1000

This is my 1000th post on this blog. That's a milestone, no matter who you are.

God has been extremely gracious in allowing me to do this. I've tried to honor him and build up his kingdom with this blog, and hopefully I've done it. In the meantime, though, I'm tired.

I decided a while back to take a break when I reached a kilopost. So that's what I'm going to do. I'll continue to put something new up at The Bible Exchange every Saturday, and there are a few things I've been putting off that need attention, but I don't plan on updating this blog until May 2016.

Psalm 40

This is both a psalm of praise for what God's already done and a prayer that he'll keep doing it.

The first part of the psalm just tells about all the good that God has done. If he had been that good to David in the past, why wouldn't he trust him in the future?

Psalm 39

No book review today. You'll find out why tomorrow.

This is another imprecatory psalm, in which David asks God to help him while att the same time bringing down his enemies. David had done everything he could, but it wasn't enough.

Swords are useful, but only God can guarantee victory.

Psalm 38

Cry out to God, even when your enemies.

Who was David talking about in this psalm? We really don't know. But we do know this: if God is on your side nothing else matters. And if God is against you,then nothing else matters.

I was going to start the Lord's Prayer today, but never mind now

I'll explain why Friday.

Psalm 37

Unfortunately, many name it and claim it types have claimed the psalm, or part of it, as justification for their beliefs. "Delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart" is not a license for greed.

If you delight in the Lord, then he will be the desire of your heart.

Review: THE HISTORY OF TOM JONES, A FOUNDLING by Henry Fieding

This was one of the first modern novels, I'm told. Unfortunately, this means it was written several hundred years ago, so it's both hard to read and dull.

The life of Tom Jones has many twists and turns, but it wasn't interesting. (Not the singer Tom Jones, although it's not unusual to confuse them.) I don't recommend this book.

Psalm 36

In this psalm we read "man and beast do you save". Does this mean that animals go to Heaven?

We have to be careful not to read the Old Testament through the understanding of the New. As far as we know, David just expected to go to Sheol like everyone else, and God's salvation was just physical.

Christ is a job description, not a name

Ever heard of Jesus H. Christ? I've heard it plenty of times, though no one has ever told me what the "H."stands for. The only thing they've all been sure of was that his last name was Christ. It wasn't.

If you want to be technical, in his earthly life he was probably known as Yeshua bar-Youssef: Jesus son of Joseph. There were no last names as such among the Jews of first-century Judea. So where did "Christ" come from? It comes from the Greek word christos, which is just a translation of the Hebrew word messiah, or "Anointed One". A Christ was a person anointed by God to save his people.

Jesus was not the son of Mr. and Mrs. Christ. He was the Saviior chosen by God.

An announcement

I have a new essay up at The Bible Exchange, "Belief has made me a skeptic".

Psalm 35

David asks God to defeat his enemies for him. A lot of people have a problem with this sort of imprecation, but it just shows that David brought everything to God.

Even the parts we don't like. 

Review: COMPLETE WORKS by Lewis Carroll

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and "The Hunting of the Snark" are ridiculously silly and have long been among my favorites. After finding a lot of Complete Works collections for very reasonable prices -- public domain books are free or nearly so on the Kindle -- the first one I read was by Lewis Carroll. I was eager to see what else he had written.

I shouldn't have bothered.

The late 1800s were a very sentimental time in England, and Carroll was more sentimental than most. He seems to have seen things, especially nature and children, as idealized. A lot of what he wrote was just glurge, a mixture of chicken noodle soup and sugar. The former is supposed to be good for you and the latter is supposed to taste good, but together they just sound disgusting. It's because of all the glurge that I don't recommend this.

Psalm 34

The most famous line from this psalm is, "Taste and see that the Lord is good." I've seen it on aprons, cookbooks, dishes, and anything else that could possibly be connected with food.

The only problem is that this psalm has nothing to do with food.

Review: GOD'S REVOLUTION by Eberhard Arnold

Arnold dressed, acted, and thought differently from other people, and his ideas on revolution were different as well. He cared nothing for political revolutions, but wanted people to revolt against the system of this world in favor of the Kingdom of God.

By beginning with what God wants to accomplish through the Church, Arnold is able to show what a truly godly revolution would look like. I recommend this book.

Psalm 33

Have you ever stopped to think that the God who pursues you is the same one who created the universe?

This psalm is a single paean to God's greatness. It is a litany of reasons for being in awe of him. It's a song of praise to a being who created galaxies with a word but troubles with the least concerns of his creatures.

The Ten Commandments redux and what comes next

Last week we finished going through the Ten Commandments. Here they are again,in a greatly simplified form.

No other gods.

No idols.

No blasphemy.

Keep the Sabbath holy.

Honor your parents.

No murder.

No sex with someone you're not married to.

No stealing.

No lying.

No coveting.

Next week I hope to start the Lord's Prayer.

Psalm 32

Have you ever had something unpleasant to do that you just kept putting off? The longer you went without doing it, the more it weighed on you. Sin is a lot like that. Confessing it and having it forgiven is like having a load taken off of your shoulders.

The next time it comes to mind you can just remember that you've already done that.

Review: ESV GLOBAL STUDY BIBLE by Crossway Books

The Bible sacred to me, and the English Standard Version is my favorite translation of it. I'm not reviewing the Bible itself, but rather the articles unique to this edition.

Many of these articles are general introductions to the different parts of Scripture, but some are more theological, and obviously written from a Refomed or Calvinist perspective. This isn't surprising, given Crossway's known institutional bias, but it is unfortunate. 

Crossway should be commended for publishing an outstanding Bible translation in specialty editions like this, but there are places to get the background information without the theological bias. As much as I want to, I can't recommend this book.

Psalm 31

You're never alone.

Even in the depths, David knew that God heard his prayers. It's no different now. No matter who you are, no matter where you are, God will be there when you turn to him.

A little about Locked-In Syndrome and the schedule

In January 2013 I suffered a very rare kind of stroke. This left me with the condition known as Locked-In Syndrome, which basically means that my mind and body are fine, but there's little to no connection between the two. Autonomic functions like breathing, circulation, and digestion are controlled by the brain stem, so they still work, I have almost no voluntary movement other than my eyes.

As for the schedule for this blog, it's settled down to this. Mondays I write about whatever I want. Right now I do book reviews on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. On Wednesdays I try to teach about the basics of the Christian faith, and I try to put an announcement here when I upload something to The Bible Exchange on Saturday mornings. And each weekday I comment on a chapter of the Bible.

An announcement

I have a new post, "100%", at The Bible Exchange (www.bibleexchange.com).

Psalm 30

You might be under the wrath of God now , but his wrath is momentary. His love lasts forever.

God may chasten you for a while, and that's fine. If we weren't his children, he wouldn't bother correcting us. But after the correction comes the love, and God's love is neverending.

Review: THE WOOD BEYOND THE WORLD by William Morris

This is one of those books that seems to have been foundational for an entire genre, but which is hardly ever read anymore. It was one of the first modern fantasy novels, predating the works of both Lord Dunsany and Arthur Machen.

At first it also seems to be unnecessarily archaic,which I just assumed was an affliction shared by Victorian writers, until I learned that he meant to write like that. The entire book was written in conscious imitation of an author from centuries before.

Whatever the reason for the style, there's no doubt that it makes things more difficult for the reader now. It takes some work, but it's worth it, and I recommend this book.

Psalm 29

How great is God? Even his voice can change the world.

This isn't a long psalm, but it's all about God's majesty and power, and David praises that majesty and power by praising one aspect of it, his voice. The voice of a king may change the course of a nation, but the voice of God brought the universe into being.

Review: THE BABY ECHOLALIA OF CHRISTENDOM

I know nothing of Wayne O'Connor except that he wrote a book that looked fairly interesting. And even that turned out to be wrong. 

The first problem is that O'Connor has misunderstood Christendom to be a synonym for Christianity. It's actually an old name for Europe, the "domain of Christ". Secondly, this book is in serious need of an editor. The fact that something is self-published doesn't mean it has to look or read like it.

There's nothing inherently wrong with the message of the book, but that message is unnecessarily hard to get to. I didn't even finish this book, and I don't recommend it.

Psalm 28

People reap what they sow.

That's very good for those who trust God, because they will never be left alone. It's very bad for those who trust in themselves, for exactly the same reason,

The tenth commandment

17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's."

-- Exodus 20.17, ESV

Again, it all comes back to trusting God. He's promised to give us what we need, but by wanting what someone else has, we're saying he won't.

Psalm 27

This is nothing but praise to God. While many psalms blend supplication and praise, this one is pure and unmixed, simple song of worship.

Sometimes you just have to be glad that God is God.