Tried With Fire

The Bible is not a higher-plane tome about some mystical life of spiritual devotion. It does not teach blissful separation from the brokenness of everyday life. No, the Bible is a book about this world. It is a gritty, honest book… In both its diagnoses and its descriptions, the Bible is honest about life in a fallen world. This honesty is a sign of God's love…. In being honest, the Bible welcomes you to be honest as well. In its refusal to minimize, diminish, or deny the harsh realities of this broken-down house, the Bible calls us to face the facts as well. Broken-Down House , Paul David Tripp, Shepherd Press, 2009, pp. 26, 29-30.

Can I Really Trust the Bible?: And other questions about Scripture, truth and how God speaks , Barry Cooper, The Good Book Company , 2014, 72 pages. Can I Really Trust the Bible? is the third book I've read in the Questions Christians Ask series from The Good Book Company, and so far I have liked them all. This particular book covers basic aspects of bibliology in a very readable and concise manner by answering the following questions: Does the Bible claim to be God's word? Does the Bible seem to be God's word? Does the Bible prove to be God's word? Author Barry Cooper covers issues such as the authenticity and unity of the Bible, inerrancy, historical documents, and why the canon is the way it is today. This groundwork would be very helpful for the new believer who is just learning the basics about the Bible. But this book doesn't stop here. He then encourages his readers to not just read the Bible but to taste it, to savor its words, and let it change...

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 1 John 4:7 By this love we are not to understand a softness and tenderness of mere nature, or a love founded on worldly motives, as any natural person may have, but a love for our brethren, proceeding from love towards God. In other words, loving all peoples in general because of their relationship to God; and loving good men in particular, for the grace we see in them, and because they love our Lord Jesus in sincerity. This is Christian charity and that commandment which Christ gave to his disciples. New, not in its object, but in the motive and example whereon it is founded, even Jesus Christ. This is the love which the primitive Christians were so renowned for, that it became a proverb, "See how these Christians love one another." And without this love, though we should give all our goods to feed the poor, and our bodies to be burnt, it would profit us no...

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The grand-design spiral galaxy Messier 74 It's my turn at Out of the Ordinary : The first chapter of Genesis is probably one of the most familiar passages in the Bible. It's read by many believers on January 1 to kick-off their Bible reading plans. These verses are also scrutinized when discussing the origin of the universe both inside and outside of Christendom. But after listening to a recent  sermon  on Genesis 1, I've looked at this chapter in a fresh way. My pastor stated that our response to this text should be to  look at our God as He is gloriously displayed . His words gave me reason to pause. I've focused so much on the details of what happened on which day and what it could possibly mean in terms of time, space, and science that I may have missed the forest for the trees. So I reread Genesis 1, and it brought me to worship… Read more here . And as a bonus, check out the Scale of the Universe and consider the greatness and awesome creativity of ou...

I've been a Doctor Who fan since high school. Tom Baker  was my first doctor, so he's still my favorite with his slightly manic and quirky sense of humor, jelly babies , and, of course, the iconic scarf. I've always wanted to knit a copy for myself, but its size isn't very practical. It would probably mop the floor or be a tripping hazard not to mention being very bulky to wear. Thanks to Ravelry, I found this pattern  scaled down to normal human-sized proportions. I used size 7 needles and Knit Picks Wool of the Andes worsted  in the colors recommend at DoctorWhoScarf.com . The site has patterns by season, yarn and color suggestions, and tips for joining the stripes and weaving in the ends. It also has everything a Whovian could ever want to know about the scarf's various iterations. (Did you know the scarf had a stunt double?) The pattern is plain old garter stitch, so it was a fairly quick and mindless knit. I finished it in less than 2 weeks with knitting...