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107 posts latest post 2026-09-30
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Sep 2026 | 5 posts
Advent 2024 - Peace

Advent 2024 - Peace

Scripture # Luke 2:14 (ESV): 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” Edification # There is a word we probably know - Shalom. It’s the Hebrew word we translate often as “peace”. But when I hear “peace” I often think about being calm - and that oversimplifies Shalom… I think a more appropriate understanding is “things are as they are supposed to be”. In the Garden, we see Shalom - the Lord partnering with humanity to steward the earth, to make things as they were supposed to be… You all know we messed that up, Shalom was broken and humanity was exiled. But we have a Great Healer. Jesus is Lord of all, King of Heaven and Earth, Ruler of your lives and mine, and he is the Prince of Peace Things in our lives are probably not often as they are supposed to be… We get sick, worry about bills, experience tragedy, and weather the storms of life. But there is hope - confident expectation - that peace already has been, and will continue to be, res…

How To Survive The Flood

There a lot of flood stories throughout the history of the world, and the Bible is no different in this regard. God warns Noah of a de-creation event, whereby he’ll start over with humanity via Noah and his family. Noah survives the flood by abiding in Yahweh and staying close to the One who loves him. Note this reflection doesn’t address AT ALL if the flood narrative is a “real” historical event, whether it’s a global or local event, or anything like that - regardless of those points the Biblical authors used this type of imagery of chaos waters to communicate themes of judgement and wrath. Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount with the 2 houses, calls back to the images of the chaos waters (the winds and the rains). His instruction is that the wise man who built his house on the rock will survive, but the foolish man builds his house on the sand and the winds and the rains destroyed it. Somewhat obviously this is metaphorical for basing your life on wisdom or folly. The wisdom is Jesus’…

The Two Houses

The Two Houses Context # Reflection # From the visual commentary Tim calls out a few things: is supposed to first call us back to earlier in the sermon when Jesus calls his people “the light of the world” and says “a city on a hill [mountain] cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14). The hill [ὄρος | oros] means “mountain” and is a hyperlink to OT teaching of God’s people living in the ideal Jerusalem on Mt. Zion. Lots of Hebrew imagery here. The rain and floods are a callback to the Chaos Waters of the OT (and general ANE thinking). It’s a reference to the destructive nature that we humans have unleashed on the world - but the wise man who listens to Jesus lives a life with some amount of protection from those hardships - and ultimate protection from God handing us over to Chaos (destruction).

BP - The Golden Rule

Matthew 7:12 What do I desire that people “do to [me]”? # Help if I need it - I want to live in a world where humans are helpful Listen to me and understand what I say Leave me alone sometimes What is the Torah and Prophets? # I know there’s a lot more to where the texts come from and the varying traditions in Judaism. But I think at a very high level, Jesus is saying that we all know, deep down, how to live in harmony but that it requires sacrifice. He calls us to live sacrificially towards each other, to live in Heaven today, so we can experience the coming reality if our own resurrection

Reflection - Wisdom in Relationships 2

Passage # Reflection # James builds on this with. James is arming us with some specifics from the Sermon on the Mount. We aren’t just to ask for anything that we think is good… wisdom is the good we are to ask for. Tim: Prayer is important because wisdom will flow out of a deep interpersonal relationship with God. Where has God given me wisdom? # Marriage/relationships as Kassia and I have navigated many things (job changes, moving for family, family falling through, unhealthy parent relationships, church hunts, and our own self-development and discovery) He’s given me a lot of professional wisdom - potentially through AuDHD and the exposure he’s brought me through. Through Mark Forstrom, Andrew, Nick Z, etc. I was filled with wisdom on how to be a man in the life of a boy - how to talk with someone immature, let them be and feel heard, but also on how to challenge them to grow (up).

On Earth as It Is in Heaven

On Earth as It Is in Heaven Video Sermon on the Mount # 3 chapters filled with phrases that are very well-known in our culture Phrases # Love your neighbor as yourself Do to others what you would have them do to you You are the salt of the earth You can’t serve both God and money Take the plank out of your eye before you take the speck out of another’s If anyone strikes you on the cheek, turn and offer him the other cheek Love your enemy and bless those who persecute you If your hand causes you to sin, cut it… off References # Mark 12:31 Matthew 7:12 Matthew 5:13 Matthew 6:24 Matthew 7:5 Matthew 5:39 Matthew 5:44 Matthew 5:30 Meditation # Sermon on the mount is chiastic 3 main parts to the Sermon on the Mount The middle part has 3 parts Each of those parts has 3 parts Climax # The center of the chiasm is a famous prayer “Our Father in Heaven, may your name be treated as holy. May your Kingdom come. May your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.”9 Matthew 6:9-10 Jewishness # God’s k…

Chaos Dragon

Dragons are metaphorical images in the Bible Goliath -> armor descriptions Leviathan Dragon slayers can be enticed to become dragons themselves Jesus is the great dragon slayer, who doesn’t give in to the inticing power of the dragon calming the sea conquering sickness in others tempter in the wilderness Jesus’ victory came through the surrender of his life - which brings him deep into the dragon’s realm, to deliver the ultimate blow Reflect In the Bible, why is it challenging for humans to slay the dragon? What risks are involved? The dragon’s power is enticing… back to Genesis 3, humans are easy to persuade to do things for personal gain It’s challenging also becauset the dragon is powerful, and humans are not (without its power or the power of Jesus) so if we stand against it without the Lord, what hope do we have of victory? What are some of the ways that Jesus confronted the “dragon” in his ministry? calming the sea conquering sickness in others tempter in the wilderness How does…

olivet-mens-group-james-2023

James 2023 study of the book of James BP # The Guy # Greek: Iakobos (Jacob in English) Jacob is one of Jesus’ half-brothers who became a leader of the Jerusalem church post-resurrection The book of James is the legacy of this Jacob’s wisdom which was heavily influenced by two things: Sermon on the Mount / Matthew 5-7 Proverbs - expecially chapters 1-9 Summary # These are short challenging wisdom speeches full of metaphors and one-liners… Live in a wise way, submitting to Jesus Chapters 2-5 teach about wholehearted devotion to Jesus - there are 12 teachings total Other 4 are in the poster about James on BP Chapter 1 the introduction 2-4: life’s trials produce endurance and can make us perfect and complete perect is repeated 7 times in the book - it refers to “wholeness” and integrity. We are all fractrued and inconsistent people perfect: Hebrew: Tamim, Greek: Teleios 5-8: God gives wisdom to those who ask in faith 9-11: povety can force us tot rust on God alone; wealth will pass away 12…

Hebrew Bible Full Class

Class link Classroom notes (Must be on home network) 01 The Shape of the Hebrew Bible Session 1: What on Earth is the Hebrew Bible? # This class is not so much a survey of the HB, it is Tim’s attempt to distil the most helpful things for understanding it in a consumable way for laypeople. A chunk of this is the other people giving some of their own background. One lady said something that might be helpful for ministry - “Maybe that thing that I saw as ‘you don’t love me’ is ‘I don’t know how to love you’” how to love Maybe that thing that I saw as ‘you don’t love me’ is ‘I don’t know how to love you’ Christian coping strategy for the Olt Testament Hero-example model Stories get isolated and distilled down into a simple moral model, where the hero is just the hero. Veggie-Tales is uber-guilty of this nonsense There’s something correct about this - but the oversimplification usually comes out of a massive re-writting of the stories, then anyone raised on those versions of the story is sc…