Nahum: Celebrating God's Wrath #2

Nahum: Celebrating the Wrath of God, 2When Nahum is read carelessly or superficially it is thought to be a crass nationalistic blast from a blind patriot. Many have accused the prophet of such blindness. And the church down through the years has not heard the word either because Nahum is left out of lectionary readings.  But Nahum is not nationalistic pride. Nahum is a celebration of the goodness of God’s wrath. God’s wrath is good news...

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When It Rains It Pours

When It Rains ... It Pours ... at least some of the TimeIt is "monsoon" season here in the desert. Now the monsoons did not really kick up until about a week ago and we have been getting some rain nearly everyday. Today, however, when it was supposed to be VBS work day Noah's deluge decided to come. I have learned that the desert does not really soak up the water. No the ground here seems to reject water and it simply runs off. And it does so...

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Tag from John Dobbs

Tag from John DobbsMy friend and fellow blogger, John Dobbs, has tagged me. He has asked that I divulge eight random facts, and meaningless!, about myself. So here goes ...1) I put pepper on my french fries2) I hate to shave3) I am on a diet ... not doing so well but I am on a diet4) I secretly envy song leaders5) I like Sponge Bob6) One of my favorite things to do is simply talk with friends about whatever7) "Let It Be" is my least favorite Beatles LP8) My three favorite people in the world are: Pamella, Rachael and Talya9) One to grow on ......

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Nahum: Celebrating God's Wrath #1

Nahum: Celebrating the Wrath of God!? (Part 1)The Abuse of WrathMy title my be a bit surprising considering the bad rap God’s wrath has gotten in recent times. I recall growing up and having a lively, and misguided, preacher practically scare the you know what out of me. These preachers usually cite such passages as 2 Thessalonians 1.5-10, Christians are then made to fear the wrath of God or the coming of the Lord Jesus. Yet Paul's intent or purpose...

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Harry Potter and the Deathly HallowsSpeaking of reading ... Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released at 12:01 am this morning. Wow! What a night in the bookstore!About a six weeks ago Rachael and I made a date for daddy-girl time: Friday, July 20 we would be at Borders Bookstore for the "Deathly Hallows Bash." We reserved our copy. Yesterday we went up and got our wristband with our placement in the book buying (Silver with two bars...

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Why Do We Read? Part 2

Read Why We Read? Part One Here In modern America many would rather watch reality TV that sit in a nook with a book. But there are many positive reasons to take up and read. In this blog I want to share just a few thoughts along these lines.Reading is what has been called a "cool medium" that invites us to step back and ponder critically what we have encountered. We can stop at any time and compare what we have read with what we previously have...

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Abiline Travel Log

Abilene Travel LogI left early Wednesday morning (4 am) for Abilene, TX and arrived about 5:30 CT. I arrived back in Tucson last night. It was a wonderful trip. My purpose was to visit with Fran Moser Winkles and live in the library ... but more of that in a moment. First some interesting details ...First it is a long way from Tucson to Abilene (about 750 miles). For such a trip you need plenty of things to spin in the CD player. So I listened...

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On Top of Mt Lemmon

On Top of Mt LemmonIt looks like someone did not make the curve. This is a van that is WAY down in the gorge. Zoomed in with my camera. Not sure how long that van has been there but it looks like a long time.Rachael and Talya at Windy PointThe Road along the Mountain side.Hey, there are trees in Arizona!! You just have to go nearly 10,000 feet up to find them, :-)What Tucson looks like from the very top of Mt Lemmon. The little white specks...

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Why Do We Read?

Why Do We Read? One of the saddest things I have ever heard in my life came from a minister who had been preaching for nearly forty years. That this minister was being held up as a model for young ministers to follow made it doubly tragic. What was the sad statement? He said, “I have not changed my mind on a religious topic in nearly forty years.” I suppose if Jesus had made that statement it would not have troubled me. In a Q & A session...

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Stoned Mug Shot

Stoned Mug S...

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What's Happening in Bobby's World

What's Happening In Bobby's WorldFirst let me apologize to my four or five readers for my extended absence from blogging. This was not really a planned sabbatical from contributing to the noise of cyberspace rather it sort of just happened.Over the last two weeks I have been either out of town speaking at a conference or on top of Mt. Graham. From June 21 to 23 I was in Detroit, MI at Rochester College attending the Christian Scholars Conference. The Plenary Addresses were given by Philip Jenkins of Penn State. Jenkins has written two very...

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