Judges 15

Samson did his great feats when the Spirit of the Lord was upon him. When he did things in his own power, he was strong, but not overly so,

And he was an idiot.

Review: WUTHEIRING HEIGHTS by Emily Bronte

This is a book that's easy to admire but hard to love.

I understand its great historical significance. I know it's considered a great classic of English literature. But none of that mattered when I was in the middle of a very boring book .

I know there are people who would disagree with me. Some people really enjoyed this book. I did not.

Judges 14

Let me reiterate: Samson was an idiot. He was an idiot used by God, but he was still an idiot.

In this chapter he not only broke his Nazirite vow, but also the Law of Moses. If anyone were proof that God can use whomever he wants, it was Samson.

Judges 13

Whatever else you might think of Samson, there's no doubt he was a miracle baby. Like Samuel, he was given in answer to his mother's prayers. Like John the Baptist, his coming was forecast by an angel.

But I still think he was an idiot.

Review: LION OF BABYLON by Davis Bunn

As near as I can tell, "Christian" publishers give women watered-down romance novels., and men get watered-down Tom Clancy books. There are exceptions, but that seems to be the general rule.

This book is one of the latter.

There are plenty of reasons for not recommending this book, but I'll pick one: people who claim to follow the Creator of the Universe should be able to do better than tepid imitations of the world.

Our Father

Are you afraid of your earthly father? Do you have to use special language to talk to him? God doesn't require all that either.

The first words of the prayer Jesus taught his disciples -- what we call the Lord's Prayer -- are "Our Father ". Notice Jesus doesn't say "my Father ", though he had more right than anyone else to do so. Instead he shared the fatherland of God with his disciples, and by extension with all of us.

Perhaps you had an absent father. Let God be the one who's always there. Maybe you had an angry or abusive father. God is a father of infinite patience and love.

Even if you had a father who, as far as you could tell, did nothing wrong, he was still human. God isn't, and wants to show you what a father is meant to be.

All I can say is let him.

Judges 12

Ibzan was a judge who broke the law.

It's impossible to remember that judges weren't primarily jurists, but warlords. They weren't expected to be better than anyone else. That said, by arranging marriages for his children outside his tribe, he broke the Law of Moses.

Review: THE NEW AMERICAN COMMENTARY, VOLUME 1A: GENESIS 1-11:27 by Kenneth A. Mathews

Commentaries are serious business.

Monetarily, they bring in a lot of money for their publishers, and are a significant investment for a pastor. More than that, they can have an effect on the way a pastor sees his calling, and can thus affect congregations his entire life.

My pastor likes the Pulpit Commentary. I chose  the New American Commentary for three reasons: I don't know Greek or Hebrew, neither of which is necessary for the NAC, it's available in Kindle format, and I liked it, based on the volume for Daniel.

That said, it's not that sort of book you read straight through. It's a little like reading a dictionary. In fact, that's a good analogy. Both are reference books full of information, and recommended to anyone who works use them as such.

Judges 11

Did God want Jephthah's daughter? Of course not. In all the centuries that the Israelites were in the Promised Land, I don't think that he ever asked for a human sacrifice.

But he's always believed in keeping vows.

A little about me and the blog, in case you're new here

I'm Leslie Christopher Bloom, though I go by Chris. Only the gummint calls me Leslie,

The first thing you should know about me is that I'm a Christian. I'm also the husband of Lora and the father of Emily and Lesie . I'm American, white, and 40 years old. But really, the most important thing is know about me is that I'm a Christian who believes the Bible.

Oh, and I have locked-in syndrome. This means I have a perfectly good mind in a perfectly good body, with no real communication between the two. Basically, I'm paralyzed from the eyeballs down. This happened because of a stroke when I was 38, but it's seriously not as important as the other thing.

The blog exists mostly as a way of working out my own thoughts, and to give me practice writing. Here's the schedule: 

Monday- -- medical posts, and rants 

Tuesday -- book review 

Wednesday -- stuff for new Christianns 

Thursday -- book review 

Friday -- book review 

Mon-Fri -- a chapter of the Bible each day 

Weekends are for catching up, resting, and getting a jump on the next week.

Now go read your Bible. I've got nothing new to say.

Judges 10

it's terrifying to realize God won't help.

There's a point in this chapter where the Hebrews, who have abandoned God, turn back to him for deliverance. God tells them no, and that they should ask the gods they've chosen.

Review: SHOCK AND AWE (EPISODE #1) by Celebrity Pastor

Simply put,, this is hilarious.

At least I think so. What Celebrity Pastor does is take current church growth trends and exaggerate them. I wish I could say that he exaggerates a lot, but that isn't always the case. I think it's funny, sad, and ridiculous, all at once,

If you're on Twitter,do yourself a favor and follow Celebrity Pastor. And Church Curmudgeon, while you're at it. They write very funny stuff.

Judges 9

"He who lives by the sword shall die by the sword." 

That's what kept going through my mind while I read the story of Abimelech. His reign both began and ended in murdrer. It was characterized by murdrer. If anyone ever fulfilled what Jesus later said, it was him.

Review: PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by Jane Austen

If you're female, you've probably already read this and loved it. If you're male, you probably haven't and won't.

I don't have a copy of Blue Like Jazz, so I'll try to quote Donald Miller from memory: "A female friend once gave me a copy of Pride and Prejudice, along with a note that said, 'What's in here is in a women's heart.' That may be, but the first hundred pages of said heart are hopelessly boring."

Well said, Mr. Miller. Personally, I wanted the characters to just say what meant, but if they did that the book would only be about seven pages long.

Judges 8

The Israelites were literally unbelievable.

Gideon was God's instructions to deliver them from the Midianites, so they try to make him king. When he refuses, they follow God as long as Gideon lives, but turn back to the Baals after he dies.

judges 7

Let's see if in unison that they:

Israel never won a battle. God did. This chapter in a perfect example of that.

The Lord's Prayer

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, he gave them this model:

"Our Father,

Hallowed be your name.

Yeah kingdom come, your will be done,

Give us this day out daily bread,

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Amen.

I think that's how the ESV puts a,. At any rate, I'll be breaking down the Lord's Prayer over the next few weeks. 

Review: THE KALEVALA by Elias Lonnrot

Yes. It's a book review on a Tuesday. I'm going to try three a week for a while. Unfortunately, I had to double the cost to read it.

Back in the 1700s, Elias Lonnrot collected at the Finnish folk-tales he could find out combined them into one epic poem, The Kalevala. At the time The Finns were under the domination of Russia, and Lonnrot hoped to instill in them a sense of national pride leading to independence.

Translated into English, the poem doesn't rhyme, but has a nearly hypnotic rhythm (the same as Longfellow's "Song of Hiawatha", if that helps). The rhythm allowed long sections to be memorized, which was important when these were transmitted orally.

It is unlike any other mythology I've ever read, focusing mostly on a few heroes and a cross-border feud with the Lapps over the magician Sampo. Long passages of intense battle alternate with long passages of meat preparation.

I liked it, though I realize it's not for everyone. I've wanted to read this for over 20 years, and it was nice that it could still surprises me at every turn.

Judges 6

Let's be clear: Gideon putting out a fleece was not an act of faith, and certainly wasn't anything to be emulated.

God had already spoken to him. He'd already raised an army. The fleece sheets more like his last attempt to get out of a than anything else.

My beef with Romanism

First off, I know "Romanism " is deeply offensive, and I'm very sorry to have to use it. I can't in good conscience call it "Catholicism", though, because "catholic" means "universal", as seen in the Apostles' Creed. Despite its claims to the contrary, the Roman Church is not and has never been universal.

But my problem with Romanism doesn't lie with the name. That's just a symptom of something far deeper.

As I understand it, Rome accepts three separate vehicles for divine truth: the Bible, tradition, and the Magisterium. This Magisterium defines the official Roman position on all things; in effect, it stands above the other two. Truth is what the Roman Church says it is.

But playing fast and loose with Scriptrure isn't the real problem, though it definitely is a problem.

The rest problem is that it often contradicts Scriptrure, and in any conflict between the two, Rome always wins 

I'll give an example. In the First Vatican Council, the Pope decided that Popes were infallible when they spoke ex cathedral. From what I can tell, the only two statements that have met that criterion are the announcement of infallibility and of Mary's freedom from sin.

The Church of Rome has long held that Mary never sinned, but now it said that she, unlike all people since Adam and Eve,was conceived without original sin. Not only that, but because it's a dogma, it's something a person has to believe, or he won't get into Heaven.

Unfortunately, the flatly contradicts the Bible, especially the Book of Romans, which states that all have sinned. Not "all but Many", but at. It also contradicts the the numerous places in the New Testament where repentance and faith in Christ are presented as the way of salvation.

This isn't a problem for the Roman Church, which holds that it made Scripture, rather than the other way around. For those of us who disagree, it's a very serious problem. At the very least, placing oneself above the word of God is incredibly arrogant.

In fact, it's very difficult to see any difference between the church based in Rome and the one based in Salt Lake City.

Judges 5

This is the only chapter in Judges entirely given to a song.

Deborah was also the only female judge we know of. I wonder if there's any connection?

Review: THE BRAIN THAT CHANGES ITSELF by Norman Doidge

When I was growing up, we were taught that once the brain was damaged, it stayed damaged. It couldn't heal itself, and whatever functionality the damaged part had was lost forever,

Turns out we were taught some wrong things in the '80s.

Now we have a belief in neuroplasticity,which states that the brain can, in fact, heal itself, and other parts can take over for damaged sections.

This book is an extended apology for neuroplasticity. It is apologetic not in the sense of being sorry for its subject, but in the sense of giving reasons to believe in it. The book provides over a dozen case studies in favor of its thesis. Unfortunately, since neuroplasticity is well-established, the book is no longer cutting-edge.

Like many popular-level science books, this one has a slightly manic tone, as if neuroplasticity will solve every problem. I can assure you that it won't. This is a good example of the genre, though, so if you don't mind your science a little out of date, I'd recommend it.

Judges 4

The story of Sisera and Jael is fairly well-known, and is the high point  of the chapter.. But what did killing the king's general actually accomplish?

The last verse of the chapter tells us.

Judges 3

Judges is a picturesque book, and Ehud stars in one of the most picturesque stories in it. So let's forget about him.

Instead, I want to think about Othniel. He was the son-in-law of Caleb, and God raised him up to judge Israel. In his lifetime Israel had gone from conquerors to slaves.

The Ten Commandments and the Gospel

we've spent over two months on the Ten Commandments, listing them and trying to put them in a form that I hope is easy to understand. But how are they related to the Gospel?

It's very simple. Everyone has broken at least one of the commandments. They're the foundation of the whole law. If you break one of those, you're guilty. Period. People need to know what they're done wrong. Being saved makes no sense if you don't know what you're being saved from.

The other reason I posted them is that Christians need to know them. How do you know you're obeying him if you don't know what he said?

Judges 2

As long as Joshua and the elders were alive, the people of Israel worshipped Yahweh. It seems that the first chance they got, though, they turned their backs on him and ran to the gods that were already worshipped in Canaan.

Kind of like we'll trust anything but God before we turn to him.

Judges 1

I've said before that if I could cut out one piece of the Bible,that book of Judges would be it.

It starts out so well. The Israelites asked God before they did anything. That chapter ends with a list of tribes and the people they failed to drive out.

Barnabas, Silas, and Timothy

A long time ago, I heard a preacher on the radio say we should all eventually have a Barnabas, a Silas, and a Timothy. In other words, we should have someone who's older in the faith who can teach us, someone who can work with us, and someone to whom we can pass everything down. I think I know who mine are.

My Barnbas is Tony Barber, my pastor at Bluff Park Baptist Church. He and I don't always agree, but I can't think of anyone else who's taught me more about being a Christian. I learned to be a pastor by watching him.

As for Silas, I've been blessed with two. Greg Harper and Ryan Burg are very different people, but they both have a very deep concern for reaching the lost. I'm proud either one would have anything to do with me.

My Timothy is named Robert Burgess, an otherwise intelligent young man who for some reason treats me like a role model. Besides, where else am I going to find someone who likes both Star Wars and Charles Spurgeon?

These are mine. Who are yours?

A note on Judges

Judges 1 will be on Monday.

As long as we're here, I want to give a little explanation of what I'm trying to do. I don't try to boil each chapter down to a couple of sentences. That's for better people than I. I just write what occurs to me as I read each chapter.

Review: THE NORMAL CHRISTIAN LIFE by Watchman Née

it's a cliche to say that a book works on more than one level, but in this case it's true. This is a genuine Christian classic, and it's easy to see why.

On one level  it's a commentary of Romans, and a very good one. It's devotional rather than verse-by-verse, and it helped me see the meaning of what I'd always seen as a very difficult book. On another, it uses the structure of the Epistle to the Romans to discuss the normal Christian life of the title.

I'd recommend this book to anyone, but most of all to Christians wondering if this is all there is. Too many "inspirational" books leave the reader frustrated at not being a super-Christian like the author. This one doesn't.

Joshua 24

The chapter begins with a history of Israel. Why? Because they needed to hear it. They were about to transition from a nomadic warrior life to one of sedentary farming.

How you got where you are has a lot to do with where you're going 

Joshua 23

Joshua , now very old, calls the leaders of the people together to remind them of something we've already seen several times, but which bears repeating:

The Israelites army never won a battle. It had its part to play, not God won the battles. Let me say that again. God won the battles. Not the person he chose, or the general he chose, but God.

Don't covet

The last commandment is simple. Don't covet,all the verbiage is to close any loophole rules lawyers might exploit. But it's also different from all the others.

The first four commandments are to tell us how to relate to God. The next five tell how to relate to each other. The last is internal.

Coveting is just wanting something you don't have. Since everything we have comes from God, coveting means, at its heart, we don't trust God to give us things.

Unfortunately, our entire culture is built on covetousness. Especially the time of year, everyone wants more. The best way to not covet is just to be happy with what you have.

Joshua 22

It's best not to shoot first and ask questions later.

The first thing the tribes who settled east of the Jordan did when they got home was built an altar. If the other tribes hadn't found out why before they attacked, the history of Israel might have been over before it really began

Joshua 21

This chapter makes a special point to say that God kept all of his promises to the Israelites.

In fact, he's never broken a promise. Every word he spoke in Scriptrure either already has come true or will by the end of time. I trust him, since he hasn't let anyone down yet.

Some jokes I like

I'm tired of ranting, so here are a few jokes instead.

A man wakes up in the hospital. "Doctor," he says, "I can't feel my legs!"

"That's not surprising," the doctor says. "I had to amputate your arms."

They say that the first thing to go is your memory. That second thing to go is your memory.

The Pope decided to kick all the Jews out of Italy. Before he did so, he gave the Jews one chance to stay. He would debate their greatest rabbi. If the Pope won, the Jews would leave. If the rabbi won, they could stay. Unfortunately, the two men didn't share a common language, so they decided to make it a silent debate.

The day came, and the men sat across from each other. The Pope made a circle in the air with his finger, and the rabbi jammed his toward the table. The Pope held up three fingers, and the rabbi held up one. The Pope set some bread and wine on the table, and the rabbi pulls an apple from his coat. Finally the Pope stands and says, "I give up. The Jews can stay."

When asked what happened, the Pope could only shake his head and answer, "He is the greatest theologian I've ever met. When I make a circle to say God is all around us, he pointed down to remind me that God is here with us, too. When I held up three fingers to represent the Trinity, he held up one to show that there is only one God. When I put out bread and wine to remind him of forgiveness, he pulled out an apple to remind me of original sin."

At the same time, the Jews were asking the rabbi about the debate. "First he said all the Jews all around here had to go. I said we're staying right here. Then he said we get three days to leave, and I said 'Up yours, Pope!'" Then they asked what happened next. "Who knows? We broke for lunch."

There. Isn't that better than me getting mad?