Archive for October, 2007...
Filed under bible, my favorites
Have you ever talked to another Christian who thinks we should still be following the Old Testament law? There’s always some inconsistency in such beliefs, because I’ve never met one of them who thinks we should make pilgrimages to Jerusalem or offer Whole Burnt Offerings, or see a priest if we have a skin lesion.
Still, is there anything to the argument that we should, among other things, abstain from pork and shellfish, not wear garments of two fibers, and cease from work on the Sabbath?
The Book of Hebrews has the answer for us. Check this out:
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Comments (0) Posted by Seth on Wednesday, October 24th, 2007
Filed under bible, life, my favorites
Ever drink from a water bottle? Why, exactly? For some, it’s the idea that they’re getting higher-quality water. In other words, with less icky stuff in it. For others, it’s merely the convenience of being able to have a handy-dandy container of water to carry around.
Let’s consider the first proposition…drinking cleaner water. So what happens if you drink that water, then take the top off and fill it from a tap? Now you’ve just gone from Option A to Option B. You still *look* like you’re into drinking expensive, high-quality water, but you’re really just one step away from drinking from a garden hose, right?
Where’s this coming from? Jeremiah…surprising, isn’t it? I’m even going to go all spiritual analogy on it. Watch me…
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Filed under bible
Isaiah 53 is one of my favorite passages in the Old Testament, if not the whole Bible. When I pick up a new translation (which I do just about every year), I turn to this chapter to see how it’s rendered. To my mind, the King James does the best job with it, although I’m very pleased with the way the New King James has it. In fact, I’ll go check really quick…yep, they’re essentially the same wording, just with a few updated words (”hath” to “has”), and some slight word order adjustments. More readable, but it maintains the wonderful poetry. The key passage:
Isaiah 53:3-6 (NJKV):
3 He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4 Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
Continued…
Filed under bible
First, one of my favorite Pauline moments:
2 Timothy 2:11-13 (NKJV):
11 This is a faithful saying:
For if we died with Him,
We shall also live with Him.
12 If we endure,
We shall also reign with Him.
If we deny Him,
He also will deny us.
13 If we are faithless,
He remains faithful;
He cannot deny Himself.
Love that. Now, my main issue from this morning…one of my favorite Isaiah passages:
You’ll have to click to read on…