2010: Year of the Blog
Just a brief comment on comments. I was glad to see so many people provide blogs in the last few days. My hope is that a lot more readers will chose to make comments in 2010. Please don’t think that just because you don’t want to enter into a scholarly conversation you don’t have anything to contribute. Blogs are for your experiences, feelings, thoughts, questions and anything else that will help all of us know more about everything we seek to understand.
So, make 2010 the year of the blog.
Skip
Hi Skip – thanks for encouraging responses.
I continue to struggle, sometimes, with your Torah-centered hermaneutic. I think a Christ-centered hermaneutic is the better way . What did Christ say about the OT? And Paul and the apostles? Since we’re Christians, shouldn’t we default to interpreting the whole bible first through explicit comments/commentary/explanation by Jesus and his apostles?
Absolutely, we must look at the New Testament as the center of our hermeneutics. But when we look, what do we find? We find a running commentary on the Old Testament. We find reference after reference to the authority of the Old Testament. We find complete confidence in the revelation of the Old Testament. In other words, we find men who accept the Old Testament as the unquestioned Word of God for faith and practice. Every one of the New Testament authors was a Torah-observant Jew or Jewish proselyte. That should tell us something. To default to the New Testament is nothing more than defaulting to men who lived according to the Old Testament. So, I suppose as Christians, we must do a full circle, and come back to the foundation through the words of those who helped us see that it was all there from the beginning.
Dear Skip,
I am one who throughly enjoys reading all your writings and comments from your other scholarly readers. No, I am not qualified to add anything other than how grateful I am that all of you share your knowledge with me. The very first e-mail I open is from you, Skip. Thank you for giving me food for thought each and every day. May God continue to bless you and your wonderful ministry. “May the Lord bless you and protect you; The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon and give you peace.” Num 6:24-26
Thanks Kathy,
Your addition to the community is a valuable one for all. Come to the table and dine. Let’s us all be refreshed here.
As we (together!) close out the year of our LORD- 2009, let us “resolve” in the new year yet to be, to “follow Him more nearly, to see Him more clearly, and to love Him more dearly.
The Bible is our “Him-book.” This we know. (Hopefully) we (all) may agree upon this. He is much more than “the reason for the season.” (lol!)
Brother Skip (and contributors), I bless the name of LORD my G-d, because of you. Together we build. Together we are “fitly framed” to grow up into Him a spiritual house. Together we are the body of Christ. Together, we are the bride of Christ.
Iron sharpens iron. The spark also ignites the flame. There might be a small amount of friction between us, because we are (gasp!..) different. (lol!) How about that- we’re different. Take a look at the book. So were Abraham, Moses and Noah. (We could add some more names to this list..)
Thank you Skip for challenging our faith. Thank you Patrick (the tech-geek guy) for the work that you do “in His name” and for His sake.
I will “confess” this. I have grown more as a Christian in the few short years I have been ‘partaking’ of this website than in multiple years previous to “stumbling upon” this site. I have to ask myself- “how did get here?” The obvious answer- “G-d did that.” (lol!)
How have I grown? “Good food.” Skip has answered G-d’s call- “feed my sheep.” Dear brother- such excellent meals! Me?- “fat and happy!”
A sower went forth to sow. ‘Scattering seed’ (indiscriminately) everywhere. This, my friends is a “story” about dirt. Dirty dirt. Good earth. Hmm.. -“and Elohim made Adam out of the adamah”. And G-d breathed into man’s nostrils “the breath of life” and man became a living soul..
2010-this amazing story is “to be continued”.. “For eye has not seen, nor ear heard.. neither has entered into the heart of man- the things G-d has in store for those who love Him.” (I Corinthians 2.9) “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”-
“Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home (tabernacle) with them.” (John 14.23)
“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you…” (John 15.7)
Not “either/or”- it’s both!.. the Tanakh (Old Testament) and B’rit Hadashah (New Testament). -It’s all good!
His words start in Genesis 1:1 – because His words are eternal- they never end!
Skip….although my life allows little time to this community for blogging….I am very much a part of it in Spirit…I love reading and studying with you and the community. I am hopeful to what God will reveal to me in 2010! All my love in Christ Jesus, Kelly