The other night I was reading through the book of James. I felt like I needed to linger at James 3:17. I want to regularily pray this verse so that I will be a true person of wisdom that has something worthwhile to share.
James 3:17 (Today’s New International Version)
17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.
Scot McKnight is starting some blog posts about Bible translations and the New NIV 20011.
Below is some Bible Translation selection humor from Scot.
NRSV for liberals and Shane Claiborne lovers;
ESV for Reformed complementarian Baptists;
HCSB for LifeWay store buying Southern Baptists;
NIV for complementarian evangelicals;
TNIV for egalitarians; NASB for those who want straight Bible, forget the English;
NLT for generic brand evangelicals;
Amplified for folks who have no idea what translation is but know that if you try enough words one of them will hit pay dirt;
NKJV and KJV for Byzantine manuscript-tree huggers;
The Message for evangelicals looking for a breath of fresh air and seeker sensitive, never-read-a-commentary evangelists who find Peterson’s prose so catchy.
Technorati Tags: Bible, translations, personality
This year during Lent our family is going to collectively focus on one passage of scripture and seek to to put into practice in very personal and tangible ways. Our passage for this year is from Colossians.
Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
Colossians 3:12-15
Lenten Resource From World Vision
Ash Wednesday, Feb.25, is the start of the Lenten season. The theme of this year’s Lenten guide is 40 Days Toward Justice: A Call to Live. It’s a great tool to use for personal reflection as well as group interaction with your AoA group, campus ministry, church, or group of friends. It’s an opportunity to use scripture, story, reflection, and action to engage our hearts and minds in the pursuit of God’s heart for justice.
Sign up to receive your FREE guide today! Then share it with your friends on Facebook or by e-mail!
Follow this link to learn more about Lent.
Technorati Tags: Lent, scripture, application
I had a Daddy daughter date with Samantha this past weekend and one of the things we talked about was how she could respond to an immature boy in her 5th grade class. I shared with her some ideas of how to respond with creativity but I also felt led to share a passage of scripture I had read that morning from Colossians. Yesterday before dinner I caught Samantha reading my Bible in the living room (always a positive thing!). I asked her later what she was up to and she said she was going over the passage in Colossians again. I hope we will be able to have further conversations as we both seek to work these verses out into our everyday lives.
12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
Bible Gateway link
Technorati Tags: Bible, Colossians, school, Samantha
Almost every night before I put my son Josiah to bed we read together several stories from his Bible story book which is basically a cartoon illustrated Bible paraphrase. Two nights ago we read the story about Gideon from Judges 6:33-40. In the story Gideon wants some major reassurance about the task he feels God is calling him to do. So just to be sure, he puts out fleeces. He asks God to make a fleece wet and ground dry. Then he wants the fleece dry and the ground wet. Each request by Gideon is answered by God in the passage in Judges. After we finished reading, Josiah confidently said, “See that dish on my dresser? I am going to ask God to make it disappear while I am sleeping. Can we pray for that?”! That is not quite what I expected but why not? He had obviously been listening to the story and figured that if it worked for Gideon it would surely work for him? My mind raced to come up with a response. What if he prays and the dish is still there in the morning? So we settled on praying that God would make his presence known to Josiah in a special way. But later as I thought about it, did I do the right thing? Should we have prayed for that? To be honest I am not 100% sure what right answer is. I am glad Josiah was listening to the story and I am glad that he naturally thought what he was hearing was relevant for him. I think this is what Jesus meant when he talked about “child-like faith” in passages like Mark 10:13-16. As a dad I know I am on to something even if it is a little crazy and chaotic at times. I want Josiah and my girls as well to experience the love relationship of God in a deep whole-hearted way. I have a responsibility as a Dad to lead by example and look for ways to teach from the ordinary everyday moments. I found great encouragement from this verse I read in the Message, “Take them by the hand and lead them in the way of the Master.”
Technorati Tags: parenting, Bible, prayer, application, discipleship
Being and Doing
13-14“Don’t look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don’t fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention.
Technorati Tags: orthopraxis, Jesus, living, discipleship
Today I was reading in Mark Scandrette book, Soul Graffiti. He made a reference to Luke 11:27-28
I want to be this type of blessed person.
On a side note I am curious what Bible translation people are using please vote in my poll below.
Thanks
Technorati Tags: Bible, Blessed, poll, bible-translation
October 23, 2009 | 
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