Sunday Salon #25

Bible reading:

BSB: Ruth, 1 Samuel; 2 Samuel; Psalms 1-55; Ezekiel; Daniel; Hosea; Joel; Matthew 10-28; Mark1-5; 1 Timothy; 2 Timothy; Titus; Philemon; Hebrews; James; 1 Peter; 2 Peter; 

KJV Open: Exodus 30-40; Leviticus; Numbers; Deuteronomy; Psalms 66-139; Proverbs 5-31; Ecclesiastes; Song of Songs; Isaiah 1-51;  Luke 4-24; John; 1 Corinthians 3-16; 2 Corinthians; Galatians; Ephesians; Philippians;

 

Living: Numbers 15-36; Deuteronomy; Joshua; Psalms 71-150; Luke 19-24; John; Habakkuk; Zephaniah; Haggai; 

NASB 2020: Numbers 5-36; Deuteronomy 1-8;  Luke 17-24; John 1-16 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

35. The Justice and Goodness of God

The Justice and Goodness of God. Thomas R. Schreiner. 2024. 160 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Why would anyone want to write on the final judgment? It might seem that anyone who writes on this theme is obsessed with the negative, with hate instead of love, with punishment instead of mercy, with crankiness instead of joy.

For a theological book, this was a short, quick, "little" read. The subject is the justice and goodness of God. How does God's goodness relate to God's justice? Would God be good if he wasn't at the same time just? The justice of God is not at odds with his attributes--obviously. A good, faithful, holy, loving, merciful God HAS to be a JUST God, a God of justice. This little book traces the justice of God throughout the Bible. He tackles this generally and broadly in the first few chapters. In the middle chapters, Schreiner focuses on justice in the New Testament. The book concludes with further implications of God's justice. How should we as Christians respond and live in light of God's justice AND goodness. The final chapter is "Salvation Shines Brighter," and indeed it does. Christians are done no favors when theologians--pastors, preachers, writers--pick and choose which of God's attributes to "allow" or preach upon. Christians need the whole counsel of the Word of God, and the Bible has a LOT to say about God's justice AND God's goodness. This book also speaks of God's holiness. 

Chapter titles:

• Only a Holy God
• The Ugliness of Sin
• Judgment in the Gospels and Acts
• Judgment in the Epistles
• Judgment in the Book of Revelation
• Living in Light of the Judgment
• Salvation Shines Brighter.

Quotes:

I am writing this book for missionaries, for pastors, for Christians in ministry, and for all Christians to remind us that judgment is fundamental to the message we proclaim so that we will not be ashamed of or neglect speaking about judgment. Indeed, I hope Christians will rejoice in judgment, not because they long for the punishment of others (since we pray and hope that all will be saved) but because judgment displays the holiness and goodness of God. Without judgment, God would not be good, and life on earth would be without meaning since our moral decisions would not ultimately matter.

The Lord loves justice because his very person, his very nature, is just. He doesn’t love justice as something outside of himself.

  If the Lord is righteous, loves righteousness, and rewards righteousness, then the converse follows as well. His love of righteousness also means that evil will be frowned on and punished.

Righteousness and goodness are compromised if evil is tolerated, ignored, and overlooked, especially when one has the power to resist wickedness. Even though judgment is often thought to be cruel, the opposite is the case. An authority who indulgently allows evil to occur without any consequence is not righteous but wicked.

As with holiness and righteousness, justice isn’t a virtue to which God conforms. Instead, God is just; he is intrinsically and inherently righteous so that justice constitutes God’s very being. Psalm 89:14 avers, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne.” Because God is just, we are not surprised to read that he loves justice (Ps. 33:5) and that he delights in justice (Jer. 9:24), which is really another way of saying that the Lord delights in himself.

Judgment doesn’t take place in a vacuum; it is not arbitrary, whimsical, or capricious. As we saw in the previous chapter, judgment takes place for a reason, and the reason is human sin. Sin deserves judgment: it denies God’s lordship, deforms human beings, wars against truth, and destroys human community.

God set up the universe to function as he willed, and he isn’t absent from the world he created. He is always and ever the personal God, recompensing both the righteous and wicked according to what is right. We see here an example of retributive justice in that punishment and iniquity are bound together in a package.

When we feel and sense that we deserve judgment, the beauty and loveliness of God’s mercy stands forth in all its splendor. Forgiveness isn’t cheap or trivial but precious and costly. In forgiving sinners God does not compromise his justice. The justice of God is satisfied in the atoning sacrifice of his Son.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Sunday Salon #24

Current Bibles

BSB: Deuteronomy 22-34; Joshua; Judges; Psalms 123-150; Jeremiah 14-52; Lamentations; John 8-21; Matthew 1-9; Galatians; Ephesians; Philippians; Colossians; 1 Thessalonians; 2 Thessalonians

Living Bible: Exodus 5-40; Leviticus; Numbers 1-14; Psalms 21-71; Matthew 5-28; Luke 1-18 (I did switch from the Living Student Bible to a text only Living Bible)

KJV Open Bible: Genesis 5-50; Exodus 1-29; Ezra 5-10; Nehemiah; Esther; Job; Proverbs 1-4; Psalms 5-65; Matthew 5-28; Mark; Luke 1-3; Acts 5-28; Romans; 1 Corinthians 1-2

NASB 2020: Exodus 11-40; Leviticus; Numbers 1-4; Mark 2-16; Luke 1-16

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

34. The Hiding Place A Graphic Novel

The Hiding Place A Graphic Novel. Corrie ten Boom. With Elizabeth and John Sherrill. Adapted by Mario DeMatteo. Illustrated by Ismael Castro. 2024. 240 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: It was 1937, just three years before Hitler and his Nazis invaded Holland. It was the 100th birthday party of ten Boom Watches--our little watch shop in Old Haarlem. Although the party was for the shop, the affection of a city was for father. Casper Ten Boom. They called him Haarlem's Grand Old Man.

This book adapts Corrie ten Boom's autobiography The Hiding Place into a graphic novel of the same name. 

Is The Hiding Place memoir worth reading? Yes. Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes.

Is The Hiding Place movie adaptation worth watching? YES. Definitely.

Is The Hiding Place graphic novel memoir worth reading? Definitely. Especially, especially if it helps readers envision the times and events. Some readers respond more to graphic novels, find them easier to read, to digest. It may be "easier" to "hand-sell" (think Reading Rainbow) a graphic novel than a traditional book, a nonfiction memoir at that. 

Does the graphic novel do a good job adapting the original? While I haven't read them close together in time to compare perfectly, as I was reading the graphic novel, I was reminded of scenes from the memoir. I don't recall any memorable, significant scenes from the memoir being left out OR being changed or altered. All the highlights, if you will, of the original can be found in the graphic novel adaptation. Memories not being perfect, however, I haven't examined the two close enough to say with absolute certainty that the two are essentially telling the exact same story. 

I do recommend reading the original OR reading the graphic novel--or both. I do recommend watching the movie. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

33. Deuteronomy Loving Obedience to a Loving God

(Preaching the Word) Deuteronomy: Loving Obedience to a Loving God. Ajith Fernando. 2012. 768 pages. [Source: Bought]

First sentence: The book of Deuteronomy consists primarily of speeches that Moses gave to the Israelites shortly before he handed over the leadership to Joshua.

This book is part of Crossway's commentary series, Preaching the Word. I have read and reviewed a handful of books in this series. 

This commentary doesn't cover every single verse in every single chapter. It doesn't go through the book line by line, phrase by phrase. It is more a thematic overview with focus on relevance and application. I do think the book is intended for preachers, but, I don't think it is exclusively focused on preaching or teaching. I think theology can be for everyone. This one definitely has a more global feel to it; the author lives abroad in Sri Lanka. So his takes are perhaps more unique than typical. He doesn't approach Christianity from an American or "Western" viewpoint. 

The book is by necessity LONG. There are over sixty book chapters covering thirty-four chapters of Deuteronomy. I tried to read about eight to ten chapters per week. Because this is a book that I read for almost two months, my memories on the contents isn't the best. On the one hand, I don't remember frustration, disappointment, aggravation, irritation. I don't remember disagreeing with his theology. On the other hand, I don't remember specific chapters or passages that I loved. I did make a few highlights. 

I bought this book eleven years ago and am just now getting to it. There's always hope, I suppose, that I will get to all the books. 

Quotes:

How can we remain faithful to God? How can we avoid compromise when the lure of the society around us is so powerful? And how can we help our children and the people we lead to be faithful? Deuteronomy tells us how Moses tackled these challenges.

When will we learn that our great responsibility as leaders is to get our people into the Word? That is what will help them successfully tackle the challenges they face. I think one reason for the woeful statistics, showing that Christians are not behaving very differently from non-Christians today, is that the church has focused much on keeping the people entertained and much less on making them strong through the Word. In this marketing-oriented era we have concentrated on providing people a program they will like and have neglected our responsibility to give them “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27).

The promises of God are to a righteous nation. I think this should influence the way we look at modern Israel. I am convinced from passages like Romans 9—11 that even though the church is now the representative of the kingdom of God, God has a plan for Israel, especially for a large number of its people turning to Christ.

We need to develop the habit of reading the Bible with a view to learning more about obedience. Bible knowledge is worthless without obedience. Someone has said, “The only part of the Bible you truly believe is the part you obey.”

One way to develop this habit is to keep a devotional journal where you record what God taught you from your reading of the Bible.

Let me reiterate here that the Bible presents an awesome approach to God’s revelation that is missing in the attitude of present-day Christians toward the Bible. We would do well to ask ourselves what this awesomeness should do to the way we handle God’s Word. Thoughts that come to me are: care in studying it, so that we can understand what it truly means; care in obeying what it says; conscientious preparation before communicating its truth to others, so that it will be accurately and effectively communicated; not claiming Scriptural authority for ideas if we are not certain they are clearly taught in the Scriptures; care in not using Scripture to make wild conjectures that may not be implied by what the text says; not rejecting things in the Bible that we find difficult to accept.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Sunday Salon #23

Current Bibles

BSB: Numbers; Deuteronomy 1-21; Psalms 83-122; Luke 13-24; John 1-7; Isaiah 40-66; Jeremiah 1-13; 1 Corinthians; 2 Corinthians;

NASB 2020: Genesis 6-50; Exodus 1-10; Matthew 5-28; Mark 1

Living Student Life Application: Genesis; Exodus 1-4; Psalms 1-20; Song of Songs; Hosea; Joel; Amos; Obadiah; Jonah; Micah; Nahum; Mark; Matthew 1-4;

KJV Open Bible: Genesis 1-4; Ezra 1-4; Psalms 1-4; Matthew 1-4; Acts 1-4;

1 Year KJV (which I finished!!!) Ezekiel through Malachi; Hebrews 3 through Revelation 22; Psalms 104-150; Proverbs 26-31;

KJV 544B (which I finished!!!) 1 Kings; 2 Kings; 1 Chronicles; 2 Chronicles; Psalms 31-56; Hosea; Joel; Amos; Obadiah; Jonah; Micah; Nahum; Habakkuk; Zephaniah; Haggai; Zechariah; Malachi; Matthew 20-28; Mark 1-5; Acts 1-7; Revelation 20-22; 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Sixteen Years of Operation Actually Read Bible

Does it feel like my youngest blog should be turning sixteen? No. Am I happy that it is? Yes. These are sixteen years where I've prioritized reading the Word of God in a consistent way. 

My first post was called THE MISSION.

My goal--obvious as it may be--is to actually read the Bible. You might think that I've not read it. But that wouldn't be the case. I've read it a dozen or so times over the past twenty years. However, I've not been in the habit of reading it lately. For the past three or four years, my reading of the Bible has been pitiful to nil. I know--rationally speaking--that I NEED to read the Bible...that I NEED to study and read and pray. But it's not a part of my daily routine. Hence why I'm challenging myself to ACTUALLY read the Bible instead of just talking about how I need to start one day soon.

I usually look back on the past year by sharing posts from June 9, 2023 through June 8, 2024

Bible Readers' Bill of Rights

Super Glutton Bible Reading Plan 

M'Cheyne Horner Bookmark Plan 

Seven Days for Any Book of the Bible?!

Bible review: Revised Berkeley (Gideon's Bible)

Movie review: Journey to Bethlehem

Book review: Ladies of the Lake. Cathy Gohlke. 2023. [July] 384 pages. [Source: Review copy]

Rambling thoughts on Manifest

Book review: Elisabeth Elliot: A Life. Lucy S.R. Austen. 2023. Crossway. 624 pages. [Source: Review copy] [adult nonfiction; biography]

True or False with Tozer

Book review: Five Lies of Our Anti-Christian Age 

Book review: The Deconstruction of Christianity 

Transitional Tunes 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

32. Who Are You? A Little Book About Your Big Identity

Who are You? A Little Book About Your Big Identity.  Christina Fox. Illustrated by Daron Parton. 2024. 32 pages. [Source: Review copy] 

First sentence: Who are you? What really makes you...you?

Who Are You? is a Christian picture book for families to share with little ones. It asks a big question--a question that seems to be becoming bigger and bigger in recent years. The question? Who are you? What makes you you? Are you WHAT you do? Are you WHAT you like? Are you WHAT others say about you? Are you WHAT you feel? Are you WHAT you look like? NO, NO, NO. 

The picture book celebrates that humanity is made in the IMAGE OF GOD. We as humans have a CREATOR. Not just a creator--far, distant, aloof. But a LOVING, caring, faithful Creator who sent his son, his one and only Son, his only begotten Son, to die for us, to atone for our sins, to reconcile us with our Father in heaven. 

The book provides a Christian [biblical] answer to the question, who are you. It also touches on how knowing who we are--in Christ--impacts how we should live. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

13. King James Version, Giant Print, 544B

Thomas Nelson, KJV Giant Print, Red Letter, 544B. [Thumb-indexed] God. 1976. 1900 pages [best guess]  Source: Bought

First sentence: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

I really enjoy finding "vintage" Bibles. This one is from 1976 and is published by Thomas Nelson. It is a giant print, double column, words of Christ in red. It is "self-pronouncing" which means longer words [and/or proper nouns] are broken into syllables and may feature symbols to aid in pronunciation. It is the King James Version. The "helps" include a bible reading plan, a concordance, and summaries for each book of the Bible. It also features some color maps. At the end of some verses, more obscure words are defined--very briefly. 

I used a modified M'Cheyne-Horner Bible bookmark reading plan. I read this one in about a month. I did start some bookmarks over again. I used five bookmarks this time instead of four. It would have evened out better perhaps sticking with just four. 

What I loved most about this one was the SIZE of this one. You get a GIANT-print bible without a giant bible. It is probably a little larger than a personal Bible, but, smaller that many Bibles. The font size was lovely. The font type was not "modern" nor ancient. In other words, far from the modern-day "comfort print" fonts that publishers take such pride in. Yet not hard to read on the eyes. I also love how DARK or even bold the text of the Bible is. One of my biggest pet peeves with modern publishing is the text color a variant of gray--very light. This, I suppose, is to "help" with ghosting. But gray text doesn't really fix that problem without introducing other problems. Does this one have ghosting? YES. Unfortunately. It isn't a huge distraction, but it is a slight one. It's the type of ghosting where you see lines bleed through but you can't necessarily make out individual letters or words. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

31. NKJV Spurgeon and the Psalms

NKJV Spurgeon and the Psalms, Maclaren Series, Thomas Nelson. Devotions by Charles Spurgeon. Psalms by God. 2022. 548 pages. [Source: Borrowed]

First sentence: Blessed is the man

Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

What I didn't love.....

The pages are VERY thin. There is a LOT of ghosting. Depending on the length of the psalm on the page, you can read other psalms through the paper. Thomas Nelson has published some great Bibles with minimal ghosting. I know that it is possible for them to design a Bible well, with minimal ghosting and beautiful layout.

These are short devotions. Do not expect Treasury of David. Just don't. If you've read even a little of Treasury of David you might expect something substantive and meaty about each psalm. These are short, concise devotions. Not exactly fluffy and superficial but not as substantive as reading other Spurgeon books.

What I loved....

Each psalm gets its own page. Each psalm has a "devotion" by Charles Spurgeon. I absolutely love the premise of a stand-alone book of psalms. I love the light-weight, take-it-with-you notion of reading and rereading Psalms. Psalms are meant to be read again-again-again. The book of Psalms should be SO familiar and beloved by Christians. This book does encourage you to make psalms part of your daily life.

It uses the New King James Version. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

12. The One Year Bible for Women, KJV

The One Year Bible for Women, KJV. God. 2023. Tyndale. 1136 pages. [Source: Bought]

First sentence: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

To clarify the five stars is because it is the Bible--the very Word of God--and it is also the King James Version which is one of my favorite translations of the Bible. 

What you should know:

1) It is a DAILY Bible. It has OT selection, NT selection, a Psalm, a [tiny bit of] Proverbs. It does take readers through the book of Psalms twice. However just one read through of Proverbs. As you can imagine it chops up Proverbs into ridiculously small sections to make it last 365 days. 

2) It is two column, black letter. 

3) It is "for women." Why??? Nobody knows. Not really. I suppose because the 100 word devotions that accompany each of the readings was written by a woman. 

4) It is paperback. I am not sure if it's available in other bindings--hardcover, fake leather, leather, etc. But many daily bibles are just available in paperback.

5) It is the King James translation. I believe this is one of many translations available for the "One Year Bible for Women" line of Bibles. 

6) It is the King James Version. It is verse by verse--like many KJV--and it does NOT have "self-pronouncing" text [aka syllables broken down. 

7) The "attractive layout" is listed as one of the main benefits of this one on the back of the Bible. I do like the green border on the pages. It provides a color frame for seeing Scripture. 

I found this one at a thrift shop--still in plastic--for two or three dollars. It was definitely worth that price. Is it worth the list price???? It depends on YOU the potential reader. There are better ways to get the King James Version in my opinion.

I am not necessarily a fan of daily Bibles. I think I could be if there was a way to adapt them. I am contemplating trying to pair a hymn per day with the reading plan. I think adding something a little more would make it better. I actually love the idea of singing a hymn per day as part of daily devotions. 

My "dream" daily Bible would have you go through the book of Psalms at least six times per year. [No, I'd actually really LOVE to see it twelve times per year. But I know the book of common prayer offers two ways to read the Psalms--a one month schedule and a two month schedule.] Proverbs definitely needs a LOT of help in this reading plan. There's no reason why you couldn't read one Proverb a day OR at the very least four or five whole Proverbs for a seven day period. To divide a book with thirty-one chapters into 365 readings is silly. I also wish that the reading plan didn't break up readings in the middle of chapters. Rarely does that make sense for reading meaning into the text. Occasionally it does. Sometimes there are natural stops in the middle of a chapter. But these are rarely why the reading plan stops when it stops. I think human beings should have more to do with the creating of reading plans and less math. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Sunday Salon #22

Current Bibles

BSB: Exodus; Leviticus; Psalms 42-82; Proverbs; Ecclesiastes; Song of Songs; Isaiah 1-39; Mark; Luke 1-12; Acts 20-28; Romans

KJV 544B: Deuteronomy 15-34; Joshua; Judges; 1 Samuel; 2 Samuel; Psalms 1-30; Jeremiah; Lamentations; Ezekiel; Daniel; Matthew 1-19; 1 Peter; 2 Peter; 1 John; 2 John; 3 John; Jude; Revelation 1-19

NASB 2020 Giant Print: Genesis 1-5; Matthew 1-4

1 Year KJV Bible for Women: Isaiah 57-66; Jeremiah; Lamentations; Philippians; Colossians; 1 Thessalonians; 2 Thessalonians; 1 Timothy; 2 Timothy; Titus; Philemon; Hebrews 1-2; Psalms 71-103; Proverbs 24:9 through Proverbs 26:23.

NIV Daily Bible (NiV 2011): November 25 through December 31.

 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible