The Many Topics of Proverbs

Proverbs changes rather dramatically, with the start of chapter 10, from what seems to be a father's advice to a long list of wise statements or sayings.  After reading four chapters of these mostly disorganized statements, I decided it wasn't very meaningful to just read one right after the other.  A few popped out to me here and there that I thought were interesting, but the rest were not going to stay with me for very long.  My solution to this situation was something any of my friends would have predicted: make a spreadsheet.

While I found the practice of categorizing each verse into one or more topics to be rather helpful, I got the feeling I was probably recreating the wheel.  I was.  I found this pretty interesting little site that makes it easy to look up any proverb by topic.  I'm not sure I get much out of the translation it uses, but at least it lists out all the chapter and verse numbers.

Proverbs Study Interface

I don't regret making my spreadsheet, though.  I think categorizing the verses yourself is the best way to gain familiarity with all the content.  However, when you need reference material, you don't usually have enough time to spreadsheet an entire book of the Bible.  Usually..

God Bless!

An Article on Contextualization

Part 1 - Part 2

I found this article quite interesting.  Part 2 spells out a great connection between 1 Corinthians and Galatians, which are two books we've just recently read.

A concept referenced heavily in the article is contextualization.  The form of this that the author is most concerned with is called an Insider Movement.  You will be a bit lost if you don't first understand this.  Here is a short definition from my web searching:

Insider movement is a term used in the field of missiology to describe a group or network of people from a non-Christian religion who have embraced the life and teaching of Jesus Christ as described in the Bible, while remaining relationally, culturally and socially a part of the religious community of their birth. It has been observed that as members of these groups follow Jesus and the Bible, they personally reject, reinterpret, or modify the nonbiblical beliefs found in their religious communities. This process makes them different in some ways from their co-religionists, yet when groups can faithfully follow Jesus without formally disassociating themselves from their religious communities, insider movements can occur. Such movements have been observed among a number of religious groups, most notably among Jews, Muslims and Hindus.

I will be bringing an abridged version of this article to discuss tonight.  Always feel free to bring any material or topic you'd like to talk about to our meetings.

God Bless!

Two Weeks of Judgment

Unfortunately, schedules were too conflicting last week and we weren't able to meet.  However, anybody who's been following along in Isaiah knows that the last two weeks of chapters were pretty much judgment after judgment on regions all around (and including) Judah.  Conveniently, this Tuesday's reading (Isaiah 24) was somewhat of a finale to this theme, as it talked about God's final judgment on the entire planet.

One piece of scripture that gave all of us quite a bit of trouble, and even sent people in search of concordances, was verse 21.  It describes God punishing powers both in heaven and on earth.  So what are these powers in heaven?  Satan and his angels?  And what does the word heaven mean?  Will Satan still be in heaven in the end times?  Or does 'heaven' just refer to a spiritual world?  It may be kind of fun to ponder, but I'm sure the writer of Ecclesiastes would call it meaningless.  From other scripture, we do have confidence in God's victory over Satan regardless of when or where he is before his final judgment.

Something I liked about the last two weeks of chapters in Isaiah is that pretty much all the nations that are decimated or whittled down are described as revering and worshiping God afterward.  Even in the end times prophecy there is a remnant who shout the name of the Lord and glorify Him.  I hope God doesn't have to destroy our nation to make us glorify Him, but I can see how it would be easier to worship Him without all the distractions that our culture imposes on us.  I would challenge us to set time aside every day for glorifying God and ignoring everything else.

Next week is our 'fun' meeting, but we will be working on preparing a package for the Fords.  More details to come on this in the calendar.

God Bless!