Mom: God made a
Sophia: promise
Mom: to Abraham. God said Abraham would have many
Sophia: children
Mom: and
Sophia: grand-children
Mom: and
Sophia: great-grand-children. [Sophia looks over at me with wide eyes and says:] That’s pwetty cool!
Tag Archive for 'bible'
He inflicts pain, and gives relief; He wounds, and his hands also heal.
What translation of the Bible do you use? Why?
I’m just wondering because I’m sorting through the question myself.
We’re at a unique stage of life and we feel like this is a pretty important question. We would like to decide on a version that we use as a family. Amanda is storying with Sophia starting with Creation (they’re to Noah) and we realize that as we begin to expose Sophia to scripture, it is important to provide some consistency. Also, we feel that it is important to read something she can make sense of and connect with.
So, share your thoughts. I’d love to know what version you use and why you use it.
For you linguists out there, go to this site and bask in the sunshine of English/Geek/Spanish/Chinese paralleled.
From day to day sometimes we wonder if we are really doing any good at all. Then, we get a message on facebook from a girl who left our care a few months ago:
Subject: God
“I miss you talking to me about God everyday and saying the bible verses… I never really do anything like that here… I stopped going to church for a while to but now I go every sunday and wednesday!! But yeah… I miss it.”
By the way, I’m a grandpa again! Fabian arrived yesterday evening and weighed in at 8 lbs. Also, he is 22 inches long.
I, Paul, have been sent on special assignment by Christ as part of God’s master plan. Together with my friend Timothy, I greet the Christians and stalwart followers of Christ who live in Colosse. May everything good from God our Father be yours! Colossians 1:1-2
I’m working on Colossians, one of my resolutions. I started thinking about “Everything good” and created this visual to give it some legs.
Here is a list of things that I believed at one time or another about God and myself. Some are of more consequence than others.
What about you? Share some of your busted myths in the comments.
- God isn’t cool with having fun.
- God expects me to get dressed up for church.
- Knowledge of the Bible equals a relationship with God.
- I should say ‘bless you’ after someone sneezes because ‘That’s what Jesus would do.’
- I can be good enough.
- If I don’t capitalize the word ‘God’ I will be smote.
- If I don’t read the Bible and pray everyday, God gets mad.
- I have to earn God’s acceptance and love.
We’re already planning our trip to Memphis next year when American Idol comes through. Hopefully they’ll be accepting duets by then. Do you think they’ll make the cut?
The Lord your God is with you. He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you. He will quiet you with His love. He will rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17
I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
I’m in the process of writing my Greek paper over this passage. These words are really really good, a foundation on which to build.
This guy took it (living biblically) to a whole new level. A.J. Jacobs, an agnostic Jew decided to dive in to the Bible headfirst to try to figure out if he was missing something. He spent a whole year doing his very best to follow ALL the laws of the Bible, as he says, “right down to stoning adulterers.”, which he did one day in Central Park. Here’s the story of how it happened:
Thanks to those pesky U.S. laws - and my conscience - it was particularly difficult to abide by this Old Testament law. I did, however, manage to stone one adulterer. Here’s what happened: I was in Central Park. I was wearing my most biblical garb - sandals, a walking stic, white clothes - and an elderly man came up to me and asked me why I was dressed so “queer.” I explained I was following all the rules of the Bible, right down to stoning adulterers. He said, “I am an adulterer, you going to stone me?” I said, “Well, yes, that would be great.” And I took out of my pocket some pebbles that I was saving for just this occasion. (The Bible doesn’t specify the size of the stones.) The old man actually grabbed the pebbles out of my hand and threw them at me. So I figured I should toss one at him in self-defense. And in that way I stoned.
His description of what he learned and his newfound reverence for the Bible and it’s adherents is fascinating and challenging. Relevant Magazine featured his story in the November 07 issue (Issue 29). In it he talks about the rules that were hardest to follow (stoning adulterers, not shaving beard) and rules he never violated (don’t sacrifice your children to Molech, don’t take your wife’s sister as a second wife). Another section talks about the 5 rules that were most life-enhancing. He said that 1) Keep the Sabbath, 2) Give Thanks, 3) Let Your Garments Be Always White, 4) Don’t Gossip, 5) Do Not Curse changed his life in a profound way. His behavior, over a year, began to change his heart and mind.
You can see the book here. It might be worth checking out.
Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
The butterflies didn’t let me sleep much last night.
This verse keeps coming to mind: “If you want to be my disciple, you have to forget about doing your own will. You have to be ready to die on a cross and do whatever I ask.” Mark 8:34
I’ve had my oatmeal and I’m finishing off a hot cup of African Red Bush tea. Marty will be here to pick me up soon.
I’ve pre-posted a few things to pop up while I’m in Peru. Also, I’ll try to get word to Amanda and hopefully she’ll post an update while I’m mountain climbing.
I learned something pretty cool in my New Testament class yesterday. Did you know that Mark is generally considered the oldest and most accurate gospel. Actually, a lot of folks believe that Matthew and Luke used the gospel of Mark to build off of as they wrote their accounts.
Also, a lot of smart people believe that Mark 14:51 is Mark’s signature. They say that the “young man” is Mark referring to himself. Check it out for yourself here. Interesting.
Here at the Promise House we have a verse of the week. The girls memorize it and we try to incorporate it into devotions and things we do throughout the week.
The girls each got a index card Monday morning that said:
Dear Resident’s Name,
Trust in me with all your heart and don’t lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge me, and I will make your paths straight.
Love, Jesus
Can you guess the verse?
After spending two years in Peru serving as missionaries with the International Mission Board, we never expected that God would put us where he did. In fact, when we were first approached about being houseparents at the Promise House, a maternity home for teens, we laughed. “That’s not really what we had in mind,” we said. God probably laughed too, because two months later we were moving into the Promise House with our 6-month-old daughter to begin making our home at the Arkansas Baptist Children’s Home located in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Now, we’re on mission in Little Rock, offering Jesus our feeble efforts to make a difference in the lives of our new ‘daughters.’ And, day after day, God continues to amaze us as he does what he does best: fix broken lives. Lives like Kayla’s
Kayla was full of life. She had a contagious smile and her laugh lit up a room. Just by meeting her once you wouldn’t have realized that her life up to that point could have been a made-for-TV lifetime movie.
Now, pregnant and unwanted, she found herself at the Promise House.
When Kayla first arrived, she, like most new girls, tested the boundaries. On her second day at the Promise House, I mentioned something about going to church. “I’m not going to church. You can send me to jail, but I’m not going” she declared. “OK” I said, “I guess you’ll have to go to jail.” She went to church. And the amazing thing was that she loved it. She made friends, she sang her heart out, and she took notes when the preacher spoke.
At the Promise House, each week the girls memorize the verse of the week. If the girls memorize the verses and repeat them they earn points to buy things for their baby. Kayla memorized them all, word for word. By the time her due date arrived, she had memorized over 20 verses.
Kayla had a c-section. Everything went well until the next evening. Her baby, Natalie, started acting strange. Her oxygen count dropped to nothing and she became unresponsive. The nurses rushed her to NICU where they inserted oxygen tubes and carefully monitored her vitals. They tried desperately to figure out what in the world was going wrong. Meanwhile, Kayla was beside herself. She was crying uncontrollably in the hospital bed begging the nurses to let her see her baby.
It would have been a lot for any mother, but for a 17-year-old with absolutely no family there to lend support and encouragement, it was almost unbearable.
This all happened around 10pm. Amanda, my wife, was at the hospital with her. She called me at the Promise House to pray and get others to pray. Then she asked me to talk to Kayla. Maybe, she said, that I could help her calm down.
In the brief seconds between me saying, “OK. Put her on” and Kayla saying “Hey, Mr. Ryan” my mind raced. What in the world could I say that would be meaningful and comforting?
“Kayla, do you remember what Philippians 4:6-7 says?” It was the very first verse she memorized at the Promise House. She repeated it to me each week, so I had heard her say it lots of times, but this time was different. “Yeah. I remember.” she said. “Don’t worry about anything, instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” It was different because now it was real. I could almost hear the hope coming back to her voice.
“God is going to take care of you and Natalie.” I told her.
The doctors never really figured out why Natalie’s little body began shutting down that night. And neither could they explain why she all of sudden started doing better. I think I might know.
We get a letter from Kayla every once and a while. It seems like she and Natalie are doing well. When I get discouraged about life or lose sight of why we are here, I think about that night, and I can almost feel the hope coming back into my heart. The same God who inspired Paul to pen Philippians is the God who is piecing back together the broken lives here in our home.
Our home is anything but conventional. We share space with up to nine pregnant teenagers at one time. But, they are our family and we love them like daughters. I often joke with people telling them that, at 26 years old, I’m probably the youngest grandfather around. Since starting at the Promise House, we’ve been a part of nine brand new lives coming into the world.
One thing that is very helpful here is the constant evaluation we are forced to make of our perspective or worldview. We have to decide why we do the things we do or feel the way we feel. One of MLC’s primary tasks is to help us to develop a biblically sound worldview. And this affects every area of our life. I’m starting to realize that I can live my life in a much more purposeful way or in such a way that better falls in line with my claimed worldview.
For example, if I believe the Bible, then I believe that it is wrong to oppress people. If I believe that oppressing people is wrong and I found out that the coffee bean industry fosters oppression of peasants in countries across the world (I don’t know that it does. It’s just an example), then I would stop buying coffee.
Or, if I realize that God wants all people to know about Him, then that will become a purpose of my life. And that would play itself out at Wal-Mart, in business, at school, etc.
Also, I think in a biblical worldview priorities are determined by God, not me. Even though I really really like to drink coffee, I stop because God’s will trumps my desires. Even though I’m nervous about sharing with people because I might lose a friend, business, or respect, I do it because it is important to God.
I guess it all comes down to who I put first: me or God.
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