Category Archives: Uncategorized

I am so convinced that Leonard Sweet’s new book, I Am a Follower is a grace gift to us that I am going to add a new category to my Oboedire postings:  “Followership.” It will be an occasional post, not … Continue reading →

Week 11 Read:  Psalm 19:1, 7 Revelation is necessary and primary.  Our eyes are a symbol of this in the physical world.  When we go outside on land or sea and look as far as we can, it is only … Continue reading →

Week 11 Read:  Psalm 1:6 Christianity shares with other religions in the belief that there are “two ways” to live—one generates life, the other results in death. It is not too much to say that we move through life and … Continue reading →

Week 10 Read:  Song of Songs 2:16 In a culture which grossly misunderstands and misrepresents sexuality, the Song of Songs may be one of the most-important books in the Bible.  It is the single-best book which describes love on God’s … Continue reading →

Week 10 Read:  Proverbs 26:14 I am asserting that “fool” is the primary category from which Solomon works to develop other sub-categories which flow from foolishness.  The sluggard is the next one Stott deals with. Honestly, I do not know … Continue reading →

Week 10 Read:  Proverbs 21:24 In turning to the word “mocker,” Stott is not setting it up as a second type of person as much as he is highlighting one way foolishness expresses itself. The “fool” may keep his/her views … Continue reading →

Week 10 Read:  Proverbs 1:7 Whenever we find the word “fool” or “foolish” used in the Bible, we know we are being confronted with something extremely important.  Jesus taught that we should refrain from calling anyone a fool (Matthew 5:22), … Continue reading →

Week 10 Read Job 40:3-5 Yesterday, I proposed that the larger message of Job is how to deal with Mystery, not simply suffering.  How do we live with anything we cannot understand, or even sometimes accept. Stott actually gets at … Continue reading →

Week 10 Read:  Job 42:7 Job may be the oldest book in the Bible.  It is also one of the most difficult to interpret and apply.  There are many good lessons to be taken from it, and Stott helps us … Continue reading →

Week 10: The Wisdom Literature—a major section of the Old Testament contains books we call the “wisdom” books—books which help us discover and enact the meaning of life.  Stott spend the tenth and eleventh weeks of our journey on these … Continue reading →

Week 9 Read:  Lamentations 1:1 When people’s sinning goes unchecked, nothing is sacred; no place is safe.  The fall of Jerusalem is both literal and symbolic—a sign of the complete collapse of what had been implied in the phrase “the … Continue reading →

Week 9 Read:  2 Kings 19:6 Stott intrigues us with his assertion that it is when Church and State are in a cooperative relationship that both prosper as God intends.  As he notes, the Church does not try to be … Continue reading →

Week 9 Read:  Hosea 6:6 My friend, Dr. Ken Collins, says the gospel can be summed up in two words:  Holy Love. If Amos is the messenger of God’s expectation of holiness, Hosea is the messenger of God’s offer of … Continue reading →

Week 9 Read:  Amos 5:24 Amos “pulled a fast one” on Judah.  He began with a six-nation denouncement of evil which surely brought shouts of “Amen, brother!” as he predicted God’s pending judgement on them all. And then….he turned the … Continue reading →

Week 9 Read:  1 Kings 12:7 The history of Israel goes from bad to worse in a downward spiral of details that, to this day, I cannot keep straight.  Untold hours can be spent examining the events which transpired over … Continue reading →

Week 9 Read:  1 Kings 4: 29, 31 I suppose we can take some small comfort that God was willing to use kings who were a mixture of righteousness and unrighteousness.  But when you stop to think about it, that’s … Continue reading →

Week 9—We cover a five hundred-year period in the next seven days:  from the rise of David to the fall of Jerusalem.  Along the way, we’ll intersect with the prophets.  Once again, it’s a lot to cover, but as with … Continue reading →

Week 8 Read:  1 Chronicles 10:13 Unfaithfulness was the cause of Saul’s downfall.  Ultimately, it was his unfaithfulness to God.  But it was also infidelity to his own position as king.  A few days ago, we saw that the king … Continue reading →

Week 8 Read:  1 Samuel 10:24 Saul is Israel’s first king, and he personifies the “mixed bag” that Israel will experience throughout the reign of the Kings.  The readings today and tomorrow are highly symbolic.  Saul has a good beginning, … Continue reading →

Week 8 Read: 1 Samuel 3:19 If you thought we went through the first eight books of the Old Testament quickly, “hang on to your hat.”  We’re going to fly through the historical books as well.  Again, it’s important to … Continue reading →

Week 8 Read:  Romans 15:4 Stott brings our brief look at the Book of Judges to an end by taking us outside the Old Testament.  Today’s verse from Paul provides us with the way to go into any part of … Continue reading →

Week 8 Read:  Judges 2:11 The world God intends falls apart when people do what is right in their own eyes.  But that’s the way the Book of Judges summarizes Israel when the nation was at its lowest point. The … Continue reading →

Week 8 Read:  Joshua 24:25 It’s all about Covenant.  God is faithful to it, and asks us to be also. I agree with Stott’s summary.  The covenant is God saying, “I will be your God, and you shall be my … Continue reading →

Week 8 Read:  Joshua 21:43 Today, we have been “shot from a cannon.”  Stott’s desire to get us to the birth of Jesus on time, forces him to move through the rest of the Old Testament, leaving more out than … Continue reading →

Week 7 Read:  Exodus 20:15 and 20:17 I believe that Stott combines the 8th and 10th commandments in a good way, but I am not sure whether doing so is in keeping with the intention for the original list.  I … Continue reading →

Week 7 Read:  Exodus 20:16 After establishing the foundation of human life—reverence for the one true God, the commandments then build upon that foundation with commitments to the things that make for a strong society: the family unit, humanity at-large, … Continue reading →

Week 7 Read:  Exodus 20:14 In a sex-saturated culture, where sexual activity is put on virtually the same level as a recreational event, it’s difficult to grasp the significance of the seventh commandment. God’s prohibition of adultery is not to … Continue reading →

Week 7 Read: Exodus 20:13 In the last meditation on the commandments, I made a connection between the first four and the Lord’s Prayer. But I also see them following a similar pattern to that described in the creation narratives.  … Continue reading →

Week 7 Read: Exodus 20:12 Stott notes that some make a division between commandments 1-4 and 5-10.  He believes, however, that commandment 5 goes with the first four. I happen to believe that all ten go together.  They all reveal … Continue reading →

Week 7 Read:  Exodus 20: 7-8 If God is the supreme influence, it only stands to reason that we will reverence God.  The next two commandments call us to do this in two ways:  (1) by the way we use … Continue reading →

Week 7:  John Stott underscores the importance of the Ten Commandments by devoting an entire week to them. Read:  Exodus 20:3-5 The Bible does not teach there is only one God; it teaches there is only one true God.  We … Continue reading →

Week 6 Read:  Numbers 10:29 Stott hits the nail on the head today:  a “journey” can become a “wandering” for lack of obedience. God is our guide, but we must follow Him.  God alone knows the way.  When we presume … Continue reading →

Week 6 Read:  Exodus 19-5-6 In today’s reading I was reminded that when the Israelites got to Mount Sinai, they stayed there for about a year.  Sometimes when I am reading the Bible, the fact that I read on creates … Continue reading →

Week 6 Read Exodus 14:31 Every one of us has an “Exodus” in our life—an occasion and experience when God delivered us from something.  Most of us have a number of them. Our “exoduses” provide the basis for documenting the … Continue reading →

Week 6 Read: Exodus 12:23 Today we read one of the most significant passages in the Bible—a passage that has immediate importance, but one which also illustrates the ongoing drama of redemption.  Each of Stott’s four points about the Passover … Continue reading →

Week 6 Read:  Exodus 7:5 Today’s brief reading serves as an introduction to the extended plague passages—a challenging and difficult section. Stott is correct in showing that the plagues served more than one purpose, the ultimate one being to reveal … Continue reading →

Week 6 Read:  Exodus 3:10 Life looks different when you’re eighty than it does when you’re forty.  God had put Moses “in to soak” in the wilderness, and the renewal of his call was marked with humility and dependency upon … Continue reading →

Week 6:  “Moses and the Exodus” Read:  Exodus 2:23-24 If we have a “heart,” we quickly and easily “boil over” when we see people around us being unfairly treated.  What should be a response, turns into a reaction. God never … Continue reading →

Week 5 Read:  Genesis 50:20 Stott’s comments go a long way in interpreting today’s reading.  The providence of God is working through all sorts of things:  history, injustices, and forgiveness—as Stott so clearly points out. Too often we think of … Continue reading →

Week 5 Read:  Genesis 32:26 I think Stott gives us an important picture in today’s reading.  There’s no use in using the word “wrestling” unless both parties are wrestling. God wrestles with us in order to get us into the … Continue reading →

Week 5 Read:  Genesis 25:21 When Jeannie and I made our trip to the Holy Land, it included a visit to Petra.  I failed to connect that amazing, ancient city with Esau.  But it was from his line that the … Continue reading →

Week 5 Read:  Genesis 17:2 Stott “goes backward” to a text he might previously have dealt with.  We don’t know why.  But we do know he is dealing with the heart of God’s relationship with us:  covenant. If we go … Continue reading →

Week 5 Read:  Genesis 22:1 This has always been a difficult passage for me.  I see the obvious things—such as the analogy of God’s Son being the sacrifice instead of Abraham’s But I get slowed down in the phrase Stott … Continue reading →

Week 5 Read Genesis 21:1-2 The broad jump into today’s “chosen word,” is another reminder that we are not engaged in a traditional Bible study, but rather a selective one.  We may wonder why Stott leaves out so much, but … Continue reading →

Week 5—-Our next seven readings take us into the world of the Patriarchs.  Most scholars divide Genesis into two main sections:  (1) Chapters 1-11…”God creates the World”, and (2) “God creates a people.”  The Bible is largely silent about what … Continue reading →

Week 4 Read:  Genesis 11:8 I personally enjoyed and benefitted from Stott’s review of the Babel account.  I hope you are following these daily meditations with his book at hand.  There’s too much to repeat, but what he wrote was … Continue reading →

(Pre-meditation Note:  Just a reminder that the small amount of text for each day’s reflection is not an invitation to exclude a wider reading of the scripture we’re passing through.  Rather, it is (as we said earlier) an example of … Continue reading →

(Pre-meditation Note:  I have not seen as many “comments” on each-day’s reading of Stott as I thought might be the case.  That’s okay.  Interaction with a blog can take place in more than one way.  I have received some feedback … Continue reading →

Week 4 Read:  Genesis:6:17 No matter how bad things get, there is always someone who “walks with God.” When God finds that person, a way out of deterioration and difficulty is made.  God is always the deliverer, but God enacts … Continue reading →

Week 4 Read:  Genesis 6:5 When I come to chapter six of Genesis in my Bible, it has this title for the first eight verses: “The Wickedness of Humankind” The “downward spiral” of sin which began in the Garden of … Continue reading →