Bible in One Year – Week 37 #Bible365

ThatAndy —  May 11, 2013 — Leave a comment

Here are this weeks readings:

Day 253, 11th May: Isaiah, 2 Corinthians and Psalms
Isaiah 24:1-26:21
2 Corinthians 11:16-33
Psalm 106:32-39

Day 254, 12th May: Isaiah, 2 Corinthians and Psalms
Isaiah 27:1-28:29
2 Corinthians 12:1-10
Psalm 106:40-48

Day 255, 13th May: Isaiah, 2 Corinthians and Psalms
Isaiah 29:1-30:18
2 Corinthians 12:11-21
Psalm 107:1-9

Day 256, 14th May: Isaiah, 2 Corinthians and Proverbs
Isaiah 30:19-32:20
2 Corinthians 13:1-14
Proverbs 22:17-27

Day 257, 15th May: Isaiah, Galatians and Psalms
Isaiah 33:1-35:10
Galatians 1:1-24
Psalm 107:10-22

Day 258, 16th May: Isaiah, Galatians and Psalms
Isaiah 36:1-37:38
Galatians 2:1-10
Psalm 107:23-32

Day 259, 17th May: Isaiah, Galatians and Psalms
Isaiah 38:1-40:31
Galatians 2:11-3:9
Psalm 107:33-43

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Now you be David, and you can fight Goliath in this Computer Game!

Posted by ThatAndy on May 9, 2013 In Weird Web
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Posted by ThatAndy on May 8, 2013 In Church Life
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Church Sofa A – Z Guide To Church – A

ThatAndy —  May 7, 2013 — Leave a comment

Welcome to the Church Sofa A – Z Guide to Church. Being the old traditionalists that we all are, we’re going to being with

A

Aardvark: I believe the famous struggler, Edmund Blackadder got as far as aardvark when he attempted to write the directory. Hopefully this blog series will get past aardvark.

Abba: Old Aramaic word that’s still mentioned today in churches. Simply means “Dad”.

Advanced Pre-Judgement: The art of planning well ahead of time to judge people in church when they may do or not do a particular action.

Advent: For 11 months of the year, we all tell our children (big and little) not to play with fire. During the month of December Churches around the country invite both big and little children up to the front (as long as they behave) to light an advent candle. Its not unusual for this candle (or collection of candles) to be surrounded by a lovely flower display, which takes roughly 2 seconds to catch fire under the most controlled conditions. If the church survives the Advent candle being lit during church services, then there is always the “Carols by Candlelight” service, which depending on your background, could mean anything from a random candle being lit somewhere nearby, to fire being passed from person to person.

Therefore Advent is about waiting for the Fire to happen. After all, it cant be about waiting and preparing for Christmas. We have supermarkets to help us with that.

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Possibly the scariest bear on a Christian TV Show?

Posted by ThatAndy on May 6, 2013 In Weird Web
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Posted by ThatAndy on May 5, 2013 In Media
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Bible in One Year – Week 36 #Bible365

ThatAndy —  May 4, 2013 — Leave a comment

Here are this weeks readings:

Day 246, 4th May: Isaiah, 2 Corinthians and Psalms
Isaiah 3:1-5:7
2 Corinthians 6:3-7:1
Psalm 105:12-22

Day 247, 5th May: Isaiah, 2 Corinthians and Psalms
Isaiah 5:8-8:10
2 Corinthians 7:2-16
Psalm 105:23-36

Day 248, 6th May: Isaiah, 2 Corinthians and Proverbs
Isaiah 8:11-10:19
2 Corinthians 8:1-15
Proverbs 21:27-22:6

Day 249, 7th May: Isaiah, 2 Corinthians and Psalms
Isaiah 10:20-13:22
2 Corinthians 8:16-9:5
Psalm 105:37-45

Day 250, 8th May: Isaiah, 2 Corinthians and Psalms
Isaiah 14:1-16:14
2 Corinthians 9:6-15
Psalm 106:1-15

Day 251, 9th May: Isaiah, 2 Corinthians and Psalms
Isaiah 17:1-19:25
2 Corinthians 10:1-18
Psalm 106:16-31

Day 252, 10th May: Isaiah, 2 Corinthians and Proverbs
Isaiah 20:1-23:18
2 Corinthians 11:1-15
Proverbs 22:7-16

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Do All The Best Things Begin With B?

ThatAndy —  May 4, 2013 — Leave a comment

It started with a conversation (like these things do), on the way back from Church one day. The conversation was about breakfast, bacon, and we moved onto talk about biscuits, and (as you do) beer. Comments were passed, and we wondered if the best things really do begin with B?

Life moved on, and a while later I found myself caught up in a conversation about new people at Church, and I was wondered about The Church Sofa Guide To Church… and how thats not been updated for a while… decided to do an A – Z guide of Church and also… for some reason I remembered the above conversation, and for some reason wondered.

Do all the best things in Church begin with B?

Seizing inspiration, I’ve started drawing up an A – Z to Church but I’m having an issue with inspiration with the end of the alphabet.

Is there anything Church related (that begins) around the end of the alphabet that you would like to see us try and explain / be sarcastic about / ponder about / discuss / acknowledge but ignore / seriously discuss about?

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An Introduction to Micah #Bible365

ThatAndy —  May 3, 2013 — Leave a comment

So this week, the #Bible365 journey gets to that well known book of Micah.

Never read it before? Its ok. I dont think I have either.

Thankfully Soul Survivor have come to the rescue with quite a nice introduction to it:

Anyone remember as a child being told by their parent “There’ll be tears before bedtime, if you don’t stop teasing your sister (or brother, or dog. . .you get the gist!)!” And looking up momentarily but taking no notice you carry on . . .and what happens? Someone ends up in tears – how do parents know? Then you get the well known phrase “Well I did warn you” Or is this just a familiar scenario from my childhood?

Well… Micah, a minor prophet, who has a much more serious warning from God for the people of Israel and Judah, and their capital cities, Jerusalem and Samaria. Most of the first 3 chapters of Micah describe the kinds of things that were going on: the people were living self-centred lives, motivated by greed and pride. It says they spent nights plotting against the helpless and their days taking advantage of the weak (Micah2:1-2). Spiritually they were hypocrites and used religion for their own agendas. They lied to make themselves look good, then lied some more to cover up their dishonesty and corruption. Micah 3 gives particular mention to the leaders and prophets because they were abusing their positions and were responsible for leading others astray too. They were all living their way, not God’s way, not unlike today’s world when you think about it.

What really struck me about this passage from Micah was how God’s response is described (1:3-5). God comes to see to this mess in person, he may be sending Micah ahead to give his warning but God means business and He’s going to deal with this personally. . .and that for me was like a light bulb moment. For God, Israel and Judah’s sin was personal, God could not tolerate the mess they were making of their lives, the rebellion, the lies, he had to deal with it, there were consequences to those sins. And yet because he is also a loving, merciful God, we can see in Micah 2:12-13 and Micah 4 hope for the faithful, and a promise of peace and salvation.

Read the rest over at The Soul Survivor Blog

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#Digidisciple 21 Numbers inspired by Numbers.

ThatAndy —  May 2, 2013 — Leave a comment

Well the theme for Aprils #Digidisciple posts is the book of Numbers. After a few days pondering for inspiration for a post I decided to blog about numbers, inspired by Numbers. Therefore in the spirit of past Church Sofa lists, here are 21 numbers inspired by Numbers:

  1. Numbers features one big census.
  2. Numbers actually follows the second book of the Bible. The narration of Exodus continues in Numbers, after the break taken in Leviticus.
  3. If Leviticus (book 3) is about how Gods people are to be different to people around then them, then is Numbers a reminder that God cares about detail?
  4. Numbers is split into 4 sections. The first covers legal issues and regulations. It also includes the story of how the Tabernacle was consecrated after it had been set up. The second looks at a number of uprisings, deaths, and the change of Israelite leadership. The third is known as the book of Book of Balaam, while the last section deals with the settlement in Canaan. [1]
  5. Five shekels were collected for each of the firstborn Israelites who exceed the number of Levites. (Numbers 3)
  6. Numbers Chapter 6 looks at whats involved if the Israelites were to consecrate themselves fully to God for a period of time.
  7. Balaam (a prophet in Numbers) made seven prophecies.[2]
  8. Almost half of the 8.7 million adults who have never been online live in social housing, yet the government are moving more and more services online over the next couple of years. Could churches have a role to play in supplying space, and internet connections? [3]
  9. Chapter 9 of Numbers talks about Passover, linking all this with Jesus at the last supper, and what we do now in communion.
  10. 10 times 4 is 40. 40 years is a long time. Its a really long time to get from Egypt to Israel. The book of Numbers explains why it took longer then a journey on the M25.
  11. Three feet of quail was blown into the Israelite camp. (Numbers 11)
  12. There are 12 tribes of Israel. You can learn them by singing a song.
  13. Its not unlucky to listen to the one man talking sense (Numbers 13)
  14. The faith of just two people can inspire a nation. (Numbers 14)
  15. There are 15 verses talking about the borders of Canaan in Numbers chapter 34.
  16. According to the 2011, 16% are 65 or over (an increase of 0.9 million). [5]
  17. 17 plus ten is 27. Did you know that according to the 2011 census, there were 27.6m men and 28.5m women in England and Wales? [4]
  18. 18 times 2 is 36. There are 36 chapters in the Book of Numbers.
  19. According to the 2011 census, 6,242 people said heavy metal was their religion [6]
  20. Full compensation plus 20% must be paid to whoever has been wronged when a sin is committed (Numbers 5)
  21. 21 times 2 is 42 – which according to Douglas Adams is The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything.

[1] myjewishlearning.com

[2] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balaam

[3] www.guardian.co.uk

[4] www.guardian.co.uk

[5] www.guardian.co.uk

[6] www.thisisexeter.co.uk

Any other notable numbers that inspire you from Numbers?

Post originally appeared on the Big Bible website

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