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Bible reading for September 20 -- 21 Sep 20 -- Ezekiel 23 and Psalms 70-71 Sep 21 -- Ezekiel 24 and Psalm 72 ================   "I am the LORD. I have spoken; it shall come to pass; I will do it. I will not go back; I will not spare; I will not relent; according to your ways and your deeds you will be judged, declares the Lord GOD." (Ezekiel 24:14)   This week, due to time constraints, I am referring you to the NET Bible notes on Ezekiel by Tom Constable, one of my former professors. My posts on the Psalms readings will be taken from last year's posts. ================    "So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come." (Psalm 71:18) AGES AND STAGES (Ps 70-71). Many of the psalms in books I and II are tied to stages and events in David's life, as noted often in the superscription. Psalm 70 is a short lament, and Psalm 71 recognizes God's work in David'...

Bible reading for weekend April 23 -- 25 NOTICE: Google will no longer be supporting the Feedburner email service which has been a part of this website. This service will soon be phased out. So, if you receive this newsletter by email directly from the myburg website, you will need to subscribe to the newsletter via this service . If you are using an RSS aggegator, like Feedly, no change is necessary. Thanks for reading! Apr 23 -- Ecclesiastes 10 and Titus 2 Apr 24 -- Ecclesiastes 11 and Titus 3 Apr 25 -- Ecclesiastes 12 and Philemon  ================    "The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd." (Ecclesiastes 12:11)  WISDOM WRAP-UP (ch 10-11). The book winds down with a collection of proverbs relating to authority (dealing with rulers), work, and speech. When we read of kings and other rulers in the Bible we should think about the one truly good King to come (whom Solomon calls "th...

Bible reading for May 18.  Numbers 27. "Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the LORD may not be as sheep that have no shepherd." (Num 27:16-17) CHAPTER 27. The Lord makes provision for the daughters of Zelophehad (and others) to inherit land when there were no male heirs.  This shows God's care for women (and mothers and widows ) under the law.  In the new covenant men and women alike inherit eternal life and the blessing of the Holy Spirit in this life (Joel 2:28-29; Gal 3:28).  Moses views the promised land from Mount Abarim and appoints Joshua as his successor. To have a "shepherd" was to have a leader to lead, guide, protect, and care for you (Ps 23; John 10:10-16).  God's people always have need for such leadership (John 21:15-17; Acts 20:28; 1 Pet 5:1-4). DO YOU THANK G...

60. Fiddler Jones [ an epitaph ] THE EARTH keeps some vibration going  There in your heart, and that is you.  And if the people find you can fiddle,  Why, fiddle you must, for all your life.  What do you see, a harvest of clover?  Or a meadow to walk through to the river?  The wind’s in the corn; you rub your hands  For beeves hereafter ready for market;  Or else you hear the rustle of skirts  Like the girls when dancing at Little Grove.  To Cooney Potter a pillar of dust  Or whirling leaves meant ruinous drouth;  They looked to me like Red-Head Sammy  Stepping it off, to “Toor-a-Loor.”  How could I till my forty acres Not to speak of getting more,  With a medley of horns, bassoons and piccolos  Stirred in my brain by crows and robins  And the creak of a wind-mill­only these?  And I never started to plow in my life That some one did not stop in the road  And take me away...

Here are five more benefits, randomly selected, of growing older... 8)  Health is not something you take for granted anymore .  Once you did anything you wanted, and didn't even think about asking your body about it.  Now, you're not only aware of your body, you have to ask permission of the various parts to get going in the morning.  But still you're thankful to be moving about.  As they say, it's better to be seen than viewed.  9)  You realize that technology in media, while very helpful, is greatly over-rated in truly enhancing life.  Smart phones don't make you smart, they just give you access to things that could make you smart if you looked at them longer than 4 seconds.  10)  You realize you need less stuff and wonder why you kept so much of what you now have.  Except books.  You don't regret having good books.  The advantage to youth is that you have more energy to get rid of stuff quicker.   ...

As a baby boomer, I'm discovering that aging brings its share of problems.  But there are some benefits to growing older.  Here are seven I came up with this week.  I'm posting them now before I forget them... 1)  Simple pleasures take on more meaning .  You think, why do extreme sports when you can take a walk with your dog?  Why jump out of a plane when you can have a freshly brewed cup of coffee?  2)  The allure of popular culture diminishes -- and this is most liberating.  You actually don't care that you don't know the names of cultural icons, and you don't care that younger people are shocked that you don't know that stuff.  You begin to care about different things.  3)  You know where the potholes are in the road of life -- and can help younger people not make the mistakes you made.  If they would listen.  And the blessing is, many of them do.   4)  You have a legitimate reason to take ...

Continuing with the list of twelve best books I read this past year...   The Everlasting Man , G. K. Chesterton (1925).   I studied this work with a reading group I attend.  In his unique way of thinking and writing,  Chesterton deals with how Christianity, and Jesus in particular, is the fulfillment of the religious hopes of philosophers and pagans down through  history.  It's a very winsome presentation of historic Christianity.  This book was instrumental in moving C. S. Lewis from atheism to faith.  Lewis  wrote, "I read Chesterton's Everlasting Man and for the first time saw the whole Christian outline of history set out in a form that seemed to me to  make sense..."   Enough said.  The Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-42 , by Ian Toll (W. W. Norton & Co., 2012).  And I'll add to this the second of his trilogy,  The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942-44 ...

A Prayer of Moses, the man of God. "Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were  brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God." (Psalm 90:1-2  ESV) This Psalm is ascribed to Moses, and may have been written in context of the forty-year wandering of Israel in the wilderness. (Numbers 15-20)  In verses 1 through 11 Moses considers the eternal nature of God and the brevity of human life. (90:1-11)   Here are six petitions that Moses made in light of the brevity of life before the eternal God.  These are also six things I can pray as I am growing older... Wisdom. (90:12) "So teach us to number our days..."  Pray that the Lord would enable us to know the value of our remaining  time on earth, and that we would plan well to make the best use of it (Eph. 5:16). Mercy. (90:13) "Have pity on your servants..." Pray that we would continue to rely...

A few quotes on the lighter side of growing older ... "When your friends begin to flatter you on how young you look, it's a sure sign you're getting old."  (Mark Twain) "Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen."  (Mark Twain) "The trick is growing up without growing old."  (Casey Stengel) "In youth we run into difficulties. In old age difficulties run into us." (Beverly Sills)  "You can only be young once. But you can always be immature.” (Dave Barry) "Your hand and your mouth agreed many years ago that, as far as chocolate is concerned, there is no need to involve your brain.”  (Dave Barry) “It is a scientific fact that your body will not absorb cholesterol if you take it from someone else's plate.”   (Dave Barry) "The simple truth is that balding African-American men look cool when they shave t...