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Glory to God

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The Birth announcement Revisited The Holy Scriptures in the original languages were written with no punctuation. The interpreters added it later (beginning in the 3rd century?) to make the text more readable. Even among editors and scholars, there is disagreement on where to place punctuation marks. So imagine this verse without punctuation: Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace good will toward men. Luke 2:14 KJV And lets say we are the interpreters. And we remember the scripture that says the Christ child shall be called Emmanuel (God with us). Behold, a virgin shall be with child. . . .

Dad’s birthday

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My father was born on June 11, 1925. He passed away in July of 2000. I miss him more now than ever. As I delve into deeper theology and go behind him studying the same things that he studied, I long to talk to him, ask him questions, sit as his feet learning about the Kingdom of God. When Dad’s health first began to decline, I wrote a poetic essay about him. I think it must have been around 1990. I was in my early 30s at the time. So here is a glimpse into our history. The angels whispered Well-meaning family members suggest we, my husband and I, get out from under the burden of caring. . . .

Keep the Way Clear!

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My dad was a music lover. He especially loved Classical music, and especially Mozart.  Dad was also an audiophile. He had the best hi-fidelity stereo of his day.  The speakers, which he built himself, were huge, taking up much space in our living room. Tragically, Dad became completely deaf in his early 60s.  I asked him if he missed listening to his music. His reply surprised me.  He said, “No.  That is just one less thing I have to worry about.” You see, by that time, Dad was content.  He spent his days studying the Bible and writing.  His worldly. . . .

TILL I MAKE THINE ENEMIES THY FOOTSTOOL

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(FOOTSTOOL: Another Word Not Used Consistently By Bible Commentators) The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Psalm 11:1 (Incidentally, that verse is quoted seven times in the New Testament. As I’ve mentioned in my earlier posts, the fact that it is quoted frequently in the NT should get our attention). I have heard this verse explained to mean that Jesus will conquer his enemy and place his foot on the neck of the defeated, as was the custom of conquerors in ancient times, in order to show complete subjection of the enemy. Here is. . . .

EXAMPLES OF WORD MEANINGS REMAINING CONSISTANT

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& THE DANGER IN RELYING ON COMMENTARIES We are continuing our discussion on HOW to study the Bible.  I mentioned in my previous post regarding Bible translations and Bible study tools, that one principle to follow is that words keep the same definition throughout the Bible. Let’s take, for example, the word “leaven”. Matthew, Mark and Luke record Jesus telling his disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, Sadducees and Herod.  The disciples reasoned amongst themselves thinking that Jesus meant actual bread.  Jesus rebuked them for their lack of understanding and. . . .

Bible Translations & Why They Matter

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(And other study tools) Caveat: It occurred to me as I was writing this post that there are countless devout Christians who read paraphrased interpretations of the Bible, for example The New Living Translation. The information I am providing is in no way meant to offend those precious saints. My faith is such that God preserves His truth in spite of man’s feeble attempts to translate and paraphrase. If you want the truth, God will see to it that you get the truth. Since I discussed in my previous post Bible Study versus Devotionals, it seems pertinent to discuss Bible translations and. . . .

SAME ENEMY AT WORK; SAME POWERFUL NAME

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When I decided to write the essay on Matthew 28:19 and Parallelism, it was with confidence, energy and resolve.  I jumped up from the couch, stood tall and with pep in my step walked downstairs to my computer.  As I pulled up my office chair and placed my hands on the keyboard suddenly there appeared wasps swarming on the inside of the windows just in front of my computer.  There were 10 to 15 wasps buzzing, hitting the window and then flying overhead.  How eerie. Then the thought hit me:  I am getting ready to write about the authority and power of the name of Jesus. . . .

BIBLE STUDY VERSUS DEVOTIONALS

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Some years ago, I was innocently telling my pastor that I thought my “gift” or talent, if you will, (as in gifts to use in the body of Christ) was the ability to write, especially on Biblical topics.  He said, “Oh, you want to write devotionals?”  I think I stuttered a bit, trying to figure out how to explain to him what I meant, but the conversation turned quickly and I was left crestfallen.  It was as if, because I was not in a position of authority, and because I am a woman, that my gift was reduced to just writing devotionals.  What I wanted to tell this pastor. . . .

BETRAYED BY BEAUTY

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There is a spoken line in the Paramount Plus streaming series “1883” where Elsa says, “No matter how much we love it, the land will never love us back.”  I felt that . . . to the core.  In fact, it stirred up emotions that I’ve experienced most of my life.  C.S. Lewis expressed it in his essay, “The Weight of Glory”.  He said it this way: For a few minutes we have had the illusion of belonging to that world. Now we wake to find that it is no such thing. We have been mere spectators. Beauty has smiled, but not to welcome us; her face was turned in our direction, but not to. . . .

Matthew 28:19 & Parallelism

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And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Mat. 28:18,19) The method and/or formula for water baptism is a centuries old debate.  I do not expect to end that debate.  What I do have to offer is an angle that I have NEVER heard taught nor found in my internet searches. Once you see it, you’ll wonder why such a simple concept has not been brought to light. (And it won’t even be necessary to use the argument that perhaps. . . .

Jill Jordan

It was at the last hour, so to speak, while building the website to feature my father’s writing, that I decided to add my own blog. Yes, occasionally I get an insight into the scriptures that is worthy to mention. From Dad I learned a style of bible study that uses the entire bible, linking like phrases together, even if they don’t immediately appear to go together. (Thus the importance of a good chain reference feature). The results are quite rewarding. As St. Augustine is credited as saying: The new [Testament] is in the old concealed; the old [Testament] is in the new revealed.
To further expand on that thought, Dad was a firm believer that the bible does not ask a question that it does not answer somewhere else in the scriptures and that symbols and definitions hold true throughout the entire Bible. These ideas have greatly enhanced my understanding of the bible and theology.

Having said all that, I’ll say this: I hope I can do C. Leo Jordan proud.

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