Is the Bible Just a Book?

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Is the Bible a book that can be studied like any other or is it something more than that? Is the Bible the Word of God or just the words of God? Let me suggest that a simple answer is not always possible and sometimes “both/and” is the best option.

The Bible is a collection of ancient texts. While the Bible is primarily a religious text much of it’s bulk, particularly the Old Testament, is made up of history, poetry and wisdom sayings. It presents chronicles of the kings of Israel and long lists of genealogy. The sacred texts of the Old Testament form the basis of Judaism, the monotheistic religion of ethnic Jews. Continue reading →

It’s What’s Inside that Counts

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I may not be a great man of God but I am a man of a great God.

Paul says in 2nd Corinthians that we possess a great treasure in jars of clay. I’ve seen a lot of proposal videos where the guy gets down on one knee or choreographs a big event to pop the question. The woman is always interested in the ring. I have never seen one check out the box it came in. That is not what matters. We as believers are the temple of God. That is where his Spirit chooses to dwell. So you may not think that I’m much to look at. That doesn’t matter because 1) my wife thinks I’m adorable, and more importantly 2) every believer is the dwelling place of God. We that are baptized in Christ have put on Christ. John the Baptist said “He must increase, but I must decrease.” When we are conformed to the image of Jesus, when we let our light shine, it really should be Jesus that the world sees. We must make more of him and less of ourselves.

 

References:
2 Corinthians 4:7
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Galatians 3:27
John 3:30
Romans 8:29

Today is Sunday

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Screenshot 2019-07-28 at 7.34.09 AMIt’s Sunday morning. I don’t normally post on Sundays because there are so many other things going on. But just a short reminder. Today’s devotion from Our Daily Bread is titled Plodding for God. There is a link in the left-hand side bar. The scripture is taken from Hebrews 6 and it shares the story of William Carey, British missionary to India. Continue reading →

Satur-deja Vu

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I re-published an older post this week about the real life Fred Rogers. Here is my post and here is the trailer for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, a biopic film starring Tom Hanks.

In lieu of a possible tariff that would affect the price of Bibles I asked where your Bible was printed. That post got very few views and no responses. It’s not too late if you want to jump in there. Most of mine were printed in the USA but the one I purchased most recently did come from China. Continue reading →

Technically Speaking…

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Screenshot 2019-07-25 at 1.47.02 PM
On Saturday I said that The Master’s Table was approaching 500 followers. It turns out that there are already over 500 followers if you include email subscribers. The number of WordPress users that follow has just hit 499 so someone out there is about to be #500.

Where Did Your Bible Come From?

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I mentioned a week or two ago that impending tariffs, that are on hold for now at least, could cause an increase in the price of Bible. It has to do with the incredibly thin paper that Bibles use and equipment which require special set up in order to process. One of my friends in real life said she would be checking her Bibles to see where they were made. So I decided to do the same. Continue reading →

Remembering Fred Rogers

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A full length trailer has just been released for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, the biopic of Fred Rogers due out in November. It’s uncanny how much a good makeup artist and a cardigan sweater can make Tom Hanks look like Mr. Rogers. While Hanks is practically a national treasure in his own right the real Fred Rogers was almost too good to be true. Below is a reprint of a post I published back in 2010. (I apologize for the double space after each period. That’s how we were taught to type back in the day.)

 

Screenshot 2019-07-22 at 5.14.47 PMA couple of weeks ago, I had a discussion with a student about Fred Rogers.  His claim was that Mr. Rogers wore long sleeve sweaters to cover multiple tattoos on both arms.  I already knew that Mr. Rogers was an ordained Presbyterian minister, and it turns out this student knew that as well.  He contended that before seminary and his career in television, Mr. Rogers had a violent and sordid past.  So on a whim, I did some Internet fact checking.  Wow. Continue reading →

Satur-deja vu

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Have I seen this before? I’ve been struggling with a name for our weekend review post and was somewhat resigned to the fact that Saturday Doubletake was as good as it was going to get. My wife suggested Deja vu a couple of weeks ago and last night I combined the two words together: Satur-deja vu. I think it’s clever, imaginative, and combines the carefree relaxed nature of Saturday afternoon with the French expression deja vu which literally means “already seen.” Teresa loved it and no one else has given me any input or suggestions up to this point. So let’s reflect on the week that was, wrap up any unfinished business, and maybe throw in a fun bit or two.

 

Continue reading →