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bible.com/bible/1713/psa.23.6.CSBThe Permanence of an Electrolux, and waste
A very good post, with an important message at the end.
By Elizabeth Prata
I grew up in a family of means, where the breathless rush of the ‘new’ was king. We bought the first and newest of everything. Color TV? Got one. Remote control? First on the block to have it. 27″ TV? Over there in the living room. Pong just came out? We played it. Central vacuum? Installed. And so on.
When I met my husband in 1990, I decided to switch gears, and we went the frugal route. Downsize. No debt. Use things till they break, and then if possible, fix them instead of buying new. I sold my new house with its mortgage, and he sold his. He owned a camp by a lake that had been in the family since the 1950s. Thus, it had no mortgage. “Camps” were the name for a summer seasonal dwelling by the lake to which the family would…
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bible.com/bible/1713/2pe.3.9.CSB
bible.com/bible/1713/pro.17.17.CSB
bible.com/bible/1713/psa.121.2.CSB
bible.com/bible/1713/rev.4.11.CSBA Reality Check
I still get push-back when challenging the popular eschatological narrative: that a seven-year tribulation period is coming, that the Jews will build a Temple and resume animal sacrifices with God’s approval, that there will be a seven-year peace treaty, that God will seal 144,000 Jewish evangelists who will win countless souls to Christ during this “tribulation period,” and so forth. It pains me to repeat this foolishness. People who make this stuff up have made the eschaton into a comic book and have done a HUGE disservice to the body of Christ.
Today’s little rant won’t start with Revelation, but rather at the other end of the Bible’s chronology. Many scholars believe the oldest book in the Bible is the book of Job. Most of us are (hopefully) aware of it. Job was a fabulously rich man who lived in the middle east at about the time of Abraham. Satan…
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Theme weeks coming up!
By Elizabeth Prata
We started in-person school Friday and I’m so happy. I love being with the kids and I love my school. I used to teach elementary school in Maine and since I’m a native New Englander, all my school life whether as a certified teacher, substitute, or student, I was used to the Post-Labor day start. We had a September to June schedule. I’ve never gotten used to the South’s August to May schedule, but I love the job anyway.
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Jailed for the Lord – Paul in the ‘House of Darkness’
By Elizabeth Prata
Thank goodness for historians. In ancient Rome during the last days of the Apostle Paul, Sallust and Livy, for example, wrote of the notorious jail in Rome known as the Mamertine, dubbed so in the medieval period. It’s originally known in history as the Carcer, or the Tullianum, or at least, the lower half of the underground dungeon was. History does not record for a definite fact that Peter and Paul were at different times held there, but tradition and Roman practice indicate it was a strong possibility.
This essay is constructed in three sections:
Section 1: The prison itself. What was it like?
Section 2: Paul in Prison
Section 3: Facing Death
What was the Mamertine Prison like?
The Mamertine prison was a prison in the Roman Forum where high-profile prisoners…
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May 1, 2021 – #1 of 31 Days of Biblical Women
May 1, 2021 – 31 Days of Biblical Women – Eshet Chayil
It is a 22-verse poem found in proverbs 31:10-31, and sung each Sabbath to honor Jewish women. It is an acrostic poem, each verse beginning with a letter from the Hebrew alphabet (like the sections in Psalm 119). Some interpret it as being about Abraham’s wife, Sarah, or about Solomon’s great grandmother, Ruth.
Eshet Chayil is Hebrew for “woman of worth,” “valor,” “strength,” or “virtue.”
The Woman Who Fears the LORD
10 An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.
11 The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain.
12 She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life.
13 She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands.
14 She is like the ships of the merchant; she brings her food from afar.
15 She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens.
16 She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands, she plants a vineyard.
17 She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong.
18 She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night.
19 She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle.
20 She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy.
21 She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet.
22 She makes bed coverings for herself; her clothing is fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them; she delivers sashes to the merchant.
25 Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.
26 She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
27 She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.”
30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.
LORD, give me a heart of virtue, courage, and strength, to serve my family.
jh
