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.
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I re-entered the blogosphere yesterday with a rather weak statement by asking the question Are we back? I wanted to emphasize the soft launch aspect and point out that we are not trying to restart all the spinning plates that were going before. I have updated the Our Daily Bread and Bible Gateway features in the left-hand sidebar. That only takes a couple of minutes and it’s a good routine for me to start the day with; I have been updating the verse of the day on the Unity Baptist Facebook page this whole time. Our Daily Bread now has a daily video devotional you can subscribe to, so check that out.
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I do most of my Bible study and sermon prep online. I also have a large collection of actual books. I use and promote the Bible Gateway website but have also reviewed physical copies of books for Bible Gateway. Since I have several good resources on the shelf and access to many others online, it’s unlikely that I would have invested in a set of Matthew Henry’s commentary. But when a widow lady offered me this set that belonged to her husband, I said “absolutely.”
Jack Miller was the head of the deacon board when I was called by Unity Baptist in 2014. He was a Gideon, a Mason, and had served many years on the county board of education. His wife had retired from teaching school and volunteered at the reception desk at the hospital. I remember discussing something with Jack during my first year as pastor and then stated that was my idea and asked what he thought. He was taken aback for a second or two and said “You’re the boss.” No, I am not the boss but that must surely be the best group of deacons any pastor has ever served with.
All six volumes of this set have Jack W Miller’s name imprinted on the cover. And that is fine by me. If anyone asks who that is I can continue telling that “You’re the boss” story for years to come.
God created time. Whether you believe in a literal seven day creation week or take a more symbolic view of those “days” I would direct your attention to Genesis 1.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. -Gen. 1:1-5
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The Heritage Singers once said “Forever is a long, long time.” That’s the way many of us probably think about eternity; a very, very long time. A verse of Amazing Grace starts out “When we’ve been there 10,000 years…” The truth is that eternity takes place outside of time. It’s not made up all time but is rather the exact opposite of time.
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We opened the skatepark that I wrote about last week. Pictured left to right above is city council member Ray Black, Mayor Jim Miller, council member Clark Bunch, council member Jim Treglown and the namesake of the park Joe Young. The mayor can be seen holding a giant pair of golden scissors, yes there really is such a thing. By the way, I thought everyone would holding onto the ribbon; it was only tied at one end just long enough to take the picture. The day was a qualified success, drawing a huge crowd that hung around all day. Joe’s dad grilled hamburgers and hotdogs and later smoked a few chickens. The skate park is the latest upgrade to our parks and rec center. If you don’t give kids something to do they will find something to do and you might not like it. We will know where the kids at the skatepark are, in a safe controlled environment. If you don’t plan it then you can’t control it. That’s the thought process behind building skateparks, ball fields, creating teams, opening the gym on weeknights… it’s why James Naismith invented basketball. When you invest in the community you get a better community. (The same principle applies to churches.)
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The Happy Monday posts began during the summer of 2012. The original format was based on the idea that after a weekend of going out for family and social gatherings, sporting events and church activities people might need a little encouragement and to catch up on news or happenings. The first two or three weekly posts featured a metal count from the summer Olympic games. While the goal was to help readers start their week off right, sometimes the posts leaned a little heavy on the news. One friend in real life told me that when he read the post he didn’t see much to be happy about. Over a few months the format morphed into the a regular template we follow pretty closely: an opening bit, a welcome line or sometimes just the post number, an Old Testament verse, New Testament verse, two inspiring quotations usually featuring at least one Christian author or personality, usually a Coffee with Jesus comic strip to transition from the serious into the silly stuff, then up to four memes, cartoons or cute aminals to put smiles on faces. Mondays are tough, we do what we can.
Continue readingIn addition to the occasional book review (I posted one earlier this week) I have reviewed a couple of Bibles in the last year at the request of Bible Gateway. Regular readers know about the Bible Gateway Blogger Grid and as a partner The Master’s Table posted reviews of The Illustrated Holy Bible for Kids and The Jesus Bible. A few weeks ago Bible Gateway asked Blogger Grid members to review the new website design at Bible Gateway. The new design has since rolled out so if you use that resource or follow our links from here then you have probably seen the changes.
Classic view
New design
The Bible tells one story. I’ve been harping on that message for years. From one end to the other the Bible tells the story of how a holy God relates to people that are sinful, fallen and broken. At the center of that story is Jesus. Zondervan now offers a study Bible centered around that theme, appropriately titled The Jesus Bible. Continue reading
Jimmy Humphrey makes a bold prediction for 2020: 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail by February and yours will too. He says it’s because people don’t understand human nature. I believe the desire to make resolutions stems from the same thing that makes religion popular. Continue reading
The Master's Table 