Xor News

Dear students -

If you believe that God has allowed you access to a college education then you would want to be a good steward of that which is provided by that education. Yet, it never ceases to amaze me how many students, many very well intentioned, lose focus on the stewardship of their education and don’t nearly receive the return that they should on it. Invariably it is accountability that determines the return on your education.

Personal Financial Stewardship, Ed C. Anthony, p. 16

Several important things happen on New Year’s Day in Bible times. Today seems like a good day to point them out.

It is worth thinking about which “New Year” we are speaking of. Today we have the new calendar year, but there is also the new fiscal year, the new agricultural year, and probably others.

The situation we find in Bible times is similar: there is the regnal new year from which the length of the king’s reign is measured, the calendar new year, the religious new year (Exodus 12:2 – why isn’t Rosh Hashanah in April? Now you know.), the new year for trees (determines when you can start eating the fruit), and probably others.

Some of the New Year’s Day happenings are not necessarily or even likely the same type of year but I’m still going to appropriate them all for this post.

Noah and the End of the Great Flood

And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first [month], the first [day] of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry. Genesis 8:13, The Bible

On the first day of the new year, Noah looked and found that the ground was dry and he was able to remove the covering from the ark. This reminds me that God is faithful to His promises. He had promised Noah His protection during the flood and now Noah is safely on the other side of the destructive deluge.

The new year is a good time to reflect on God’s goodness to each of us and to realize that He is always faithful to His promises, even when times and circumstances look dark and beyond hope.

Setting up the Hebrew Tabernacle

And it came to pass in the first month in the second year, on the first [day] of the month, [that] the tabernacle was reared up. Exodus 40:17, The Bible

The tabernacle serves as a reminder that God has chosen to be involved with life on this planet. He is not, as some have supposed, one who would up the universe in time past and since that initial infusion of energy left us all to our own devices. In describing the tabernacle and the furnishings that were to be provided for it, God indicates “And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat” (Exodus 25:22, The Bible).

The new year is an appropriate time to remember that God has expressed His desire to have a relationship with us. In fact, he went as far as to send Jesus Christ into this world, knowing he would suffer and be cruelly mistreated so that he could righteously offer the forgiveness of sins and welcome His wayward creatures back into a personal relationship with Himself.

The Word of the Lord comes to Ezekiel

And it came to pass in the twenty-seventh year, in the first [month], on the first [day] of the month, [that] the word of the LORD came to me… Ezekiel 19:17, The Bible

The word of the LORD came to Ezekiel many times and the day and month are very often given. This particular occasion concerns one of the greatest prophetic events in history: The battle of Tyre. This prophecy, left partially fulfilled for hundreds of years, was completely fulfilled by Alexander the Great in 322 BC, serving as a lasting monument to the authority and reliability of God’s word. God gives us prophecy because He wants us to have confidence in Him and believe Him when we see things come to pass that He has indicated beforehand (Isaiah 43:10, John 14:29).

The new year is a great time to to understand that God wants to be believed. When people characterize my faith as “blind faith” and describe it as being without reason, they do so without really looking into the matter. True Biblical faith is based on well-placed confidence in the prophetic-historical statements of the Bible as well as our personal experience with the Living God in our own lives. There’s nothing blind or unreasoning about it and I don’t find God asking for something unreasonable. In fact, he encourages us to reason with Him:

“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool. Isaiah 1:18, The Bible

So this New Year’s Day, reflect, remember and reason. God is good, He is faithful, He wants a relationship with us and He says Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, Acts 16:31, The Bible.

In which I find a quote from an unreliable source in a book by a normally reliable author and lose much confidence in the other material contained therein.

I would be extremely hesitant to quote anything pithy or witty sounding from M. Muggeridge without pages of context around why it was necessary to do so. Perhaps even tricking a man on the street into reading the desired MM quote and then quoting the M.O.T.S. instead of MM would be preferable.

From the virgin birth

Seeing Through The Eye, page 207

To the resurrection

Seeing Through The Eye, page 22

The poison behind the nice sounding witticisms is laid bare.

And be it ever remembered that Christians are not members of a club, of a sect or of an association; they are members of a body, each connected with allo, and all connected by the fact of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit with the risen and glorified Head in Heaven. This is an immense truth, and the practical carrying out of it will cost us not only all we have, but all we are. There is no place in all the universe where self will be so pulled to pieces as in the Assembly of God. And is it not well? Is it not a powerful proof of the divine ground on which that Assembly is gathered? Should we not be glad to have our hateful self thus pulled to pieces? Shall we or ought we run away from those who do it for us? Are we not glad–do we not often pray to get rid of self? And shall we quarrel with those who are God’s instruments in answering our prayers? True, they may do the work roughly and clumsily, but never mind that. Whoever helps me to crush and sink self does me a kind turn, however awkwardly he may do it. One thing is certain, no man can ever rob us of that which, after all, is the only thing worth having, namely Christ.

–C.H.M., Short Papers, Self Surrender, p. 18, Believers Bookshelf, pub 1995.
(capitalization his, emphasis mine)

I have probably read that several times before. It’s interesting how the experiences we go through color how (and how much) we understand a thing like that.

Some quotes from things I have recently found insightful or helpful.

The state of marriage is one that requires more virtue and constancy than any other. It is a perpetual exercise of mortification. From this thyme plant, in spite of the bitter nature of its juice, you may be able to draw and make the honey of a holy life. — Francis de Sales

Marriage is the operation by which a woman’s vanity and a man’s egotism are extracted without anesthetic. — Helen Rowland

Marriage is the greatest test in teh world…but now I welcome the test instead of dreading it. It is much more than a test of sweetness of temper, as people sometimes think; it is a test of the whole character and affects every action. — T.S. Eliot

One of the best wedding gifts God gave you was a full-length mirror called your spouse. Had there been a card attached, it would have said "Here’s to helping you discover what you’re really like!" — Gary and Betsy Ricucci

If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket–safe, dark, motionless, airless– it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. — C.S. Lewis

Christian marriage presumes a certain degree of self-disclosure…This reality can be terrifying to contemplate. Dating is largely a dance in which you always try to put your best face forward–hardly a good preparation for the inevitable self-disclosure implied in marriage. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if many marriages end in divorce largely because one or both partners are running from their own revealed weaknesses as much as they are running from something they can’t tolerate in their spouse. — Gary Thomas, Sacred Marriage

A man who says "I’ve never loved you" is a man who is saying essentially this: "I’ve never acted like a Christian." — Gary Thomas, ibid.

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it. — God, The Bible, Ephesians 5:25

Google suggest offers up the following options for “Why are Christians so…”.

Do you notice any common thread in those suggestions? I don’t really know that much about how Google Suggest works. Do these suggestions reflect what people are searching for? What people are finding useful? Just what is out there on the intarwebs? Or some weighted probabilistic combination of those? Dunno. Something to think about though.

Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. – 1 John 3:13

Pocket Bible, the html version.

King James Version

American Standard Version

update: fixed links

Mr. Ryrie’s notes have it that when Jacob deceived Isaac, Isaac being old and thinking that he was preparing to die, that Isaac went on to live another 43 years. It’s not obvious how he gets this and so here is how it’s done, first in text, then with a picture.

1. Joseph was 39 when Jacob came to Egypt. Jacob was 130 (45:11 + 47:9)
2. Jacob was 91 when Joseph was born (subtract 39 from both sides)
3. Jacob had been in Padan Aram 14 years when Joseph was born (30:25 + 31:41)
4. Jacob was 77 when he stole the blessing and left home (subtract 14 from 91)
5. Isaac was 60 years old when Jacob was born (25:26)
6. Isaac was 137 when Jacob stole the blessing (60 + 77)
7. Isaac lived 43 more years to 180 (35:28)

In the picture, (click to see a larger view) just use the red horizontal arrows to align the columns and work forward from Jacob’s birth and backwards from Joseph in Egypt. Simple.

Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Proverbs 6:6

One week later…

Ten days later…

Nice work, ants.

The Savior stood in Jordan’s flood,
  for Him it parted not.
God’s perfect justice requires blood,
  His love the lost be sought.

Calvary’s shadow large and dark
  can’t hide Heaven’s delight.
The lamb of God was baptized there,
  showed forth His grace and light

God sent His son to earth to die,
  Christ willingly agreed.
God’s waves and billows o’er Him poured
  so WE could be made free.

[Joshua 4, John 1]