FirstBlog

              Chapter two and we find our "hero" trapped in the belly of a fish. Think about how that must have smelled, and felt. Imagine the fe4ar Jonah felt-- surely death was next on his agenda! Jonah is fearful for his life and pens his fear a poem:  “In my distress I called to the  Lord ,      and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,      and you listened to my cry. You hurled me into the depths,      into the very heart of the seas,      and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers      swept over me.   I said, ‘I have been banished      from your sight; yet I will look again      toward your holy temple.’   The engulfing waters threatened me,      the deep surrounde...

  Because there is so much to unpack with Jonah, I'm going to do this in three parts.  Nearly everyone has heard the story of Jonah and the whale. In fact, I would argue that it's one of the most popular stories in the biblical canon, both in and out of the church. The story of Jonah is one of those that many scholars wonder reflects a literal account or a piece used to teach a lesson. Understanding Hebrew and Torah culture, many stories were revered for the veracity of the lesson taught, over the veracity of what actually happened. In the case of Jonah, whether it's a literal story or an allegory, the lessons in it are profound, convicting and even disturbing.  In many ways, I feel like Jonah-- maybe you do too. As we dive into the text, maybe ask yourself how much like Jonah you are and what you can do to work on yourself. The fact that the story ends with God chastising Jonah is unsettling, but, in many ways, stories like this prove the veracity of the Bible. By painti...

 1 Corinthians 8:1-3: Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. 2 Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. 3 But whoever loves God is known by God. No one likes a know-it-all. We all have that one person in our lives that just ahs to always be right, or has to flaunt their knowledge. I'll admit, I can be guilty of this sometimes, especially if it's an area that I am very knowledgeable in, such as music or certain aspects of theology. Scripture warns against this kind  of attitude.  I was originally going to just write about 1 Corinthians 8:1, but, upon further reflection, I realized that the context of this passage was especially important. Here, Paul is referring to whether or not it would be okay for a Christian to eat meat that had been sacrificed to idols. This was a big issue within the Corinthian church and was a crucial point Paul wanted to make as he o...

  Jeremiah 29:11 is one of the most famous verses in the Bible. "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future. " It's an inspirational verse. It adorns my Bible. It's written on graduation cards, Get Well cards, and offered as words of encouragement. There's nothing wrong with that. On it's surface, the verse is one of encouragement. Indeed, the Lord wants us to prosper and have hope (though, maybe not prosper in the way that many adherents of the Prosperity gospel would have us believe.  One thing that can be dangerous about the Bible, though, is taking passages out of context. On it's surface, this is a wonderful verse that we can all cling too-- but focusing only on that aspect of the verse can lead to a feel good gospel, which is not Biblical. So, when I was reading this the other day, I asked myself what the context was. Well, for starters, Jeremiah was a pr...

  Faith is hard. I don’t know why it is, but it is. But when you stop and think about, each of us uses faith every day in almost every aspect of our lives. I have faith that when I step on the sidewalk, it’s going to be solid. We have faith that when I go to sleep, I’m going to wake up. We have faith in gravity and faith that our body is going to work the way it’s supposed to. I’ve always admired Doubting Thomas. I don’t know why he gets a bad wrap. He is like so many of us—he has trouble believing without seeing. Despite the fact that we exercise faith everyday, faith in God seems to be very difficult, and it’s not hard to see why, especially in light of the state of the world today. So, when Thomas demanded to see the nail holes in order to believe, he is really speaking the way many of us do. The beauty is, he didn’t actually need the nail holes to believe that Jesus rose from the dead. He only needed Jesus to offer to show him the nail holes. I am like Thomas. I suspect mos...

Because I am discussing a full chapter here, I decided to post it below before proceeding with my lesson.   2 Kings 5: "Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the  Lord  had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor,  but  a leper.  2  And the Syrians had gone out on [ a ]  raids, and had brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel. She  [ b ] waited on Naaman’s wife.  3  Then she said to her mistress, “If only my master  were  with the prophet who  is  in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy.”  4  And  Naaman  went in and told his master, saying, “Thus and thus said the girl who  is  from the land of Israel.” 5  Then the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So he departed and took with h...