I pray that you and yours have a great Christmas and that celebrating the birth of Christ will bring you closer to the one true God. Have a great Christm...
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
The Funniest Thing I Heard Today - 12.24.08
notafinga!Mr. Parker, played by Darren McGavin, on The Christmas Story, when he is angry at his wife for breaking his "major awar...
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
The Funniest Thing I Heard Today - 12.10.08
The note G makes our china sing and coffee makes our mugs buzz. My daugher, Jessica. It would take too long to expla...
Thursday, December 04, 2008
In the Beginning
A friend of mine has recently had a book published. It is entitled In the Beginning (click title to see it on Amazon) by Leanne Thomas. It is a retelling of the first seven chapters of Genesis. You can read sections of this book from her blog Leanne Thomas Writes.If you are needing a Christmas gift for someone, purchase this unique book for them. They will love ...
Monday, December 01, 2008
That "That" That I Use
As an instructor and as someone who writes my thoughts down regularly, I try to continually educate myself on proper grammar, sentence structure, and other issues in the English language (I will deal with my use of the comma before "and" in another post). I have noticed THAT I have spent a great deal of time talking to students about the use of that word "that." It has been my experience that most of the time, when "that" is used, it is really not needed, it can be simply eliminated from the sentence, and the sentence would read just as well. However,...
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Summary of Psalms of Ascents
If you have not been to my blog before, I have just finished posting on a series through the Psalms of Ascents (Psalms 120-134). I have really enjoyed posting on these and hope the reader has benefited from the post. I wanted to sum up my thoughts on these psalms and my posts regarding them.
First, I want to acknowledge that these are songs which were meant to be sung and they were not necessarily meant to be analyzed as deeply as I may have done. Do not get me wrong, because the Psalms are God's Word and inspired by Him, they are valuable to...
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Book Review: Preaching and Teaching from the Old Testament
I recently read Preaching and Teaching from the Old Testament: A Guide for the Church by Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. In this book the author addresses a critical issue needed to be heard by today's church leaders: the importance of Old Testament to believers and they manner in which the Old Testament should be taught to the people of God. Kaiser begins his book with the need to preach and teach from the Old Testament. Too many times pastors either skim...
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
The Funniest Thing I Heard Today - 11.3.08
Good thing you didn't say 'Wackenhut.'Ben Bailey, Host of the Discovery Channel show Cash Cab. By the way, Wackenhut is a security company like Brin...
Monday, November 03, 2008
Wrapping Up With Worship
As we come to the last psalm in our study of the Psalms of Ascents, we come to Psalm 134. A quick review will allow us to see the themes which lead up to the final of these psalms. In Psalm 130, the psalmist prays about the conflict which comes from inside himself. In the next psalm, Psalm 131, the psalmist praises God for the life which God gives him. In Psalm 132, he begins to pray for the whole of God's people by anticipating the restoration of the Davidic line. In Psalm 133, the psalmist praises God for the unity found in the people of God....
Friday, October 31, 2008
Happy Halloween
Happy Halloween. Here is our pumpkins from several years ago. (Click image for larger picture)If you are not familiary with Veggie Tales, this is, from left to right, Bob, the Tomato; Larry, the Cumcumber; and Jimmy and Jerry Gourd (I may have those two confused - I never know which is which). Here is a picture of the whole Veggie Tales gang. And, as Bob, the Tomato, always says, "Remember, God made you special and He loves you very muc...
Thursday, October 30, 2008
True Unity
After the longest psalm in our study of the Psalms of Ascents, we find the second to the last psalm in this series. The psalmist has just spend a comparatively considerable amount of time reminding God of His oath with David and praying for the installation of the Davidic king. He now turns to what could be considered the beginning of the conclusion of these particular psalms. The psalmist proclaims how good it has been to be in Jerusalem with the people of God.Read Psalm 133 (NASB, NIV, KJV)Here is my working outline. As always, it needs work...
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
The Davidic King is Coming
We are coming close to the end of our study of the Psalms of Ascents and we have come to the longest in this series. By way of review, the psalmist cries out to God because of the persecution he faces from his enemies. The psalmist confesses the conflict within himself in Psalm 130. Then in Psalm 131, he praises God for the benefits which come with a relationship with God. In this next psalm, Psalm 132, the psalmist lifts up the king of Israel, specifically the king from the Davidic line.Read Psalm 132 (NASB, NIV, KJV)Here is my working outline....
Monday, October 27, 2008
The Funniest Thing I Heard Today - 10.26.07
We're gonna need some more FBI guys, I guess. Deputy Police Chief Dwayne T. Robinson, played by Paul Gleason, in the movied Die Ha...
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
The Life Which Comes From God
In a review of our study of the Psalms of Ascents, the psalm laments the persecution he faces from others in Psalm 129. In Psalm 130, he speaks to the conflict which comes from inside himself. In the next psalm, Psalm 131, the psalmist praises God for the life which God gives him. Read Psalm 131 (NASB, NIV, KJV)Here is my outline for this little psalm (the outline is bigger than the entire psalm):The Life which Comes from God(the title could use some work)The life which comes from God produces...I. Humility (1) ...
Friday, September 26, 2008
The Comfort Which Comes From God
In our last study of the Psalms of Ascents, the psalmist was lamenting to God concerning the persecution he faced from others. In Psalm 130, the psalmist turns introspective and cries out to the Lord because of the conflict inside. Read Psalm 130 (NASB, NIV, KJV)Here is my working outline. As always, suggestions are wanted and desparately needed. The Comfort which Comes from GodI. We can cry out to the Lord (1-2)we can cry out and He answersII. We can have forgiveness with the Lord (3-4)III. We wait on the Lord (5-6)III. We have faith in the Lord...
Thursday, September 25, 2008
My God Will Deliver Me
In our journey through the Psalms of Ascents, we have encountered a couple of psalms which seems a little different and hard to summarize with one thought. That is perfectly normal for psalms, as they were songs and not meant to be analyzed in the fashion in which we are doing. However, because they are additionally the Word of God, we can look at them in a critical fashion and pull out the message we are intended to receive through them. In 127, there seemed to a strange shift from vanity to family. In 128, the issue of family continues only to...
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
When We Walk With the Lord...
Since I received such a rousing response to my question regarding feedback about this blog, as you can see from the comments posted on the previous post, I will nevertheless continue in my study of the Psalms of Ascents since it is, as the very least, somewhat therapeutic for me.In the last post, I noted that Psalm 127 seemed to be the pivotal point of these 15 psalms. This does not mean that Psalms 128-134 all spiral down into despair. Instead, it seems there is a shift of focus in the last half of these psalms than from the first half. The first...
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Book Review: How to Read Literature Like a Professor
Have you ever read a story or watched a movie and knew something more was going on than what you were reading or seeing on the surface? Have read a popular fiction book and thought it seemed awfully familiar but you convinced yourself you were reading too much into it. Have you watched Pleasantville or The Truman Show and wondered just what the director wanted to convey? If you have and you want to become better at reading between the lines, I have...
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Anyone There?
I have not posted in a week but have not forgot our study through the Psalms of Ascents. However, I was hoping for some feedback before I moved forward with more on these special psalms. Has any of the posts on the Psalms of Ascents helped you in some way? Maybe helped you in a preparation of a bible study or sermon? Or helped you in your personal study? Do you have any suggestions on the outlines which would help others?If you are just stopping by, but found these posts helpful or even a little interesting, I would appreciate a quick post to share...
Friday, August 29, 2008
Vanity and Children...but Not Related Topics
The next psalm in our journey through the Psalms of Ascents is interesting. It is found in the exact middle of the fifteen ascent psalms. It is the only one of the fifteen written by Solomon. There are seven psalms before it (120-126), two of which were written by David and five which are anonymous. After Psalm 127, there are seven psalms, two of which were written by David and five of which are anonymous. With the Hebrew propensity for chiasms (see here, here, here, and here), and the symmetry that appears to be here, the psalm may be the high...
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
The Funniest Thing I Heard Today - 8.27.08
"...Barak Obama, the son of a black man from Kenya, and a white man from Kansas."Terry Moran, from ABC's Nightl...
Remember the Great Acts of God - Addendum
In my last post, I was working with Psalm 126. This post is an expansion of verses 5-6 of this psalm. Read Psalm 126 (NASB, NIV, KJV)The context of this passage is the return of the Israelites from captivity. When they returned to Jerusalem and the promise land, they had to start again. Being an agricultural society, planting seed was of primary importance because they needed food. These farmers weep while sowing in remembrance of the good life before the Babylonian captivity. Sowing is hard work and starting over is never easy. These Israelites...
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Remember the Great Acts of God
(See the addendum to this post here)I have been blogging recently on the Psalms of Ascents and hoping that my posts on them will firm up some of my outlines. I also hope that others will contribute to the process and provide suggestions which will improve the outlines and provide a great skeleton for teaching through these psalms. To briefly sum up where we have been so far, the psalmist travels to Jerusalem (120-122). He begins his worship by asking God for mercy, praising God for His help in the past, and about the relationship they have currently...
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
I Have Found a Friend in Jesus
In our series of the Psalms of Ascents, we come to psalm 125. to recap briefly, the psalmist travels to Jerusalem (120-122). He begins his worship by asking God for mercy (123) and then recounting how God has been the source of their help in the past (124). In this psalm (125), he sings about the current relationship he has with the Lord. Read Psalm 125 (NASB, NIV, KJV)Here is the tentative outline I developed for this psalm. As always, please send feedback. I think they always can be improved. I would like the flow of thought to be better than...
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