Greetings!
Peace, mercy, and grace be with you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The past couple of Monday Miscellanies have looked a little different because Sarah and I were able to spend time in Ireland, Scotland, and England. Our eldest is studying abroad in Scotland, and we felt it was important to come and visit her and experience the “old country.” Today’s Monday Miscellany photo, and some in the future, will feature experiences from this trip.
But we are glad to be back in Los Angeles and in the sunshine. We hope and pray all is well with all of you, and we appreciate your continued interest and support.
Sunday, March 24, 2024
The Voice 14.12: Deliverance From This Crooked Generation
Thus Peter exhorted in Acts 2:40; in some respect or another, the message remains the same for each generation. Above all things, our generation is disenchanted and disillusioned with Christianity. We do well to better exhort and apply God’s instruction in Christ through the Spirit.
Lesson: Judges | Books of the Bible
Outline | Podcast | Conversation
One would think Hollywood would have already jumped at the chance to write and produce Judges as a television series. It certainly has all kinds of lurid and provocative details in the stories. It’s definitely one of the R-rated books of the Bible.
Judges sits in tension. It presents a period of time defined by what preceded it and what would come after. It is so presented as to provide all the explanation needed for why Israel would favor a centralized authority under a king even if such meant rebellion against YHWH as King. It’s a book of warlords and ever deepening depravity because everyone does what is right in their own eyes.
While in Dublin, Sarah and I were able to visit the Chester Beatty and view some of the sacred texts on display. While they feature a very broad and ecumenical swath of material, it was hard not to focus on the famous Biblical papyri in their collection. This is a papyrus fragment of 𝔓46, an important third century textual witness to Paul’s letters. It was quite an experience to see such things.
Book Review
A not insignificant motivator for our trip, beyond seeing our lovely daughter, was to visit the “old country.” I’ve been active in genealogical research for over a decade now; as of current estimates, I’m about 21% Scottish and 18% of all kinds of everything else: Irish, English, German, and Swedish. Thus, a trip to Ireland, Scotland, and England is to visit the lands of my ancestors.
I was hoping Tracing Your Ancestors Using the UK Historical Timeline: A Guide for Family Historians (affiliate link; galley received as part of early review program) would provide some background or assistance in researching ancestry in the United Kingdom.
But it is as advertised: a timeline. Major socio-political events from the tenth century CE to the present are listed. The authors do point out when various forms of genealogical data begin to become available from various lists and whatnot.
A couple of things stood out to me regarding the timeline. First and foremost is how little information there would be about most people until only quite recently; not much data was kept on people, and almost nothing except for the landed gentry before 1500. Watching the population numbers go up in the late medieval period, crash with the Black Death, and only really recover in the late 17th/early 18th century, and then the population explosion until the present day was quite something.
If you are looking for a handy timeline of events, this may be of benefit to you.
Thanks again to all of you for your interest and support. We also appreciated the notes of interest and prayers throughout our trip.
May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirits.
Ethan