O God of Grace
I read this poem on the Between Two Worlds blog and felt it to be well worth passing on! We (me included!) so often lack the appropriate contrition and humility that our relationship with God demands. This prayer beautifully expresses gratitude for what God has done and humility before Him.
One Bad Apple Spoils the Barrel
This is the equation in Haggai 2.
Robots may be taking over your computer…
Seriously. They’re in mine. And I think it’s funny. 🙂
No lack of mercy!
I was reading from Micah earlier this evening and the words of chapter 2 were frightening:
More on NT “story-keeping”
I hadn’t expected that one DVD review to turn into 3 posts on form criticism and oral tradition but that’s where I’m ending up. I was reading a post on the NT Gateway Weblog the other day and it just happened to talk about the way that the stories about Jesus were handed down. In this post, Mark Goodacre replies to James Dunn’s article “Altering the Default Setting: Re-envisaging the Early Transmission of the Jesus Tradition.” The gist of Dunn’s article is that we are so surrounded by literature in today’s culture that it’s hard for us to understand a culture full of illiterate people – a culture like the one in the first century. Therefore, according to Dunn, “it becomes necessary to alter the default settings given by the literary shaped software of our mental computers.” Does Dunn’s argument indeed set aside the way we’ve read the Gospels for years and demonstrate the need for a new way of understanding where we got those books and how to read their contents? No. Goodacre does a good job pointing out that Dunn’s concern is a valid caution, but a bit overstated. First, our culture is not so steeped in literature as Dunn would claim – oral communication still plays a role in how we teach/learn. Second, while much of the first-century world may have been illiterate (some statistics claim less than 10% literacy rate), the NT authors were literate – Paul (educated to the hilt in the Pharisees’ schools), Luke (a physician) – and other key NT leaders (Apollos, Priscilla & Aquila, et al) were educated as well. Again, I would add that in the case of the Gospels & Acts specifically, eyewitness-authors also stand in contrast to broad brush strokes about oral tradition.
Review of Basic Greek and Exegesis
I just finished Dr. Richard B. Ramsay’s recent book Basic Greek and Exegesis. Having taught introductory NT Greek and having studied exegesis on the seminary level, I was glad for the opportunity to read this book. This book is the text that Ramsay uses to teach the class (with the same name) at Miami International Seminary, his online school. In this book, Ramsay sets three goals and two objectives:Translation Consistency
Several times, I’ve noticed that English versions of the Bible will translate a single Greek or Hebrew word with multiple English glosses. Now, that’s not all bad – there are different nuances to most words; context and usage determine what’s most appropriate in each situation. But there are passages where, in my estimation, we lose something by using different English words for a single original language word. Jonah 1 is one of those places. Translating through this book a few years ago, I was struck by certain keywords that tie passages together. Chapter 1 has three references (Jon. 1.4, 5, 15) to people “throwing [something] into the sea.” From what I can tell, the deliberate repetition of the Hebrew verb (to throw) and the prepositional phrase (into the sea) is a well-chosen literary device that the author is using to connect these verses and tie the events of this narrative together. Few English versions convey that connection well. Here’s a chart of popular versions and how they translate the three occurrence of this phrase:
Weddings
They’re everywhere, it seems… In fact, some of my best friends have been getting married recently. I can quickly think of more than 10 weddings involving my good friends – just this summer! I was at one of those tonight and enjoyed it thoroughly. David (the groom) is one of my closest friends and I’ve known him and his new wife Jennifer for five years or so. Their wedding tonight was precious! The music was absolutely beautiful – both the sounds and the lyrics that tied marriage-love in with God’s love to us. The vows had been modified and improved and it was so moving to hear the love and loyalty in David’s and Jennifer’s words. The ceremony was neat, elegant and well-planned. Seeing the excitement and joy on their faces brought to my face a huge smile! The reception was filled with joy and fellowship. But all those things were secondary in my view. To me, the most important part of the evening was the fact that God’s glory was revealed. As the pastor pointed out in his brief challenge, Eph. 5.22-33 teaches that the husband-wife relationship of love & submission is designed to be a picture of Christ’s relationship with His church. This wedding demonstrated that glorious relationship well and I was blessed by it.
Worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness
Repeatedly, the psalmists enjoin us to “worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness” (I Chron. 16.29; II Chron. 20.21; Ps. 29.2; 96.9) or in “holy array” or the “splendor of holiness.” Ps. 96.9 links this worship with fearing God – trembling before Him. John Monsell wrote a hymn entitled “Worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness” and he clearly understood the relationship between right worship and humility.
RefTagger Update
A few days ago I noticed that RefTagger (from Logos) had been updated – it now gives the verse text in a tool-tip box. That’s a great feature – now you can read the intended text without leaving the site. For a demonstration, hover your mouse over any verse reference on this site: John 3.16. Very cool.