Friday, March 10, 2006

Good Morning

 

Hello from Atlanta.  Busy travel week.

 

I actually forgot my Barclay book this trip, so short and sweet this week. 

 

Note that we will finish volume one next week.  Volume two is available -- many of you have already picked it up, but it you haven't, try to pick up one up this weekend at church, or from the church office during the week.

 

Today's Reading:  Revelation 5:6 ; read "The Lamb" section only 

 

-- just about through with Volume 1 of Barclay

 

-- the thing we are starting to get into is that the images are getting more fantastical and strange, and you begin to question again this idea of whether this is a vision that he saw that was symbolic, or if this is actually what we would see where we to see heaven.

 

-- what we see through John in this section (this verse and the ones following) is the adoration of Jesus by all creation, all heaven and earth, because of his obedience to God and his sacrifice.

Today's Scripture

Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all"

Mark  9:35

Today's prayer requests:    The three students arrested for the church fires -- Benjamin Nathan Moseley, Russell Lee DeBusk Jr. and Matthew Lee Cloyd,

I don't know them or know where they are from, and I can't really imagine what really motivated these guys to do what they did, other than just Satan getting into them.  But we need to pray for them, that they find their way, and for the churches, that they might find the way and means to forgive and rebuild. 

Today's class member prayer:

Carl McKinney 

Have a great day.

Jay

Thursday, March 9, 2006

Good Morning

 

Didn't realize this till this morning and I was searching for something on my computer, but we are beginning our third year of class emails this year round about now.  I don't have the exact date, but I did find one from early March 2004. The blog has been up about a year, and I think today's post will be number 200 on the blog.

 

I think we should be proud of these kinds of milestones, in that we have stuck with our program for so long and so faithfully.  To commit to a daily devotional time is tough, and I know that we all have had to shift and slide to catch up a lot of times, but we are all moving in the right direction.  I really appreciate the commitment that each and every one of you have made to the class, and for help and encouragement you have given to me.  The material that we have been covering has not been easy or fluffy -- we've done studies of Romans, of Luke, and our Methodist Spiritual Reader study, Narnia (well, maybe the Narnia study was a little fluffy) -- and when we finish our study of Revelation we will have covered four volumes of Barclay's Daily Study Bible, which is an accomplishment.

 

So great job, everyone.

 

Today's Reading:  Revelation 5:5; read pages 185-186 in Barclay; stop at "The Lamb"

 

-- short bit of reading for today.

 

-- the gist of today's reading is the idea that Jesus has triumphed, and because of his triumph he is able to open the scroll, he is able to know and reveal God's secrets.

 

-- Barclay makes the interesting point that the two titles given to Jesus in this section are really Jewish titles, titles that refer back to the Messianic prophecies -- the Lion of Judah, the root of David.  Just yet one more reminder about how interwoven we as Christians are with the Jewish faith.

 

-- the other point that is interesting is the one that Barclay makes about John's tears.  Sometimes, we are sorrowful because we don't know the whole story; we don't know the complete plan that God has.  This is the case with John here -- he weeps, but his weeping is not necessary -- God's plan makes the tears unnecessary. To me, that is a powerful way to deal with sorrow -- it may be one that is beyond our abilities to embrace much of the time, but it is one that is there for us when we need it.

Today's Scripture

Immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid"

Mark 6:50b

Today's prayer requests:   Dr. Page

Dr. Page is Ron and Brads' finance teacher at Auburn, who has lymphoma, and is not doing well.  We need to remember him as he struggles with the disease and the treatment.

Also, as Megan wrote yesterday, we need to remember her student Corey and his mother, as that struggle with his health issues.

Today's class member prayer:

Megan Douglas

Have a great day.

Jay

Corey Update

Hey everyone...

Corey was taken back to the hospital from school yesterday. He had another "spell". They have ruled out seizures, but still refuse to move his MRI up....saying that his case is not emergent. Please keep him in your prayers....and lift his mother up- as she is becoming very overwhelmed with all of this.

Thanks-

Megan

Wednesday, March 8, 2006

Good Morning

Good morning from Chattanooga.

Today's Reading:  Revelation 5:2-4; read pages 182-185 in Barclay; stop at "Lion of Judah and Root of David"

-- with Revelation, we are continually battling the idea of what is literal and what is "vision and poetry", using Barclay's words.  So here we are again - Barclay notes that in his commentary, that God hasn't literally written everything down in a book or scroll that is going to happen, but that is symbolic of the idea that God has control and knowledge of everything that is to happen.

-- Barclay in his commentary calls him a strong angel, but I prefer the mighty angel in the NIV version of the scripture.  I get such a sense of majesty from that praise, a mighty angel.

Today's Scripture

"Consider carefully what you hear," he continued. "With the measure you use, it will be measured to you- and even more.  Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him."

Mark 4:24-25

Today's prayer requests:   Saundra Aaron

This is Valerie's brother's mother-in-law, who is being treated for breast cancer.  Need to continue to remember her as she continues her treatment and her family.

Today's class member prayer:

Ron Ray

Have a great day.

Jay

Tuesday, March 7, 2006

Good Morning

Heading to Chattanooga this morning, so a quick read.

Just fyi, if you are still warming up to what to do for Lent, here is an article about spiritual practices for Lent:

http://www.upperroom.org/alivenow/2006/janfeb/misc.asp?week=1&itemid=270719&art_id=301824

Today's Reading: Revelation 5:1; read pages 180-182 in Barclay; stop at "God's Book of Destiny"

-- the only thing I'll note about today's reading is the first thing that Barclay says -- he says that John got the image of the scroll from something written from the book of Ezekiel -- as opposed to writing down what he saw.

-- the seven seals, to me, indicate something of great importance and secrecy.

Today's Scripture

At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

Mark 13:26-27

Today's prayer requests: Margaret Rose Severance

Brigette's grandmother, who has been battling complications from a fall last summer that resulted in a broken leg. She needs our prayers to help her recover more fully from the broken leg and the complications and the immobility that has resulted.

Today's class member prayer:

Joey Harbarger

Have a great day.

Jay

Monday, March 6, 2006

Good Morning

Today's Reading: Revelation 4:9-11; read pages 178 - 180 in Barclay; (two sections) stop at "The Roll in the Hand of God".

-- two quick things today.

-- it is interesting that my study Bible takes the approach about the living creatures that they represent/symbolize attributes of God, rather than nature, which is where Barclay ends up, since in this verse's commentary he says that the combination of the elders and the living creatures represents man and nature praising God.

-- I think that a special perspective on this verse is available to us, since we are used to, in movies at least, the idea of odd looking creatures having intelligence and the ability to speak. The description of these creatures speaking and praising God must have really been an oddity to earlier generations.

-- I think that this verse really gets to the question I had yesterday, about trying to get my arms around the idea of unending praise. How odd does that sound in our self-centeredness? But I thought of something to help with that idea. Think about Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan or some other amazing athlete. We have an attitude about that person's skills that persists -- you might regularly talk about how amazed you are at their talents, and there is constant talk and focus on those guys because of their skills. And that is just one tiny sliver of what we would be amazed about God's work in creating and sustaining the entire universe. So if human beings can be constantly obsessed with Tiger Wood's ability to hit a golf ball, how amazed should we/will we be about God?

Today's Scripture (from the Lent lectionary)

After John was put into prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!"

Mark 1:14-15

Today's prayer requests: Corey, Megan's student

Corey has been on our prayer list due to brain tumor that he was going to have tests on on March 21. His doctors at Children's Hospital are not willing or able to move his tests up, so it is a waiting game for everyone. Need to keep Corey, his mother, his classmates and Megan's classroom staff in our prayers will Corey is treated.

Today's class member prayer:

Jerri Wesson

Have a great day.

Jay