Hello again! Thanks for returning to my blog.

Church Update
Not much change in our status at this post. However, assuming we get a couple of dry days, we intend to get a coat of rust protection on the metal roof, our final prep before spraying the rubber membrane.

Personal Update
This has been a week of anticipation. We are going to help my parents with moving into their new house this weekend. betfinal بالعربي Next Tuesday (9/5) will be the one-year anniversary sale at my dad’s public auto auction, at which we are hoping to run over 100 vehicles for sale. Next Monday also begins a new two-week, two-hour per morning class which I teach 7-10 times per year at Hope Rescue Mission in South Bend.

Scriptural Thought of the Week
This week I want to tie this in with the “Quote of the Week” section below.

I am occassionally asked, “Why are you working toward a Master’s degree? Won’t that cause you to be less practical in your teaching and preaching? Won’t it make you less ‘in-touch’ with the normal church attendee?”

(Let me say that I have found that to be more of a insult toward “the normal church attendee” than against my actively studying the Bible, as if “normal church attendees” don’t study or can’t understand the Bible. But I digress.)

My typical response goes something like this: “My real goal is not so much the degree – though I do indeed want it – but rather this: I desire to be able to teach just about any Bible concept or principle to just about any person on just about any level at just about any time. So I am studying the Bible on a progressively advanced level in order to be able to understand it myself well enough to be able to do that. لعبة الروليت مجانا ”

However, this week my attention was drawn to a verse which sums it up much more concisely and gives us a great description of how a genuine Christ-imitator should approach God’s Word (which is, of course, a main theme of my blog):

“Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.” Ezra 7:10 (ESV) 

Quote of the Week
That verse was pointed out to me in the following quote about the importance of the intentional, intellectual growth of our minds:

The Old Testament scribe Ezra believed in the growth of the mind. “And Ezra set himself to study the law of the Lord, to do it, and to teach its statutes in all of Israel.” The order of this description of personal growth in a man’s private world is worth noting: he studied; he did what he learned; he shared what was worthwhile. Ezra was a professional student of sorts, putting in far more time than any of us will ever do. افضل طريقة للعب الروليت But he set a great precedent. And because his mind and spirit were full, God tapped Ezra for the gigantic task of leading a large task force of men across the wilderness to rebuild Jerusalem.

Quoted from: Gordon MacDonald, Ordering Your Private World (Nashville: Oliver-Nelson, 1985), p. 112.

What could God do with you and me if we deliberately set ours mind to start or continue to study, do, and share His Word? I’m looking forward to finding out; I hope you are, too!

Until next time,

Dan’l