Thanks for the Jordan Peterson info bsn, love this : Philippians 4: 4-9: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace…
Thanks for the Jordan Peterson info bsn, love this : Philippians 4: 4-9: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”
"I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back until they were destroyed. I crushed them so that they could not rise; they fell beneath my feet."
Initially I skimmed the Pslams. TL;DR--and, honestly I'm not well versed/educated (nor usually interested) in poetry. The Psalms turned me back into my 15 year old self. BORING!
Now, upon multiple times doing the Bible in a year--I see them much differently. They are songs of joy and sorrow. Pain. Fear. Regret. Love. Optimism. Gratitude. They are truly the spectrum of man's emotional and psychological response to the world. I think we can find a little bit of ourselves in all of the Psalms.
Thank you Dena. A few years ago I had decided to commit a few quotes and Bible verses to memory. As a kid in Awana, I never understood why we memorized Scripture, I was there for the athletic competition...
Now I understand that I can always have True North within me. I'm adding this to my list.
I wish I could say I followed through 100%, but I lost the laminated cards I kept with me--but this has inspired me to begin again.
My list:
"If" by Rudyard Kipling
"Invictus" by William Ernest Henley
"Man in Arena" by TR - actually only a portion of 'Citizen in a Republic' in which TR drops about 1000 truth bombs.
1 COR 13--I've now heard people call this Paul's Love Letter
Numbers 18:32--I'll write this one because, well, I just love it.
"You will be no sin by reason of if when you offered the best of it. But you shall not profane the sacred gifts of the sons of Israel, or you will die."
To me, this last verse basically says, give all that you have. It doesn't need to be perfect, but your effort matters. Never, never, never diminish the honest best efforts of another man, or you will die.
Thank you for the great verse Dena. Have a great day.
Oh please, not Invictus. We are not the masters of our fate. We are not the captains of our souls. We are creatures, creatures made in the Image of God. It is God in Jesus Christ who holds the Universe, and us, together.
You may have heard the aphorism, "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans."
Inasmuch as we're slinging recommendations around, mine are these:
1. Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis
2. The Everlasting Man - G.K. Chesterton.
3. The Resurrection of the Son of God - N.T. Wright.
Thanks Bobby. I hear what you're saying, and honestly I heard Invictus long long before I ever decided to take the Bible seriously. That said, I still find it to be inspiring.
I have zero depth to argue Scripture, but to me, God did give man free will. I think this is what Henley is describing. Is Invictus too prideful? Maybe--but what/where/when does man find inspiration prior to contact with The Word?
CS Lewis is terrific. I've read most of his stuff, including Mere Christianity. I have 'The Everlasting Man' by GK Chesterton, but haven't cracked it yet.
My list was things I had committed to memory (then got lazy & fell out of the habit of maintenance)--but I do like your reading list.
That's great! I try to really hear what people are saying when pushing back on what I've written. I'm not always good at it, but writing as opposed to speaking face to face, it much easier for me to slow down, listen, think, accept--then respond. Often, I respond like it is an attack to which I respond like an ass.
So, I'm glad I took my time and thought things through. Why does Invictus resonate with me? Does Bobby have a point? What can I learn here?
Mr Chris Bray has attracted an interesting, eclectic, and thoughtful group of folks. It is as rewarding as his original piece that got us all chatting/exchanging thoughts.
Thanks for the Jordan Peterson info bsn, love this : Philippians 4: 4-9: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”
"I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back until they were destroyed. I crushed them so that they could not rise; they fell beneath my feet."
Psalms 18:37
Initially I skimmed the Pslams. TL;DR--and, honestly I'm not well versed/educated (nor usually interested) in poetry. The Psalms turned me back into my 15 year old self. BORING!
Now, upon multiple times doing the Bible in a year--I see them much differently. They are songs of joy and sorrow. Pain. Fear. Regret. Love. Optimism. Gratitude. They are truly the spectrum of man's emotional and psychological response to the world. I think we can find a little bit of ourselves in all of the Psalms.
Thank you. Nice choice!
bsn
Thank you Dena. A few years ago I had decided to commit a few quotes and Bible verses to memory. As a kid in Awana, I never understood why we memorized Scripture, I was there for the athletic competition...
Now I understand that I can always have True North within me. I'm adding this to my list.
I wish I could say I followed through 100%, but I lost the laminated cards I kept with me--but this has inspired me to begin again.
My list:
"If" by Rudyard Kipling
"Invictus" by William Ernest Henley
"Man in Arena" by TR - actually only a portion of 'Citizen in a Republic' in which TR drops about 1000 truth bombs.
1 COR 13--I've now heard people call this Paul's Love Letter
Numbers 18:32--I'll write this one because, well, I just love it.
"You will be no sin by reason of if when you offered the best of it. But you shall not profane the sacred gifts of the sons of Israel, or you will die."
To me, this last verse basically says, give all that you have. It doesn't need to be perfect, but your effort matters. Never, never, never diminish the honest best efforts of another man, or you will die.
Thank you for the great verse Dena. Have a great day.
bsn
Thanks! The Sunday Substack by Dr. Tenpenny’Walking With God’ is a good one each Sunday.
https://open.substack.com/pub/tenpennywalkwithgod/p/what-do-i-do-next?r=nl3ud&utm_medium=ios
Followed. Thank you. Appears to be another thought group of people on that blog.
bsn
Oh please, not Invictus. We are not the masters of our fate. We are not the captains of our souls. We are creatures, creatures made in the Image of God. It is God in Jesus Christ who holds the Universe, and us, together.
You may have heard the aphorism, "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans."
Inasmuch as we're slinging recommendations around, mine are these:
1. Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis
2. The Everlasting Man - G.K. Chesterton.
3. The Resurrection of the Son of God - N.T. Wright.
4. The Gospel of John.
5. The Epistle to the Romans, chapters 1 - 5.
Thanks Bobby. I hear what you're saying, and honestly I heard Invictus long long before I ever decided to take the Bible seriously. That said, I still find it to be inspiring.
I have zero depth to argue Scripture, but to me, God did give man free will. I think this is what Henley is describing. Is Invictus too prideful? Maybe--but what/where/when does man find inspiration prior to contact with The Word?
CS Lewis is terrific. I've read most of his stuff, including Mere Christianity. I have 'The Everlasting Man' by GK Chesterton, but haven't cracked it yet.
My list was things I had committed to memory (then got lazy & fell out of the habit of maintenance)--but I do like your reading list.
Have a great week.
bsn
You, too, Brian.
Your reply cheered me up a lot.
That's great! I try to really hear what people are saying when pushing back on what I've written. I'm not always good at it, but writing as opposed to speaking face to face, it much easier for me to slow down, listen, think, accept--then respond. Often, I respond like it is an attack to which I respond like an ass.
So, I'm glad I took my time and thought things through. Why does Invictus resonate with me? Does Bobby have a point? What can I learn here?
Mr Chris Bray has attracted an interesting, eclectic, and thoughtful group of folks. It is as rewarding as his original piece that got us all chatting/exchanging thoughts.
bsn