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1 Kings 1, 1 Chronicles 28, Psalm 91, 1 Thessalonians 5

1 Kings 1:5-6

5 Now Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, put himself forward and said, “I will be king.” So he got chariots and horses ^[a] ready, with fifty men to run ahead of him. 6 (His father had never interfered with him by asking, “Why do you behave as you do?” He was also very handsome and was born next after Absalom.)

This illustrates the importance of discipline. David was one of the most beloved people in the Bible; perhaps even in the Jewish culture as a whole. He was a shepherd, a soldier, and a king. He was the apple of God’s eye. But he couldn’t keep a reign on his kids. Why? Because he didn’t try. Notice the quote here: “His father had never interfered with him by asking, ‘Why do you behave as you do?’” David was a disconnected father. He probably left the child-rearing up to his many concubines and court mistresses. As a result, he couldn’t control his kids when they got to be old enough to rebel against him.

Hebrews 12-13, Jude

Jude 1:12-13

12 These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm-shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted-twice dead. 13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

I just think this is a fabulous set of descriptions, especially verse 13. “They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame.” Foaming up their shame?!! I’m not even sure what that means, but it sounds wonderfully descriptive.

Nahum 1-3, John 5

John 5:24-30

24 “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. 25 I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.

28 Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out. Those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. 30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.”

“the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.” Perhaps this is the answer to the question – what about all those who die before hearing the Word of God? Jesus says that they too will hear, even though they are dead.

“those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.” So those who are dead without hearing the Gospel will be judged on how they lived their lives.

So I havn’t even talked to Maggi since we left on the senior hidout is this in anyway the right way to go just through cold turkey or should i do it in some other mannor?

Sorry, guys. I was really looking forward to coming last night, but I had to work and I unable to get anyone to take my shift. Then we didn’t get off till 8 and my mom made me come home and do homework and… I’m sorry

Mark 11:12-14 & 20-24

 12 Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. 13 And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.”
And His disciples heard it.
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20 Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. 21 And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.”
22 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. 23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

 

So I was reading Mark 11 last night and came across the fig tree story and I found it interesting how Jesus caused the tree to wither, “for it was not the season for figs.” To what point or purpose did he do this? The fruit was out of season so he makes a tree wither because it didn’t have any fruit. It just doesn’t make sense to me.

Also at the end of the passage it says how if we believe that we can have or do anything that we can. Is this really true of today? If I had enough faith that God would let me walk on water, I could go out into my backyard and walk across the pool’s surface? Is this truly possible? I probably couldn’t have that kind of faith/belief, but who says others don’t?

Monty Python

I can’t write a sentence with “Monty Python” in it.

If I write a sentence with “Monty Python” in it, it must be in quotes.

How about a sentence with Monty Pythons in it?

That’s just bizarre. What’s going on with Word Press and the MP’s?

Genesis 9-11

Luke 4

Jesus is tempted by Satan three different times while he is fasting for 40 days in the desert. The interesting thing to me is that in each case, he responds to temptation by not answering Satan’s question, but getting to the root of what the question is about and countering that. He also gives responses based on scripture, so he’s finding a common source of truth.

There’s something about shopping that just puts me in a crappy mood. It’s not the lines of people or the endless waiting to turn left on Maize… no, it’s more the realization that I am spending all my vacation time buying trying to buy presents for people, as if that is what Christmas is all about. Is it? That certainly is the focus of my Christmas this year. And it’s about half-self-directed, and half motivated by others. I feel the desire to please people. That’s the storyline behind the Best Buy “Wow” commercials, right? You want to buy something that will make the other person happy. Because if they smile and say “Wow!” then that means I did the right thing, got the right present, that I am a valuable person. And I recognize the futility of having my self-worth being determined by how someone else responds to a gift. My part of the gift is done when I hand it over to them. But why even give things? I heard a statistic tonight that Americans spent six billion dollars buying things the Friday after Thanksgiving. Surely some of that was not gifts for others, unless you could a gift for yourself. But imagine that – we, the collective we, spent six billion dollars buying things for each other that we really don’t need – just so we would feel good about ourselves. Here’s a thought – why don’t we take that six billion dollars and buy clean water or adequate sanitation for India or Africa and feel good about that? We are so clueless when it comes to our consumption. I walk up and down the aisles at Wal-Mart and constantly think, who needs all this crap? Who wants it? Companies make it, so we buy it, give it to each other, and then after a week it breaks and we throw it out. Or it sits at the bottom of the toy bin just taking up space.

I’m tired of it. I’m at a point where I don’t think I need anything. And yet I’m going to get gifts this year. So are my boys. They don’t need any of the 20 different toys or games that they’re going to get. So why do we still buy into the system? Because we’re conditioned to consume and to want more. It’s the conspiracy of capitalism. If we stop buying the whole thing falls apart.

It may be too late this year, but I’m definitely going to change things next year. I wonder what that would be like, not for my boys, but for others in the family. I wonder what would happen if I showed up at the family Christmas and said to my sister, “I didn’t buy useless presents for you and your children this year… instead, I bought a goat for a third-world family. Here’s a picture that you can put on your fridge.” It’s a compelling thought.