With the beginning of the new year I wanted to try something new with my daily Bible study. I have decided that all year long I am going to focus on the Gospels, especially the the Synoptics. I began by reading each of the gospels at a moderate pace, now I am going back and simply reading 1 chapter each day, in order try and get as in depth as possible. Here are some of my thoughts and questions about this text:
- Why did Matthew write to primarily a Jewish audience? It would seem that his past of being a tax collector would have isolated him from his people.
- According to Jewish law there were certain categories of women that you did not have sexual relations with: a relative, a foreigner (especially a Moabite), a married woman, and a virgin (until you were married). It is interesting that in the genealogy of Jesus there is a one woman for each of these categories.
- What is the significance of the number 14 in the genealogy?
- Matthew records 9 events that are not mentioned in the other gospel accounts. One of those is Joseph’s dream (1:20-24). Why might Matthew have included this?
- The text says that Mary remained a virgin until after the birth of Jesus… Joseph must have had some self-control that most of us lack! What lesson can we take from his handling of this difficult situation?
If you have any thoughts on this passage, questions of your own, or answers that you would like to share I would love to hear them, why not share in the comment section?
Tags: Bible Study, Matthew, Synoptic Gospels
Like most people in the late twenties I carry with me a few extra pounds. In high school I could eat whatever I wanted because I played sports year around. Now the most activity I get is chasing my kids around the room when they don’t want to get in bed! With 3 kids it is just hard to find the time (notice I didn’t say too hard).
For a long time I have known that I needed to lose weght, but it wasn’t until I discovered my BMI (Body Mass Index) that I knew I need to get things under control. Your BMI is a measurement of your body fat based on your weight nad your height. A normal range is 18.5-24.9. Needless to say, my currently does not fall in that range (If you are curious about your BMI go here).
So when I had the chance to review Never Say Diet by Chantel Hobbs I was quite excited. I was getting a diet book without the embrassment of going to the store and buying it! The heart of the book is the very personal story of how Chantel manage her own weight loss program-losing over 200 pounds! I believe that her appraoch is quite balanced, making recommendations regarding exerciese and eating habits, but also realizing that there are issues at the core of why you became overweight in the first place that must be addressed.
Chantel is very open about the steps she took, including plastic surgery to remove excess skin, but recognizes that this step may not be an option for everyone. There were many parts of the book that more focused to a female audience that I simply skipped over. Overall the results don’t lie, so far this year I have lost 6 pounds (which includes a couple of weeks when I didn’t stick to my workout routine).
As Americans, most of us could do a better job of regulating the food we put into our bodies and maintaining a better activity level (besides the activities of TV, video games, and blogging). As a Christian one must also remember that the only way for me to continue to carry out God’s mission on this earth is for Him to have a body to use.
Tags: Chantel Hobbs, Diet, Health, Weight Loss
The Greatest Words Ever Spoken may be one the greatest resources a Christian ever owns. Author Steven Scott has taken all of the words from Jesus and organized them into approximately 200 categories. These categories are organized into 9 major headings:
- What Jesus says about Himself
- What He Says about the Father
- What He Says about the Holy Spirit
- Words about Eternity
- Words about His Followers
- Words about Humanity
- Words about God Reaching Out to Us
- Words about How to Know God
- Words about Personal Relationships
While there certainly is some overlap with the categories, the breakdown makes it quite easy to find what you are looking for in the index. I say that this is a great resource because it is certainly not the type the book that one reads from cover to cover. The introduction to the book provides some suggestions about how to make the best use of this resource: a quick reference guide or for topical Bible studies.
Personally, I have been using it during my morning Bible to simply take a quick look at the words of Jesus on the topics of Spiritual Maturity and Spiritual Priorities. Particularly on the topic of Spiritual Maturity I have wondered why certain passages were selected, however the questioning, I believe has led to the desired result. I also appreciated the fact that in the section on the promises of Jesus that Scott includes any necessary condition to be met in order for the promise to be fulfilled.
This is certainly a valuable resource that I will be keeping in my library, and I would encourage you to add it to yours as well!
Tags: Book Reviews, Books, Steven Scott
Posted by: jdeddins in Intro
First, let me apologize for the long (an unannounced absence). I sure that most of you will understand that the moving process can take quite awhile. We are still in the period of transition- waiting for our old house to sale, looking for a new one, and crashing at a friend’s place for the time being.
The change has been good. While I certainly missing people from my old community, I certain do not miss the stress that was placed upon me and my family. To be fair, all jobs have their stressful times, but one of the hard parts about working as a minister is the fact that it so quickly involves your family. One of the benefits of my new job is that due to confidentially I cannot go home and talk to my wife about the details of my day. Work stays at work and when I get home and I know that I can relax.
There has also been the adjustment of moving from Baton Rouge (pop. around 500,000) to Searcy (pop. less than 25,000). In Baton Rouge Target was 5 minutes from the house, now it’s an hour drive! The trade-off is that the other day we were looking at houses and saw 5 deer in some one’s front yard.
Hopefully I will begin to post more regularly again. I certainly missed reading all of the blogs that I have linked to here, as well as writing my own. If you want to see the site for my new employer you can go to www.capstonetreatmentcenter.com. Maybe next week I will take some time to share about Capstone, as well as other thoughts that have been stored up in my mind over the last 2 months!
Tags: Blogging
