Lee Harmon's Blog, page 72

Book review: The Year of the Lord’s Favor

by Tom Arthur

★★★★

Ha! How can so serious a topic be so entertaining? Not that the book is funny, per se, but that the writing kept a smile on my face all the while Arthur was indoctrinating me. Tom, please come back to the States and set up church in my neighborhood!

This book is a not-so-subtle call to redirect our aim toward the original flavor of Christianity. The Lord’s Supper, and the year of the Jubilee, become sort of the uprights of our goal posts. Arthur notes that the Year of the Lo...

Exodus 12:37, How many Israelites wandered in the desert?

The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children.

//Today’s verse is about the children of Israel after they escaped from Egypt and fled into the desert. I’ve mentioned this topic so many times when talking about exaggerations in the Bible that I’ve noticed a mocking tone creep into my voice. The Bible says there were 600,000 men making this journey. As if one source isn’t enough, Numbers 1:45-46 counts “603,550 abl...

Micah 6:8 Christianity

And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

//Ever hear of “Micah 6:8 Christianity?” Without arguing about context, this is an inspiring verse in its simplicity and self-direction. If only our lives could be so simple. Micah 6:8 is also the inspiration for a Charlie Hall song:

Verse

You could feed the whole world with the crumbs of old bread

Spread the good news through dreams and stones

With a breath of the wind You could raise up the d...

Dubious Disciple Top Ten Books of 2012

This weekend, I went through all of 2012’s book reviews and picked out my favorites for you. Here they are, in order by review date.

Bad Acts of the Apostles, by John Henson

Contours of Pauline Theology, by Tom Holland

Dancing in the Shadows of Love, by Judy Croome

The Power of Parable, by John Dominic Crossan

Faith in the Public Square, by Robert D. Cornwall

Living the Questions, the Wisdom of Progressive Christianity, by David M. Felten and Jeff Procter-Murphy

The Searchers, by Joseph Loconte

Emerg...

Luke 9:54, Sons of Thunder

And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?”

//In today’s verse, Jesus and his disciples pass through Samaria on the way to Jerusalem. The Samaritans, despising Jerusalem, do not welcome Jesus on his way. So, James and John ask if the Samaritans should be destroyed by fire.

James and John, you may recall, were nicknamed the “Sons of Thunder” by Jesus, a reference to the two twin s...

Book review: What’s So Great About Christianity?

by Dinesh D’Sousa

★★★★

I smiled at D’Sousa’s portrayal of liberal Christians (readers know me as one): “Instead of being the church’s missionaries to the world, they have become the world’s missionaries to the church. They devote their moral energies to trying to make the church more democratic, to assure equal rights for women, to legitimize homosexual marriage, and so on … Liberal Christians are distinguished by how much intellectual and moral ground they concede to the adversaries of Chris...

Ephesians 1:1, Who Wrote to the Ephesians?

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus.

//So begins Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Or so we have it today.

The fact is, many scholars dispute that Paul wrote this letter. I agree with them; the doctrine of this epistle differs too radically from the seven undisputedly authentic Pauline letters (1 Thessalonians, Galatians, the two letters to the Corinthians, Philemon, Philippians, and Romans).In fact, we don’t...

Matthew 15:24, Jesus Shuns Gentiles

But [Jesus] answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

//A reader of my upcoming book about John’s Gospel questioned why I portrayed Matthew as anti-Gentile. (The book contains a fictional character named “Matthew” who is the author of the Gospel carrying his name.)

I guess I do portray Matthew as much more loyal to Jews than Gentiles, but not without reason. Sometimes, unless you are looking for them as you read the Bible, you don’t notice little nuances....

Book review: The Gospel of John

by James David Audlin

★★★★★

Controversial research, good writing, and an approach to the Jesus story as a puzzle to be solved makes for an enthralling read. There’s so much insightful commentary in this one that I couldn’t begin to measure where I agree versus where I disagree, but that’s hardly the way I evaluate books anyway. I want something that makes me think, and this one does.

My one complaint with the book is that it’s a bit slow getting started. The intro, which serves mostly to prese...

Collossians 3:14-15, A New Year’s Resolution

Need one more resolution to tie everything together? Join me in this one:

And above all these put onlove, whichbinds everything together inperfect harmony.And letthe peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were calledin one body. Andbe thankful.