New Format

As you can tell I have been tweaking the blog. I hope you will find some of the new format helpful. A few things to note:

- The reading list is now at the top of the page. The links aren't active on our page right now, but if you wish you can go to the One Year Bible (linked to the left) and click on the daily reading there. You can just click the link and BibleGateway does the work for you. I like to read the Bible in print so I can feel the paper in my hand and mark the text, but sometimes the computer is a just a little simpler.
- There are some helpful links on the right side of the page. I included many One-Year Bible resources as well as Jacqueline and my blogs. Our personal blogs will be a way to keep up with the family. We would love to hear from you there.
- You obviously have already figured this out, but be sure to scroll down and read the articles and comments now down here below the reading list.

Enjoy!

Forever

I am still here! Sorry that I haven't posted anything in a while. I haven't quite gotten it from my journal to the computer lately. How is the reading going? I wanted to say how good it has been for me to do this challenge with you all. It really holds me accountable to know that we are reading and jorunaling together. Several people have asked me if we can continue this format after the 30-days and I say, YES, Let's do it. If you are "in" comment below and let me know.

Let all the people shout..."His Love Endures Forever!" - Psalm 118

Living Water

John continues to write about the experience of knowing Jesus. It is a life giving experience that spills out of a person's soul and touches others around them. He says, "I am the living water. Whoever believes in me, streams of living water will flow from within him."

I suspect that we don't really get this imagery the way Jesus followers did. I suspect that we have never really thirsted the way that they had. I suspect we haven't been in a place so dry. I suspect that if we had to draw water out of a well and then never be sure whether it would kill us, we might be able to hear Jesus' words differently. I suspect that living water was the basic need that a person spent much of their time trying to get. Hey, maybe today in America Jesus would have said, "Whoever believes in me, streams of Starbucks Cinnamon Dulce Latte will stream from them." Na!

If you want, use www.biblemap.org and look at a satellite image of the Holy Land to get a picture of the arid land that Jesus is preaching in.

Mother's Day Poem

Mary Lou shared this poem with me that her father wrote.

Mom
Another name for Angel
ministering to those who will inherit salvation
Selfless in their daily lives
A true testament of Christ
With out my mom
I could not be
One day by far not enough
to honor you special mothers
So let today be the start of many
We men wish to honor you
Our actions may not show
Our words could never do justice
But in our hearts we know
we would never choose
to live with out our mom

A prayer
We pray the Lord will bless you
and not forget your selfless ways
We ask God to take you new places
and show you secrets of his heart
to put his angels around you
and cover you with his blood
May blessings flow from your house
to all who pass through your door
that your hospitality would usher in
Souls to the Kingdom
And your love would bind your family
in unity all of their days
In Jesus name we pray

Thomas Cross Hoopes II

Jesus Wants Me to be a Cannibal

OK...not really. But, isn't this passage (John 6:25-71) interesting. Many commentaries have debated whether Jesus is looking ahead to the Eucharist. I want to instead focus on Peter's question, "to whom shall we go?" We can get lost in the debate over what exactly Jesus means by eating his flesh and drinking his blood. What is evident is that some people could not handle this hard teaching of Jesus. Whatever the symbolism or mysterious message, it is a difficult calling and many of Jesus' followers leave. But, Peter and the 12 have been with Jesus, they have just witnessed the feeding of the 5,000 (which leads us into this passage, a point that should be noted) and his walking on water. Because they have been close to Jesus and have tasted and seen the "soul food" he offers, they can think of going no other place.

Sometimes Jesus teachings are hard. If we approach the Bible from a purely cognitive perspective, some of the teachings of Jesus may make us want to walk away. But, Jesus calls us to a deeper experience of His life-giving presence. Read the Bible and pray as a means to encounter the living God. Jesus, the experience of Jesus and following His way, is the bread of life. Eat of it and you will never go hungry! Like Peter realized, where else would you go when you have experienced this manna from heaven.

Bible Gateway

As I briefly noted, Bible Gateway, is a great resource for Bible Study. It is free, and you can view multiple verses (such as the daily readings) in one window. Also, notice the many translations, topical index, keyword search and commentary. It is a great ways to copy and paste text from the bible for teaching as well.

The downside is that you don't get the context in the same way that you do holding a printed Bible. But, I do find it very useful as a secondary tool to study the Bible.

Sin = Sickness?

"Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." (John 5:14)

As I read this passage from John, there was a moment when this verse bothered me. You know, the Jews thought that illness or physical deformity was a result of sin. In their eyes, lameness or other sickness were a punishment for sins (see John 9:2). It almost seems as Jesus is affirming this in his response to the lame man, but as I reflect, maybe what Jesus is saying is that not being able to walk is a bad thing, but a much worse thing is what sin does to the soul. He is saying, "You know what it is like to be physically handicapped, but what you don't realize is that your sin is handicapping your soul."

Fear of God = Life

When you think of "the fear of the Lord" what do you think of?

Why would fear lead to life?


Prov. 14:27 The Fear-of-God is a spring of living water, so you won't go off drinking from poisoned wells. (Message)

www.biblegateway.com

Adventures in Changing the Subject

Have you ever been in an awkward conversation and someone tried to change the subject? I witnessed a conversation between a family that was working through some conflict and one of the family members kept bringing up totally random things in the middle of the conversation simply to try and change the subject. It was obvious this person did not want to deal with the conflict, and it was obvious that these attempts to derail the conversation would NOT work.

In our reading from John 4, Jesus is having a deep conversation with the woman at the well about things of her soul. She has a thirst and she has unknowingly encountered the living water. Yet, she wants to turn the conversation to petty matters about the Jews and the Samaritans and where each says is the proper place to worship. She is avoiding the subject because it is too personal.

I can relate! I often times don't deal with sin and brokenness in my own heart because it is just too difficult to go there. Like this woman, I try to change the subject. But, while the conversation may be difficult, my soul needs to have it. God is always there, offering to quench the thirst of my soul, but I have to do the hard work of allowing him to probe and prod in ways that seem too invasive and are uncomfortable or inconvenient.

No King

Have you noticed the first line of chapters 18 and 19 in Judges? "In those days Israel had no king." The last verse of the book adds, "people did as they saw fit." It seems that this is connected to the chaos and troubling times that are found in this time in the history of the Hebrews. They had neither God nor man as king. I hope to look into this more. Any thoughts about this?

How is the reading going? If you fall behind, don't give up. If you are starting late, feel free to jump in. By the way, you do not have to have a blogger account to comment. I have it set to receive anonymous comments. Just be sure to tell us who you are. Thanks and enjoy the journey!

Light vs. Darkness

I couldn't help but notice the recurring theme of light in the Psalms (104:2) and John (3:19). Chris Tomlin wrote a song "How Great is Our God" which quotes this Psalm. The first verse goes like this:

The splendor of the King,
Clothed in majesty
Let all the earth rejoice,
All the earth rejoice
He wraps himself in light,
And darkness tries to hide
And trembles at his voice,
And trembles at his voice

CHORUS:
How great is our God,
Sing with me
How great is our God,
and all will see
How great, How great
Is our God

WOW! God clothes himself in light? How do you relate to a God whose wardrobe includes light. I mean, I have light and dark clothes and usually get in trouble for mixing them in the washing machine, but God wraps himself in light and then darkness tries to hide. YES! By all means, LET ALL THE EARTH REJOICE!

In John, I love how Jesus says that he is the light and then in our passage tells Nicodemus of how the light has come into the world to save the world from the darkness, the evil, the injustice that exists here. I love John's flavor for the cosmic grandiose of the coming of the King, the revelation of God, the Word made flesh, the light of God!

The question for me becomes, am I in love with the darkness or am I embracing the light. The more I embrace the light and seek God, the more I hear and see God. The more I neglect that relationship, the more the darkness seems normal and the farther I feel from the light. God, my soul cries out to you. Renew me by your Spirit, giving me new birth. I will praise you with my lips for you are the GREAT ONE!

Enjoy the song by Chris Tomlin along with another song you will recognize here. Praise God for He is GOOD! Any thoughts?

From Head to Toe

Psalm 103 is a wonderful song of praise to God. Hear Eugene Peterson's paraphrase from the Message:

1-2 O my soul, bless God. From head to toe, I'll bless his holy name!
O my soul, bless God,
don't forget a single blessing!

3-5 He forgives your sins—every one.
He heals your diseases—every one.
He redeems you from hell—saves your life!
He crowns you with love and mercy—a paradise crown.
He wraps you in goodness—beauty eternal.
He renews your youth—you're always young in his presence.

6-18 God makes everything come out right;
he puts victims back on their feet.
He showed Moses how he went about his work,
opened up his plans to all Israel.
God is sheer mercy and grace;
not easily angered, he's rich in love.
He doesn't endlessly nag and scold,
nor hold grudges forever.
He doesn't treat us as our sins deserve,
nor pay us back in full for our wrongs.
As high as heaven is over the earth,
so strong is his love to those who fear him.
And as far as sunrise is from sunset,
he has separated us from our sins.
As parents feel for their children,
God feels for those who fear him.
He knows us inside and out,
keeps in mind that we're made of mud.
Men and women don't live very long;
like wildflowers they spring up and blossom,
But a storm snuffs them out just as quickly,
leaving nothing to show they were here.
God's love, though, is ever and always,
eternally present to all who fear him,
Making everything right for them and their children
as they follow his Covenant ways
and remember to do whatever he said.

19-22 God has set his throne in heaven;
he rules over us all. He's the King!
So bless God, you angels,
ready and able to fly at his bidding,
quick to hear and do what he says.
Bless God, all you armies of angels,
alert to respond to whatever he wills.
Bless God, all creatures, wherever you are—
everything and everyone made by God.

And you, O my soul, bless God!

Judges 13:1-14:20

The book of Judges is as R-rated as it comes. Actually, an R rating may not be strong enough caution. There is lots of violence, sex and language in the book of Judges. Let's just say it aint your grandmother's book! For some this could be disturbing and may be hard to sort out in light of our understanding of Jesus, the prince of peace.

Again and again, as with Samson, in our reading today, "the Spirit of the Lord came upon such and such" to accomplish a task (see 13:24). A recurring theme in the book of Judges is that God's power comes upon a leader to give them strength and power to accomplish a task, often in battle. Remember, this is set in approximately the same time period as the battle of Troy and the epic battles between men and "gods". There is a larger-than-life heroic kind of flavor to the writing of this day. And so, in that cultural context, the author of the book of Judges is painting a picture of the mighty work of the Lord on behalf of Israel.

Another recurring line is, "then the Israelites did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord" (see 13:1). This cycle repeats itself over and over in Judges. The cycle goes something like this:

1. The spirit of the Lord comes upon someone to deliver the Israelites from their enemies
2. They experience the wonderful blessing of God
3. They do what is evil in the Lord's sight
4. The Lord allows their enemies to capture them
5. They cry out to the Lord again for help.

This cycle is repeated throughout the book and we see this again in the story of Samson.

As I reflect on this I am convicted that my own life seems to fall into this pattern from time to time. I often forget what God has done in my life and go on in my own strength. I need to be reminded to trust in the Lord and ask God to fill me with the Spirit to win my daily battles.

Prayer: Lord make me your servant, fill me with your Spirit and strengthen me that I might be able to experience victory in my life.