Post Nationals Return to Normal-ness Post

We just thought that you might want to know that we are in fact alive, and have not dropped off the face of the earth. We are home from the Bible Bee —it went fine, we had fun, we may elaborate on it  more later— but now what really matters to us is that it is over.

We are back to fairly normal things! Most of our family is participating in our church's Christmas Cantata; Sarah is playing harp and I am singing alto in the choir. This is, by far, my most unprepared year. I didn't even mark up my Cantata book until last week, not to mention that I lost a couple weeks after the Bible Bee to my mouth being very swollen from getting my wisdom teeth out (which is not conducive to singing).

I am enjoying, for the first time this school year, being able to devote my attention almost entirely to my senior recital that I am preparing to do on May 13th. Before the Bible Bee I took two weeks off of practicing, then there was the week of the Bible Bee, upon returning from the Bible Bee I had Thanksgiving Break (in which I got my wisdom teeth extracted), and finally opened up my "what-pieces-I-am-learning-and-when-they-need-to-be-in-semi-decent-shape" spreadsheet to assess how far behind I was. I was about a month ahead. I had my real "Thanksgiving" then!

I have also been doing 1 and 1/2 grade with William. He is 6, very intelligent, and very scattered. He loves math, likes reading, and is not very impressed with writing. It has been very fun working with him; his wheels are always turning, just not always in the same direction.

It is so good to be at home again. I am still reviewing my verses, starting to study Acts, I finished reading my Bible through in the non-Bible-Bee months of the year, and am studying dispensationalism, but the absence of pressure is wonderful. Of course, I get a lot more done with pressure, but I still have a little adrenaline and a good bit of habit to keep me going for now.

Nationals Update

With the National Bible Bee less than a week away as I write this, our studying is intense. The 750 verses we were assigned to memorize have been memorized; however this is only the beginning of the process, as we recite each passage at least once every day--ironing out small slips in the verses we know best and struggling to recall those more difficult sections. Some of the verses are more fun to say than others: we have a couple long passages from Acts it is easy to put a lot of expression into, but there’s also a section in Lamentations that is rather depressing. I think my favorite passages to say are the two resurrection chapters: Matthew 28 and John 20:1-20. It’s rather like having Easter Sunday every day. The thrill of saying “He is risen!” never gets old. One exciting thing about all the verses is the fact that the more we study them the better we can see how many of them tie into Ephesians.
Ephesians is a very rewarding study, with many important theological concepts as well as clear practical directions on living life. My method of studying Ephesians has several parts. First I try to get a general concept of whichever chapter I’m working on by listening to sermons, summarizing each verse and the chapter as a whole, reading commentaries, asking and answering questions about the chapter, and finding the “key verse” (Which means a verse that contains the major theme or teaching of a chapter. Sometimes there is more than one!) Next I focus on more specific aspects of the chapter through greek word studies and cross-references. I also hope to memorize all of Ephesians before the competition, because I have found this helps me understand how everything works together and recall what I’ve learned about each verse.
It’s a lot of work, but I’ve been very blessed to be part of the Bible Bee for the last five years. It has really helped me understand the richness of God’s Word, and given me experience I can continue to use for the rest of my life. We are both looking forward to returning to Tennessee this year, as we had a very enjoyable time last year.

Waiting for a Second Wind

I am tired. Sarah and I finished memorizing our verses the first week of October and I have been reviewing them pretty faithfully since, but still sometimes when one of our quizzers says a reference I will look at them blankly for a few seconds before giving up and saying, "What's the first word?" Also, I am beginning to be of the opinion that when the first word is "for", "and", or "then", they should not count it as a prompt, and when the first phrase is something like: "And (or "then") the Lord (or "God", or both) spoke (or "said") to Moses (or Noah, Jacob, Abraham, or him, or them, or whoever) saying (or "and said")"– that should not count either. Or they could make it all count as one prompt: "AndtheLordspoketoMosessaying" sort of like "inasmuch" or "nevertheless". However, that is not the case, so I must resign myself to trying to make stick in my head whether it was God or the Lord, spoke or said, Moses or him, in all the times that God (or the Lord) spoke (or said) to Moses (or whoever) and put as brave a face on it as possible under the circumstances.

We really are enjoying ourselves. I promise.
But we do look forward to that moment on the plane ride home, on the car ride on the way to church, while I wait for my piano lesson, to not need to recite/mutter verses to ourselves. It will be nice to have a break for a few months. But we will miss it very much.
I remember last year when we came home, getting a frantic feeling whenever I went anywhere for weeks afterward that I was forgetting something only to realize that I was missing my stacks of verses and that I didn't need them anymore. However, just because we won't be carrying around our stacks of verses, that does not mean that we won't have them with us. Now that they are in our memory, God will bring them to us just when we need them most. Which is why we knock ourselves out over a competition that just started a few years ago and still has many wrinkles and flaws. Because, of all competitions, this is one that you can truly say from your heart:

"It isn't about the competition".

Psalms 71:14-17  But I will hope continually,

And will praise You yet more and more. 

  My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness

And Your salvation all the day,

For I do not know their limits. 

I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD;

I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only. 

  O God, You have taught me from my youth;

 and to this day I will declare your wondrous works.

2013 Nationals

In mid-November Sarah and I will be going to participate as competitors in the 2013 Bible Bee Nationals in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee! We are very excited at this opportunity to study Ephesians and memorize 750 more verses over the next few months, as well as being able to spend a few days in the fellowship of hundreds of families from all over America who have been studying not only God's word like we have been, but the same parts of God's word!
Some of those who follow our blog may have noticed that we have not been as faithful in posting every couple of weeks. This will probably continue be the case until after November. We apologize, but, –still recovering from extreme suspense followed by extreme excitement– we do not feel as regretful as we might.

Why Memorize?

Well, Megan keeps saying it's my turn to write a post, so I'm taking her word for it. Since the Bible Bee is quite close now, I thought I'd write about why I like to memorize scripture, specifically large portions of scripture such as an entire book. There are lots of general reasons, like the fact that the verses you've memorized are often the ones that God will bring to mind when you need them, but I am going to stick more with personal reasons, since this is a blog, not a sermon.

I have been memorizing scripture since before I can remember, but the first long sections I memorized where Romans 6, and then Matthew 5. This gave me the first clue on how fun memorizing was, but I really started to get serious about it four years ago when the Bible Bee started. There is a certain thrill connected with remembering a large chunk of text for a certain period of time. So Reason #1 to Memorize: It is fun! 

Be warned that this does assume some level of enjoyment in using your brain. Which leads directly into the second reason: Reason #2 to Memorize: It is challenging. I like challenges, but even if you don't usually, they are still good for you. If you are not intimidated enough by an "easy" book like 2 Timothy or 1 John, you could always opt for something longer, like Romans, or John. I don't know how common this is, but I have a plan for my Bible memorization over the next 5 years. 

Finish Romans (by the end of this year)
Proverbs
Isaiah
Genesis
Acts

I think that Genesis and Acts will actually be fairly quick (maybe a year for each) because there is so much narrative. I found Jonah to be pretty easy because of this. I don't know what I'll memorize after these, and they may get switched around a bit (I was very tempted to add John, and I may still memorize that before some of the others...) but that is the general plan. 

Finally, the most serious reason; Reason #3 to Memorize: Spiritual Warfare. I wasn't exactly sure what to call this reason, and it is a bit hard to explain, but basically, memorizing or reciting memorized scripture is one of the best methods I have found for controlling negative or angry thoughts, etc. It also helps me calm down when I'm nervous. 

These are just a few of my personal reasons for memorizing, above and beyond the Biblical ones, but I hope they will encourage others to memorize more as well. 
God bless.

Free to Serve

Our country is a free country. But as American Christians we have a double reason for rejoicing: We are also free in Christ! 

1 Corinthians 9:19-23 For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more;  and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.  Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.

Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. 

Galatians 5:13  For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 

Happy Independence Day!

Assurance

Well, I hesitate to write about this because I know I won’t be able to express myself fully, nor do I feel qualified to delve into the complex doctrine this topic entails. However this subject has been hitting hard (in a good way) the last couple weeks as I’ve studied 1^st John. Today, while listening to one of MacArthur’s sermons I finally decided to start typing and do my best.

John is very clear on the subject of assurance, and his letter is full of it. Listing all the references that touch on assurance would be impossible. The specific verse that I was learning about today is 1^st John 3:19: And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. 

There are several pieces to this verse, but the central one is that we know we are of the truth. It is hard to realize how comforting this simple phrase is until you have a firm understanding of just how amazing salvation truly is. God, no matter what we do, has promised that we are in his family forever, because of the work of Christ on the cross. We have been saved from inexpressible torments, and saved to be part of His glorious work in the world. Our minds can’t even comprehend how awesome salvation is, yet we can KNOW without a shadow of a doubt that we are saved for all eternity. 

The next part of the verse is in someways even more surprising: we shall assure our hearts before Him. It is no wonder many Christians doubt their own salvation: it is hard to believe that an absolutely holy God can accept us, when we know how sinful we are. Yet John declares that we can be sure of our position even when standing in the presence of God Himself. 

Of course, the question remaining is, “How?” to answer this, it is necessary to look at the rest of the epistle briefly, since the explanation given in the verse itself is only by this. These two words refer both to the immediate context of the surrounding verses and to the previous chapters. In 3:18, we see that loving in deed and truth is one way to know that we are of the truth and there are many other clues in chapters 2 and 3:

2:3 If we keep his commandments

2:4 keep his word

2:10 loves his brother

2:15 not loving the world

2:21 knowing the truth

2:23 acknowledging the Son

2:28 abide in Him

2:29 practice righteousness

3:3 purifies himself

3:6 does not sin

3:7 practices righteousness

3:9 does not sin

3:10 practices righteousness, loves his brother

3:14 loves the brethren

Some of these raise more questions, but overall they are a good way to know one is a christian.

Let not the Wise Man Glory in His Wisdom

Jeremiah 9:23 ¶ Thus says the LORD:

“Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,

Let not the mighty man glory in his might,

Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; 

Jeremiah 9:24 But let him who glories glory in this,

That he understands and knows Me,

That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.

For in these I delight,” says the LORD. 

This passage is one of my all time favorites, and it is a perfect summary of our mission statement as participators in the Bible Bee. We are not supposed to be in this to be able to impress everyone with our incredible amount of Bible knowledge, ability to memorize, or even our ability to study through critical thinking and analyzing to rightly divide the word of truth by the end of the summer.

Not that we always study during this season with the true purpose in mind. We have been brought up to love learning, love information, and love knowledge for their own sakes. This is very helpful, because for us learning is already a way of life that we enjoy, so we don't have to work against the prejudice of thinking that learning is a pain and avoiding it whenever possible. But when it comes to Jeremiah 9, we do tend to glory in the wisdom that we are accumulating itself rather than the objective of that wisdom. Wisdom is very important to pursue

Proverbs 4:7 Wisdom is the principal thing;

Therefore get wisdom.

And in all your getting, get understanding.

but having the wisdom is not the only end to getting it. The reason to get wisdom is found here in Jeremiah 9:24: to understand and know God, that He is the LORD, exercising lovingkindness judgment and righteousness in the earth, for in these He delights. 

Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,

And the knowledge of the Holy One  is understanding. 

1st John

As evinced by Megan's enthusiastic post a few days ago, we are both thoroughly excited to be studying 1st John this summer. We received our study materials today, and have just started what the Sword Study calls an "Arial View" of the book. This means that we are looking at the big picture: major themes and patterns. Part of this "Arial View" is reading through the whole book once a day. 

John tends to write with many parallels and repetitions, which makes it fairly easy to pick out the important words. An obvious example is "love", used 46 times (counting loves and loved) in only 105 verses. John tells his readers to love God, each other, and not to love the world. Other key words I've found so far are truth, light, and commandments. 

Another aspect of the "arial view" which I'm enjoying is learning the background of the author. John is a fascinating character in the gospels. He is very close to Jesus, often participating with Peter and James in activities the others miss out on (like the transfiguration). Jesus even has a nickname for him! He calls James and John "Sons of Thunder". Sounds pretty exciting to me. 

The next things to study out will be the historical background, and John's reason for writing this book. I can't wait to learn more about these aspects of 1st John as well. 

THE BIBLE BEE BOOK FOR THIS YEAR IS FIRST JOHN!

We are so excited about this year's Bible Bee. 
Last year was it was wonderful to learn about Paul and Timothy's special relationship, and Paul's dedication to the end. We just found out what book we will be studying for this year: 1st John! The life of the apostle that Jesus loved will be fun to research for context, but for application the key word of 1st John is something that I really struggle with: love. God's love that we are supposed to show. Is this really challenging and scary for me? Yes. But I've started to see these Bible Bees as what they are supposed to be. A chance --almost an excuse-- to grow in Christ. So I can say with 110% of my heart:
WELCOME 2013 BIBLE BEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Daniel

Daniel in some ways had it easy. Though he was brought to Babylon as a captive and then the kingdom changed hands several times, he was second or third in the kingdom for much of his life. But when I say he had it easy I mean comparatively (you have to remember I have been reading through the Bible and Daniel is in middle of the prophets who all had --to all appearances-- pretty miserable lives). Daniel did not have a carefree life.
Remember the handwriting on the wall story? He gets to tell Belshazzar that "God has numbered your kingdom and finished it. You have been weighed in the balances and been found wanting. Your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians."(Daniel 5: 26-28) Then the king has him all decked out and made him third most important in the kingdom. Why would a very proud king do that after Daniel said he was doomed? It wasn't because he said he would do it. If Daniel was right and the Medes and Persians did conquer Babylon, they would kill all the most important people among whom would be Daniel. The Medes and Persians did attack, Babylon was captured, Belshazzar was killed, and under God's hand of protection, Daniel was spared and made a governor under Darius.
Then, under Darius, he gets thrown in the lions den because his peers hate him.
He also has trouble with dreams. Not just the ones that he had to interpret for Nebuchadnezzar which under ordinary circumstances would have got him killed. Daniel had his own dreams. Here are a couple verses where Daniel himself says that they are terrifying:

Daniel 7:28 ¶ “This is the end of the account. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly troubled me, and my countenance changed; but I kept the matter in my heart.” 

Daniel 8:27 ¶ And I, Daniel, fainted and was sick for days; afterward I arose and went about the king’s business. I was astonished by the vision, but no one understood it. 

 and here's the killer: as far as we know Daniel was still on the vegetarian diet that he and his friends established when they were brought to Babylon from their homeland in captivity. Also as far as we know, Daniel never saw that homeland again. A life you would have liked to live? I don't think so. 

But Daniel did it anyway. Being captured he couldn't avoid. Most of the rest of he could have if he had chosen to, though. God used Daniel's extraordinary life for His glory. In the big picture --like many other men of God of that time period (remember, I'm reading in the Prophets at the moment)-- at the time he had little impact on Israel as a nation. He didn't lead them out of captivity or cause the whole nation to repent and turn back to God, but in the even bigger picture, he did everything he was supposed to. He obeyed God no matter what and didn't compromise his convictions. Also in the bigger picture, many people throughout history have decided to stand up for what they believe in solely because they remember the story of Daniel's life of faith and obedience to God. 

Hebrews 11:32 ¶ And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: 

Hebrews 11:33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 

Hebrews 11:34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 

Hebrews 11:35 Women received their dead raised to life again. ¶ Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. 

Hebrews 11:36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. 

Hebrews 11:37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— 

Hebrews 11:38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. 

Hebrews 11:39 ¶ And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, 

Hebrews 11:40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. 

So...Something about how we are serving from Sarah

Sometimes, serving is small stuff. Things like smiling at siblings. Scrubbing the sink or sorting the shoes. If these small services stopped, soon the big obvious things would come to a standstill as well. Though tomorrow we may have something stupendous to do for Christ, today we are just seeking to be steadfast in the small but significant services of life. 

Paul Gets Confusing

Actually, he was already confusing, but becomes even more so. Paul starts chapter three of Romans with a question (He is very fond of doing this.): What is the profit of circumcision? He’s just finished saying “if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.” 

So, if circumcision/Judaism can’t save you, what is it good for? Two things:

1. They had the word of God committed to them (3:2)
2. It shows God’s faithfulness (3:3-4)

Now Paul moves on to another question, in fact he asks the same question two different ways.

If the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner?

This is what I mean by Paul getting confusing, because I don’t completely understand what he’s trying to say here. But as far as I can tell, his answer to his question is that we are all under sin. Explaining that answer would take much more than a single blog post, so I just give you his answer, backed up with the same passage of scripture Paul uses: Psalm 14:1-3.

Next, apparently thinking he has addressed any questions his audience might have (I would beg to differ from him on that point...), Paul reveals the true purpose of the law: 

That every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 

 Thankfully, Paul also has good news.

But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed...even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe.

We are all “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood...to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

This is the part of Romans three that usually gets memorized. Much more fun than all the law doom-and-gloom stuff.

Once again, Paul fires off a bunch of rhetorical questions, in which we learn that:

• Boasting is excluded by the law of faith
• God is the God of the Gentiles as well as the Jews
• He is establishing the law, not making it void

And finally, Paul gives a very useful summary: (though it isn’t actually the last verse.)
Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith, apart from the deeds of the law. 

In chapter four, Paul gives example “A” of this principle: Abraham.

2Cor. 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. 

Psalm 51

Psalm 51 is David's prayer to God after he has sinned with Bathsheba, caused the death of Uriah, and been rebuked by Nathan. Of course, what is always highlighted is his repentance and request for forgiveness. What doesn’t get emphasized nearly as often is that he also asks for two other things. He asks for renewal of joy:

Psalms 51:12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,

And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.

 This makes perfect sense once you think about it. What do we lose when we have offended God or even a fellow human? Joy. The EBC commentary explains joy in psalm 51:12 this way:

“The joy is more than an emotional expression; it is a contented resting in God. The security of having been reconciled with the Lord and of having peace with Him is of the greatest import. This joy is hence known as “the joy of your salvation””(EBC 5; ed. Frank E. Gaebelein and J. D. Douglas; Accordance electronic ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1991). 

What often pushes me to apologize to people I have hurt, even if I don’t care all that much about what they think, is that, when I am around them when our conflict remains unresolved, it drains my joy. Sometimes --even if I have acknowledged that I was wrong and asked for forgiveness-- relationships are still strained, and maintaining “contented resting in God” is uphill work. God, of course, is omnipresent, I care about what He thinks, not to mention the fact that He is the source of joy. Plenty of times when we are at odds with people we lose our joy; how much more when we are at odds with God!

The other request David makes is for wisdom (verse 6). There are many reasons we should ask for wisdom (which I won’t list here), but after you have done wrong the most obvious prayer for wisdom is that you won’t do it again. What is wisdom? The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 9:10). If we feared God more wouldn’t we sin less? I don't know about you, but I would!

Christ has died for our sins so that we can be forgiven forever. Be joyful!

But also pray for wisdom. 

Romans 6:12 ¶ Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 

Romans 6:13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 

Romans 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. 

How are we serving?

THIS PICTURE

Has nothing to do with the following post. 

It is titled "Sam the Ham."

Well, the original idea for the blog was that we could also post some stuff that we are doing to serve. So I am. 

Currently, we are working on an Easter cantata, which will be performed next week. I'm playing in the orchestra, and Megan is singing in the choir. This is keeping us quite busy, practicing separately at home and together with the rest of the choir and orchestra at church. The cantata is called "Once Upon a Tree", and is based around Luke telling the story of Jesus' last week on earth as he writes it down in his gospel.

Psalm 119

Since the Bible Bee started Sarah and I have memorized quite a few verses from Psalm 119, and it has seemed like there is some reference to God's word in every single verse. So today, partly out of curiosity and partly because I was having a hard time coming up with a blog post, I looked up how many times Psalm 119 refers to God's word. Here's what I found: (this is in the NKJV. In other translations it may vary)

1. Ordinances: 2
2. Judgments:19
3. Precepts:21
4. Commandments:22
5. Statutes:22
6. Testimonies:23
7. Law: 25
8. Word: 41

True, Psalm 119 has 176 verses. But, out of those 176 it mentions God's word 175 times.
I have done a lot of memorizing Scripture in the last few years, and it is stimulating to read a bunch of verses like these that remind me why I should put so much effort into memorizing and studying the Bible.
The Bible is worth studying (Psalms 119:15 I will meditate on Your precepts,And contemplate Your ways.) The Bible is worth memorizing (Psalms 119:16 I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.)The Bible is worth standing up for  (Psalms 119:46 I will speak of Your testimonies also before kings, And will not be ashamed.) The Bible is worth loving: (Psalms 119:47 And I will delight myself in Your commandments, Which I love.)The Bible is comforting and life giving (Psalms 119:50 This is my comfort in my affliction,For Your word has given me life.)The Bible is valuable: (Psalms 119:72 The law of Your mouth is better to me Than thousands of coins of gold and silver.)The Bible is light: (Psalms 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.)The Bible is pure (Psalms 119:140 Your word is very pure; Therefore Your servant loves it.)

The Bible is true and everlasting! (Psalms 119:160 The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.)

Enter: The Law

Paul’s argument in chapter two is building off the premise laid in chapter one: man’s innate depravity. Because of this universal sinfulness, he says, those who judge are inexcusable (also pretty illogical and ridiculous.) He highlights the folly of these “judges” with a couple questions: Do you think you will escape the judgement of God that you are calling down on others? Do you despise God because he’s been so patient? In the next verse he answers the questions. They won’t escape God’s judgement; because of their stubbornness they merit God’s wrath, and they’ll get it!

Now that Paul has established the concept of judgement, he introduces a new term that will dominate the literary scene for the next few chapters: the law. “For”, says Paul, “as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law, in the day when God will judge the secrets of men.” (The “for” refers to his statement in verse 11: “there is no partiality with God.” [If that sentence of Paul’s seems convoluted, consider that I’ve taken out three verses of parenthetical observations, and a couple prepositional phrases to avoid clouding the main point of the sentence.])

So, the law is a criterion for judgement. His readers would have been familiar with the content of the law, (such as the ten commandments, which are alluded to in verses 21-22) as well as the concept that they would be judged by their adherence or lack thereof to it’s ordinances. But Paul is quick to point out that even with the law, people still sin: “You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law?”  He also reiterates a point he made earlier: head knowledge is not enough to avert judgement. It is fascinating to see Paul’s argument building:

1. Man is depraved
2. Judgement exists
3. For those under the law, judgment is according to the law
4. Outward Judaism no longer matters

Now Paul is ready to continue on to what replaces the “letter of the law” in chapter 3.

1Cor. 16:23-24 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen. 

Balaam's Donkey

As I have been reading through my Bible after plowing through Leviticus I am now in Numbers. What's so exciting about Numbers? In Numbers is one of my favorite Bible tales: Balaam's donkey.

You all know how the story goes.
Introduction: Balak has sent for Balaam, a man of God, to curse the children of Israel. The first time Balaam is asked he refuses because God told him not to go. The second time, when the princes sent as messengers offer Balaam all sorts of "honor" (money and prestige) Balaam asks God "are you sure?" and God says "all right, all right. You can go, but you won't be able to curse them unless I say so". (paraphrased)

Numbers 22:21 So Balaam rose in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab. 

Numbers 22:22 ¶ Then God’s anger was aroused because he went, and the Angel of the LORD took His stand in the way as an adversary against him. And he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. 

Numbers 22:23 Now the donkey saw the Angel of the LORD standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand, and the donkey turned aside out of the way and went into the field. So Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back onto the road. 

Numbers 22:24 Then the Angel of the LORD stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on this side and a wall on that side. 

Numbers 22:25 And when the donkey saw the Angel of the LORD, she pushed herself against the wall and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall; so he struck her again. 

Numbers 22:26 Then the Angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. 

Numbers 22:27 And when the donkey saw the Angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam; so Balaam’s anger was aroused, and he struck the donkey with his staff. 

Numbers 22:28 ¶ Then the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” 

Numbers 22:29 ¶ And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have abused me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!” 

Numbers 22:30 ¶ So the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?” ¶ And he said, “No.” 

Numbers 22:31 ¶ Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the Angel of the LORD standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand; and he bowed his head and fell flat on his face. 

Numbers 22:32 And the Angel of the LORD said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your way is perverse before Me. 

Numbers 22:33 The donkey saw Me and turned aside from Me these three times. If she had not turned aside from Me, surely I would also have killed you by now, and let her live.” 

Numbers 22:34 ¶ And Balaam said to the Angel of the LORD, “I have sinned, for I did not know You stood in the way against me. Now therefore, if it displeases You, I will turn back.” 

Numbers 22:35 ¶ Then the Angel of the LORD said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but only the word that I speak to you, that you shall speak.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak. 

 After Balaam had tried to curse the children of Israel for Balak three times and had only succeeded in blessing them, they (the king and Balaam) finally gave up. We can infer from later passages in Scripture that next Balaam recommended to Balak that if he wanted them to be cursed he would have to tempt them to sin against God. Unfortunately, this plan worked:
Revelation 2:14 But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.
What many people don't know is the interesting conclusion to this narrative:
Numbers 31:8 They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of those who were killed—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. Balaam the son of Beor they also killed with the sword.
 One question in particular has occurred to me while reading the account of Balaam and his donkey: How did Moses hear this story?
Did God tell him?
Balaam? 
Or maybe the donkey?

Romans 1 (I may or may not come up with a creative title for some of these Roman posts.)

Well, I’m a bit late for this post, because our family was on vacation last week, but here we are at last. 

Romans chapter one is divided (in my head, at least) into three sections. First there is the introduction, then the purpose for writing and finally what I like to call the beginning of the argument. Most of Paul’s letter have fairly similar introductions (greetings etc.), so I’m focusing on the other two sections.

The purpose for writing is very clearly stated in verses 16 and 17. Paraphrased, these verses read: “The gospel of Christ is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes; in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.” (I took out some phrases to emphasize why Paul is writing.) In these verses, we see several characteristics of the gospel.

- It is the power of God

- It is for everyone who believes

- It reveals the righteousness of God

- It requires faith

There are more things that can be learned about the gospel from these two verses--especially if they are taken in their entirety--but this is enough to see how the whole argument of Romans is based on Paul’s desire to explain the gospel. (I’m not attempting an exhaustive exegesis, so I warn you now that I may leave things out of my lists, and I’ve no intention of apologizing for it every time. Now you know.)

Now that the preliminaries are taken care of, Paul really begins his argument in verse 18. If I had to come up with a title for verses 18-32 I would call it “The Depravity of Man”. Many arguments for Christianity start by presenting this fundamental belief, and it is an especially natural starting place for Paul with his extensive background in Judaism and the law (which we’ll get into more [maybe] in chapter 2). Paul loves to overwhelm the reader as he does here with crushing lists of the attributes of sinners, but a few salient points stand out in this section:

• God is angry with the unrighteous (v. 18)
• They should know better (19-20)
• God gave them up to their sinfulness (24-32)

This sets the stage for further developments in chapter two, but we’ll get to that in a couple weeks. 

Rom. 16:27: To God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. 

Preface to 2 Timothy

No, I am not starting a series like Sarah. This is just some context that many people don't know before reading 2 Timothy, so they treat it like the rest of the Pauline epistles. When you are done reading this, I expect you to read 2 Timothy for yourself.

In c. 67 AD Paul was in a dark, damp, smelly hole in Rome, by the name of the Mamertine Prison, awaiting his execution. Some of his friends were showing their devotion and love now more than ever. Onesiphorus was one: he came to Rome and sought Paul out zealously (which was potentially very dangerous to himself) just to serve him. Luke was with him, and there were many that Paul himself had sent away to strengthen various churches. There were others, however, who had caused Paul much grief: either by becoming false teachers, like Hymenaeus and Philetus, or by simply deserting like Phygellus, Hermogenes and even Demas who he had discipled himself. The worst part was that it wasn’t only Paul they deserted. They were also deserting the faith and Christ Himself. Another thing that weighed heavily on Paul’s mind was his fear that Timothy, his son in the Lord, would be intimidated by the persecutions and false teachers and might compromise. Paul wanted Timothy to lead the church after his death and to stand firm on God’s word.  He wanted to see Timothy before the end and implores him to come to Rome, but the journey will take time and Paul doesn’t know how much time he has. So, just in case Timothy doesn’t make it in time, Paul writes him a letter with some last minute, God-inspired instructions: The second Epistle of Paul the Apostle to Timothy.

Now go read it!

Romans: A Preamble

Romans is an amazing book. The rich depth of theology it contains, often conveniently condensed into one or two memorable verses, makes it a favorite source for arguing many doctrinal issues. A lot of people, however, have a very superficial understanding of this great book. They may be able to recite the “Romans road”, and have heard plenty of sermons out of Romans, without really grasping the over-arching sweep of it. I fall somewhere into this category myself, but intend to change that over the next few months. 

The way I plan to remedy this deficiency is to memorize the whole book. There is something about the process of actually memorizing something that helps your brain understand things that at first glance seem confusing. Also, memorizing Romans brings famous verses like 3:23 and 6:23 into context--which often adds layers of meaning that may have been previously overlooked. Finally, memorization is the best way I have found for myself to really comprehend how all the pieces of a book in the Bible work together to form one cohesive whole. 

Why is all this going onto our blog? Well, when it comes to the Bible, memorization could be considered the ultimate form of reading--therefore it fits quite well under the theme of the blog. The other reason is as an introduction to the rest of the series. As I memorize Romans, I am going to write about each chapter, to help fix the outline firmly in my head: summarizing things, any thoughts that the text brings up, how each section fits into the rest of the book, et cetera. Hopefully, this will be encouraging to you, as well as help me memorize Romans. 

As Paul would say,

Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all...The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. 
(2 Thessalonians 3:16,18)

Jonah and Swimming

As I have been working on memorizing Jonah chapter two (Jonah's prayer in the belly of the fish after being thrown out of the ship by the mariners), I am strongly reminded of my own experiences in learning how to swim. It may seem implausible at first, but especially if one does not look back with fondness on learning to swim, the parallels are quite striking.

For instance:

Verse 3: For You cast me into the deep, (the swim teacher pushes me in)

Into the heart of the seas, (the 4 ft. end of the lap pool)

And the floods surrounded me; (another student passes me, splashing with unnecessary vigor)

All Your billows and Your waves passed over me. (and another)

Verse 5: The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; The deep closed around me; (now I'm 6 feet deep; couldn't touch bottom if I tried)

Verse 6a: I went down to the mooring of the mountains (diving for the orange cone)

Verse 6c: Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD, my God. (making it to the surface)

Verse 7: When my soul fainted within me, (first time without a kickboard)

I remembered the LORD; (Maybe praying would help)

And my prayer went up to You, Into Your holy temple. (God, please help me not to drown!)

Verse 8: Those who regard worthless idols (swimming trophies) 

Forsake their own Mercy.

Verse 10: So the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. (Substitute "teacher" for "fish" and "let" for "vomited.")

Now remember, God made you special, and He loves you very much. Goodbye!

What's in a Name?

One of the many things I love about the Bible is the fact that the people in it act like real people. They aren’t idealized, perfect, hazy-haloed saints. One manifestation of this that I’ve been noticing in my reading lately is their choice of names. An example I especially notice is in Genesis 29-30: Jacob’s kids. The twelve tribes. Some of the most often repeated names in the Bible. Were these names carefully selected with a view to impressing posterity? Unfortunately not. Leah and Rachel got into a bit of competition over who had more kids, and they were so wrapped up in it that even the names reflect their wrestling. Every time I read this story it cracks me up, as I keep a running commentary going in my head:
Reuben: “See! A son!” (How’s that for straight forward?)
Simeon: “God has heard” (She thinks God is sorry for her, because she is unloved.)
Levi: “Attached” (Jacob will be attached to her.)
Judah: “Praise” (She is happy she has so many sons.)
Now Rachel starts to get jealous and unreasonable, so she gives her maid to Jacob to have children for her. This is where the competition becomes evident.
Dan: “God has judged” (Between her and her sister.)
Naphtali: “wrestlings” (She says she has wrestled with her sister and prevailed. Her attitude is pretty plain, but I would say her math could use some help. Leah’s four kids verses her two...I’d say Leah is still prevailing.)
Now Leah gets busy again.
Gad: “A Troop Comes” (Now she’s thinking ahead!)
Asher: “Happy One” (Meaning herself, because she has so many sons.)
Issachar: “Wages” (She basically bribes Rachel to make Jacob sleep with her.)
Zebulun: “Dwell” (She thinks Jacob will dwell with her.)
Finally, Rachel has a son. This name is the funniest of all.
Joseph: “God will add another son” (How’s that for cheek? As though she can tell God what to do!)
That’s basically the end of the quarrel in stalemate; both sides think they won (by the time Benjamin comes along, Rachel has other troubles to think about). This little spat between sisters can be easily overlooked in the grand sweep Genesis, but if you take time to notice it, it adds colouring to the rest of the story of the tribes and their struggles, to remember that there has been tension between them since before their forefathers were born. 

Introduction

The Purpose:

This blog was created to give us a place to share our thoughts about where we are reading in the Scriptures and how we are serving the Lord. 

The People:

Who are we? We are Sarah and Margaret Eddy, pastor’s kids and slightly Bible crazy. We love reading, studying and memorizing the Bible, spending time with our eight siblings, and we occasionally revel in employing protracted locution (interpretation: we like using big words).

Disclaimer: If you have never laughed out loud while reading your Bible, some of our posts may surprise you. If you would consider it disrespectful to laugh while reading your Bible, you probably shouldn’t read this blog.