NowTHINK!AboutIt

Is Christmas Love Different To Old Testament Love

December 21, 2015 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Love Takes On Many
Shapes And Sizes

This is the Christmas season.

It’s a happy time. It’s bright, cheery, fun, energetic and the spirit of Christmas-Love pervades.

I don’t know if it’s the decorations or the family time or the idea of peace and goodwill toward all men but Christmas breeds hope.

And it takes over.

Every TV series has a Christmas episode. New Christmas movies are produced annually and old ones are shown again.

Retail sales go crazy. One-fourth of all personal sales are made during the Christmas season. That means that one single day, out of 365, accounts for 25% of all personal expenditures.

Before your jaded, non-commercial side screams foul, please remember that all or most of that spending is done for other people. That is, one person is thinking about another person and attempting to buy them just the right gift. One that says, “You’re special to me.”

Personally, l love it. [Read more…] about Is Christmas Love Different To Old Testament Love

The Butterfly Effect – Everyone, Everything’s Connected

November 29, 2015 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Ring around the rosy
A pocket full
of posies
Ashes, Ashes
We all fall down

Ring Around The Rosy is one of the best known and time enduring nursery rhymes. Ever! It may be the first.

It is widely known throughout the English speaking world and versions are also found in German, Dutch and Italian. Even more noteworthy is the fact that it dates back to the Great London Plague – mid 1600’s – or possibly earlier.

We don’t know exactly when it was first written or popularized but that’s not the important question.

The important question is how did such a short and apparently meaningless nursery rhyme become so popular?

What influential person wrote it?

How was it popularized without a major publisher?

We don’t have answers to these questions but we do know what inspired it. This little ditty was motivated by a flea. Not a great person. Not a great publisher, but a flea.

One small flea made this happen. [Read more…] about The Butterfly Effect – Everyone, Everything’s Connected

Top Ten Biblical Discoveries In Archaeology: Not Recommended

November 10, 2015 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

More A Pamphlet
Than A Book

Disclaimer: Credo House is a great organization. Nothing said here is intended to reflect badly on them. But . . .

I recently purchased Top Ten Biblical Discoveries in Archaeology, published under the banner of Credo House (which no longer exists), and returned it in less than a day.

Why? Several reasons.

One, I paid over $7 for the Kindle version. Seven dollars isn’t huge but the price does come with expectations.

The book is listed as having 88 pages. That’s long enough to be considered a book but in this case it misrepresents the reality.

There was lots of white space and I do mean lots.

Don’t misunderstand. White space isn’t a bad thing. It helps with reading but in this case it seemed like it was used to inflate the size. Reduce the white space, which could easily be done, and the book is now much shorter.

Making it worse was the fact that there were many illustrations, which weren’t very clear (didn’t add much value), and the text didn’t wrap. Adjacent to each illustration, none of which were very large, was – you guessed it – white space.

There was a lot of white space that seemed to be added for no reason at all, and then each illustration introduced even more white space.

From a volume point of view the book was worth maybe a dollar, not seven.

Two, the discoveries, though significant, aren’t recent. The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in the late 1940’s. Hezekiah’s conduit was discovered in 1867. One of the more recent discoveries was the “House of David” inscription found at the Dan site in 1993. By archaeological standards that’s not recent.

The point is the book catalogs some of the more significant finds but it doesn’t add anything new. It’s very basic. If you are looking for up-to-date, this book won’t satisfy.

Three, you can find all the material scattered throughout the web for free. Because this information is relatively old, you can find it recorded in many places on the web. Just Google the “Top Ten Biblical Archaeological Discoveries” and you’ll easily find the listings and the information.

THINK!AboutIt

6 Lessons From The Life Of Moses

November 9, 2015 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Moses Breaks
All The Molds

Additional articles you may find interesting:
4 Lessons From Moses’ First Forty Years
13 Thoughts From Moses’ Second Forty Years
25 Observations From Moses’ Last Forty Years

Moses is the guy that intrigues us all but I don’t know of anyone who wants to trade places with him. King David, yes, but not Moses.

Moses accomplished more in his life than any other Bible figure and he wore many pairs of shoes in the process: statesman, historian, judge, commander, prophet, author, teacher, and intercessor, but that doesn’t make him appealing.

Interesting, maybe, but not appealing.

I’ve never aspired to lead a nation, and can’t understand why anyone would, but Moses didn’t just lead a nation. He did something much more complicated. He built one.

People who read Moses respond in two ways. They love God or accuse Him. Let’s talk about it.

Three Stages In Moses Life Each Lasting 40 Years

The life of Moses is divided into three stages that make it easy to analyze.

Infant To Adulthood (Pharaoh’s house)
Exile in Midian
Exodus to Canaan

Significant events in the first two stages shaped Moses in ways that prepared him for God’s ultimate purpose. The high points are:

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Stage One:

Spared from destruction as an infant.
Adopted into Pharaoh’s house and enjoyed the privileges of a family member.
Tradition (Josephus) says he successfully led military campaigns.

Stage Two:

At the age of 40 he makes an unsuccessful attempt at alleviating the suffering of his people, the Israelites.
Rejected by the Israelites and threatened by Pharaoh, he escapes to Midian.
In Midian, he meets Jethro and marries one of his daughters, Zipporah, with whom he has two sons.
Becomes a shepherd.
Called by God out of the burning bush.

Stage Three:

Returns to Egypt.
Meets with Israelite leaders.
Confronts Pharaoh.
Leads Israel out of Egypt, eventually arriving at Canaan.

Observations: [Read more…] about 6 Lessons From The Life Of Moses

5 Lessons From The Life Of King David

October 29, 2015 by EnnisP 2 Comments

David Never Waited
For Special Dispensations
From God

There are very good reasons David is one of the most popular figures in the Bible.

His story is long and spread out, which means you won’t read very far before bumping into him, but more to the point, it’s personal. We don’t have to wonder what David said or what he thought or how he felt. Many of those details are laid out for us.

It also never gets boring. It’s the stuff that inspires movies.

The history extends from 1 Samuel 16 to 1 Kings 2 (42 chapters) and much of it is repeated, with additional detail, in 1 Chronicles. All total, he is the focus of about 70 chapters and since God made timeless promises to David and his descendants, he is mentioned repeatedly throughout the Old and New Testaments afterward.

Additionally, large portions of the Bible were actually written by David and his son, Solomon.

David is credited with 75 Psalms
Solomon is credited with 2 Psalms (although he wrote over a thousand), much of Proverbs, Song of Solomon and Ecclesiastes.

These portions of the Bible are still read and embraced daily. Psalms and Proverbs are the starting points for many devotions. Saying David is influential is an understatement.

In short, David is the reference point for personal-relationship with God. If you want to know what that relationship feels/looks like, David’s your guy.

He’s easy to identify with. He’s spiritual without being super righteous and human (meaning sinful) without being committed to evil.

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If we were to ask people which Bible personality they would like to emulate, David would probably top the list. Who wouldn’t want to be the little guy who takes on and defeats Goliath? [Read more…] about 5 Lessons From The Life Of King David