my burg

Bible reading for July 14.  Joshua 22 "The people of Reuben and the people of Gad called the altar Witness, 'For,' they said, 'it is a witness between us that the LORD is God.'" (Joshua 22:34) A MISUNDERSTANDING. As two-and-a-half tribes recross the Jordan to their inheritance on the east side, they build a large altar to the Lord at their border. Since the Lord had declared that there would be only one legitimate sacrificial site (first Shiloh, later Jerusalem), the tribes on the western side take this as a kind of declaration of independence. The centrality and unity of worship was important to the nation. It almost caused a civil war. Things are explained -- communication is good! -- and the altar becomes a monument that the Jordan River would not divide the nation and that they were all committed to the same God of Israel, the only true and living God.  One lesson: when we feel offended, we should always talk first and ask about intentions befor...

Sunday's message was on James 3:1-12. What a great effect can come from such a small thing as the words of human speech. From eternity God is a communicating God, and he speaks creation into existence. Cross-references mentioned are as follows: And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. (Genesis 1:3) "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits." (Proverbs 18:21) "The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught." (Isaiah 50:4) "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound..." (Isaiah 61:1) "For out of the abundance of the heart...

Not sure where I got this, but it aptly portrays the process from exegesis to exposition.