Mostly Blues

“By the sweat of your face you will eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3:19 NASB Sweat – When it comes to music, I’m a blues man. Give me Clapton, B.B. King, Tommy Castro, Robert Cray or Debbie…

Wasted Effort

Jabez called upon the God of Israel saying, “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain.”  1 Chronicles 4:10  ESV Pain – The key Hebrew word encompassing the verbal…

Revised by Rashi

To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children.  Genesis 3:16 ESV Pain – We have examined this verse in some detail in the past (it is also analyzed in my book, Guardian Angel).  We pointed out that a small emendation in the syllabication…

Passion Fruit

and there was not a man to till the ground  Genesis 2:5  (Hebrew World translation) To till – There is no difference between sacred and secular.  Better read that again since nearly everything about our culture is based on separating sacred and secular.  We have church and state, spiritual and carnal, righteous and wicked and…

The Last Word

But I am poor and needy, yet the Lord takes thought for me; you are my help and my savior; delay not, O God. Psalm 40:18  (Hebrew World) I am poor – Back up one verse.  “Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You, let those who love Your salvation say…

Religious Exemption

You shall eat of it in sorrow all the days of your life Genesis 3:17 Sorrow – “Finding the Champion Within,” “How to Reach Your Full Potential,” “Your Best Life Now,” “The Art of Commanding Respect,” “Me 2.0,” and dozens of other titles shout the message, “You are special.  You are different.  You can rise…

Turning Up The Volume

The sorrows of those who have bartered for another god will be multiplied  Psalm 16:4 Multiplied – Life without the Lord is increasingly miserable.  That’s the biblical message.  It sometimes doesn’t appear that way.  After all, the systems of this world support rebellion against God, rewarding those who actively engage in disobedience.  But, as the…