Reading the Bible Like Jesus: Matt. 22:31 and Reading the Bible Like Jesus: Luke 24. I would just caution, with the first one, that though we do need to read the Bible as written directly to us, we need to remember that not every instruction or promise is for us to follow. Some things were given specifically to Israel or to an individual. But, yes, even that is written to us for a purpose.
How Do Birds Keep Warm in Winter? HT to FFF friend Kathie (who always has gorgeous photos!) I thought our resident cardinals were just getting fat, and though they do eat more to stay warm, they also fluff layers of air amidst their wings as insulation. Very interesting article.
Saw this at Bobbi‘s. Very sweet. I don’t know if falling makes you stronger, as it says at the end, but I do hope I’ve taught my kids that falling isn’t the end. This is a good reminder, too, that though Olympic athletes are talented, they also have years of hard word leading up to their feats.
I was going to wait until next week to share these since I only had a few – but last time I did that I ended up with a very long list the following week. So here’s a fairly short list of posts I found interesting this week, and thought you might, too:
My long time “real life” friend Debbie blogs at Purple Grandma, and we share a love of missionary books. When my own kids were young and then recently when I compiled a list of missionary books for children, I noticed there were none for toddler/preschool age. The earliest missionary books were early-reader chapter books. So Debbie compiled some of her own just for general reading or family devotions, etc., that she is beginning to share on her blog. I really enjoyed the first about Jennie Atkinson and look forward to reading more.
Ringing in the New Year. “The character of your life won’t be established in two or three dramatic moments, but in 10,000 little moments. Your legacy will be shaped more by the 10,000 little decisions you make in 2014 rather than the last-minute resolution you’re about to make….That’s a lot of moments. Too many, in fact, to accomplish successfully on our way. No wonder we settle for one big resolution instead of a day-by-day resolutions. But here’s what makes 10,000 little resolutions possible – GRACE. Relentless, transforming, little-moment grace.”
2 Year Bible Reading Plan. I love reading the Bible through, but trying to do it in a year always seems rushed to me.
Food Is Not Your God. I’m not into the whole foods movement as a movement, though I agree they are better for us, but it seems some kind of emphasis about food sweeps through the Christian community occasionally. I appreciate the balance and focus of this post.
If you’re like me, there hasn’t been a lot of time for Internet reading the past week, but here are some things I found interesting over the last couple.
Is a Simple Christmas a More Godly Christmas? While the message to simplify is a good and needed one, and we could all probably simplify in some ways (in life as well as at Christmas), there are some times that we can’t, and there are some times that what we call simplifying = selfishness and unwillingness to sacrifice and serve. This is one of those areas that will look different for different people and requires discernment and wisdom.
This is the US Air Force Band staging a flash mob at the National Air and Space Museum. I was amused that at the end they were all organized in neat rows, unlike most flash mobs. 🙂 I always wonder what it is like for the very first person to step out into a crowd and start singing or playing.
Hope you have a great weekend! I’ll have some exciting news next week. 🙂
God May Not Have a Wonderful Plan for Your Life. He does, in the sense that He made it possible for us to go to heaven when we repent and believe He sent His Son to take our sins on the cross, and He has promised to be with us in this life, but some things in life are hard. The Bible said they would be, and we can give people the wrong picture of Christianity and rub salt in an open wound sometimes by spouting phrases like this.
Scowling at the Angel. “There in my brokenness I had so little to give. But grace, she never left. She met me in all my frailty, raw and wrathful, as exposed and defenseless as the day I was born.”
It Takes a Pirate to Raise a Child, HT to Bobbi. Loved this – about how children’s stories shape their ideas of right and wrong, e.g., telling the author’s son that he was acting like Edmund in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe helped him understand his behavior towards his siblings was wrong when explaining and exhorting wasn’t getting through.
Is God an Egotistical Maniac? Read this if you don’t read any of the others. This is a thought that is becoming more popular with unsaved, and Christians sometimes unwittingly fuel it by their responses.
A Blank Check. Quote: “A recent lesson talked about giving God a blank check with our lives. It’s a biblical concept. If God is God, and we owe everything to him, we must be willing to follow him wherever he leads. It’s picking up our crosses and dying to ourselves…We push the blank check across the counter to God, only to be miffed if he writes ‘nursery duty’ in the line.” Most of us are called to minister in small ways rather than the big, public ways.
I don’t usually do one of these every week, but the past few weeks have been filled with good reading. Here are some posts that spoke to me this week:
A “Good Girl” Wrestles With the Gospel. “My sin nature seems to be super glued to me. Being a good girl doesn’t dissolve its adhesive effect. Following the rules doesn’t make me righteous. Acting like Pollyanna isn’t the same as having a pure heart.”
What Seems to Be. “If the characters in the story could step back and see what the storyteller sees, they might not despair quite so keenly. They would trust the twists and turns as part of the greater narrative. May it be so for me, and for all of us.”
Modesty Matters: The Heart of Modesty. I’ve read so much on modesty that I wasn’t terribly excited when I saw this title, but I appreciated the balance and the focus here. This is the first in a series.
This made me smile, HT to Kathie. The little boy and his accent are so cute. We were big Lego fans around here as the guys were growing up, and this brought back memories.
And you’ll need tissues for this one, HT to Susanne.
Here are some good reads from the last couple of weeks:
The Hard Work of Getting Along. “If it’s hard work, it doesn’t mean you’re doing community wrong. In fact? The hard work might be a sign that you’re doing community as God designed.”
I admit I am not a math person. I probably did my share of “When am I ever going to use this?” lamenting while in high school algebra. I can add up the same list of numbers three times – WITH a calculator – and get a different answer every time. But I am glad there are people who like and “get” math, like my husband. It does affect our everyday lives in multitudes of ways, as this short video shows:
Have a great weekend! Don’t forget to set your clocks back tonight!
Stray Thoughts 