“Our Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the first day after the Sabbath. Although the first day after the Sabbath remains the first of all the days, it is nevertheless also called the eighth day.” Justin Martyr (c. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers 1.215
Welcome! Here are eight things I found interesting recently that you might also:
1. As I remember it, many of my elementary classmates and I enjoyed it as some of us laid our heads on our desks to listen. During my days as a school teacher, my students appreciated that thirty minutes of listening to the teacher read part of a good book. Why do we have to limit this practice to childhood? “In Praise of Reading Aloud,” Ali Kjergaard insists we don’t and I agree. I think this just might be better than a traditional reading group.
2. “Reach. Grab. Sling. Pin. I can get lost in the rote rhythm, but why would anyone in an age of damp dry and dewrinkle settings want to? Use a clothesline, that is?” Go to Lessons from under the clothesline to find out.
3. Ever wonder how some of those old nursery rhymes came about? George Grant lets us know in “Word Play—Nursery Rhymes.” (Audio and accompanying manuscript)
4. “Ears to Hear”: Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete (2 John 12 ESV). In this short video Rediscovering Presence, Dr. Jody Owens reminds Christians of the importance of meeting “face to face” and being with one another as opposed to seeing one another.
5. “Eyes to See”: Aren’t five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. (Luke 12:6 CSB)
Whitethroat (Sylvia communis): Matt’s Songbird of the Week
6. Verse of the Month (It may not seem all that inspirational but it’s important. Please be sure to read the Quote of the Month to get the idea.):
Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself (John 6:15 ESV).
7. Quote of the Month (Please be sure to read the “Verse of the Month” above):
“[Jesus] regarded the setting up of an earthly kingdom as a temptation of the devil (Luke 4:5-8) and he would have no part of it. He is king in the hearts of his followers, but that is a very different thing. The tragedy of these Galileans was that they tried to make Jesus into their kind of king. They did not get what they wanted and in the process they lost the kind of king Jesus really is. People still make that mistake. They insist that Jesus be the kind of king (or savior or whatever) that they want. They try to force him into a mold of their own choosing. They can never succeed, but while they are trying they lose the wonderful gift that Jesus is offering. Let us learn to see him as he is and to submit to his kind of kingship.” –Leon Morris, Reflections on the Gospel of John, pp. 211-212 (Emphasis added.)
8. Prayer of the Month (It never gets old provided one prays it intentionally, thoughtfully, even slowly. The older I get the more I pray and appreciate this prayer as a gift from Jesus.):
Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
[For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen] (Matthew 6:9-14 ESV)
May the peace of Christ be with you.
BWN