Indescribeable

Isn't God just awesome? I love the passage in today's reading where He describes just a few of His many wonders. He even uses sarcasm with Job! As someone said on Wendy's blog, "Our God is so funny." :-)

Wendy posted an amazing video set to Chris Tomlin's Indescribeable. It really is wonderful, so I'm adding it here, as well. Happy viewing!

PS - I have received my copy of our book Whispers of the Bayou and finished it this morning. If anyone still needs a book, you're welcome to borrow mine - although I would love to have it back a day or two before we discuss it. Let me know!

My Redeemer Lives

I had no idea that Job was the one who first said that! How awesome! After that, what else can you really say??

Turn up your speakers and go here! :-)

The Map Link is Here!

The missing map link has been found! Karen passed it along in Saturday's comments (thanks, Karen!). I've modified the link a bit to send you to the homepage of that section so that you can see all available Biblical maps and choose the one that you want to study. To see the map that applies most to our study during the times of Genesis, go here. For all other maps, check this page out.

Happy 'traveling!' :-)

A Voice of Truth

I never realized just how bad Job had it. I knew that he'd lost everything - his money, his livelihood, his house, his children, and his health - but how hard must it have been then to sit there and listen to his wife nagging him and his friends berating him? Nobody on earth was on his side, and that must have been such a lonely place to be. Even then Job wouldn't curse God as they all asked him to do, but he continued to praise God's power even in the midst of his honest complaints.

But ...

Job asked for a Mediator, someone to go to God for him.

We have One. His name is Jesus.

There may come a time when those around us stop supporting us or when their words hurt. It may not come from a human, though, and may be 'pushed for' by Satan - by the one who lies.

But ...

We have a Voice of Truth.

That's what I couldn't stop thinking about today. When it seems as if there's trouble on all sides and we're all alone, isn't it awesome that, like Job, we're really NOT??

Check it out!

Although, this may be pretty applicable for Job, too. He sure was good at this!

PS - As usual, Grace and Peace has posted some wonderful thoughts about Job over on Wendy's blog. Don't miss it!

Plain Pursuit by Beth Wiseman

Carley Marek's world shatters when she survives a horrifying accident, and she doesn't know how to pick up the pieces. Trying to rejuvenate her career, she takes a trip to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, to stay with a friend in an Old Order Amish home and write an article about the Amish culture. Although she expected to ask questions and be an impartial observer, she finds herself becoming a part of the community as she helps a sick child's family and begins to fall for Dr. Noah, a man shunned from the very family she's visiting. With all of these new pieces to the puzzle of her life, where can Carley go from here?

Beth Wiseman has written the best Amish novel I've read in years. True to the Amish culture of central Pennsylvania, this book does not romanticize their lives, nor does it make their culture seem foreign or strange. She creatively uses the characters and the plot to keep the reader in suspense while introducing real-to-life drama. Carley's turmoil and questions regarding her past experiences and her faith are real and are not resolved in a paragraph. She struggles to understand the mystery surrounding the events of Noah's shunning and the difficult ramifications his family faces because of that years later.

Plain Pursuit will challenge any reader to seek out forgiveness and to understand how they, too, can be a "child of promise." If you've ever been interested in Amish culture or have questions about how God relates to His children, this is a book for you.

For more information about Plain Pursuit by Beth Wiseman, go here.
For more information about Thomas Nelson products, go here.


** Thomas Nelson has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for reviewing purposes.

A Great Start

We're off to a great start! We had lots to share last night, and everyone had nuggets of truth to share. We parked ourselves in Genesis and got caught up there. Next week we'll move on to Job, but ...

Genesis is just full of action-packed stories with lots of hidden truths. This one is too good not to post here:

In Genesis 5 the entire Gospel message is hidden within a few short lines of geneology. If you look up the meaning of the names, you'll see that:

Adam - Man
Seth - appointned
Enosh - mortal
Kenan - sorrow
Mahelalel - the blessed God
Jared - shall come down
Enoch - teaching
Methuselah - His death shall bring
Lamech - the despairing
Noah - comfort, rest

So, what this means is that:

Man [is] appointed mortal sorrow, [but] the Blessed God shall come down teaching [that] His death shall bring the despairing comfort [and] rest.

How awesome is that??! Thanks, Grace and Peace!

Tonight's Meeting

Just a reminder ...

Tonight's meeting is at Amy's house @ 8 PM. I've heard about several people recently who are jumping on board with this daily chronological Bible reading plan. Isn't it exciting?

If you've talked to someone who's begun to read their Bible this way or wants to see what our group is like, bring them along! The more, the merrier!

Joseph Like Jesus?

Oh, there are such exciting nuggets in Wendy Pope's comments! Her vlogs are awesome, but sometimes there is news just as fantastic within the comments left behind by other readers. Today is one of those days.

Have you noticed how Joseph's life, in many ways, parallels Jesus' life? What a way to foreshadow His plans! You can go here to read a complete list. Thanks to Grace and Peace for making this observation and providing the link.

Happy reading!

Where Are We?

If you're just joining us or if you don't have a Chronological Daily NLT Bible, you can still read along! This reading plan is accessible online. You could then use your regular Bible or use a website like Bible Gateway to look up the passages you need to stay on track. Someone also suggested printing this reading plan and then checking off each day as you read. If you get behind, it will be easy to see what you need to catch up on later. You can find the PDF file here.

Happy reading!

Whispers of the Bayou

So we've made our selection for February, and we're moving south! Mindy Starns Clark's Whispers of the Bayou is up next. You can read more about it here. We'll meet at 8 PM on February 9th to talk about this fairly new mystery. Happy reading!

In the meantime, we'll keep reading through our Daily Chronological NLT Bibles. Next week, January 19, we'll meet at Amy's house to talk about what we've learned so far.

See you then!

Amazing Men of the Old Testament

It may be the weekend, but life on Wendy's blog has not slowed down! People are continuing to read and post about what they're learning, and there are two bits of information posted there today that are pretty helpful.

First, Wendy has asked everyone to start a comprehensive list of the names of God. (I'm putting mine on the very last page of my notebook so that I can find it easily.) As we found out, in the beginning He wasn't called by name, and each name that has been added so far has been quite powerful. Rochelle posted the names that have been used so far, and Judi B. added to them. Their complete list is here:

El Elyon - God Most High - Gen. 14:18-19 page 17
El Shaddai - God Almighty - Gen. 17:1 page 19
El Roi - The One Who Sees - Gen 16:13 page 18
Yahweh Yireh - The Lord Will Provide - Gen. 22:14 page 26
El Olam - Eternal God - Gen. 21:33 page 25

Also, many of the men that we've been reading about so far, although seemingly rather far apart, actually lived during the same times or during overlapping times. Grace and Peace describes each man - Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, King Abimalech, etc. - and their life span, as well as how old they were when certain events happened. If you missed it, head over here to check it out! She also recommends a book called Halley's Bible Handbook to help us put some of these pieces together. It's actually quite inexpensive and has great reviews. You can find out more about it here.

Happy reading, everyone!

What a Kickoff!

So we've decided to read through the Daily Chronological Bible in 2010. I'm way excited about this - for lots of reasons, but especially for the accountability and the opportunity to discuss the things that we're learning.

Wendy Pope, a Proverbs 31 speaker, is guiding a cyber-group through this very same adventure. She both blogs and vlogs about what she's learning and posts it early each morning. The really great thing about this forum is that there are people all over the world reading along with her, and God is showing each of them different things. The comments on each post are a wealth of information. If you haven't checked this out yet, today's the day to start. Wendy's vlog has an amazing message to it, and in a way, it's a fitting challenge for those of us just starting out on this journey. So hop on over to Wendy's blog and join this community!

Heaven's Wager

It's book club week! We'll be talking about Ted Dekker's Heaven's Wager. We'll meet at Isabelle's house on Tuesday, January 12th at 8 PM. Be ready to tear into it!

For more information about Ted Dekker, visit his website at http://www.teddekker.com/.