Sunday Salon Week In Review (July 5 - July 11)

Finished 1 Samuel in ESV Study Bible.
Began 2 Samuel in ESV Study Bible. (Read 2 Samuel chapter one).

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

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Question of the Week #27

Welcome to the twenty-seventh edition of the Question of the Week.

What do you think is the best starting place for those that are new to reading the Bible or for those wanting to get reacquainted with the Word?

My answer---
I recommend the gospel of John.


© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

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Sunday Salon (Week in Review June 28 - July 4)

In the ESV Study Bible, I read 1 Samuel 1 through 14.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

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Question of the Week #26

Welcome to the twenty-sixth edition of the Question of the Week. We're about at the halfway point of the year. So my question this week is a reflective one. Use this as a springboard for discussing whatever you'd like. You don't have to stick to these questions specifically.

How is your Bible reading going? Are you meeting the goals you set earlier in the year? If you chose to go with a Bible reading plan, how is that going for you? Are you sticking with it? Have you experienced any setbacks along the way? Have you made Bible-reading a habit, a discipline? What have you learned along the way? Do you have any words of wisdom you'd like to share?

My answers----------------

I note my Bible reading progress every Sunday in my Sunday Salon/Week In Review post. I also have progress-posts (see above) for each Bible. (For example, ESV Study Bible) I have completed the Wycliffe New Testament and the Tyndale New Testament. And I've read Genesis through Ruth in the ESV Study Bible (also Job).

That's sidestepping the question a teeny bit perhaps. I have incorporated Bible-reading into my daily life. It's become a natural part of my life now--part of my routine. So on the one hand, it's not something that I brush aside and make excuses for anymore. I don't have time. I'm too busy. Missing one day won't matter. I'm too stressed. I'll just double up tomorrow. I'll catch up on the weekend. Excuses are so easy to make. And I think it's human nature to make excuses.

So I'm pleased I've been able to make a lifestyle change. Believe me, a year ago, was not a pretty picture. Two years ago was tragic. Three years ago, I don't even want to think about. But it's a God thing, a grace thing. I don't take credit for it. Grace is so central to daily life. It keeps you grounded and keeps you alive.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

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Book Review: Love's Pursuit

Mitchell, Siri. 2009. Love's Pursuit. Bethany House. 329 pages.

Poor Puritans. They hardly ever get a good rep in fiction. In Love's Pursuit, readers meet a community of Puritans (Stoneybrooke Towne) living in Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1640s. More specifically we meet two sisters, Susannah and Mary Phillips. We also meet a woman who wears a cloak of invisibility. (Well, she wears her shame and humiliation as a cloak of invisibility.) Susannah is in love with a man, John Prescotte. But he hasn't proposed yet. And he may never get the chance.

Susannah is a beautiful young woman, and there are other men in town--including a visiting Captain (Daniel Holcombe)--that have noticed just how beautiful and wonderful she is. One of her would-be suitors is Simeon Wright a well-respected man in Stoneybrooke. A man who could have his pick of many of the young ladies in town. They all think he's swoon-worthy. Take for example Susannah's own sister, Mary. Mary thinks that Simeon Wright would make a fine husband...for herself. But when Simeon proposes to Susannah instead, then things begin to crumble for Susannah. She does not love Simeon. She loves John. She doesn't appreciate the fact that Mary is angry with her because he proposed to the 'wrong' sister. Susannah doesn't want to wear any blame there. She didn't "steal" him from her because she doesn't want him!

Despite the fact that her father did NOT consent to his proposal--accepting on his daughter's behalf--the Wrights have the banns published in church. An unfortunate event since John had just days before proposed to Susannah with the blessings of both families. But with the announcement that she's to marry Simeon being read publicly in the church assembly, John Prescotte withdraws his offer of marriage and shuns her. Since John is now refusing to marry her, what choice does Susannah have but to marry Simeon? Other than every bone in her body telling her that Simeon is the wrong man for her, that he is not a good man, period, she has no "logical" reason to refuse her father's request to marry Simeon. The captain sure has a few ideas of how to fix the matter. But will she listen to him? There are a few in town who could warn Susannah about Simeon. A few who could tell her that he is not what he seems. That beneath the surface, he's hiding some cruel tendencies. It's looking like they'll never be a happily ever after for Susannah...no matter what she decides.

I'm not sure I "liked" this one. The narration was first person. But here's the odd bit, it had multiple narrators. Each narrator spoke in the first person. And there was no clear separation marking who was speaking. I think if this had been indicated somehow (it is possible, I've seen other books do it) it would have been an easier read. Readers just have to piece together for themselves the narration the best they can. I do think it gets easier as it goes on. But those first few chapters are a bit rough because things are just beginning to unfold.

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I do think the book was a little harsh with the Puritan angle. Using the equation that Puritans are bad and evil meant that for our heroine to have any chance to be happy, she has to be outcast and shunned and cut off from her community.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

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Sunday Salon (Week in Review (June 21-27)

In the ESV Study Bible, I read all of Judges and all of Ruth.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

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Question of the Week #25

Welcome to the twenty-fifth edition of the Question of the Week! Please consider sending me your ideas for future questions :) I am SO VERY THANKFUL for the people who have done so!

Do you like to talk about the Bible with other people? Do you like to have biblical discussions? debates? arguments? passionate ramblings?

----------My answers------------

Yes and no. I can talk the Bible morning, noon, and night with my mom. These conversations are rarely planned, and are always enjoyable. (And no, we don't always agree.) And I enjoy talking about the Bible with a few other people in my life. But it's rare for me to do this with non-family members. Maybe because I'm shy (in person). Maybe I'm afraid of being misunderstood. Maybe because I know a lot of stubborn people. Maybe because I like to know where the other person is coming from. Maybe because I'm not one to confront anyone about anything. I'm opinionated. Always opinionated. But I'm not one to argue--calmly or not-so-calmly with "outsiders." Like if I disagree (often quite strongly) with my pastor's sermons (which is almost always the case) then I'm not one to approach, confront, or argue. I tend to think that putting someone on the defensive isn't the way to go about it. I'm not one to start a debate. (There are some exceptions to the rule. I might email the preacher privately if I feel righteously indignant and brave. But 98% of the time, I let it go.)

One new-to-me game that you might want to try for yourself is a Bible-focused game of Twenty Questions. When the electricity went out a few weeks ago, mom, dad, and I played this game for about two hours. (We were left without power a little over fifteen hours.) One person would think of something from the Bible (a person, a place, an object or "thing", an animal, etc.) and the others would ask questions. The questions have to be something with yes/no answers. And whoever guessed right got to pick next. Some took a lot more than twenty questions, but we weren't counting :) This game gave everyone a chance to be clever. One of mom's was "peacock." And that one had us guessing forever. And dad was clever and did "furnace" once. Anyway, it was a fun game considering.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

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