March 13th class; the Lewis and Clark air rifle

A reminder that we will not be meeting on Sunday, March 13th, as Rosemarie and I will be in Memphis, presenting papers at the Society for Pentecostal Studies conference.

Today's class session is now up and available (links in the Dec 19, 2010 posting on this blog). Looks like I forgot to hit the screen capture box, so that it's audio only - sorry!

Also, I had promised to provide a link to a video regarding the Girandoni air rifle used on the Lewis and Clark expedition. You can see this at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pqFyKh-rUI&fmt=18. If you're wondering what this has to do with Hebrews, well, the answer is not too much, directly. However, I had brought up in class that we tend to focus on things that interest us (as we see in the descriptions in Heb 9:1-5), and how in the UK they have many more periodicals than we have here in North America, with all sorts of specialized magazines. Included in these are a number on air rifles, and my rather scattered mind then turned to this video I had just seen, and I mentioned that, and now here we are, with a link in this Bible study blog. Okay, so my brain tends to do some rather random things - sorry!

Blessings on all of you!

Some truly geeky (in the best sense of the word) wedding stuff

I mentioned Jewish wedding commitments/vows in class this last session (Feb 20th), and promised I'd give a link to a website which had some material related to this. This is not a site about Jewish weddings as such, but is rather a site for Michael (Jewish) and Marina (Vietnamese) and their marriage. The overall site is http://www.mike-short.com/MnM/couple.shtml. The brief synopsis of their customs, as brought to their wedding, is at http://www.mike-short.com/MnM/traditions.shtml, and a truly wild, fully nerd-tech account of how Michael made their wedding rings, is at http://www.mike-short.com/MnM/rings.shtml. Well worth checking out!

I also commented on a terrific resource on the topic of Divorce and Remarriage in the Church, which is the title of a book by David Instone-Brewer. I highly recommend this for anyone thinking through or dealing with issues related to this. Here's an Amazon link (print and Kindle) as well as a bookfinder.com link, giving the best prices (with shipping) for new and used copies.

Being, Doing, and Replacing the Old

We worked our way through Heb 8:8-13 today – some excellent material came out in the discussion.

A couple of things to note:

1.     The mention of wickedness and sins in v. 12 – interesting in that wickedness, or lack of righteousness, relates to character and “being”, while sins, or missing of the mark, relates to activity and “doing”. A major achievement of this new covenant, written on hearts and minds, is that both the motivation and the ability to live correctly have been provided for.

2.     The emphasis on the provision of a new covenant, replacing the old and obsolete one (v. 13), would surely have been a tough sell for an audience convinced of the durability of the law, of Torah and its attendant structures. How poignant, then, to realize that both writings, the prophecy of Jeremiah (Jer 31:31-34) and its citation by the author of Hebrews (Heb 8:8-12), were followed by the destruction of the Temple existing at that time. The writers could not have known that was coming, but the overall Author surely knew how to make a point!

I love it when such insights are suggested in discussion, and made use of some technology to immediately add this to my notes so that I could research and explore these ideas further. For more info on what I use to keep things current, check out the newest entry in my tech blog at http://techroadshow.blogspot.com/.

Another blog worth following (and not just because I think the author is an incredible and lovely person, to whom I am also married!) is http://peacefulones.blogspot.com/. Often provocative, never boring.

Yet another resource worth knowing are the sermon mp3 files from the chapel at Northwest University, where I teach. We’re currently in a series on Colossians, and our President, Dr. Joseph Castleberry, has preached two excellent messages that I  commend – have a listen at http://eagle.northwestu.edu/chapel_mp3/20110204.mp3 and http://eagle.northwestu.edu/chapel_mp3/20110216.mp3. For a chapel schedule and links to existing mp3 files, check out http://www.northwestu.edu/ministry/chapel/schedule.php. And of course, you’re welcome to come join us. The worship is almost always pretty exuberant!

Complete Salvation?

We discussed Heb 7:23-28 today, and a big part of the conversation was on v. 25 - "Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them." [NIV 2010 edn.] "Completely" has a sense of "forever" (translated thus in the NASB) but also of thoroughly or fully. So why then do we still sin? It is clear from 1 John that those in the community of faith still mess up (1:8, 10), just as it's adequately clear that we also have a remedy (1:9).

I hope there are people out there willing to enter the conversation - maybe you've got an insight here that can help us understand how to better mimic our Savior? Please share it!

On a completely different topic, I've been asked for the link to my tech blog. I'm embarrassed to acknowledge how long it's been since I've posted, but I do have some cool things to share and will update and add those as I have an opportunity. Feel free to check out  http://techroadshow.blogspot.com/, and if you've got some great tech ideas to share, please do so in your comments there!

blessings,
w

Are all religions the same?

In an interesting synchronicity, I had taught on God among the "gods" in Christian Thought on Wednesday (coming down squarely on the side of God being the only real one, of course!), when I read this blog that night: http://mondaymorninginsight.com/blog/post/are_all_religions_the_same/ which is a reposting of

http://philcooke.com/are-all-religions-the-same/

What is your response?

Happy New Year!

A reminder: I will not be in town next Sunday (Jan 9, 2011) and so we'll take a break from our study.

In class today I mentioned a couple of resources:

• the books by Robert Shank, Life in the Son (ISBN 978-1556610912), dealing with the topic of perseverance ("eternal security"), and Elect in the Son (ISBN 978-1556610929), dealing with the topic of election/predestination. Both are available at Amazon, but they're also listed on bookfinder.com for much less.
• the citation from C.S. Lewis, coming from p. 130 of The Problem of Pain:  

  I willingly believe that the damned are, in one sense, successful, rebels to the end; that the doors of hell are locked on the inside. I do not mean that the ghosts may not wish to come out of hell, in the vague fashion wherein an envious man ‘wishes’ to be happy: but they certainly do not will even the first preliminary stages of that self-abandonment through which alone the soul can reach any good. They enjoy forever the horrible freedom they have demanded, and are therefore self-enslaved: just as the blessed, forever submitting to obedience, become through all eternity more and more free. 

  Thank you!
  w

Conversation for the end of Chapter 5

In our discussion today, I mentioned a quotation from William Blake. Here's the text I cited:

A truth that's told with bad intent
Beats all the lies you can invent.

This actually comes from a much longer poem entitled "Auguries of Innocence", and you can see the whole of it at http://www.artofeurope.com/blake/bla3.htm.

I also mentioned a book entitled Well-Intentioned Dragons, written by Marshall Shelley. You can obtain a used copy for a good price at http://www.bookfinder.com.

As always, I count it a privilege to be able to study God's Word with friends, and wish you an excellent and blessed week!