It's been raining. It's cold in this house. We have been napping this weekend. Now I'm up and just had a short quiet time.
I am using an Episcopalian daily lectionary included in a Lenten pamphlet sent me by a seminary. All the comments on the lectionary are done by seminary students. It's pretty good.
I have not used an Episcopal lectionary in several years. The Scripture Union daily readings I usually use just go through Bible books, usually alternating with Old Testament then New Testament. But I lost my quarterly book. I could use an email I get of the daily readings.
The Episcopal lectionary consists of an OT section, a NT section, a gospel section, and psalms. There are morning psalms and evening psalms and if you read them all you would read all the psalms every 3o days. Something like that.
So today I read psalms 23 and 27: The Lord is my shepherd and the Lord is my light and my salvation. As I morbidly think of death and mortality I am encouraged by the passage in 23 "though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will not fear because Thou God is with me." That speaks right to my brooding though it does not entirely relieve me. Death is real and serious. I will not be relieved of it.
The gospel, which the seminary student commented on, was Mark 5:1-20, the story of the Gerasene demoniac. God chose to heal this man, before he even asked. Then interestingly he talked to the demon(s) and allowed him a sort of compromise. What good it did the demons to live in drowned pigs I do not know. Perhaps the demons did not think about the reaction of the pigs when they entered them. The pigs went wild, but not in the way a human would.
But Jesus cared for this man. He did not seem to care about the reaction of the more "sane" in the region when their whole world was disrupted so wildly. The man they could count on to be wild was now clothed and sane. And a fortune in pigs was destroyed instead. They would probably have preferred things to stay as they had been.
I finished my quiet time by getting my Greek-English Bible and working through the Greek with of course lots of help from the English translation on the opposite page. That was interesting and helpful. There was at least one word play where the same word is used to refer to Jesus and to the healed man. I find it interesting that Mark refers to him as the demoniac even after he is healed. Perhaps that is a reflection on how the people of the region referred to him. Perhaps he would always be referred to as the "man with the evil spirit".
Jesus instructed him to stay there and tell everyone (evangelize) about the great thing the Lord had done for him and his mercy to him. That last part is probably what kept him from protesting. He knew that he had received a great mercy and that this would be his way of giving back to Jesus for what he had done.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Monday, March 5, 2012
blog
I read some psalms this morning. Nothing grabbed me you know?
Some famous sayings from psalms 56-57:
This I know, that God is for me.
In God have I put my trust, I will not be afraid; what can man do unto me?
Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth.
Awake, my glory; awake, lute and harp: I will wake the dawn.
I will give thee thanks among the peoples, O Lord; of thee will I sing psalms among the nations: For thy loving-kindness is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. Be exalted above the heavens, O God; let thy glory be above all the earth!
Some famous sayings from psalms 56-57:
This I know, that God is for me.
In God have I put my trust, I will not be afraid; what can man do unto me?
Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth.
Awake, my glory; awake, lute and harp: I will wake the dawn.
I will give thee thanks among the peoples, O Lord; of thee will I sing psalms among the nations: For thy loving-kindness is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. Be exalted above the heavens, O God; let thy glory be above all the earth!
Sunday
DW and DD2 are back Celebration Annual Conference up by the airport. They had an exciting time. I am hearing about it right now.
This is my baseball weekend, three college games from top notch teams Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Each team got tree games with non-conference teams. It's not quite a round robin, almost. I got in 1 1/2 games Friday and Saturday and 2 1/2 games today.
Rice lost to Texas Friday then won the next two days. Texas by contrast lost the next two days to Tennessee and Arkansas. I think Texas no longer thinks of Arkansas as a big rival, they don't play enough anymore. Rice is their big in state non-conference rival. Texas is now 4-9 I think now.
Houston won the last two days, well they won twice. They do have good pitching.
I went to Brighton by myself this morning and gave the message. It went well I think. I spent more time listening to God this time. I made at least three fairly long sessions this week to plan the sermon. As I presented the message I could see there were some disconnects that I had to cover extemporaneously. Those parts may not have been as good.
I left the day long game session to sing at SJD. That was fun and went well. So I made two services but I did not make it to my home church service. DW and DD2 were not happy that I missed. I was supposed to help with communion at Vineyard but DW and DD2 covered it just fine.
All and all a good day. Praise God!!
This is my baseball weekend, three college games from top notch teams Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Each team got tree games with non-conference teams. It's not quite a round robin, almost. I got in 1 1/2 games Friday and Saturday and 2 1/2 games today.
Rice lost to Texas Friday then won the next two days. Texas by contrast lost the next two days to Tennessee and Arkansas. I think Texas no longer thinks of Arkansas as a big rival, they don't play enough anymore. Rice is their big in state non-conference rival. Texas is now 4-9 I think now.
Houston won the last two days, well they won twice. They do have good pitching.
I went to Brighton by myself this morning and gave the message. It went well I think. I spent more time listening to God this time. I made at least three fairly long sessions this week to plan the sermon. As I presented the message I could see there were some disconnects that I had to cover extemporaneously. Those parts may not have been as good.
I left the day long game session to sing at SJD. That was fun and went well. So I made two services but I did not make it to my home church service. DW and DD2 were not happy that I missed. I was supposed to help with communion at Vineyard but DW and DD2 covered it just fine.
All and all a good day. Praise God!!
Friday, March 2, 2012
Lenten fast
This seems a different topic, slightly any way. You get two blogs today.
Ash Wednesday was a week ago. I decided to give up caffeine for Lent. I have not done a "fast" in a while. This is mostly a small discipline. I don't miss caffeine but I eat and drink it a lot. I don't really think caffeine is bad for you. I just need a small disciple because I am very bad at fasts.
I'm not sure what I expected, nothing really. But God has blessed my puny effort I think. I think it is because of this that I am encouraged to work on other small disciplines (that add up). I think they especially add up in God's eyes who truly loves me (us) very much and wants to encourage any sign of spiritual life.
Yes God has blessed me by giving me the wisdom to give up my Facebook games. I am just not going to be ruled by them. I have found things I need to do are being pushed aside. I may come to them occasionally but I am not going to worry about game deadlines.
I am not giving up Evony, my online mostly text war game. But I have installed a "bot" to help me with all the pressure of keeping my imaginary troops fed.
Anyway I praise God for giving me a blessing from my very little effort at fasting.
Ash Wednesday was a week ago. I decided to give up caffeine for Lent. I have not done a "fast" in a while. This is mostly a small discipline. I don't miss caffeine but I eat and drink it a lot. I don't really think caffeine is bad for you. I just need a small disciple because I am very bad at fasts.
I'm not sure what I expected, nothing really. But God has blessed my puny effort I think. I think it is because of this that I am encouraged to work on other small disciplines (that add up). I think they especially add up in God's eyes who truly loves me (us) very much and wants to encourage any sign of spiritual life.
Yes God has blessed me by giving me the wisdom to give up my Facebook games. I am just not going to be ruled by them. I have found things I need to do are being pushed aside. I may come to them occasionally but I am not going to worry about game deadlines.
I am not giving up Evony, my online mostly text war game. But I have installed a "bot" to help me with all the pressure of keeping my imaginary troops fed.
Anyway I praise God for giving me a blessing from my very little effort at fasting.
news
I am sorry I do not blog more.
Spring is coming to Houston. We have put in some peppers and tomatoes from our local feed store. I trust they pick better varieties than the box store.
We got two avocado trees from the county fruit tree sale. We have not put them in yet. Busy. Busy.
I did find time to do some beekeeping. The hive has been pretty neglected. It looks awful. Thursday morning before work I donned the bee suit and fired up the smoker and got in to do a full check and clean. To my surprise the hive looked wonderful and it was full of honey. I figured the queen had not started her spring build up so there would be less bees to bother me (and the neighbors). I was right. But I got a bonus of three shallow boxes full of honey. I took them off and placed them covered in the garage. Now I need to allocate time to extract this. I've got approximately 6 gallons (72 pounds) of honey here. The top looked like light spring honey. Could it be citrus? I want to extract it separately to find out. I am excited.
As I mentioned spring has come to Houston. I noticed local citrus trees are blooming in abundance and setting fruit. It looks to be a good year. Azaleas are in bloom all over town.
Barbara trimmed the roses as is her tradition last week, after Valentines. They are blooming as are the white abelias.
Spring is coming to Houston. We have put in some peppers and tomatoes from our local feed store. I trust they pick better varieties than the box store.
We got two avocado trees from the county fruit tree sale. We have not put them in yet. Busy. Busy.
I did find time to do some beekeeping. The hive has been pretty neglected. It looks awful. Thursday morning before work I donned the bee suit and fired up the smoker and got in to do a full check and clean. To my surprise the hive looked wonderful and it was full of honey. I figured the queen had not started her spring build up so there would be less bees to bother me (and the neighbors). I was right. But I got a bonus of three shallow boxes full of honey. I took them off and placed them covered in the garage. Now I need to allocate time to extract this. I've got approximately 6 gallons (72 pounds) of honey here. The top looked like light spring honey. Could it be citrus? I want to extract it separately to find out. I am excited.
As I mentioned spring has come to Houston. I noticed local citrus trees are blooming in abundance and setting fruit. It looks to be a good year. Azaleas are in bloom all over town.
Barbara trimmed the roses as is her tradition last week, after Valentines. They are blooming as are the white abelias.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Romans 3
Paul asserts that those who follow the law or do good will be as if they had a physical operation. In God's eyes it will be as if they were circumcised. God will bless them and save them.
I am greatly moved by Romans 3:5 "If some do not believe, that will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it?"
The question is rhetorical, the answered is assumed "No!" But at heart some think the answer is yes. Why else all the concern for those who, by choice, decide not to be saved?
The whole reformed theology is based on developing a satisfactory answer to why some are not saved. Or to answer it from their perspective, why God does not save some people.
People have been tempted to doubt God's faithfulness because some choose not to believe. How can they choose not to believe in the God of the universe unless there is something wrong with God?
I have heard a lot of people express a distaste for God. "I will not accept God because he did such and such." or "He commanded people to do such and such." Paul is slowly developing the argument that no one is innocent and no one has an excuse. All know what is right, yet do not do right. All know God exists and can tell his nature from the whole he created. Yet they reject him.
Paul is speaking to the Jews here in 3:5. The Jews did not accept Jesus and thus were rejected, as a group, by God. Fortunately God has accepted the individuals who have chosen to accept his savior.
But is it God's fault that the Jews rejected him? Does it negate God's faithfulness to the Israelites over the centuries? No! God remains faithful today.
I am greatly moved by Romans 3:5 "If some do not believe, that will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it?"
The question is rhetorical, the answered is assumed "No!" But at heart some think the answer is yes. Why else all the concern for those who, by choice, decide not to be saved?
The whole reformed theology is based on developing a satisfactory answer to why some are not saved. Or to answer it from their perspective, why God does not save some people.
People have been tempted to doubt God's faithfulness because some choose not to believe. How can they choose not to believe in the God of the universe unless there is something wrong with God?
I have heard a lot of people express a distaste for God. "I will not accept God because he did such and such." or "He commanded people to do such and such." Paul is slowly developing the argument that no one is innocent and no one has an excuse. All know what is right, yet do not do right. All know God exists and can tell his nature from the whole he created. Yet they reject him.
Paul is speaking to the Jews here in 3:5. The Jews did not accept Jesus and thus were rejected, as a group, by God. Fortunately God has accepted the individuals who have chosen to accept his savior.
But is it God's fault that the Jews rejected him? Does it negate God's faithfulness to the Israelites over the centuries? No! God remains faithful today.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Psalm 71 - prayer of an old man for deliverance
That's what the title of this psalm is in my Bible. It would not be in the original. I wonder if this title is totally correct. It depends on one, maybe two verses in the psalm. In verse the psalmist says, "even when I am old" (18). He may be planning long term.
I am going to claim verse verse 24, "They are ashamed who seek my hurt." I do not want their death. But I do want their plans confounded and for them to turn back on them. I want their evil exposed for all to see.
There are people who will take advantage of old people. Lord be my strength and my guide as we go old. We older people do not like admitting that we are slower, weaker, and having less stamina. Yet we are. To not admit it may make us more susceptible to those who would take advantage of us.
This psalm is mainly about glorifying God. He deserves it. I do well and find myself closer to wisdom and truth when I continually praise my God. I have been praying more in tongues lately after a sermon encouraging it. Obviously I do not know what I am saying but I suspect I am glorifying God.
"You God are my hope, you are my confidence from my youth." (5)
The psalmist seems to be in definite trouble (1-2). But he continues to praise God even when feeling worried. He has seem past deliverance. (7) He praises God for those deliverances.
I am going to claim verse verse 24, "They are ashamed who seek my hurt." I do not want their death. But I do want their plans confounded and for them to turn back on them. I want their evil exposed for all to see.
There are people who will take advantage of old people. Lord be my strength and my guide as we go old. We older people do not like admitting that we are slower, weaker, and having less stamina. Yet we are. To not admit it may make us more susceptible to those who would take advantage of us.
This psalm is mainly about glorifying God. He deserves it. I do well and find myself closer to wisdom and truth when I continually praise my God. I have been praying more in tongues lately after a sermon encouraging it. Obviously I do not know what I am saying but I suspect I am glorifying God.
"You God are my hope, you are my confidence from my youth." (5)
The psalmist seems to be in definite trouble (1-2). But he continues to praise God even when feeling worried. He has seem past deliverance. (7) He praises God for those deliverances.
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