Monthly Archives: November 2011

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 →