Tuesday, November 5, 2024
54. The Coming Golden Age
Sunday, November 3, 2024
53. In the Lord I Take Refuge
52. The Seaside Homecoming
Sunday Salon #44
- Psalms 73-150
- Proverbs
- Ecclesiastes
- Song of Solomon
- 2 Chronicles 10-36
- Ezra
- Nehemiah
- Esther
- Job
- Joshua
- Isaiah 40-66
- Hebrews
- Jeremiah 1-39
- Psalm 18-150
Monday, October 28, 2024
51. Waiting for Christmas
50. Toxic Empathy: How Progressives Exploit Christian Compassion
- Abortion is health care
- Trans women are women
- Love is Love
- No human is illegal
- Social justice is justice
Sunday, October 27, 2024
Sunday Salon #43
- Job 8-42
- Psalms 1-72
- Philippians
- Colossians
- 1 Thessalonians
- 2 Thessalonians
- 1 Timothy
- 2 Timothy
- Titus
- Philemon
- Hebrews
- James
- 1 Peter
- 2 Peter
- 1 John
- 2 John
- 3 John
- Jude
- Revelation
- Deuteronomy 12-34
- Joshua
- Judges
- Ruth
- 1 Samuel
- 2 Samuel
- Psalms 1-17
- Nehemiah
- Esther
- Job
- Song of Songs
- Isaiah 1-39
- Matthew 13-28
- James
- Song of Solomon
- Daniel
- Hosea
- Joel
- Amos
- Obadiah
- Jonah
- Micah
- Nahum
- Habakkuk
- Zephaniah
- Haggai
- Zechariah
- Malachi
- 1 Chronicles
- 2 Chronicles 1-9
Wednesday, October 23, 2024
23. LSB (Legacy Standard Bible) Giant Print Reference
Sunday, October 20, 2024
Sunday Salon #42
- 1 Chronicles 10-29
- 2 Chronicles
- Ezra
- Nehemiah
- Esther
- Job 1-7
- Colossians
- 1 Thessalonians
- 2 Thessalonians
- 1 Timothy
- 2 Timothy
- Titus
- Philemon
- Hebrews
- James
- 1 Peter
- 2 Peter
- 1 John
- 2 John
- 3 John
- Jude
- Revelation
- Exodus 11-40
- Leviticus
- Numbers
- Deuteronomy 1-11
- Acts
- Romans
- 1 Corinthians
- 2 Corinthians
- Galatians
- Ephesians
- Genesis 12-50
- Matthew 1-12
- 1 Chronicles
- 2 Chronicles
- Ezra
Friday, October 18, 2024
49. Trekking Toward Tenacity
- God Knows Us Intimately and Still Wants to Be Around Us
- God Is Paying Attention to Us
- God Sees Us
- God Knows Our Words
- God Is All Around and Within Us
- We Must Develop a Ritual of Gratitude
- We Cannot Escape God
- Darkness is Light to God
- God Knows Our Broken Parts and Still Loves Us
- We are Extraordinary
- God Knows All Our Days
- We Can Be Emotional
- We Can Pray Bravely
"God would rather break up the Trinity than walk away from us."
If we decide to allow Jesus to be the king of our lives and accept his sacrifice as our Savior, then we are gifted the righteousness of Jesus.Taking time to praise God for ourselves is a worthy exercise for two reasons. First, we develop a fresh gratitude for the goodness of God that's evident in our lives every single day, almost hidden in plain sight. Second, we gain a healthy appreciation of ourselves. Instead of focusing on all the things we don't do perfectly, we can see the things that work well, the things we perform well, and the things that are perfect.We are worth everything to him. We don't spend enough of our lives thinking about ourselves as God's masterpiece, and we don't coach our kids to do that either...If we can learn to live as God's masterpieces it will dramatically affect the way we view ourselves...we will sotp viewing ourselves as unfinished and will recognize that God knew what he was doing when he created us. We will no longer denigrate ourselves.God shows us off to the angels and whoever else will listen because he's that proud of us.If God were the type of God who interfered with free will, then we would have an entirely different world altogether. We would be automatons instead of human beings, the cross of Christ would have been unnecessary, and we would not know even the simple joys of choosing what outfit to wear today. There is no middle ground here. Either God honors free will or he doesn't, and both have consequences.Have you taken for granted the idea that God dwells in eternity and knows everything? How does the information in this chapter change your perspective on God?God has to learn what's in our hearts through what we do, and he sits back and allows our free will to lead the way.
Lord, You have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I get up;
You understand my thought from far away.
You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, Lord, You know it all.
You have encircled me behind and in front,
And placed Your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot comprehend it.Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
If I take up the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will take hold of me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”
Even darkness is not dark to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike to You.For You created my innermost parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
I will give thanks to You, because I am awesomely and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from You
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully formed in the depths of the earth;
Your eyes have seen my formless substance;
And in Your book were written
All the days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.How precious also are Your thoughts for me, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You.If only You would put the wicked to death, God;
Leave me, you men of bloodshed.
For they speak against You wickedly,
And Your enemies take Your name in vain.
Do I not hate those who hate You, Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
I hate them with the utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.Search me, God, and know my heart;
Put me to the test and know my anxious thoughts;
And see if there is any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.
48. Festival Days
Monday, October 14, 2024
22. KJV Center Column Reference
Sunday, October 13, 2024
Sunday Salon #41
- 2 Samuel 10-24
- 1 Kings
- 2 Kings
- 1 Chronicles 1-9
- John 12-21
- Acts
- Romans
- 1 Corinthians
- 2 Corinthians
- Galatians
- Ephesians
- Philippians
- Psalms 90-150
- Luke 11-24
- John
- Genesis 17-50
- Job
- Exodus 1-10
- Romans 12-16
- 1 Corinthians
- 2 Corinthians
- Galatians
- Ephesians
- Philippians
- Colossians
- 1 Thessalonians
- 2 Thessalonians
- 1 Timothy
- 2 Timothy
- Titus
- Philemon
- Hebrews
- James
- 1 Peter
- 2 Peter
- 1 John
- 2 John
- 3 John
- Jude
- Revelation
- Genesis 1-11
Saturday, October 12, 2024
21. CSB Baker Illustrated Study Bible
Wednesday, October 9, 2024
47. Strong Psalm 1
Sunday, October 6, 2024
Sunday Salon #40
- Joshua 6-24
- Judges
- Ruth
- 1 Samuel
- 2 Samuel 1-9
- Matthew 21-28
- Mark
- Luke
- John 1-11
- Psalms 25-89
- Mark
- Luke 1-10
- John
- 1 John
- 2 John
- 3 John
- Jude
- Revelation
- Genesis 1-16
- Luke
- John
- Acts
- Romans 1-11
Tuesday, October 1, 2024
46. Tracing God's Story
Monday, September 30, 2024
DNF, On the Spectrum
I am not rating this book because I did not finish the book. I read *some* of the book. (I'll detail which chapters in a bit.) This is not a proper review. It is a partial review of what I did read. It is not meant to reflect the book as a whole because I did not finish the whole book.
On the Spectrum is a collection of essays written by an autistic poet who is a practicing progressive Episcopalian, a husband, a father, a lover of literature. (Personally, I thought he came across as a literary snob. But to each his own. Seriously. Love whatever authors you love. No judgment. His tastes aren't my taste from what little I read, however, again to each his own.)
The essays I read include: "Autism and the Church" (8 pages); "Service and the Spectrum" (12 pages); "The Insidious Nature of Bad Christian Stories" (8 pages).
Are those three essays enough to judge the book as a whole? NO. Of course not. That's why this is NOT a proper review. It was enough for me to taste and see that this book was not what I wanted. It would be horribly unfair to judge a book based on what it isn't. What the book is: Personal memoirs in the form of a collection of essays written by a man whose first love is poetry and *literature*.
Essays are not my typical read. I didn't understand that this is what the book is, a collection of essays. So while I was expecting the traditional format/structure of more traditional Christian nonfiction or christian living or dare I say even theology, this is a collection of personal essays. I think the subtitle is slightly misleading in that it doesn't really clarify that this is a book of essays.
Poetry is not my typical read either. Even though the book is not a book of poetry, you can't take the poet out of his writing style, his narrative. And that's not a bad thing, it's an authentic to himself thing.
Personal memoir. I believe that it would be safe to say that ALL of the essays are personal.
It isn't that faith is completely and totally absent from this one. It isn't. But based on the subtitle AND the fact that this is listed under the category or label Christian living, I was expecting another kind of book. I read chapters whose titles might indicate the presence of faith as a subject. It is entirely possible that other essays might reflect faith as well.
I will say that his faith--PROGRESSIVE EPISCOPALIAN--does not align with mine. He seems more likely to quote some of Oprah's favorite authors (in particular there were scores of Richard Rohr quotes If not scores, it felt like it. I only read a handful of essays but his name kept popping up. I just used the search feature to search, eleven times he is quoted and/or referenced)
"Autism and the Church" is an essay detailing the author's history with the church...the elements of church that were NOT working for him (though he couldn't quite put his finger on the why until his diagnosis) and his present experiences in his local church. One quote, "Since my diagnosis, I know I don't have to feel ashamed anymore. And that's perhaps the key takeaway I'd like to offer to fellow Christ followers: as you live and worship alongside your autistic neighbors, you can help free us from the shame we've carried." I think my favorite bit of this one was seeing how the Book of Common Prayer could be *extremely* comforting because of the structure and familiarity.
"Service and the Spectrum" is an essay all about BALANCE. How does one balance the need for self-preservation (taking care of one's self to avoid meltdowns and overwhelming the mind, the senses, etc.) with the need to "serve" the church and "bear fruit." This is a thought-provoking chapter with plenty of questions and one man's solution to those questions.
"The Insidious Nature of Bad Christian Stories" is an essay about how terrible, horrible, no good, very bad anything labeled "Christian" is. Which is perhaps slightly ironic since this one is I believe published by a Christian publisher. The main point of this one seems to be that the only good art is secular art. Are there bad Christian movies? Yes. But where I would disagree is the generality that ALL, no exceptions, are bad. It seems impossible to him that a good Christian movie could ever be made. But it isn't just films, he is criticizing anything and everything specifically "Christian." He first says that Christian art doesn't even deserve "serious critical attention" because obviously it is so poorly done and obviously bad. Actually the word he uses is CHILDISH.
What are some childish attitudes that bad Christian stories feed into and encourage?
- The immature need to have correct beliefs, as opposed to the adult need to consider and examine diverse voices to develop critical thinking, empathy, and love.
- The immature need to be continually comforted, rather than the adult need to be comforted when afflicted, but also afflicted and challenged by difficult art when one has become too comfortable, even complacent, in one's faith, relationships, work and leisure.
- The immature need for clear answers to questions that have none, as opposed to the adult need to learn to live creatively with mystery and paradox.
- The immature need to separate good and evil into clear camps at all times, as opposed to the adult need to learn to let the wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest
- the immature confusing of real emotion and true empathy with shallow sentimentality and greeting card cliche, as opposed to the adult need to feel deeply through encounter and catharsis while confronting our own contradictions
- The immature need to romanticize the past as opposed to the adult need to recognize the complications, flaws, and entrenched injustices of every era--and in that recognition, to nevertheless work in faith to love God and our neighbors.
- The immature need to be in control as opposed to the adult need to wait on God through ambiguity.
It would be easier to evaluate if he'd lowered himself enough to comment with specifics instead of generalizing everything and condemning it one and all.
Christian works [be they art, movies, books, music] will always, always, always have haters. That's true enough. Even within Christian circles you will find haters that slam on Christian stuff. For better or worse. Again often condemning anything and everything in a generalized grouping. So while plenty of readers would probably agree with Bowman, I cannot. Because generalizations just don't work for me.
So this last essay I read was a big NO to me.
Sunday, September 29, 2024
Sunday Salon #39
- Numbers
- Deuteronomy
- Joshua 1-5
- Deuteronomy
- Isaiah
- Psalms 1-24
- Ezekiel
- Hosea
- Joel
- Amos
- Obadiah
- Jonah
- Micah
- Nahum
- Habakkuk
- Zephaniah
- Haggai
- Zechariah
- Malachi
- Matthew 1-20
- Acts 22-28
- 1 Corinthians
- 2 Corinthians
- Ephesians
- Philippians
- Colossians
- 1 Thessalonians
- Matthew
- 2 Thessalonians
- 1 Timothy
- 2 Timothy
- Titus
- Philemon
- James
- 1 Peter
- 2 Peter
- Ezekiel
- Daniel
- Hosea
- Joel
- Obadiah
- Jonah
- Micah
- Nahum
- Habakkuk
- Zephaniah
- Haggai
- Zechariah
- Malachi
- Matthew
- Mark