“Who needs a doctor: healthy or sick? I’m inviting outsiders, not insiders—an invitation to a changed life, changed inside & out.” -Jesus (-us?) [May 16]

“When Jesus finished saying all this in the hearing of the people,…” Luke 7:1 | Jesus wasn’t covert. May we be like Him in our day-to-day worship. [May 17]

We can mistakenly think the seed on “good soil” has it easy (LK 8). Don’t miss this phrase: “and by persevering”. God’s Word: Hear, retain, and persevere! [May 18]

“I didn’t keep the news of your ways a secret, didn’t keep it to myself. I told it all, how dependable you are, how thorough. I didn’t hold back pieces of love and truth for myself alone. I told it all, let the congregation know the whole story.” -David (PS 40:10 MSG) [May 19]

Jesus: “You give…” Disciples: “We only have…” LK 9:13 // How often we think/say/do this. Imagine living as if God were all-knowing/powerful & ever-present! [May 20]

Jesus to the 72: “Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.” LK 10:3 / Why do WE assume/require comfort & safety to serve Him? [May 21]

Jesus finished praying in a certain place & a disciple said, “Lord, teach us” LK 11:1 / His posture made it clear He’d been w/God-does ours? [May 22]

The video, titled “Return to Hauna”, was about Wycliffe Bible translator Marilyn Laszlo.  In the video, she shared about the process of learning and documenting the Sepic Iwam language of Papua New Guinea and the 23-year process of translating the New Testament their language.

I found the first portion of the 30-minute video on YouTube:

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There were many things in the video that were encouraging, challenging, and convicting.  But the one thing that struck me was how much the Sepik Iwam people cherished and appreciated their “talk” being carved (which they saw as only limited to the white man – giving him power) and, equally as profound, the fact that “God’s carvings” was given to them in their “talk”.

Two observations:

• How often we take for granted our written language – whether we hold it in our hands or view it on a screen.
• Even more, how often we fail to cherish the fact that we have “God’s Carvings” freely available in our own language.

May we follow the example of the Sepik Iwam people:

Cherish and Appreciate.

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BTW, I found a transcript of a speech Laszlo gave a Urbana 1981.  It gives a good snapshot of her work at Hauna.

I pray I would have a passion for people as Marilyn has…

Anyway, here we go:

<you>: Dennis!  How’s it going?  Love the blog, keep up the great work!
<me>: ‘sgoing pretty good.  How ’bout you?
<you>: Fantabulous!  Hey, What did you do on your Summer vacation?
<me>: I’m glad you asked…

The Deets:

This summer, our church went through a program called The Bible in 90 Days (aka BIND, aka B90X).  It’s not a hard program with hidden details – it’s reading the Bible in 90 days (OK, actually 88…there were two “grace” days built in).  We started on June 7th and from that day until September 3 (for me), we read about 12 pages each day – straight through…Genesis to Revelation.  Our adult Sunday School class and Sunday service sermons also followed the readings, highlighting various themes or characters from the previous weeks readings.

The Story:

True confessions here – I actually saw the official BIND Bible at our local Christian bookstore over a year ago. I bought it and thought I’d give it a go.  It didn’t go…  But, when we decided to go through the program at church, I decided I was going to do it!  GULP!

I read & study the Bible daily – but I don’t generally read 12 pages.  I’m also a slow reader (I’ll admit it!), so this was especially a challenge.  [FYI - my reading speed is really a product of wanting to fully understand and I just can't get there by scanning...some can - I can't.]

In addition, having just started this blog a few months before, I decided that I would write a post about each days reading.  Yes, EACH DAY (read: Leviticus).  My decision was based on two things:

• If 2 Timothy 3:16-17 is true (and I believe it is), then I ought to be able to glean at least one nugget from each day’s reading.  Yes, even from Leviticus.
• A comment I heard from a speaker a while back.  He said that he tried to find at least one thing in every sermon or talk he heard that was applicable or edifying.  This should be true of anything read in the bible.  [BTW, I hold to this truth in any meeting, seminar, conference, presentation.  It forces me to listen!]

So I started.  I read…and I blogged, and I read…and I blogged…  Eighty-eight days of reading, too many late nights trying to stay on track, and 67 blog posts (some were catch-up days) – all in all, an incredible journey.  I am glad I stuck it out.  It was great to read the whole Bible in a concentrated time frame.  It was amazing to see the thread of God’s redemptive love and care for man (me, you!) in this life-changing, life-giving book that has been lovingly preserved.

So, there’s no badge, t-shirt, or tattoo (?!) for completing the program.  But, there is the joy in knowing that I am a little bit more “equipped“  to be a better worshiper of my awesome and amazing God!

What’s Next?

For the Christ Follower, the Bible shouldn’t be a book that is read and then put on the shelf – saved for future reading if desired.  So, for that reason, I’ll never be “finished” reading the Bible…  I think I’ll even do BIND again next year.

I am starting two new books though:

• Adopted for Life, by Dr. Russell Moore.
• Forgotten God, by Francis Chan

Both look to be GREAT reads…even blog subjects!

HEY, if you’d like to give BIND or B90X a try, here is a reading schedule that Elevation Church in North Carolina has posted.

The Cool!

I am always looking for cool backgrounds for church and was looking through my “finds” last week and saw the one to the right.  A while ago, I StumbledUpon this site that had a “visual” of the Bible and its linkages.  Visually, it is pretty cool – seeing the rainbows of colors and their interconnectedness.  But…if it ended there, it would be just another interesting image.  The truth of the “coolness” is that this picture represents God’s Awesome Word!

As faithfacts.org puts it:

“…the Bible contains 66 books, written by approximately 40 different writers, over 1600 years, on 3 different continents, in 3 different languages, on thousands of different subjects, yet with one central theme-God’s redemption of mankind from sin won for the whole world by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

The story behind the image is interesting (and sure, you could do this to many other books, including other works related to world religions); but, it is so much more than just a neat image with and cool back-story about how it was made.  WOW!!!!

BTW, there are some other cool visualizations on this person’s site…check them out!

The Scary!

I have been reading through Nehemiah veerry sloowwly in my quiet time, letting the verses sink in (this book is jam packed!) and this past week got a visual that scared me.

I tend to read from the English Standard Version during my study and was in Nehemiah nine last week.  In verses 6-25, the Levites recount the faithfulness of God to the assembled Israelites…then verse 26:

“Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against you and
cast your law behind their back.”

I just stopped.

In my mind, I saw what it looks like when I sin.  What God effectively sees me doing when I knowingly do or don’t do something He has commanded in His Word.

I effectively take His Word in my hands…and toss it…with disregard… over my shoulder…behind my back.

Scary.

Lord, I know I will never be without sin until I am in your presence.  Thank you for the visual of what my sin says about Your Word.  Help me to remember this visual before I sin; and bring it to mind immediately after I do, so I can maintain a posture of confession before You.  dennis

My my peeps and tweeps be blessed where ever they happen to be, o Lord!  AMEN!

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Closer

Beautiful are the words spoken to me
Beautiful is the one who is speaking

Come in close, come in close and speak
Come in close, come closer to me

The power of Your words
Are filled with grace and mercy
Let them fall on my ears and break my stony heart

Come in close, come in close and speak
Come in close, come closer to me

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