Judges The main point of this book is that the Israelites keep sinning. God keeps saving, but then they sin again. There are no real heroes in this book; everyone is pretty wretched, though some are worse than others. Pay attention to chapter 1 because this explains one of the reasons the Israelites kept sinning:… Read More »
I’ve spent a good part of my life thinking about things in this book, without really understanding the book as a whole. I’ve thought about the background of this book, without carefully considering its message. I’ve spent more time trying to understand what is not in the text than what is clearly written. That’s true… Read More »
Should Pastors Get PhDs? – John Piper, a pastor with a PhD, says no. I agree. I added my own comment below. I’m struggling to handle a mere 1,189 chapters in the Bible, but God takes care of 100 billion galaxies (at least) every day. This is a 3-D view from the Hubble telescope. Randy… Read More »
This book might be called the “heart” of the Old Testament, because it teaches so much of what God cares for. Some of the laws may seem boring, but many of them sound very much like the principles in the New Testament. Chapters 1-4 is a review of the good things God did in Exodus,… Read More »
Just to make clear right from the start here, this is not April 1. And this article is not from the National Enquirer or the Onion, but from the New York Times. Ready? One day next month every student at Loyola Law School Los Angeles will awake to a higher grade point average. But it’s… Read More »
Here are the next couple of books in the “Bible Reading Guide” that I’m writing for my son. Leviticus The book’s name means “for the Levites,” but most of the book is actually for the Israelites. The heart of the book is this: now that God is living in the center of camp in the… Read More »
A guy I met from church tonight told how his former pastor suggested taking a calculus book, turning to page 188, then back to 53, before reading 221. You ‘d wonder why it didn’t make sense. Yet we read the Bible that way. Here’s what I told my son to pay attention to before he… Read More »
Today was the best study day. Of my life. Well, I don’t know that for sure, but it probably was. Here’s how you can do it: First, you need a large quantity of ignorance. If you know everything, you won’t learn very much. Second, you need an important subject. Anything in the Bible will do,… Read More »
One of my sons is going to try to read through the Bible this summer. I thought that it might help him if I made a “Bible reading guide” that would make sure he paid attention to important matters and grasped the main points. I’m writing this at a basic (6th-grade) level, but on the… Read More »
If you ‘re like me and you forget most of what you read, this brief post may encourage you. The WP has an interesting (and sympathetic) profile of Elena Kagan. What would the flag look like if Puerto Rico joined the United States? And Guam and Baja? This slick little widget will show you all… Read More »