Friday, June 29, 2012

A Bible Field Trip

This is what an incarnational view of mission looks like: the human translation of divine action in the world. If we take the Incarnation seriously, mission becomes more like translation than ideological, territorial, or even spiritual conquest. God models translation by pouring out the divine self into human form; as Walls puts it, 'The Incarnation is God's perfect translation. '
From Almost Christian, by Kenda Creasy Dean, and quoting Andrew Walls, page 97.

Lamin Sanneh views the gospel's translatability as one of Christianity's signature qualities. Unlike [a certain false religion] he observes, 'Christianity spread as a religion without the language of its founder' . . .
Ibid, quoting Lamin Sanneh.
Translating Scripture into the common, spoken languages of laypeople is arguably the most basic of all missional practices . . .
Ibid, page 116. 


Okay, guess what book I read last week.  :)

And then I went to Bearing Precious Seed last Saturday to assemble Spanish scripture booklets containing the books of John and Romans. After the translation of God's Word into human flesh (see John 1:2) helping to get the translated written word to individuals who need it is a small thing.





Thursday, June 28, 2012

Timeline on Philippians

Paul was imprisoned and nearing the end of his life. He would soon be martyred for his faith. What final message would he leave with the believers who would mourn for him?



Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.
(3:1)

Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
(4:4)



I'm not sure it gets much plainer than that.



As for the timeline? There are two theories concerning Paul's prison letters in general and this prison epistle to the believers at Philippi in particular.

The first theory places Philippians earlier in the time line. Those who read along with me last year might have noticed that I had this little book placed early in the schedule then.

The second theory states that Paul was imprisoned twice. In that case, the events of Acts 27 and 28 tell about the first imprisonment. That might explain why Luke doesn't finish his narrative with the details of Paul's death. It is believed by those that hold this theory that Paul left Rome after 2 years of house arrest and made the rounds through Asia Minor once more.

Why would Paul be released? Either because his accusers didn't bother to show up in court or the charges against Jewish law were inconsequential to Caesar.

So why would Paul be imprisoned a second time and ultimately beheaded? Because Nero later outlawed Christianity. That would automatically make Paul one of the worst offenders, his own words condemning him.

Following the timeline of the second theory (which I did for this reading schedule) would place the time of writing at approximately A.D. 67.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Hearing A Voice


source



The Voice of A Loved One
“Hi! I just called to . . .” This is the way several of the people I love start their phone conversations. I know which loved one it is by his or her voice.

Until several years ago when Pastor Dad served on a sequestered jury we had never gone a day without hearing each other’s voice even when separated by many miles. Comfort is found in hearing a loved one’s voice and it goes beyond what text messages or emails provide. Hearing a voice gives even distant relationships a certain in-the-same-room quality.

My sister-in-law was telling me recently that she is so thankful to have recordings of her husband’s voice. She needs the peace that comes from hearing the familiar tone and intonations of her beloved who is waiting for her in eternity.

I understand that need. I remember as a child my grief when I realized that I could no longer remember the sound of my grandpa’s voice. I wish we had recorded it but back then we were just impressed to be able to make home movies, a major technological advance over still photos! Sound recorders were tape machines that were bigger than the speakers that hang from most church auditoriums and most people did not have access to them.

Obviously, hearing the voice of someone we love is comforting because of the relationship between the speaker and the hearer. Some voices are just music to our ears, as the cliché says.

The scriptures tell us that Jesus’ sheep hear his voice and follow him. We don’t hear him audibly like John, the beloved apostle did, but we hear by reading His words. By doing so we are able to discern direction for our lives, both for this temporal one and the eternal one to come.

The Voice of an Imitator
Sometimes our hearing is faulty. In a world of constant noise and confusion it is often difficult to tell if the voice we hear is that of our Shepherd. There are also some good imitations out there.

As I recently watched a cartoon movie with my grandson I was certain that I knew the voice behind one of the characters. I was surprised to see another name listed in the credits. I had others watch and then quizzed them on the identity of the voice. Their guesses were the same as mine. We were all fooled.

Our children tell a story about when Philip would call our house and mistakenly think he was talking to Karen. It wasn’t until Lisa gave herself away by laughing that he knew that the voice on the other end of the line was not that of his fiancĂ©e.

As Christians we can also be fooled by voices that sound almost identical to our beloved Shepherd’s. Satan provides an almost exact imitation in order to confuse the sheep. He tried the same trick by twisting scripture ever so slightly with the Shepherd Himself during the wilderness temptation. But the Word that became flesh and dwelt among men was not fooled and neither will we be if we search the scriptures like the believers in Berea did to determine what they really say.

Read your Bible daily. It is how the Shepherd talks to His sheep. Only by being familiar with God’s Word will the sheep be able to recognize His voice. Christians who study their Bible might still be fooled by a fake voice sometimes but the voice of the Shepherd will soon be heard calling over the sound of mayhem if their hearing is checked by the Word.

Those Without Ears to Hear
If you call yourself a Christian you might want to check to be sure you are interested in hearing what the Shepherd has to say. Are you interested in reading the Bible, God’s Word? If not perhaps Jesus is not your shepherd after and you have no ears to hear. When you really love someone you will want to hear his or her voice as much as possible.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

This Week's Memory Verse Suggestions

Here are the verses that I see in this week's reading schedule that are commonly memorized.

  • I Kings 18:21
  • Hebrews 11:1-3
  • Hebrews 11:6
  • Hebrews 11:16
  • Hebrews 12:1-3
  • Hebrews 13:1-2
  • Philippians 1:6
  • Philippians 1:21
  • Philippians 1:27
  • Philippians 2:1-4
  • Philippians 2:5-8
  • Philippians 2:9-11
  • Philippians 2:14
  • Philippians 3:13-14
Okay, just memorize the whole book of Philippians and you'll know everything that the Apostle Paul wished the joyful Christian to do.  :)

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Bible Reading Schedule for June 25 - July 1, 2012

Today I spent time at Bearing Precious Seed ministry putting together copies of John and Romans scripture portions printed in Spanish and as I looked around the wall at lovely photos of foreigners smiling from ear to ear as they received just 2 books from God's Word I thought about all the complete but almost unused Bibles that American "Christians" own and felt a sudden sadness that we don't appreciate the treasure that has been given us. Read your Bible.


Monday, June 25, 2012
Ecclesiastes 11, 12
Hebrews 11, 12

Tuesday, June 26, 2012
I Kings 12, 13
Hebrews 13

Wednesday, June 27, 2012
I Kings 14, 15
Acts 27, 28

Thursday, June 28, 2012
I Kings 16, 17
Philippians 1

Friday, June 29, 2012
I Kings 18, 19
Philippians 2

Saturday, June 30, 2012
I Kings 20 - 21:16
Philippians 3

Sunday, July 1, 2012
No scheduled readings; if necessary use the day to catch up if you are behind
ATTEND CHURCH!
P.S. Happy birthday to Pastor Dad. :)

Friday, June 22, 2012

Blind Love and Blessings: Meeting the Enemy Head-on

The parents checked the baby’s breathing as she lay in her crib. That would not be unusual except that this was not their first child and she was not a newborn. While they watched they thought of the last couple of years: how they’d been told they’d probably never be able to have more children, then the surprise when they discovered within a month that they were expecting their third child. They also remembered the difficult pregnancy which was followed by an even more difficult childbirth. Those troubles seemed minuscule compared to the concern that now gripped them.

The baby had endured much recent illness. Aside from eczema that always seemed to mar her skin she had also been marked by chicken pox. In the last week her daddy and oldest sister were the only people in the household who did not catch it, one having had the childhood illness many years earlier, and the other just the month before. Now she, her older sister, and her mother were almost past the days of quarantine.

As the intense itching passed, all three seemed to be regaining their health. Recovery had been sufficient to return daily life to a normal routine. For the baby who was tired of lying on the couch near people who insisted on keeping her from scratching whatever itched this meant cruising around furniture and emptying toy boxes. And it was pleasant to be well enough to traverse the hallway from one end to the other again.

This routine did not last long. Within days the little one’s fever returned and brought with it a peculiar way of crawling using only one hand. Her family commented that she looked like a wounded bird holding up a wing.

The family consulted their pediatrician. Because of the chance of contagion they entered his office through the back door. After enduring strategic shuttling between doctor's office and hospital designed to minimize the risk of exposure to others, as well as several hours of x-rays and examinations, nothing noteworthy was found. The puzzled doctor applied an elastic bandage to the baby's arm because he concluded the baby had hurt her wrist.

This was a mistake! When the baby awoke from her afternoon nap the mother noticed that her young hand was swollen to such extreme proportions that it was almost as large as her own! She quickly removed the wrap.

The next morning it was clear that the baby’s health was suffering. She no longer had the energy to play and was fretful. For the second day in a row they sought medical care. The on-call doctor found a puncture wound within the fold of skin between the child’s thumb and index finger that was masked by eczema and chicken pox scabs. It was a spider bite.

Since the skin surrounding the bite did not appear to be dying the doctor believed that it was not caused by a brown recluse but announced that the situation was serious nonetheless. The child’s size, the amount of time that had elapsed between bite and diagnosis, and the recent battle with chicken pox had all hampered her body's ability to fight the toxins.

With prescriptions in hand and instructions drumming inside their stunned brains, the parents took their child home. They understood that they were to take the child to the nearest hospital if her health further declined however slight that change might be. Thus they began their bedside vigil.

The next morning the sun shone brightly through the bedroom window on parents napping beside the bed of their beloved child. The baby awoke with a lower body temperature, a praiseworthy event that again ushered in normal, routine days.

Or rather, that is how it appeared. A few weeks later when all the chicken pox scabs had fallen from their bodies the mother discovered that along with scabs her hair had fallen out leaving several nickel-sized patches of bare skin on her head. So began what would become the new kind of “normal, routine days” for this family.

This flashback is about the illnesses that The Princess and I battled at the age of 10 months and 29 year respectively. Although it would be a few months before I received the medical diagnosis that these events had triggered an autoimmune system disorder known as alopecia areata and 6 ½ years before I became sufficiently disfigured to seek prosthetic help, this is the story of how and when it attacked.


I wrote this true story from the third person perspective purely for a psychological reason: it was easier to write about these painful events by inserting a buffer, however small, between myself and the story by making myself an observer. Even after all these years, that night beside our baby's bed still upsets me.

At a later time my husband will also discuss this chapter in our lives at his blog, Exception Noted.


Thursday, June 21, 2012

Summer Slump Slam Giveaway!

"Mom, I'm bored!"

Is your family showing signs of summer slump already? Let's slam it! Would it help to have a few new games to play? I'm giving away two games, one for the younger children and one for the pre-teens and teens. Oh, yeah, and parents are encouraged to play along, too. :)



These games were developed by my son-in-law, Philip,and my granddaughter, Isabel. Gamers might recognize Philip from his successful Steve Jackson Games enterprise Revolution! His new game Kingdom of Solomon is produced by Minion Games. He recently (as in two days ago) redesigned and renamed his game development company, which is a subsidiary of . . . well, go here and see because he can explain it so much better than I can. I just wanted to help out everyone concerned (you and him) with this little give-away.


One blessed individual will receive both games. The games will be promptly shipped because I know how important it is to receive a box in the mail containing emergency boredom-relief supplies!




Wednesday, June 20, 2012

How to Lose Followers

Blogging is an interesting social medium. I must admit that when I first began this little adventure most of my social activity revolved around my family and close personal friends. I'm not sure I can make anyone understand just how shocked I was when someone began following me who didn't actually know me. Like "know me personally" know me.  This little ol' introvert began exploring the websites of people that she didn't know personally either and began to make new friends.

In those early days I blogged here about everything that interested me: grandchildren, church, genealogy, travel, saving money, cooking and a host of other family interest things. Every so often someone would follow me as the result of 1 topic. 1 topic! That's great, except that I rarely restrict myself to one topic.

Except for the Bible Reading Schedule.

I began that in 2010 totally for my own usage but decided that others might be interested to try it. As you probably know - since you are reading this - the schedule has changed and grown and basically taken on a life of its own these past three years. I think that is fantastic! But it also revealed a problem. Those who followed for the genealogy left when the genealogy posts grew scarce.

That reminds me of a Bible analogy but I'll come back to that. :)

For those of you that are interested, let me steer you in the direction of my new genealogy blog called Past Times are my Pastime. It will take me awhile to get a few more articles posted there (as well as copying - not moving - the ones that have been posted here under the GENEALOGY tab at the top) so don't get impatient with me, but do go over and see it. While you're there feel free to leave me a comment to tell me what you think. Or leave me a comment here telling me what you think. Either one works for me. Just leave me a comment. Really.

Now for that Bible analogy.

Jesus had followers, too. At one point he had many, many followers. We know this because the gospels tell us that at one point He miraculously fed 5,000 men and that didn't include the women and children. A few days later He again miraculously fed 4,000 men and their families by multiplying a few meager pieces of bread and fish. Wow! Did the people love him!!!!!

Then He stopped feeding them physical food and started telling them that they needed to accept the spiritual food He was providing. Suddenly they weren't so interested. It seems that some were only interested in "The Jesus Food Bank." He immediately lost followers. As a matter of fact, He asked his disciples if they would also leave Him. You know the answer. They didn't because they were interested in the eternal "food" He had to offer them.

Please don't misunderstand me. Jesus had only one mission (to be the mediator between God and man) but his followers didn't understand that. I, on the other hand realize that some of my blog followers joined thinking that this is a genealogy blog when it isn't and was never designed to be but now I do have a blog that is and was designed to be. Genealogy is my hobby. A good hobby, but a hobby nonetheless. And it needs to have its own space.

The focus of On A High Hill will remain entirely as it is, which means its focus will be the Bible, frugality, and family (the living members). The focus of Past Times are my Pastime will be genealogy and family (the deceased members).  Hope that's clearer than mud to everyone.  :)

Now if only I could figure out what to do about my those confused Twitter followers!

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

A Few More Memory Verses

The following verses are taken from the regularly scheduled Bible Reading Schedule (see tab above) and are ones that are probably familiar to you.

  • Song of Solomon 8:7
  • Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (any, or all of them)
  • Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
  • Ecclesiastes 7:1
  • Ecclesiastes 7:20
  • Hebrews 4:12
  • Hebrews 4:14-16
  • Hebrews 6:18
  • Hebrews 9:11-12
  • Hebrews 9:24
  • Hebrews 9:28
  • Hebrews 10:19-22
  • Hebrews 10:25
  • Hebrews 10:31

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Bible Reading Schedule for June 18-24, 2012

Happy Father's Day to all the Bible reading, Bible believing dads!



June 18-24, 2012

Monday, June 18, 2012
Song of Solomon 4, 5
Hebrews 2, 3

Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Song of Solomon 6-8
Hebrews 4

Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Ecclesiastes 1-3
Hebrews 5

Thursday, June 21, 2012
Ecclesiastes 4, 5
Hebrews 6, 7

Friday, June 22, 2012
Ecclesiastes 6-8
Hebrews 8

Saturday, June 23, 2012
Ecclesiastes 9, 10
Hebrews 9, 10

Sunday, June 24, 2012
No scheduled readings; if necessary use the day to catch up if you are behind
ATTEND CHURCH!

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Blind Love and Blessings: Blog Table of Contents

Pastor Dad and I are attempting to tell our story from a "his and hers" perspective.

The introduction is here.

"First Things First" is here.

"Second Thoughts" is here.

Friday, June 15, 2012

And Men Say They Don't Understand Women!

When a mother and daughter go out to eat together for a heart-to-heart talk they could be gone for hours.

When a father and son go out to eat together for a heart-to-heart conversation they will talk while standing in the take-out line as well as in the car going and coming. If they're thoughtful they'll bring food home to the surprised female who knows she saw them get in the car not fifteen minutes earlier.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Additions to our Timelines for this week and next

Our reading schedule this week and next introduces several new books from both the Old and New Testaments. Those of you that are following the modified 18 months (well, 19 months, actually) schedule will notice that I placed Psalms and Proverbs within the proper chronological context for Moses, King David, King Solomon, and the Babylonian captives instead of following the New Testament books in the published schedule. For everyone else, here's an introduction to the books we'll be reading this week.

Old Testament

I Kings - This is the third volume that relates the Jewish kingdom years. I Samuel tells of the transition between the last judge, Samuel, and King Saul. II Samuel details the rocky transition between the reign of Saul and that of David. I Kings then continues the Davidic dynasty with the transition of power to his son, Solomon. This transference of power was not without its problems either!

One of the fascinating things about this book is that it gives us actual timeline information. I Kings 6:1 says that Solomon began the building of the Temple 480 years after the beginning of the Exodus. It also states that it was the fourth year of Solomon's reign so this would place the date of building at 1011 BC and Solomon's coronation at 1015 BC. It took 11 years to build the Temple (6:38) which would put the date of completion at 1000 BC.

The book relates more than just the 40 year reign of Solomon. It also introduces the division of the kingdom into Judah and Israel in approximately 975 BC and covers the ministry of Elijah to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. All told the book covers approximately 130 years of history.


Song of Solomon (this week) and Ecclesiastes (next week) - Unlike the books of Psalms and Proverbs which have been placed in the New Testament column of the 2012 reading schedule due to the availability of pocket-sized New Testaments containing those two poetic books, Song of Solomon and Ecclesiastes were inserted to be read after the summary of their author's life. The narrative of I Kings is interrupted for 8 days as a result. Although Ecclesiastes precedes Song of Solomon in scriptural order I have reversed them to mirror the normal phases of Solomon's life. It seems natural to me that he was the loving bridegroom before he was the retrospective preacher.

There is no way to know the dates of writing for either book, but if Song of Solomon was written when he was the young king that would place it nearer the 1010 BC mark and if Ecclesiastes was written toward the end of his life the date would be near 975 BC.


New Testament

Titus- This is another of the pastoral epistles written by the Apostle Paul toward the end of his life. Like Paul's first letter to Timothy, he addresses the qualifications of Godly pastors and the qualities of good church members. As in all of his letters, Paul specifically names his fellow-laborers. In this case we again see the name of Tychicus, the deliverer of his letters to those who resided in Colosse.  This letter was written circa AD 62-64.



II Timothy - This is the second inspired epistle written by the Apostle Paul to his son in the faith, Timothy.  Like all pastors, Timothy seemed to need encouragement every so often. This letter is the equivalent of a spiritual pep rally! The father in the faith exhorts his convert to keep preaching and to train others to carry on the work also. This was especially important for two reasons. First, Paul was reaching the end of his own ministry and needed good men like Timothy to continue spreading the gospel to the unconverted. Second, even some of Paul's trusted fellow-workers were falling away.

One of the saddest verses is 4:10 where we learn that Demas abandoned Paul (cf. Colossians 4:14 and Philemon verse 24). The others who left, Crescens and Titus (the same as the one who received the above-mentioned letter), were not given the same sad epitaph as Demas but neither was it said that Paul had sent them to minister elsewhere like he had Tychicus, another name we've come to recognize from these letters. Only Doctor Luke remained with Paul at that time and it was Paul's hope that Timothy would come and bring Mark (the same man who wrote the gospel) with him.

This letter was written close to the time of Paul's death. This would place its time of writing at approximately AD 65-67.


Hebrews - This book is unique in that it opens boldly with the name "God" and because no author takes credit for it.  There are many theories concerning the authorship but not even tradition tells us who it was although the early recipients knew (see Hebrews 13:18,19). Perhaps one of Paul's coworkers wrote it. A likely possibility would be Apollos. It certainly wasn't Timothy as he is mentioned by name as "our brother" in 18:23. Many have ascribed it to Paul but this doesn't seem likely. Among other things, Paul called Timothy his son, not his brother.

The time of writing is not certain either, however, the fact that Timothy had been imprisoned (again, see 18:23) would suggest approximately AD 67-68.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Wednesday Wisdom: Worry

source


Martin Luther in a letter to his wife,Katharina Luther:

"I worry that if you do not stop worrying the earth will finally swallow us up and all the elements will chase us. . . . Pray, and let God worry."
Taken from The Christian Lover by Michael A.G. Haykin and Victoria J. Haykin

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Memory Verse Monday


Okay, so I'm late again. Would you believe that my cute grandchildren, like our youngest granddaughter pictured above, keep me from getting things done on time? It's true, but it's not entirely their fault. Still, when it comes to making excuses I can't imagine a better one.

On to the memory verses!
  • I Kings 8:23
  • I Kings 8:27
  • Song of Solomon 2:1-2
  • I Timothy 6:6-8
  • I Timothy 6:10
  • Titus 2:3-5
  • II Timothy 1:7
  • II Timothy 2:1-2
  • II Timothy 2:3-5
  • II Timothy 2:15
  • II Timothy 3:15-17
  • II Timothy 4:6-8
  • Hebrews 1:1-3

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Bible Reading Schedule for June 11-17, 2012

June 11-17, 2012

Monday, June 11, 2012
I Kings 1, 2
I Timothy 5, 6

Tuesday, June 12, 2012
I Kings 3-5
Titus 1

Wednesday, June 13, 2012
I Kings 6, 7
Titus 2, 3

Thursday, June 14, 2012
I Kings 8, 9
II Timothy 1, 2

Friday, June 15, 2012
I Kings 10, 11
II Timothy 3, 4

Saturday, June 16, 2012
Song of Solomon 1-3
Hebrews 1

Sunday, June 17, 2012
No scheduled readings; if necessary use the day to catch up if you are behind
ATTEND CHURCH!
(And just in case you don't have a "Pastor Dad" in your family to remind you: TODAY is Father's Day!)

Friday, June 8, 2012

"A Visit to Colosse" Timeline

Two of the three New Testament books that we are reading this week are written to believers in Colosse: Philemon and Colossians. And yes, they probably should be in that order but it is not a perfect reading schedule. (I'm fallible. Scripture is not.)Since the letters were written at the same time and were delivered to Colosse by the same carrier it might just be 6 of one and half-dozen of the other but I suspect that Paul dealt first with the private issue before addressing public ones.

Philemon

The Apostle Paul wrote this letter to a man named Philemon, a member of the church at Colosse, requesting that he forgive Onesimus, the runaway slave that Paul was sending back. Evidently Onesimus was an unbeliever when he ran away from his master but then encountered Paul and the gospel. After his conversion, Paul made it clear that Onesimus must return to Philemon as a slave but that now spiritually they were equal as brothers in Christ. Paul also stated that Onesimus was useful to Paul's ministry, especially during this time of imprisonment, and he would have allowed Onesimus to stay with him if permission could be obtained.

Since this letter is one of the prison epistles the date of writing would be approximately A.D. 60-62.


Colossians
Pastor Dad has been preaching a series of messages from this book over the last several weeks so I could almost bury you in material if I so chose. Or I could at least give you an extended outline. I'll do neither. The sermons will probably be posted at our church's website soon if they are not already so I will not presume to preach them here. :)

This book was written to the believers in the church at Colosse and was delivered at the same time as the letter to Philemon. These letters were carried from the imprisoned Paul by Tychicus and Onesimus (the returning slave). That makes the date of A.D. 60-62 the same as for the book of Philemon.

Paul's reason for writing this letter included combating certain forms of philosophy and mysticism. Evidently man's obsession with angels is not a new thing! (see 2:18) He also used the opportunity to explain how to get along in personal and commercial relationships while maintaining a proper respect for authority.




I Timothy
Paul addressed this letter to his son in the faith, Timothy. The letters that we have read from Paul at this point have mostly been letters to churches with the exception of the one to Philemon, which was a personal letter. This letter was also a personal letter but the recipient was a pastor. Timothy had been sent to help organize some of the converts into churches in the cities where Paul had previously preached. Having Timothy teach sound doctrine in these new churches was one of the ways that the step of disciple-making as required by the Great Commission could be carried out.  As such, this book could be considered Paul's manual for pastors.

It is hard to pinpoint an exact date for writing since there are various theories concerning Paul's time of imprisonment, and how many times of imprisonment, and whether he left Rome for a few years before being taken back and executed. This means the writing could be anywhere from AD 62-66.

Monday, June 4, 2012

Memorization Monday: An Online Tool To Help Memorize

(**Edited because parts of words and sentences were somehow deleted!)

I must thank the individual who left a comment several weeks ago telling me about a website designed to aid in scripture memorization. I took his advice and gave it a try. Besides wanting to find something affordable I wanted to know if it worked and was therefore something that I could recommend to my readers.

It is!

As for affordable, how does "free" sound? Yeah, my frugal genes reacted the same way.

As for something that works, well, it is working for me. I have tested the system for a few weeks now and I like it.  Guess that means I recommend it. :)

The Memverse system is an online program that provides practice based upon an algorithm designed to review a verse at an optimal time. It doesn't matter what your age, as long as you can type and spell (which could be a problem for some, I suppose) you can use the system.




One of the things that I like is that the user has control over what verses s/he wants to memorize. No one tells you which verses to memorize.

Another thing that I like is that the user chooses the Bible version. This is important! You should probably memorize verses in the version you read each day. You are reading your Bible each day, aren't you?!

Let me warn you, though, not to add too many verses to your list at one time. When I first picked from a database of familiar verses I overestimated my ability and began with fifteen. Therefore the 2 or 3 that I did not know, and really were the verses I was memorizing, did not repeat often enough to help me achieve mastery. Once I deleted several and got my list down to the recommended 5-10 this complication was resolved. I know, I know! Follow the directions! That's why they're there.

I encourage you to give it a try. Those of you, who along with myself, bridge a time between old-fashioned index cards and advanced technology might be surprised at how efficient mental exercise becomes when the tools and techniques are varied.


* * *

After you sign up for at the Memverse website you might want to include some of these in your list of verses to memorize:
  • Colossians 1:16
  • Colossians 1:17
  • Colossians 2:8
  • Colossians 3:1
  • Colossians 3:16
  • Colossians 3:17
  • I Timothy 1:15
  • I Timothy 2:5

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Bible Reading Schedule for June 4-10, 2012

June 4-10, 2012

Monday, June 4, 2012
II Samuel 11-13
Colossians 1

Tuesday, June 5, 2012
II Samuel 14, 15
Colossians 2, 3

Wednesday, June 6, 2012
II Samuel 16-18
Colossians 4

Thursday, June 7, 2012
II Samuel 19, 20
Philemon

Friday, June 8, 2012
II Samuel 21, 22
I Timothy 1, 2

Saturday, June 9, 2012
II Samuel 23, 24
I Timothy 3, 4

Sunday, June 10, 2012
No scheduled readings; if necessary use the day to catch up if you are behind
ATTEND CHURCH!

Friday, June 1, 2012

Timeline for Ephesians

The New Testament book of Ephesians is one of the first prison letters written by the Apostle Paul. You might remember that Paul's successful preaching once caused a riot in Ephesus among the silversmiths who made their living selling images of their goddess Diana (Acts 19). Paul departed after that incident, but he later met with some of the Ephesian church leaders in the city of Miletus while making his way to Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost. It was in Jerusalem that Paul was arrested.

After appealing to Caesar, Paul was shuttled to Rome. This letter to the believers in the church at Ephesus was evidently written either during the lengthy journey to Rome, which includes stopovers in various prisons within the jurisdictions of Felix, Festus, and Agrippa, or in Rome itself. Estimates place the date of writing at AD 58-62.


***

The other book that we began reading this week, II Samuel, is a continuation of the kingdom narrative. The first volume dealt primarily with the 40 years of Saul's reign. This second volume deals primarily with the 40 years of David's reign. Along with the books of I and II Kings they provide an historical journal of the years of the monarchy.