Coming to the Still Waters

The photos came back from the developer and some are going up on the wall and in our brag books.  I see that I need to keep at this if I am going to get better.  I am learning about the photographer's triangle between shutter speed, aperture, and iso.  Something that we have lost in this digital age.  It is like going back to pencil and paper after using a calculator for so long.  I am thankful for this resurgence in me because I think I need something to get me away from this screen.  --Adam--

Our devotional today is another in the series on how to find meaning in the Bible.    We will be back to Zechariah 4 on Wednesday. We have been raising some questions like,  “What is the meaning of the text?”  or  “What do we mean by the word “meaning?”    We also have been working with this definition. The meaning of a text is what the author intended to communicate by his words. We have two principles so far and we will add a third today.    The first priniciple is: The Bible assumes it.    The Bible corrects when error occurs because the readers are interpreting the text not as it was intended by the author.    The Bible sets things right and this is its practice to keep with the author’s intent communicated by the author’s words. The second principle is: The Golden Rule.    As a reader, do unto authors as you would have readers do unto you as an author.    Flip the roles and...

This one covers a big question in life:  "Does My Life Has Purpose?" or "Why Am I Here?"  I am going to take the 7 questions of the ExploreGod initiative coming to Chicago in January are create 7 broadcasts with those 7 questions.  We have more than a handful of young adults out in the mission field this week and the next so prayers for this young lives going out into the world and thanks.  --Adam--

Today’s devotional is the fourth night vision of Zechariah in chapter 3.    The first had a man among the myrtle trees.    The second introduced us to the four horns and four craftsmen.    The third had a man with a measuring line.    The fourth will be about the cleansing of the High Priest. v.1 - Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. We have a historical figure given to us in the night vision, Joshua who the right hand man of Moses and his successor.    Joshua is the one who led the people of Israel into the Promise Land after the Exodus from Egypt.    Now the exiled people of Israel are coming back to the Promise Land after being in Babylon.    Zerubbabel is the first of three that would identify with Joshua and his trek at leading the people of God to their homeland.    Joshua holds a spiritual position...

Here are a start of pictures from our week with the kids and grandkids.  This one will focus on just the grandkids. This is Adeline - Abraham and Laura's youngest. This is Anna, our oldest and her youngest, Evelyn. This is Joshua, the oldest of Phil and Anna. This is Andy, the middle child of Abraham and Laura. This is Evan, Abraham and Laura's firstborn and our first grandchild. This is Libby (Elisabeth), Jason and Samantha's firstborn. Lastly, here is Taylor who is Jason and Samantha's second child. All are precious is our sight as we love the little children in our lives.  Thank you for letting me show you some blessings God has brought into our lives.  --Adam--

Our devotional today is another in between chapter one.  It looks like we might be covering Zechariah a chapter at a time.  We will pick up on Zechariah chapter 3 on Friday.  We will continue with our series on  "the meaning of the text." Last time we introduced the question,  "What is the 'meaning' of the written text?"   Pastor John Piper gave us this definition:   The meaning of the text is what the author intended to communicate by his words. The meaning is not what I think it should be or what I feel it should be or what I imagine it to be.  The meaning of the text is what the author intended to communicate and last week we saw how even in the Bible people got it wrong and had to be corrected. The first point was that the Bible assumes it.  It corrects when the readers interpret wrongly.  It reinforces that the author is the determiner of the meaning and not the reader. The second point is the good old Gold...

Here is another installment of the readings of the day.  I have went back to recording them myself so I apologize for my mispronunciation of some of the names.  I have always been challenged by phonetics.  The last of our "away" children will leave this morning along with two more of the grandkids.  It has been a great week.  I am waiting for the photos to show up on the website so they will be coming soon.  I am hoping that I haven't really messed up on the film.  --Adam--

Today we are back in Zechariah with his third vision.  Zechariah chapter 2 says,... v.1 - Then I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a man with a measuring line in his hand. Look at that.  God has his angels using a tape measure.  It wouldn't have been like our retractable tapes or even the old flip stick tapes but probably an actual measured line of string that would have been stretched and then stretched again from the new point.   v.2 - So I said, "Where are you going?"  And he said to me, "To measure Jerusalem, to see how wide it is and how long it is." I do believe if you times the length by the width you get the area.  It could also be doubled to get the dimensions of the boundaries if the corresponding sides were equal.  This is sounding too much like a math problem and I would probably be waking up from this vision with a headache. v.3-5 - And behold, the angel who was speaking with me was going out, an...