A High Touch Church: 20 Random Acts of Grace & Love

A High-Touch Church in A High-Tech World: 20 Random Acts of Grace and Love1) Give love and support to a parent of teens2) Rake a widows rocks3) Take a single to lunch4) Offer to keep a young mother’s children for a few hours so she can have some personal time5) Write a note of appreciation to an elder, deacon, Bible class teacher, or even the preacher6) Make an anonymous gift of $50 to a couple for a date7) Visit someone in the hospital8)...

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J.W. McGarvey's Evolving Relationship with Mk 16.9-20

J. W. McGarvey is widely regarded as the greatest scholar produced by the Stone Campbell Movement. As we continue to think about the ancestry and history of the King James Version I thought I would tie Stone Campbell history with that of the KJV. McGarvey was indeed a great scholar and one of his strengths was the ability to let fresh light change his mind on even important subjects. Briefly in this blog I will trace the "evolution" of his views...

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The Crucible of Worship: Reflecting on Psalm 116

A New Pair of EyesWhen I was 15; something happened that changed my life, I got my first pair of glasses! It was time to go down and get my drivers permit. I was excited and ready to take an exam. I hurriedly filled out the answers to the written test and I blew it away. Then that mean lady, you know her, made me sit down and take an eye exam! I stumbled and fumbled over letters trying to read them to her. I was confident I was not blind and did...

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Book of First Maccabees: God's Family of Deliverance

I continue in this post with our journey through the Ancestry of the King James Version with a look at another of those books in its table of contents that never appeared in a New American Standard or NIV. I hope you enjoy it. First Maccabees recounts how those doughty defenders of God’s People, Mattathias and his five sons, delivered Israel from Antiochus IV and the “renegade Jews” resulting in political freedom for Israel first time in four centuries....

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Dust in the Wind: Life in Qohelet's Postmodern World

Qohelet’s Sonnet: Life in the Postmodern WorldEcc. 3.1-15Ecclesiastes 3 is probably one of the more famous passages in the Hebrew Bible. Many folks remember either the hippy era (or Forrest Gump) and can sing along with The Byrds, 'Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There is A Season . . .)' The beauty of Qohelet's poetry, however, often obscures for us the irony and sadness he is lamenting.Unfortunately as moving as the Byrds version is that is not...

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Dust In the Wind: Qohelet's Protest against "Solomon"

Ecclesiastes is one of my favorite books in the Bible. It is one of the strangest books in the Bible too. Its real messages tends to be neutered among Christians. This is my second short reflection on this amazingly profound piece of biblical protest literature. I have been asked about my KJV series ... yes there is more to come!Who wrote Ecclesiastes? It is important to note that that this is a separate question from who is Qohelet. Qohelet is the...

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Dust in the Wind: Ecc 1.13

NOTES and TRANSLATION OF ECCLESIASTES. 1.13 "I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men!" (NIV).The above translation offered by the NIV is just adequate to leave us hanging. I propose to make a short analysis of the Hebrew text and offer a tentative translation.After introducing himself in v.12, Qohelet (the Preacher) records his exhaustive search and his "depressing"...

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Reviews of the NIV 2011 ...

Here are a few links to Daniel Wallace's four part review of the NIV 2011 Daniel Wallace is an outstanding New Testament scholar and expert in textual criticism. His book Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament is within easy reach all who work with the Greek text. His review of the NIV 2011 is fair and balanced (truly so). Far too often nothing short of a "hatchet job" is paraded around as a "review" ... I have...

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"Sound Doctrine," "Pattern," "Timothy:" Reflections on Restoration Hermeneutics #2

Part one of "Sound Doctrine" & "Patternism" can be read HEREThe Problem of NOT Distinguishing Doctrine & Good News/GospelIt should come as no surprise that Paul roots "healthy" (i.e. sound) teaching in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. One proceeds out of the other. For Paul, it seems, everything that can claim to be uniquely Christian is Christocentric. Scripture itself, Paul says, is ultimately Christ-centered for its function is to makes us...

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