Numbers 15

I've said it before, and I'll probably say it again: God wants things done a certain way.

And he's very very serious..

Review: THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

In the mid-1800s there were a lot of manifestos. This was the height of the Industrial Revolution, and also of modernism, when it seemed science could solve all of of mankind's problems. Everybody had a way to improve the world, and everybody wanted to write about it,

Though attributed to both Marx and Engels, the majority of the Manifesto was written by Marx, which means two things. The first is that it is very well-written. Marx was a great writer 19th-century standards, though by modern standards he's very, very boring.

The second is that it was extremely wrong. Marx had a one-track mind, and that one track was Communism. Everything was subsumed to it, and anything that didn't fit was thrown aside with great disdain. This means that there are things in Marx's writings that simply aren't true. They make sense, though, if you accept the basic premises of Communism.

There's no doubt there were -- and are -- abuses that needed correcting. But this would be forgotten like all those other manifestos if someone hadn't taken it seriously.

Numbers 14

God doesn't want you to do amazing things. He wants you to be obedient.

God had already told the Israelites something, but they tried to enter the land without him. Needless to say it didn't work.

Numbers 13

The land was everything God said, which shouldn't have surprised them by now.

And yet they were afraid.

The New Testament

This is the part that Christians need to pay attention to. Actually, a Christian should pay attention to the whole thing, but this is the part of the Bible written to us.

Matthew-John are the Gospels, four accounts of the life of Jesus Christ. Acts describes the growth of the Church in its first 30 years or so. Romans-Philemon are letters from Paul, an early convert and the greatest of Christian missionaries. Hebrews-Jude are known as the general or catholic -- meaning universal -- epistles, because they name no specific recipient. Revelation is the only prophetic book in the New Testament, and there's a lot of debate as to its meaning.

The two testaments go together;they make sense of and reinforce each other. And I believe these are true, too.

Numbers 12

Do not go against the one God's chosen. I don't care who you are. Just don't.

Why was only Miriam punished by turning leprous? I don't know; the chapter doesn't say. If the Holy Spirit had wanted us to know, he would've told us.

Numbers 11

Go ahead. Complain to God.

He'll give you what you want 'til il you're sick of it.

Shame on you

If you've come by, thank you.

If you've come by more than once, then thank you that much more. I know I'm not the easiest person to talk to, so you have no idea what it means that you've kept coming back.

If you've helped , thank you very much. I can never thank you enough for taking a load off of my and Lora.'s minds.

If you haven't done any of these things, shame on you. It's inconsistent? It inconvenient to be like this, too. You haven't shown the love of Christ, or of a Chrstian. No, I'm not saying you're not a Christian. I am saying you should examine yourselves. Like it says in the Bible. In 2Corinthians 13.5. In so many words.

One other thing: I understand time, distance, and money. Thanks to the interwebs, I have friends all over the world. I even understand old age, to a point. I don't mean y'all.

But if you can and you haven't so much as stopped in:

Shame on you.

Numbers 10

In this chapter,God foretells the book of Judges.

One time the silver trumpets were tobe used was when they fought an enemy who oppressed them, that's half of Judges right there.

Review: EATING DIAMOND PIE by David Thorpe

This novel reminds me of my friend Davo. I don't know that there's a standard British style, but it reds so much like Davo's that I could almost believe Davo wrote it.  The fact that he sent me an email while I was reading Thorpe's book just reinforced that.

This book was finny. The part with the hornets and the bathroom fan was hilarious, been in retrospect. This definitely wasn't a "Christian" novel, but it was irreverent and had more sex and profanity than I'd hoped, but far less than I'd feared. In this respect, too, it was Veddy Blitish.

Altogether, I liked this book, probably far more than I should have. I think my friend Davo would, too.

Numbers 9

There was not any fire over the tabernacle at night. At least the Bible doesn't say so.

It says the cloud was "like the appearance of fire." You may think I'm being nitpicky. You may be right, but let's stick to what this chapter actually says..

The Old Testament books I forgot

I could make a excuse, but like the man said, ain't nobody's fault but mine.

Ezra and Nehemiah tell, from a religious and political perspective, what happened to the Jews who came back from their exile. Esther is about some of those who stayed.

These three fit in the historical book, right after 2Chronicles.

I don't know why, but I always forget these books. It's not right, but it's how it is.

Numbers 8

Jusst like the priests and the tabernacle, the Levites had to be consecrated,

Could 22,000 men have laid their hands on two bulls? I don't see how, but that's what this chapter says. The most important thing to notice is that the Levites needed their sins forgiven. They were going to be close to God, so they had to be holy..

Numbers 7

This chapter is very long and highly repetitious, listing the offerings of each tribe for the consecration of the tabernacle.

The important thing is that they all gave the same. Though somebebody has to go first, every worshiper is equal before God.

Numbers 6

Most of this chapter is abut theNazirite vow, but tucked in at the end is one the most beautiful blessings I in all of Scripture.

God does this. He lulls you, then blindsides you with uunimaginable grace.

Common objections

"I don't feel comfortable evangelizing." No one feels comfortable evangelizing. Do it anyway.

"I don't know how todo it." If this were honestly your concern, you'd find out. Besides, you already evangelized for your favorite TV shows, bands,movies, and teams. If something is important to you, you want to share it. That's all evangelism is.

"I'm not called to evangelize." Are you a Christian? Then you're called.

"I'm not gifted as an evangelist." Congratulation. You've just used Scripture to justify your disobedience. If you read the passage,you'll see that people are gifted by the Holy Spiritas evangelists, but specifically "for the building up of the church."

These are the most common reasons I've heard why professing  Chrtistians who say they believe the Bible give for disregarding both it and theGod they claim to worship.

If you're not a follower of Jesus, this is why those same  people would rather see you spemd etermity in Hell than speak up.

Numbers 5

In this chapter, as in so many others, the people did t God said. That's huge.

Today wre look for ways to disobey, or to technically obey whole stil doing what we want. Here they just obeyed. Think about that..

Review: CHRISTIANS ARE HATE-FILLED HYPOCRITES

... and Other Lies You've Been Told. By Bradley R. E. Wright

Wright's book is very well-written, but he makes two very serious mistakes that ultimately sink it.

First, he confuses Christianity with church membership. Membership, or even attendance, is not the same as really believing. Most pastors will tell you that in a given congregation. There are a few who are serious about their faith. Those are the Christians.

Second, Wright doesn't seem to recognize that people do lie. He gives a long and very logical argument  as to why lyyinconfers no advantage in this case, but he ignores the fact that people lie anyway. People love to lie. It's in our nature.

I had high hopes for this book, but it was just an argument for the status quo. For that reason, I can't recommend it,

Numbers 4

The holy things in the tabernacle had to be covered by the priests before they could even be moved.

Holy means holy. Period..

The Old Testament

like i said, the Old Testament is just the history of ancient Israel.

Genesis spends 11 chapters on world history and39 chapters on the first four members of the Israelites nation. Exodus tells how they left Egypt and givs instructions for building the tabernacle, their place of worship. Leviticus and Numbers give the Israelite law and tell of their 40 years of wandering, while Deuteronomy is a restatement of the law for a new generation about to enter the land God had promised back in Genesis.

Joshua tells about the conquest and distribution of that land and Judges tells the sad story of what they did once they had it. Ruth is a short book that takes place near the end of Judges. The two books of Samuel are about the beginning of the monarchy and the first two kings of  Israel, Saul and David, and the two books of Kings dead with David's soon Solomn, the bsplit of the kingdom, and the kings of both kingdoms, while Chronicles -- both books -- covers the same ground, but with an emphasis on the southern kingdom of Jydah and the priesthood.

Job is a book about the of God. Psalms was the songbook of ancient Israel. Proverbs is attributed to Solomon (mostly), as are Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs, also called the Song of Solomon. They are a collection of wise sayings, a meditation on life, and a love poem, respectively.

 Ther rest of the Old Testament is the prophets, who both foretold the future and called Israel to repent and follow the law. Isaiah_Danielare known as theMajor Prophets, more because their books are longer than because their prophecies were more important. The rest are called Minor Proophets.

And it's all true.