Parts of Speaking Publishing

  16  For I am not ashamed of the Good News of Christ, because it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first, and also for the Greek.  17  For in it is revealed God’s righteousness from faith to faith. As it is written, “But the righteous shall live by faith.” This key verse/truth is repeated in Habakkuk 2:4 , Galatians 3:11 , and Hebrews 10:38.  Faith is not the opposite of doubt. It is a different category of thing. 

 Some reject the idea that this passage from Isaiah is speaking of Jesus Christ. That is hard for a Christian to accept or understand. Its poetry is so striking as well.  Isaiah 53, for the World English Bible (copyright free) Who has believed our message?      To whom has Yahweh’s arm been revealed? 2  For he grew up before him as a tender plant,      and as a root out of dry ground. He has no good looks or majesty.      When we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3  He was despised      and rejected by men, a man of suffering      and acquainted with disease. He was despised as one from whom men hide their face;      and we didn’t respect him. 4  Surely he has borne our sickness      and carried our suffering; yet we considered him plagued,      struck by God, and afflicted. 5  B...

 To anyone out there, please leave a comment.   I read the Book of Joshua this week in preparation for a Life Group lesson. Joshua is mostly conquests (and perhaps genocides) and land distribution. But in between there are relevant glimpses of God's care for the chosen people. Although one wonders why the others get such violence when the Israelites aren't so obedient.  The cities of refuge: a place for those who commit involuntary manslaughter to wait out the revenge of kin.  The five daughters who got their inheritance and became a test case.  The Gibeonites - be careful who you make a pact with! Caleb getting his land 45 years late.  Joshua's stirring speech--and messing with the Israelites--in the last two chapters.  Still, the mass killings are hard to take. I can see why some take it allegorically or symbolically.  In stark contrast we have the God who dies for his enemies in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  Wow.   

It is 65 days (less, really) until I am officially retired.  Retiring is hard work.  For one, there is dealing with Medicare and supplement plans. Sheesh.  Second, there is going to be the final office cleaning out, which is preceded by making sure all the responsibilities of being an academic chair and professor are tied up. Not there yet, and probably will not be until Memorial Day (last day is May 30).  And of course, the emotional transition. I suspect some people are going to expect me to fill my time with helping them out.  I can't use work as an excuse any more (I'm being facetious, well, maybe not).  In other words, I am facing a different reality.  We do not think about how Jesus the Son of God faced a different reality in his days on earth. What a difference. We cannot fathom it. Of course, we would take a while to not have electricity and indoor plumbing (much less no coffee). Again, facetiousness. More, Jesus had to be surrounded by sin and...

A dear friend died in the last few days. He was 63 or 64. An outstanding person. My brother-in-law passed away last Monday. Death and disease sometimes feels like it surrounds us.  Lent reminds me not to be sugary and optimistic about things. Pain and suffering are real. They may be temporary, but they are no less real. 

 Observing a season like Lent, at least in the way I am, requires a self-examination and humility, at the very least.  Short note: the President of our college, who is a devout Byzantine Catholic (that is a faction I had never heard of before he came to us), stopped by at Baptist Collegiate Ministries yesterday to see what we were doing. We invited him to eat, but he said he was doing keto and giving up carbs for Lent. (a church had brought Stouffer's Lasagna, very tasty but I had massive heartburn afterward and had not taken my meds for it). I have not focused on giving up something for my health, although I have stopped watching most of media or TV I used to, which I will continue.  For me, a family member (in-law) died this week and I got pressured into going to the service tomorrow in another state. This deceased person was highly irresponsible and left a wake of hurt.  It's a 6-7 hours car trip with my husband, and we will have to spend the night in a hotel. I a...