves your attention then give them priority over all other things. Maybe things further down on the list could be eliminated, or limited the time you give to each of them. There are only so many minutes in each day and like a CPU, in your laptop or cell phone, the human mind can only run so many processes at a time. If you run out of resources you could be looking at a crash – and your mind cannot be replaced like a cell phone. Let’s try to take care of what we have. (There’s another lesson in there about being a good steward but I didn’t think of that while I was talking.)
Click play to hear my stream of conscious rambling on this topic:
We could call this section Like Father, Like Son. Isaac built his wealth and was blessed by God, and promised that his offspring would possess the nations they were living in. He redug wells that Abraham had dug and gave them the same names. But this chapter begins with Isaac lying to Abimelech about his wife being his sister. Abraham not only did that twice, and got caught both times, but one of the kings he did it to was Abimelech.
I’ve been thinking today about the difference between teaching and preaching. A preacher should be able to teach, but a teacher should be able to teach without preaching. Teaching is about explaining things in ways that people can understand. The Read the Bible series isn’t really about teaching the Bible; the stated goal is to read the text and discuss it’s just I’m the only one doing the discussing. Anytime someone wants to jump in just start leaving comments and we can interact. Preaching involves not only reading the text and doing some teaching but giving application. It starts with “what do we learn from this passage” and transitions into “what are we going to do about it.” When you leave church after hearing a good sermon you should have some goals for the upcoming week. There should be one or more action points; you should be able to answer the question What does the pastor/preacher want me to do? Sometimes a well-taught lesson will lead us to do things differently or take action but a good sermon will provide application. Some of the passages as we read through the Old Testament, I’m not sure how I would preach those from the perspective of how should we respond? You can learn a lot about God by reading the Old Testament so I hope you hang in there and find it worthwhile.
It’s nothing a cup or three of coffee, two scriptures, two quotes, a few memes, a cartoon panel and funny pics of doggos can’t fix. That’s actually our cure for everything. In other words…
This Happy Monday #580.
Continue readingWe’re going to read Genesis 24 from the English Standard Version (ESV). What I normally do is start with the KJV text and make adjustments; thou and thine becomes you and your, I update some of the other archaic language. In Genesis 1, for example, all modern translations say expanse instead of firmament. When there is no consensus I talk about the variants in the discussion. Sometimes the syntax is just backwards to how we talk. “Abraham said to Sarah, his wife…” instead of “his wife Sarah.” To be sure what I want to say actually gets said, I copy and paste the text, make the edits, then print a draft copy to read from. This is the longest chapter in Genesis, and while Sunday is most people’s day of rest, it is often the busiest day of the week for pastors.
After having Isaac in her old age, at the age of 90, Sarah then lives to the ripe old age of 127. In Genesis 23 Abraham mourns his wife then purchases a field with a cave and buries her.
Heads up, chapter 24 is the longest chapter in the book of Genesis, 60 verses. I’m not quite sure how to handle that yet. We may split the chapter in half or I may try to do a lot of reading and not much discussion. A lot of discussion shouldn’t be necessary because parts of that narrative are very repetitive. It discusses itself, in a manner of speaking.
I know it’s a meme. Sometimes you can look at a meme, appreciate the humor, and then still say some serious things that relate to the topic. It doesn’t mean you didn’t get the joke; it just means the joke made you think.
Jesus did all sorts of things he wasn’t “supposed” to do. He associated with women, tax collectors, touched lepers, ate without washing his hands, FORGAVE people of their sins and picked grain on the Sabbath. He even healed on the Sabbath day! And then when they crucified him, rolled a stone in front of the tomb and set guards, that rascal didn’t even stay in there!!!
The Master's Table 