Meditate on it

In the midst of the years make known, make thyself known, for now verily thou art a God that hidest thyself (Isa_45:15),

A very basic place to collect scriptures related to church leadership that I hope to get back to someday: Acts 13:1   A church had been formed in Antioch, as we learned in chapter 11. Instead of having one man designated as the minister or pastor, this assembly had a plurality of gifts. Specifically, there were at least five prophets and teachers.  -BBC

Historically, Habakkuk is a mysterious figure, little to nothing is known of him. Scholars are iffy about his home town, profession, parents, or tribe. To help flesh the background of Habakkuk out, here is an excerpt from Bible.org: "Because the book of Habbakuk consists of five oracles about the Chaldeans (Babylonians), and the Chaldean rise to power is dated circa 612 BCE, it is assumed he was active about that time, making him an early contemporary of Jeremiah and Zephaniah. Jewish sources, however, do not group him with those two prophets, who are often placed together, so it is possible that he was slightly earlier than they. Because the final chapter of his book is a song, it is sometimes assumed that he was a member of the tribe of Levi, which served as musicians in Solomon's Temple." "The name "Chaldeans" derives from the ruling class that lived in southern Mesopotamia and took leadership in the Neo-Babylonian Empire. The last and greatest dyna

King Nabopolassar of Babylon in 612 BC leads his troops out of the Ishtar Gate to join King Cyaxeres of Media in an attack against the Assyrians. http://joseph_berrigan.tripod.com Nahum--an obscure book? I don't recall any verses from it. I'm not sure how to say his name correctly, but here we go. Background: Chronologically he's between Micah and Habakkuk. He prophesied at the end of the Assyrian empire about Nineveh, its capital. His name means "comforter," and he's described as a "nationalistic Hebrew" by Wikipedia. Also, it notes that his tomb is in disrepair and is currently undergoing efforts to save/restore it. The book talks about the destruction of Ninevah, a city founded by Nimrod with a long history. Both Jonah and Nahum prophesied to this city which was destroyed in 612 by the Babylonians, Medes, and Scythians. The city was under seige until a flood of the Khosr River broke down part of the wall that ran through the city.

Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression  of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever,  because he delighteth in mercy. -Micah 7:18 Truthfully, I wish I had a better track record understanding the minor prophets--can't tell whether it's the subject matter (woe), the obscure history, or genre of prophecy itself that puts me off so, but I find that I brace myself when approaching them. The first layer of understanding Micah is as basic as trying to figure out where Philistia was and who was conquering whom. It sounds simple enough, but these things are not part of my collective knowledge of history. Assyria was invading. Interesting comment on Philistia here: The name in Hebrew is "Peleshet" and means "land of immigrants or invaders". It comes from the Semitic word "plisha", meaning "invader". Philistia was the coastal plain where the Philistines lived after inv

I  have a small confession to share: I've never done well with verses like the one above. For better or worse, I resist the idea of having to "whip up" joy about something upon demand--even something as good and excellent as God.  Is that pride in my heart? Shortsighted balking that I was not the originator of the emotion or idea?  Perhaps... Perhaps it's the lack of context.  Perhaps it's the perky song that reverberates in the back of my mind when this verses is isolated within a song, and I feel that I must drum up joy. I don't like singing about something I don't FEEL necessarily at the moment...for me it causes too much disconnect between my mouth and my mind. I'm not even feeling harmonious at that point, never mind like rejoicing. Today is today.  It will have some high points.  It will have some low points.  I have seen enough grief to know that life is a vapor and to appreciate the value of today.  But rejoice?  This "rejo

"The LORD has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death." -Psalm 118:18 Discipline is not a popular idea in our culture. No one likes being disciplined, and as a parent, I was slightly surprised to learn from experience that it's no fun doing the discipline either. It's a necessary check to redirect, regroup, and reflect upon our behavior or decisions and who likes to be "re" anything? Our natural impulse is to do something, be done with it, then move on. We resist re-writing and revising our writing much as we do anything else. Yet, no one would contest that the revising is important--it's what makes the writing better. When we reread a passage, we inevitably understand it better and glean more from it. Discipline has these same elements---it makes you revisit decisions and behavior in light of new information or with the wisdom of an addition set of eyes. The children and I are also reading Hebrews where the author also re

"I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live." -Psalm 116:1-2 Spurgeon makes an excellent point here: we are prone to love the unworthy, those who wrong us or will betray us, those who may love us for shallow reasons or because we are useful or valuable to them in some capacity. "The Psalmist not only knows that he loves God, but he knows why he does so. When love can justify itself with a reason, it is deep, strong, and abiding. They say that love is blind; but when we love God our affection has its eyes open and can sustain itself with the most rigid logic."  -Spurgeon, Treasury of David In contrast, our love for the Lord is different; it erupts as a proper response to Him first loving us: "We love because he first loved us." 1 John 4:19 Human love is more like this---high on lofty emotion, romantic, but fickle in the end. His love is superi

Walter Hancock, The Garden of Gethsemani  (bronze, 1965–66),  The Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani , Bardstown, Kentucky I had forgotten the detailed and brutal depiction of the crucifixion via Matthew 27--so full of specific imagery, mockery, betrayal, and the oddly passive attitude of Christ toward the events as they unfold. Jesus was such an odd mix of unabashed confrontation (throwing over tables in the temple and verbally flaying the Pharisees right to their faces) and unnatural passivity (his attitude during the trial in particular).   Because he knew exactly what was in the heart of man (John 2:24-25), he was never taken by surprise. Sadly, he knew the depths to which we could sink. Pilate Washing His Hands by He Qi, China One of the most convincing pieces of the evidence for His resurrection for me is the heart and life change of the disciples AFTER the crucifixion.  They are such a cowardly and unresolved bunch here and in Matthew 26--they can't stay