Collateral Bloggage

So, if you didn’t read my inaugural post, you don’t know that this year I had planned to read the NT, and listen to the OT. Then I finished the NT. And I decided that since I had gotten a new Bible for Christmas ($4 ESV), I should just read the whole thing.

Well…I finished yesterday. Ezekiel came last. Here are 10 observations from my reading this year:

1. I love Job. The book, and the man.
2. Genesis 34 is a chapter that only a man with sisters can understand. And it’s kind of hilarious.
3. I need to memorize James. If I could only have one book of the NT, it’d probably be James.
4. Numbers is actually an interesting book.
5. Psalms is best read one chapter at a time (read this, Sunset Word Traveler organizers!). Otherwise it dilutes.
6. Solomon is one of the more depressing characters in the Bible.
7. John 1:11 is still the saddest verse in the Bible to me.
8. Reading the Law (most of Exodus-Deuteronomy) aloud helps. Not so dry then.
9. Daniel 3:16-18 are probably the most inspiring words in the OT. Especially 18.
10. There’s still no Antichrist in Revelation. Seriously…go look.

There still remains the little Resolution I made to read something from the Bible every day. Still doing that. I’m already working on next year’s NT reading (with John and Brent). And there’s always memorizing James…

First of all, I’m not saying that I keep falling asleep while reading the Scriptures. It happens, true, but that’s a consequence of reading before the coffee kicks in.

What am I talking about (writing about, actually)?

Here it is: it’s difficult to shake off traditional readings of Scripture, once we’ve heard them. I’ve shaken off a number of things I learned as a child, such as:

1. Belief in the Pre-Trib Rapture and a Future Antichrist. (I’m an Amillenial Partial Preterist these days)
2. Dogmatic belief in a literal, six day Creation. (I tend toward a “God did it and I don’t know how”/Old Earth Creationist view)
3. Belief in the gift of Tongues as a universal gift. (I think it’s given to some, but not all)

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Thus far, my read-through of Ezekiel hasn’t exactly been a gold mine of inspiration. I’m sure the fault is on my end, but I was excited this morning when this verse stuck out:

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Disclaimer: The following story is based on the Biblical accounts of the fate of Judas, in an attempt to harmonize the two accounts in Acts 1 and Matthew 27. It is not an inspired text. It’s just a “maybe it happened this way…”

Warning…fiction ahead

In my morning Flip, I came across this:

I’ve read the Law. Several times. And let me say this up front: (more…)

Okay, so this is my first blog post in nearly a week. Is this a problem? Should I worry that I have blogger’s block?

blogger laxative ahead

We’ve all heard the term “Two-faced,” but I realized today that I (and probably others) struggle sometimes with being “Two-Hearted.” As Paul wrote in Romans 7, I know how I should behave, and want to behave, but I don’t always do it.

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BTW, alliteration tickles me.

So, part of my new morning routine is “flipping through” the Bible to find a Scripture for meditation. This morning I found Psalm 119:67 and 71 (which falls under the Hebrew letter “Teth”, which is mighty close to “Seth”). Wow. Floored. Here they are:

This my favorite post so far, so read on…

I’ve been convicted lately about the fact that I don’t pray regularly. So, I’ve set the bar high, shooting for an astounding FIVE MINUTES of prayer every morning (weekdays).

Taking a page from Pastor Dave Tilma, I’m praying through the Lord’s Prayer, riffing on each phrase. Two words: awesome. Two days in, I’ve run over my allotted time each time (should I use the word “time” once more in this sentence?).

So here’s my routine:

Bored Yet? If not, read more…

Yes, I admit it: I had to look up “inaugural.”

A word of explanation about this post and the title of my blog. Proverbs 25:2 (ESV) reads like this:

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