Gary Hampton quotes Hugo McCord on the phrase “the Lord’s day” in Rev. 1:
McCord says, “It so happens that the word “Lord’s” (Kuriakes, pertaining to the Lord) appears only twice in the New Testament, once in referring to the Lord”s supper (1 Corinthians 11:20), and once in referring to the Lord”s day (Revelation 1:10). Apparently these two, the supper and the day, belong together.”
Forgot to tell people, when writing down their email addresses for me, that they should print. Needed: a secret decoder ring for cursive handwriting.
Some people’s printing or block letters can also be a challenge. Mine has never been great. Now it’s even worse, out of practice as I am.
Of course, left-handers have a ready excuse, living in a right-handed world. Except in Israel, with Hebrew going from right to left. Was I born in the wrong language?
A US magazine with a date of January arrived in the mail today. Not called snail mail for nothing.
Had books and boxes in the containers in the carport sprayed for bugs again, before I begin the real work of moving them into the office. Time to ramp it up.
An original verse: A look aside to sweep the truth away / Will never keep its consequences at bay.
A Bible verse: “The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight, so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines for forty years” Judges 13.1.
Good comments by Gary Hampton on Rev 1.1-3, among them, these:
This vision was delivered by heavenly messenger to John, who simply identifies himself as the Lord”s slave. Once, he had wanted more for himself (Mark 10:35-40), but now he had seen the Lord submit and serve others (Philippians 2:5-8; Matthew 20:20-28) and was following his lead.
I’m blessed to count Gary as a friend.
Charles Box on Rev 1.1-3:
John said, “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.” (Revelation 1:3) He said, “Blessed is he that readeth.” It is a blessing to be permitted to read the Revelation of God. This may be a reference to public reading because the next statement has to do with those “that hear the words of this prophecy.” We learn God”s will by reading, hearing, studying and meditation. Those who have the opportunity to become acquainted with God”s revelation are highly favored. The readers and hearers must also “keep those things which are written therein.” None can be right with God who does not obey those things that are their duty. The psalmist said of God”s commandments, “Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.” (Psalms 19:11) Our heavenly hope is in knowing and doing the will of God.
We just don’t realize how blessed we are to have many good versions and tools to understand the Word of God. People don’t take advantage of them. And still it comes down to knowing and doing. Knowledge alone is nothing.
Good group tonight. Ricardo and Marilia, with son Mateus, dropped in. I invited him to preach, and he brought a fine lesson from Rom 11.
Out of 18, five were visitors (some now very regular) with no commitment yet to be followers of Christ according to the Bible.
My sons, who grew up flying between continents, like airports. Me, not so much. But I’d like to visit this one.
Don’t see nowadays people quoting the ISBE (2nd ed.). But it often has material I don’t find elsewhere. Great resource.
The word “egg” is used in the New Testament one time; in the Old, six.
An original verse: The people of God together meet to worship / And find in Christ their fullest hope and purpose.
A Bible verse: “Everything in me will celebrate when you speak what is right” Pro 23.16 NLT.
(Note: This wasn’t actually meant for here, I was sending an email and the email-post address accidentally got included. But that’s OK, too. Maybe one of my two subscribers to this site will follow up.)
TL;DR: Go here. Register. Follow me.
I like alternative social-media options. Thought to recommend a couple to some friends. As I waded into my extensive list, I can count on one hand, almost, the number who might by some stretch of the imagination be interested. You are one of the lucky ones. Don’t know what to make of this small number. Maybe it’s my small faith in my friends. You’ll tell me it’s because I’m the weird one. Probably right.
Mastodon is not my favorite software for open-source social media. But it is one of the easiest for users. It’s not one central site. People can install it themselves and run their own sites. I found one “dedicated to followers of Jesus Christ:” theres.life. The owner is some stripe of Protestant, I think. There are few people on it, but you can connect with anybody else on another instance of Mastodon, Pleroma, or other ActivityPub software. My account is here. The avatar photo is Max, my youngest grandchild.
I much prefer the Pleroma software, but you’ll find all sorts of garbage in it (more in Mastodon, actually). But that is social media in general, is it not? One must choose carefully who to follow, or connect with. The Pleroma instance freespeech.host is probably one of the best, few people on it, two or three, but again, you must reach out and find those accounts that most interest you. My account on this one is here.
And, of course, there are other offerings: Aggos, Hubzilla/Zap, Seenthis.net, etc. But I’ll spare you any more options.
So come be weird with me. (Sounds like a poem, doesn’t it?)
This is good, from Wm. Barclay on 3 John 8, but there’s more that needs to be said:
There is a great Christian thought here. A man’s circumstances may be such that he cannot become a missionary or a preacher. Life may have put him in a position where he must get on with a secular job, staying in the one place and carrying out the routine duties of life and living. But where he cannot go, his money and his prayers and his practical support can go. Not everyone can be, so to speak, in the front line; but by supporting those who are there, he can make himself an ally of the truth. When we remember that, all giving to the wider work of Christ and his church must become not an obligation but a privilege, not a duty but a delight. The church needs those who will go out with the truth, but it also needs those who will be allies of the truth at home.
What else to say? That each one, in his place, home, work, school, is also a Christian “adventurer,” light, influence, speaker for the Good News. It is good to support the proclamation of truth with our material means. It is also necessary that each of us be a goer, within the reach permitted to us.
Some people say that the “go” of the Great Commission does not apply to all, that each individual cannot go into all the world. This is being ingenious. All of us can, and must, go to some part of the world. The first Christians did, Acts 8.4, and so must we.
We may not be able to go across oceans to other continents, but we can go across the street to other homes.
This month to write a poem a day
for thirty days — I’m late! I’m late!
I just now saw it — What can I say?
Gross tardiness — oh, how I hate
arriving last! ‘Tis better not
to try — pretend you didn’t know,
plead ignorance! Other paths are fraught
with pain and shame — you mustn’t go!
You beggar for mental anguish! Write,
then, if you must — erase this blight
of guilt — wash your rhymeless sins.
The man of strictest discipline wins.
Wish we had in Portuguese a really good Bible version that could be reproduced without restrictions. As in for writing a commentary or other uses. The NET Bible and other versions in English are available. There’s one in Portuguese, but it uses the Received Text and sounds ancient. The translator of the NT from the ESV into Portuguese has given me his permission, and I’m grateful for that. I very much like the style he’s adopted. But some grammatical and spelling errors are showing up. Maybe he won’t have a problem if I fix that. Though if and when some translating options may not be to my liking?
Google+ is one more in a long line of products that Google has killed off. I’m still miffed about Reader from six years ago. So I don’t trust the big guys like them.
Facebook either. I worked hard to make contacts there. Over 4,000. Then FB started limiting who could see my posts. Uh huh.
Oh, and Microsoft is shutting down its ebook store. Which means that people who “bought” ebooks there will lose them. Because they only bought the right to read, not the product itself.
I’m not the smartest person on the planet, or even in the room, but I started making my exit some time back from the big guys. That’s why I don’t do Google, Facebook or Twitter anymore. I might have an account there, but it’s remnant stuff, while I use alternative options or paid services, like my beloved Fastmail account, paid since 2002 (see referral).
There’s a spiritual lesson here somewhere. Be constant. Be fair. Be open and truthful. It’s not wrong to work and earn money, but don’t manipulate people to do it. And I want the people and companies I deal with to act the same toward me.
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