I don't want a new Bible

A long time ago (November 6, 2009) I posted about awesome Christmas presents that would be fun to have. Unfortunately, three Christmas' have gone by and neither me nor those I know have purchased or had one purchased for them. Still, they are incredibly neato. I'm talking about Bibles.

Not your ordinary ESV Bible that came off the press a year and a half ago. I mean a dandy 1537 Mathew-Tyndale first English language Bible ever translated into English directly from Hebrew and Greek Bible. The kind of Bible that if you had 15 of them, you would have them all (plus one or two)!

Take a look at The Great Site to see some older, rarer Bibles. It is awesome! I wish I could have made a stop in Arizona to see the showroom.

In case you are wondering, my birthday is July 16. I prefer English Bibles like the 1380 John Wycliffe handwritten manuscript, estimated at 2 million dollars or more.


I think the oldest Bible in my house right now is an 1984 Bible, probably printed that year or so. What is your oldest Bible? Anybody got one 200 years or older?

Partnering to Remember 2011

I have joined the Partnering to Remember: 2011 Philippians Memory Moleskine by Timmy Brister.  Who's with me?

One minor detail though.  I'm using a Moleskine look-alike because of the price difference.  I'm sure there is a huge difference and my little notebook will fall apart 600 years before a Moleskine does, but I'll save $3.00 or so.

Tomorrow

Have you ever had a really bad day and feel like nothing you did worked out and then think that tomorrow everything will be better?  Why?  I was thinking just a couple hours ago of how we seem to assume that we will be doing something tomorrow.  We will do this or that or go to this city and sell this and buy that or do that,  when in reality we are not even promised tomorrow.  "...you don't even know what tomorrow will bring... instead say 'if the Lord wills, we will live..." (James 4:13)  So why are we so convinced that we will even be alive tomorrow?  And we are we not as assuming about things that we (Christians) are promised?  Why are we not convinced?

We are not promised tomorrow, we are promised:

• God is our refuge and our strength, an ever present help in time of trouble.
• God works for the good of those who love him.

There are many promises.  Instead of assuming we have tomorrow, assume God is faithful and will keep His word.  It is not easy, but think of the joy when your thoughts of God's promises are as natural as thinking there will be a tomorrow.  Assuming things promised instead of assuming tomorrow which is not.

I Choose to Believe the Bible Because:

For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 

(2 Peter 1:16-21 ESV)

    "I choose to believe the Bible because it's a reliable collection of historical documents written down by eye witnesses during the life time of other eye witnesses that report supernatural events which took place in fulfillment of specific prophecies and claim to be divine rather than human in origin."  -Voddie Baucham.

Click here to listen to Voddie Baucham's Decoding Da Vinci Code

The Bible

"I choose to believe the Bible because it's a reliable collection of historical documents written down by eye witnesses during the life time of other eye witnesses that report supernatural events which took place in fulfillment of specific prophecies and claim to be divine rather than human in origin."  -Voddie Baucham.  II Peter 1:16-21

Decoding Da Vinici


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Talk With The Animals

Another thought about the Garden of Eden, Eve, the serpent and all the animals.  I commented on Abraham Piper's blog Twenty-two Words about the serpent talking to Eve in the garden,  (Read Here) that it was probably common to speak to the animals before the fall and maybe even up to the flood.  This kind of goes along with another post of mine about animals eating meat even before the fall, so I used the same picture.

There are a couple of reasons that I think that the animals talked.  First, as Abraham pointed out, Eve was not completely shocked by the serpent talking to her.  It is written that the serpent was "crafty" in Genesis 3:1, but crafty as defined by several sources, does not mean that he developed the ability to speak whatever language Adam and Eve were speaking, rather he was sly or cunning.  Maybe Genesis just happens to leave out that Eve was shocked by this but decided to talk to a talking serpent, though none have spoken before.

Secondly, God told Noah to bring animals into the ark in Genesis 6 and 7, and Noah did just as he was commanded.  Perhaps God drew the animals into the ark, but He did command Noah to do it.  Genesis 7:8-9 says that the animals "came to the ark" but also says "as God commanded Noah".  Seems strange to do something that you command someone else to do.  Like me telling you to go to the store and bring the checkbook and I get into the car with you and the checkbook is with me.  Why would I bother telling you to bring the checkbook if it was my intention to bring it with me all along?  Then again, God does command people to repent and believe which we can not do without God giving us the ability.  So, I could be wrong.

The passage in Genesis 11:1-2 I had to search different translations, but since I can not read Greek, Hebrew or Aramaic, I can do that.  The Message translation (which I don't normally use) says that "the whole earth spoke the same language".  Perhaps that means animals as well.  Again, it would be easier for the people in that day to achieve many things if they could order an animal in their own tongue.  Then God confused their language (Genesis 11:7).  Perhaps that is when animals began barking and stuff.

Just a thought.

In Other News:
We are celebrating the birth of our first born John V this Saturday.  His birthday is February 9th, 2008.  Born at 3:03 in the morning, weighing 7 pounds at the length of 20-3/4 inches.  He has grown up so much since then.  He is learning to count to five, sing several songs (thanks to our nightly devotions, Sunday School and the radio) and other things daily.  He enjoys sliding down slides, going for walks 'on the road', riding in his wagon and throwing some horseshoes.  

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Raising Chickens

Certainly by now you have heard about the tragedy on our "farm" over the weekend.  Two chickens have been killed and eight are missing and are presumed dead.  My brother has done multiple searches in the neighboring fields and yards and thinks he hears chickens but can not locate them.  If they are hiding under bushes and things they will become real quiet when something walks by, making it extra difficult to locate them.  Tonight I hope to search the fields again and look under bushes and things.  Perhaps if I bring Scratch with me they will be more likely to come out.

The next few weeks we will be mending fences, so to say, and adding an electric fence.  It is unclear what got to the chickens but if it was anything other than some kind of bird, the electric fence will no doubt keep it from doing it again.  I've read on the Backyard Chickens forum that if your chickens run away and don't come back they aren't yours.  I see it a little differently.  The chickens were never mine.  As it is written:
 ²¹And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. (Job 1:21, King James Version)  Though not easy, I have to remember to hold onto what the LORD gives me with an open hand.  That doesn't mean that I don't take care of the things given and when lost say that the Lord has taken away, but to remember that it isn't ours and it is the Lords to give and take.

Therefore, this next time around we will do our best to ensure the chickens are better cared for.  Never knew we had a raccoon problem until we had a raccoon problem.  We thought we were prepared and from this we are smarter.

In Other News:
It is also good to remember that man makes plans but God directs his paths.  Actually very comforting because we also know that God works all things out for the good of those who are called.  So when we have trials, we can still do our best to not worry because (not only does worrying not add another hair to our head) we can remember that God know's what He is doing and will complete all of His goals.

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Another Idea Without A Patent

Sometimes a genius idea pops into my head and instead of taking the idea and using it for my own obvious financial gain, I choose to share the ideas to everyone else and let them take the idea and run with it.  This idea is so simple yet so spiffy that I am going to pause a moment to see if it has already been acted on...

No, can not find it online.  Wonder if that means it isn't that great an idea or if it is one of those once-in-a-lifetime ideas.  I'll let you decide.  Here it is.

It would be a fairly short, small, paperback book that contains short stories of the reactions of people in the Bible to God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  For example, Job 42:1-6 where Job stands in awe of the Glory of God revealed to him by God himself in a storm.  So it would be the actual text of Job 42:1-6.

Or Mathew 8:27 and the verses before and after to keep it in context.  Where the disciples, who feared for their lives, looked at Jesus and were amazed by his ability to control the wind and the waves.

There is a ton of verses in the Bible that tell of what happened to mere men when God was revealed to them.  Some fall to the ground, some go literally blind, some get off their mats and run and dance, some faces shone like the sun, some were cured of life-long diseases.  All of them were affected much more than we seem to be today.  These days, it seems that when we see the hand of God at work we simply breathe a thankful prayer and go on with our lives.

Imagine making it a monthly or even yearly goal to read the new book (coming soon, maybe) Mere Men Meet Maker - short stories of men in the Bible meeting God Almighty (or some other catchy title) and asking ourselves why we do not react the same way though we are always in the presence of God and have His Spirit dwelling in us.




Photo:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/ajawin/ / CC BY 2.0

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Man of God

Yesterday I was wondering the very same thing I am about to write about.  My thoughts came about after reading from I Kings 17:7-24.

Image this:  You have lost your spouse and can not find work.  It's been a long time since you have had any kind of income.  You have already began eating a third of what you used to eat so that you and your only son can try to live out this time of nothing.  This morning you wake up and look through your refrigerator and cabinets only to find that you have pancake mix that requires nothing but milk and enough milk in the fridge to make 3 pancakes.

You are about to make these pancakes when a fairly famous preacher rings your doorbell.  You've heard of this man.  He dresses funny, is always talking about when Christ will come back to judge the living and the dead.  You wonder what he could want.  Therefore, you open the door and he steps in.  He looks you right in the eyes and asks for a drink of water (thankfully you have a well) and some pancakes for breakfast.  What?  He can't be serious.  Doesn't he know how bad the economy is?  He must have noticed the size of your house, the lack of cars in the driveway.

Sadly, you reply that you have only enough pancake mix and milk for three pancakes that you and your only child were going to split as a last meal before you sat on your favorite (and only) couch and waited to slowly starve to death.  He listens to your every word.  Then he says "do not be afraid, make the pancakes as you have said you were going to do, except, bring me the pancakes you can make first and then make more for you and your son".  He continues as you stare, "I know that God in Heaven will continue to provide pancake mix and milk and that it will not run out until you receive your next paycheck from your new job you will get in a few months to a year."

What do you do?

1. Slam the door.  After all, this guy is nuts.
2. Do as he asks and hope for the best.

Well, let's say you are somewhat crazy from lack of food.  You make three pancakes (your son starring at them wide-eyed and drooling) and you walk over to the couch where the intruder is sitting and hand him the plate and fork and knife.  He thanks you and begins eating... okay, now you walk back to the kitchen.  You pick up the emptied milk just and WOW it has the same amount of milk in it that you just used for the pancakes you just made.  You run over to where you left the empty box of mix and it also has some left in it, enough for three more pancakes.*

You quickly make three more pancakes and sit your son down to eat them... you run back to the box and jug and there is the same amount in there again, you makes yourself three pancakes.  It's a miracle!*

*(Results not typical)

Now the questions:

1. Would you have made the first three pancakes?
2. Can things like this still happen?  (This is the O.T. after all)
3. Why or why don't you think this could still happen today?
4. What about Hebrews 13:2?  Is it possible that if we entertain angels, miracles may happen?

Just something I've been pondering.

In Other News:

I've got a desire to purchase a Moleskine or two, just to keep thoughts in whenever a thought comes up.  However, I am having the hardest time spending over ten bucks for something that I could probably get at a dollar store or Walmart for a lot less.  But they are so cool!!!  Isn't that reason enough to buy something?

Photo:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/veganfeast/ / CC BY 2.0

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Bible Reading

I discovered two very helpful things at the Bible Gateway website.  It all started last week when I wanted to find a daily Bible reading thing online because it is easier to read the computer screen whilst eating breakfast than it is to read a Bible laying on the table next to the bowl that has to be held open.  So, I did a Google search for Bible reading related things and, of course, Bible Gateway was amongst the top results.

Bible Gateway has two things I will use more often now.  One is the five different Bible Reading Plans that they offer.  Currently, I am reading the Bible in a year... actually, I started this morning, so, I am cheating a little because I skipped ummm... 11 days.

 Second is the Audio Bibles.  You pick a Book of the Bible and a chapter and none other than Max McLean reads to you right from your computers speakers.  I recommend the flash version because you won't need to download anything if your computer is up to snuff.  Turns out that this Max McLean guy is quite famous for a few things, like being a narrator for Listener's Bible online and a daily radio program Listen to the Bible which is worldwide.  I think I've heard his name before, but after reading the information on Wikipedia, what I'd really like to see is his theatrical presentation of The Screwtape Letters which I have been meaning to read but have neglected to.  

In Other News:  Our chickens spent the night outside in their coop.  We gave them a lamp so they could read... or stay warm and covered the large hard-wire wall with a blanket to keep the wind out.  This morning when I went out to change their water and add feed, they were fine, all snuggled up under the lamp talking about the weather and trying to determine which ones of them were male and which were female.  After giving them food and fresh water I removed the blanket so that they could watch the sunrise.  Because of the few hawks we have around the house, the chickens are not allowed to play outside without our supervision.  


Photo:  From Here - I'd buy one if I could.

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If You Love Me...

Have been studying about conviction recently in chapter nine of The Pursuit of Holiness.  Our convictions come from what we believe to be right and wrong and should be grounded in the Scriptures.  Knowing the ten commandments is only the beginning of where our convictions should come from (and most Christians do not have the 10 Commandments memorized).  How do you know if you can or can not eat meat?  Would God rather you defend yourself and your family with deadly force, or should we turn the other cheek?  Are "dishonest scales" okay because everybody is doing it?  What about dating?  Shouldn't we have arranged marriages?

You might have a lot of convictions about certain things in your life.  Why do some Christians drink a glass of wine with dinner and other Christians shudder when they are offered a Coke?  If your convictions are not based upon clear commands in Scripture or a "gray" area that is not exactly clear but better safe than sorry, then your convictions are just opinions.  Paul was clear that all things were permissible to him (although not all is beneficial).  I think that Paul would sit down to a steak dinner with peas and mashed potatoes and a glass of wine as long as he was certain that he would not be mastered by any of it (I Corinthians 6:12).  However, if he had a problem with longing for steak to a point that he needed it, for him it would certainly be sin to eat that steak because he was being mastered by it.  And if he was a recovering alcoholic, it would certainly be sin for him to drink that glass of wine because it could easily master him again.

Paul would also put away the wine and steak when dinning with a brother who was convinced that steak and wine were sinful.  Perhaps Paul could have quoted Jesus or His disciples saying that wine was okay and even good for you, but he would be leading his invited guests to sin.  Any conviction that you go against is sin.  And nobody should ever lead anybody to go against their convictions.

Certainly convictions are extremely important if we are going to live a life dedicated to obeying our Lord.  Our convictions need to be based on Biblical teaching and not on opinions of others or even our own opinions.  In order to have Biblical based convictions we need to be in the Word and studying the Word.  We need to hide the Word in our hearts in order to not sin (Psalm 119:11).  The next step is living according to our convictions.  Doing this will put sin to death, which is the title of chapter 9 of The Pursuit of Holiness.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29968788@N00/ / CC BY 2.0

Bible Quiz

There is an awesome Bible Quiz site here.

I'd love to post more, but the picture insert in blogger is not working and I don't want to have a whole post that looks like this.  But have fun with the quizzes.

Photo:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/29968788@N00/ / CC BY 2.0

Love Never Fails

A huge Congratulations! to Master Ricky Davis and Miss Rachel Ascol!  Who, having resisted the world-wide idea of marriage, have:

• Become engaged being younger than 30.
• Chosen to be married before living together.
• Guarded each other's heart.
• Listened to the wisdom of their Pastor.
• Sought the counsel of Godly men and woman.
• Prayerfully made decisions.

I have but one suggestion (of a ton) to these and all who are and who are thinking about being engaged... ever.  Pick a time to do family devotions now.  If you are single, you are your family.  If you are married, you and your wife are your family.  If you are married with children, your wife, children and you are your family and so on.  For some reason, Family devotions is one of my biggest struggles.  However, habits are hard to break, so form a family devotion habit now.  It is so much easier to have dinner and then devotions if that is what you have been doing for the last year or two or more.  Starting dinner and then devotions last week makes it hard this week, after all, you have things to do after dinner.

So, a short post of congratulations.  For more information about courting, engaging and marriage, feel free to ask.

Biblical Manhood
Biblical Womanhood



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Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/base2wave/ / CC BY 2.0

A Little Signing

John is starting to sing along with Bethany and I now!  He is still not using a lot of words, but he is trying.  It was great to sing It Is Well together before I went to work.  I'm glad he is starting to sing It Is Well, The Doxology, Holy Holy Holy because the other day I had Hey Jude stuck in my head and John was singing the naaaaaa na na na na na na with me and I really had hoped he would sign the good 'Christian' songs and not only the 'good' songs that are not really 'Christian'.

During our reading at night before John goes to bed (around 7:15-7:30), we have been reading a children's Bible book (who's name escapes me right now) and then the recommended text from the Bible and then signing one of the three songs mentioned above... not Hey Jude.  Voddie Baucham recently blogged about family devotions and being repetitive, especially for the young-uns and Bethany and I have been striving to do just that.  We don't sing just one song for months at a time though... I think John is quite capable of learning many more songs then even he hears Bethany and I sing in our home.

I can't wait for John to start singing the words of songs.  Right now he is just kind of humming with his mouth open and trying to say the words that should be there.  He gets a little confused when I start signing the second, third or fourth verse, but if kid's minds are really like sponges, then he will catch on.  Next Bethany, John and I will practice signing in harmony :).  John and I will swap between bass and tenor.  Then piano lessons, violin lessons, guitar lessons, drums and so on... Okay, I'm just kidding about that last part.  He can really take whatever he would like, unless he doesn't want to take anything and then he will be taking piano.

There is my post about my pride in my son.  All this made possible only by God's grace, lest I should boast.  Photo used with permission.

Christmas Comercials

Christmas commercials are beginning already, so I thought I'd put together a little list of books that you could get for the collector in your family.  A long time ago I found a Great Site that has a ton of things that I would love to have but just haven't got around to purchasing, and for some reason, others are not as willing to get me something either.

The picture to the left is "A Complete Hebrew Torah (original Old Testament Scriptures) on a giant sheepskin scroll over 160 feet long and 2 1/2 feet high! The oldest (and largest) item in our Bookvault: dates back to the early 1100's AD. One-of-a-kind, with a beautiful, hand-crafted soft cloth cover."

It is a little pricey at $145,900 but it is the real deal!  1100 AD, where can you get a book that old?  

The 1537 Mathew-Tyndale Bible is the "first English language Bible ever translated directly from the original Biblical languages of Hebrew and Greek, and printed in English".  There are only 15 known first editions in existence!!!  How could you not want one of these things?  Don't you know who William Tyndale is? 

This Bible, pictured to the left is a steal at $275,000.  You know that your pastor (or mine) would never have a better Christmas present ever.  Maybe everyone at Grace Baptist Church (Cape Coral, FL) can save their pennies for one of these, perhaps for Pastor appreciation day.

I suppose if you are trying not to spend too much this Christmas, a leaf would still be an awesome gift for someone.  Pictured to the left is a leaf of the previous mentions Bible.  Don't worry, it isn't torn out of one of the 15 every time someone orders a page.  These are left over from putting together whole Bibles when there isn't enough pages to make another complete Bible.  These things would be awesome.  The Great Site lets you choose a specific passage of scripture and send that leaf.  I once called about a passage in Job, but it was unavailable...

There are tons of options and different Bibles and leaves and other books that are old and special at The Great Site.  There is even a English Bible History to read.  You could read about the very Bible that you are thinking of purchasing.  John Wycliffe, William Tyndale, Myles Coverdale, Geneva Bibles!

Anyway, I'd love to have one and so I figure those who read this would love to at least look at them.