A while ago there was a show your office or desk meme. I thought I would resurrect it because of the new players on the scene and because for some strange reason I thought I would like to show mine.

I won’t nominate anyone because some might not want to show their space for various reasons but please participate on your blog if you’d like.

I have “office” in quotes because I can’t really use my real office anymore because of a very bad back and low energy. It’s disappointing because I have a very nice L shaped desk with two 19 inch monitors and nice pictures on my wall. But I just can’t sit in a chair for long. I do so now only when I need the two monitors.

I’m even limited on the recliner to about two hours so most time is spent lying down. But I have a lot of things available to me and even though we don’t make a lot of money I’m very blessed to have a perfect little house for my wife and I, a really nice living room, a laptop computer and books, as small as the collection is.

1 Timothy 6:17
Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment.

Below is the picture which you can click on to see a larger one without the numbers. Below the picture you’ll see what each number represents.

1. Primary Bible–HCSB Illustrated
2. Secondary Bible–NLT Mosaic
3. Under the coffee table–NASB; TNIV; NRSV; REB; GNB; Mounce/Mounce Interlinear (NASB/NIV) only used for reference, not reading or learning Greek, notebook, written out prayers, MP3 player
4. Lip balm, remote, pencil, highlighters, remote for lamp (out of view) and little fan (see photo below), water, glasses case–always in that order because I’m strange that way and I can reach for them without looking
5. Laptop which I sometimes have open when reading a commentary or something with a lot of Scripture references so that I have Bibleworks and E-sword or The Word available and dictionaries and other stuff. I don’t always have this open though and it’s awkward using it one-left handed.
6. Lounge Doctor leg pad for helping with the back–worth every penny
7. Bookshelf which used to be in my office. Top shelf is favorite books–God, Christ, Jesus, suffering and prayer. Next two are reference, mostly commentaries. Next is books about Calvin and Calvinism, Yancey, devotionals, various other authors and some I don’t like but want to keep. Bottom shelf is empty. That’s about all my books! To help out a poor invalid please buy your Amazon stuff using the search box in the right column.
8. Eddie, who is usually on my chest
9. Black’s Greek grammar–I keep this handy to work on vocabulary throughout the day

I use my cooling pad backwards and it works pretty well for using the computer. The Vornado Zippi Desk Fan I got from woot.com for $13 (red, lower right) helps keep me cool in the summer with the heat from the computer.

That’s mine. How about yours?

Today I informed Westminster Bookstore by email that a link on their site (PDF file) was incorrect and they fixed it within an hour and a half and wrote back to me to thank me and tell me that it was fixed.

In cosmic brush strokes of glowing hydrogen gas, this beautiful skyscape unfolds across the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy and the center of the northern constellation Cygnus the Swan.

I have the Astronomy Picture of the Day in my RSS reader. The photos are amazing. I often forget how large the universe really is, not that we can comprehend it. I like the description of this picture. I often see photos or flowers or other things in nature that look like God’s brush strokes.

I’m always amazed at how many stars are in these pictures. Click on the photo above to see a larger one and see a longer description. This doesn’t work in Firefox for me. I need to use Internet Explorer.

Genesis 15:5
Then the LORD took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!”

RSS Feed URL

Broadman & Holman has a nice video on the HCSB Study Bible you can see at Between Two Worlds.

James 1:5-7
If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. 6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. 7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

When making decisions, we should pray for wisdom. What form does this wisdom come in? Obviously God doesn’t answer all our questions or make all our decisions for us.

Whatever form God gives to us, we should expect to always receive it. I take this to be literal and not like a parable.

What do you say?

The Mosaic blog is now active. You can find it here:
http://www.holybiblemosaic.com/blog
RSS Feed

More Christian Haikus after the first ones. Each three lines are a separate poem but some are related.

God is love
God of wrath
God is good

God of war
God of peace
God is good

Jesus has not
light brown hair, porcelain skin
and slightly English accent

Jesus is
image of invisible God (Col 1:15)
not in a painting

If they go to church
they are Christian
odds are not

The Bible
a letter from God!
read any time

God is sovereign
people are responsible
accept paradox with faith

Esteban encouraged me to read and study Greek for the Rest of Us because I like to read commentaries and it would help me learn some thing about Greek that might help me to better understand what they’re talking about in NT commentaries. I learned more about why translations are different and a bit about exegesis than about Greek partly because the book wasn’t organized in a way that was easy for me to learn from.

So I decided to actually learn some Greek and started with Croy’s grammar. After getting almost a third of the way through I got a review copy of Black’s grammar and decided to switch to that. I’m a third of the way through that now.

At this point now I can finally better understand what they’re talking about in commentaries when they comment on the Greek. I even know quite a bit of the vocabulary. Even though I only plan on going through beginning level I won’t stop here because I’d like to be able to read some Greek at a beginning level.

So, I’m encouraged that it has helped me a bit with my original intention. I hope to be able to use a Reader’s Greek NT by later next year. I don’t know if a beginning level will help with exegesis or not. What do you think?

If you want to spend part of an evening, or when you’re in a recovery room or whatever, reading something in the Old Testament that’s complete, what do you like other than something from Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs or the end of Job?

Haiku is a minimalist form of poetry. There aren’t many rules or definite styles. Read more here if you’d like:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiku
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiku_in_English

The rules of the meme are to make up some three line Christian Haiku poems. Then nominate as many people as you’d like.

My favorite is where there is some sort of paradox, or opposites, or a surprise on the third line. Some bad grammar may help it sound more authentic.

Here are my Haikus. They aren’t very good but at least they’re relatively easy.

Evil farmers kill owner’s son
Pharisees say, farmers bad
Pharisees realize, farmers are us!

We can do everything through God, yay!
What is everything?
Contentment when poor

This world is upside down
Kingdom of heaven is rightside up
Let renewed mind think up more

Suffering suffering more and more
Oh my God
I can’t get enough of you

Complementarianism the new apartheid?
The Kingdom of God is a democracy
They reasoned

The Bible is my creed
Just me and my Bible
May be right, may be wrong

Humiliated on a cross
Victorious
Makes spectacle of evil ones

Bible book paper ink
living active sharp sword
unlimited edition

Study Bible
all your life
tip of iceberg

I write Haiku
you don’t like
I hear violins

Theologer has a Haiku here. I would like to nominate him, Peter Lopez and Bitsy. I don’t want to saddle too many people with this but please nominate as many as you want and for anyone who isn’t nominated, please feel free to participate. I would love to read all of yours.

I may come up with more in the future.

New Epistles Contest: enter here to win a copy of Holy Bible: Mosaic (NLT)

I already won one so I’m just letting you know about it.

When a very stressful or traumatic event comes along or when you’re wiped out for whatever reason it can be difficult to even have the strength to pray when that’s what you need to do the most. God knows our weakness and can be our strength for us as mentioned in Psalm 73:26 (NRSV): “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

Here are some steps I believe God led me through during one of these times.

• Just “be” in God’s presence as a first step. You may not feel God’s presence–just acknowledge that He’s there, that you’re going to Him and that He knows you and your situation.
  Isaiah 30:15b (NRSV) “in quietness and in trust shall be your strength. But you refused”
  We won’t refuse.
• Pray a written out prayer that you know is God’s will. This way you don’t have to try to come up with words yet. I have Puritan prayers and other prayers formatted and printed in a binder for these occasions or when I just want a change. Also see the Prayer category here.
• Talk to God about what’s going on as opposed to what you would do in your regular devotional/prayer time. Sometimes you can just talk to yourself in front of God. Psalm 62:8 (NRSV) says in part to “pour out your heart before Him” which may or may not be an accurate interpretation but you get the idea.
• Spend a short amount of time reading the Bible like one Psalm.
  Psalm 119:28 (NRSV) “My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word.” I’ve grown to like Psalm 139 for this. This shows how well God knows us, how all our days were written in God’s book and planned, how He knew how our bodies might fail or react to certain situations etc.

My thinking is not necessarily to do all of these things at once, but progressively as you have the energy and get your wits about you.

I believe it’s good to have various “action plans” like this for when difficult times come up, especially for those of us who are predisposed to have “episodes” because of mental health problems or maybe for people who are in other various difficult situations.

Although we can never easily handle extremely trying situations, it’s good to prepare ourselves as best we can. Praying and growing in trust in God’s character through studying the Bible are the best things we can do. My favorite prayer in this regard is Colossians 1:11-12 (NRSV):

May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.

“But what kept me going more than anything else was my confidence in the character of God.”

–Ravi Zacharias quoting Charles Cooper in Cries of the Heart

We absolutely must read and study the Bible in order to know God’s character and trust that He is who He says He is.

Related post for when you’re ready to pray:
How Should We Pray When We Suffer? at Resurgence

My Redeemer Is Faithful And True
by Steven Curtis Chapman

As I look back on the road I’ve traveled,
I see so many times He carried me through;
And if there’s one thing that I’ve learned in my life,
My Redeemer is faithful and true.
My Redeemer is faithful and true.

CHORUS
My Redeemer is faithful and true.
Everything He has said He will do,
And every morning His mercies are new.
My Redeemer is faithful and true.

My heart rejoices when I read the promise
‘There is a place I am preparing for you.’
I know someday I’ll see my Lord face to face,
‘Cause my Redeemer is faithful and true.
My Redeemer is faithful and true.

And in every situation He has proved His love to me;
When I lack the understanding, He gives more grace to me.

Help Mike Aubrey out by participating in his Poll on Translation & Hermeneutics.

Also be sure to read below the Poll link where he asks for thoughts on this question.

2 Kings 6:17 HCSB
Then Elisha prayed, “LORD, please open his eyes and let him see.” So the LORD opened the servant’s eyes. He looked and saw that the mountain was covered with horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

Ephesians 6:11-12 HCSB
Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil. 12 For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.

I memorized the former verse to remind myself that there is a spiritual realm that we can’t see. I often forget about the spiritual battle we’re in. I think I’m fighting just OK by submitting (humbling myself) to God (James 4:7), but more awareness would be helpful.

God is good. But until we understand the truth that He is not safe (as Lewis emphasizes), that He is not under our control, until we come to grips with the truth of His uncompromising holiness, we will never begin to grasp His amazing grace. ‘Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them.’ Ecclesiastes 8:13

–Randy Alcorn via Facebook

I love this. We will never understand God until we come to Him face to face but for now so many of us limit our understanding even more by only thinking of Him as love. God is love (1 John 4:8) but He is a lot more. And we can’t tame Him.

Romans 11:33-36
33 Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!

34 For who can know the LORD’s thoughts?
Who knows enough to give him advice?
35 And who has given him so much
that he needs to pay it back?

36 For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen.

This may offend some people but I cringe when I hear that the Bible is our owner’s manual for life. I believe the Bible is infinitely more than an owner’s manual. Let me give you some reasons why:

• It’s written by our Creator and helps us to know Him and become more like Him. “Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.” (Col. 3:10)
• It speaks to us personally and shows us things about ourself. “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.” (Heb. 4:12)
• Although the Bible does have rules and instructions like an owner’s manual does, these instructions are perfect and can affect our countenance. “The commandments of the LORD are right, bringing joy to the heart.” (Ps. 19:8)
• The instructions can not only show us how to live, but they go beyond that, making us wise. “The decrees of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.” (Ps. 19:7)
• They lead us to Christ and to salvation. “You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:15)

Anything else?

Do not forget that the Bible is not for our information but for our transformation.

–David Garland, Interview at BROADCAST DEPTH Blog

After reading Esteban’s post I thought I should mention that I’m an Amazon Associate. This means that if you use the search box in the right column or click on most of the links to book on this site, there is code within the link so that Amazon knows that you came from this site. Then when someone buys a book I get a very small commission. There is no change in the price of the books bought this way.

As mentioned before, one way to help us bloggers out is to buy books by clicking on a book link or using the search box or buying through a person’s virtual store if they have one. Wherever you go from there throughout the site, Amazon will remember you. This doesn’t mean that Amazon tracks your every move that you make from then on, just for that visit to their site. If you see any black helicopters or people looking in your windows at night, I can assure you they’re not people from Amazon.

So that’s my disclosure and a reminder that when you buy your books from Amazon, please do it through your favorite blogger to help them support their habit site.

I just found out that you can find out what the top posts are for your blog for different periods. Here are this blog’s top ten posts of all time:

1. Jeremiah 29:11
2. NLT Study Bible Reviews Roundup
3. Scripture of the Day
4. Five Bible Verses You Would Pray in the Morning
5. ESV Study Bible Reviews Roundup
6. Psalm 23 …your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
7. Mark Driscoll’s “New Calvinism”
8. Bible Commentary Lists and Reviews (Updated)
9. HCSB Bible Translation Web Sites
10. What Is Revival?

You can see Jeremiah 29:11 is very important to a lot of people. It’s nice to know that people are interested in Bibles. Scripture of the Day is popular because a lot of people search for that and this blog comes up high in Google for that phrase. What Is Revival was in response to the Todd Bentley shenanigans although I don’t think people got that’s why I posted it.

I was going to do a pictorial review as I mentioned in my last post. I forgot that I was going to mention some things about the Holy Bible: Mosaic NLT.

The cover is beautiful as you can see from the photos without the cardboard cover. Really beautiful. I like the Apostles Creed on the back all by itself. How did they get away with no bar code?

The choice of artwork included with each weekly devotional is spectacular. There is a very wide variety from various times and cultures.

The Bible portion is a reference Bible with cross references in the center column. I prefer single column text with the references at one side or the other. This breaks up the already narrow text columns. But I know this still saves on the amount of paper because of extra space in poetic sections.

The font size is a little smaller than I expected but very readable with my reading glasses. This makes the Bible a size so that you can easily carry it with you and isn’t as big and heavy as their study Bible.

I need a hardcover Bible for reading because I read lying down because of a bad back. We have the larger leather slimline which is a little floppy for me. This is now my wife’s main reading Bible. The Mosaic is now my main NLT reading Bible and I plan on going through the devotions next year. The NLT Study Bible is regularly used for reference and I will be using my 24/7 Chronological Bible which has a daily reading plan for reading through the OT next year.

Friends think I’m crazy for having all these Bibles in all these different translations but my wife and I use all of them and I’m very thankful to have them.