Michelle Ule's Blog, page 48
October 17, 2017
Happy Launch Day, Mrs. Oswald Chambers
After four years of research and two years of writing, countless blog posts, discussions, and amazing serendipities, the book finally arrives.
We’re celebrating and I hope you’ll join us.
(Many of my loved ones are rejoicing I may finally move on to a different topic . . .)
My long-suffering husband is just as happy as I am.
She’s here.
Launch Day fun
What’s a celebration without gifts, laughter and joy?
I’m giving away five copies of Mrs. Oswald Chambers and the grand prize–a basket of My Utmost for His Highest related products.
Here’s the raffle:
Winners will be drawn on Monday, October 23 and announced on my Tuesday blog, October 24.
And if you live in Sonoma County, consider joining us for the official launch party on Sunday, October 22. Send a message through my contacts and we’ll tell you where!
Baker Books provides a gift prologue and chapter
What’s the book like?
Baker Books is allowing me to share the prologue and first chapter, to give you a taste of Mrs. Oswald Chambers.
Here’s the page where you can find the link.
Here’s the link itself: Opening chapters.
I discuss the book on Dottin’ The I.
What does an early reader think? See this review by Tammy Doiel.
Enjoy!
Also– this week in Chicago
If all this excitement isn’t enough, I’ll be at at Wheaton College on Friday, October 20 to attend My Utmost: A Century of Devotion; The Life and Legacy of Oswald Chambers
Designed to celebrate and acknowledge Oswald Chambers 100 years after his death, it also will highlight the 90th anniversary of My Utmost for His Highest‘s publication.
I will be one of four panelists, including Oswald Chambers’s biographer David McCasland; Macy Halford, author of My Utmost: A Devotional Memoir and Harold Myra, editor emeritus of Christianity Today.
If you’re in the neighborhood, stop by and say hello.
Details here.
Thanks to all. Rejoice with me on this happy launch day!
The post Happy Launch Day, Mrs. Oswald Chambers appeared first on Michelle Ule, Author.
October 13, 2017
Biddy Interviews her Biographer (Part 2)
(You can read the first half here)
This is an imagined exchange between Biddy and Michelle Ule–written by me.
Why did you write about Biddy?BC: “My question is why you wrote about me in the first place.”
MU: You were such an engaging character when I wrote my World War I novel–in fact you stole several scenes and changed the plot–I wanted to know more about who you were.
Besides, Nicholas suggested it.
Nicholas holding David’s book!
Oswald Chambers: “A good man, Nicholas.”
BC: “The focus of my life was serving Jesus Christ, as it is for any believer. I did not need a book written about me.”
MU: Yet, you exemplified the title of your most famous work so very well in your life. You really did live your life to God’s utmost over the course of an extraordinary set of circumstances.
BC: “That was Oswald’s title.”
MU: He was dead. You titled the book.
BC: “But that was Oswald’s goal, that everyone should live their life for one purpose: to glorify God.”
MU: You showed us how.
Oswald Chambers: “Very true, Beloved Disciple.”
Where did you get this information?
BC: “How did you discover all this information?”
MU: The transcription of Kathleen’s interview with David McCasland was the major source, along with Oswald Chambers: His Life and Works and David McCasland’s book Oswald Chambers: Abandoned to God.
Speaking of David, did you two interview him?
Oswald Chambers laughs.
BC: “David did not have some of the information you included in your book.”
MU: David wrote his book 25 years before I wrote mine. The Internet was in its infancy at that time; he had no way of discovering some of the things I learned.
BC: “You made use of something called Google?”
MU: Google is a search engine which enabled me to scour documents effortlessly from my office. Ancestry.com, a genealogy site, provided information about your family, which I often cross referenced with Google–their books, maps and general searches.
My interviews included talking with Eva’s son and grandson, and exchanging information with Gladys’ niece and daughter. I found Marian’s grandson and great-grandson and also Mary’s niece; they all answered questions.
I never found any of your relatives, however, or Oswald’s, to interview. Brother Andrew affectionately remembered you and Kathleen.
BC: “We enjoyed knowing him and were pleased to provide copies of My Utmost for His Highest, which he smuggled into the Iron Curtain.”
MU: Those books made a real difference in people’s lives, Biddy. I’m glad you were friends with Brother Andrew and his ministry.
BC: “Kathleen, too.”
Anything else?
BC: ” Isn’t that your favorite question? Is there anything else you’d like to say?”
MU: Thank you for everything. Oswald’s words and the books you made from them have changed my life. The last four and a half years have been wonderful for me personally.
I’ve learned a great deal about God. You showed me an astonishing way of living for God’s glory.
The way you handled money, your insistence we are not “amateur providences” for God, and the example you set time and again for choosing the harder way, continue to astonish me.
I’m not sure I’ll ever get over your reaction to the London Blitz destroying all the books, nor Kathleen’s example of trust following her father’s death.
Going to Egypt during a war with a toddler–is not the choice I would have made.
Holding the book for the first time.
Yet all of those examples of living in faith effected me and encouraged me.
Thank you. It was a joy and a pleasure to write your biography.
BC: Blinks quickly but says nothing
Oswald Chambers, however, stands up and hugs me.
At least in my imagination . . .
Tweetables
What questions would you ask your biographer? Click to Tweet
Mrs Oswald Chambers responds to her biographer? Click to Tweet
An imagined interview between Mrs. Oswald Chambers and her biographer. Click to Tweet
You can see how well Michelle Ule did with her biography on October 17, 2017, when it releases to the world.
Thank you, Baker Books for
Mrs. Oswald Chambers: The Woman Behind the World’s Bestselling Devotional.
If you’re in the Chicago area on October 20, you’re invited to attend My Utmost: A Century of Devotion: The Life and Legacy of Oswald Chambers
Sponsored by the Oswald Chambers Publications Association, Discovery House Publishers and Wheaton College, here’s the information:
Join us Friday, October 20, at 1 p.m. in Barrows Auditorium on the campus of Wheaton College for a full afternoon exploring the life and passion of Oswald Chambers.
Get an in-depth look at the man who was many things—artist, musician, world traveler, mentor, friend—but most importantly, he was completely sold out for his Savior.
Enjoy interesting speakers, live music, and a panel discussion, plus look at his original works and visit with others who enjoy the writings of Chambers as much as you do.
Michelle Ule will be among the panelists at the event, along with Oswald’s biographer, David McCasland; My Utmost: A Devotional Memoir author Macy Halford and Christianity Today’s emeritus editor Harold Myra.
Details available here.
I’ll be there myself.
The post Biddy Interviews her Biographer (Part 2) appeared first on Michelle Ule, Author.
October 10, 2017
A Biddy Interview with Her Biographer
This is all imaginary–she died before I turned ten–but it’s fun for me as I prepare to launch Mrs. Oswald Chambers.
(You can read my questions to Biddy here, here and here.)
The genesis behind this imaginary interview blog series is, when I enter heaven, Biddy and Oswald meet me inside the gate “to discuss.”
The idea makes me nervous, but it also enables me to ask about things I’d like to know.
Join me with two variations, Biddy interviewing me here and part 2 in the next post.
Who are you?
As a matter of fact, my Sicilian mother and I both graduated from UCLA.
BC: “I’d like to know who you are to write my biography.”
MU: I’m an unlikely choice, that’s for sure.
BC: “Indeed. Who thinks the daughter of a Sicilian immigrant who grew up in Los Angeles can write about a Victorian woman from England?
MU: (Raises her hand) I do have a degree in English Literature from the University of California, Los Angeles.
BC: (Indicates her amused husband). “All that does is help you recognize Oswald’s beloved Robert Browning poetry.”
MU: (Grins). Worse, Biddy. It enabled me to do a literary analysis of My Utmost for His Highest to discover some of your secrets.
BC: “I have no secrets. This is about you, have you even visited my hometown?”
MU: I’ve been to Greenwich, right next door. Had I realized I’d be writing about you, I would have gone to Woolwich.
BC: “Hmm. The town of my birth is a little different than Greenwich.”
MU: Obviously, as it is dominated by the Woolwich Royal Arsenal. It made me laugh while I wrote the book to think you knew more about the military than Oswald did.
BC: “He caught on quickly enough and loved the soldiers.”
MU: Yes; and they loved him.
See? I was at Greenwich in 2009. If I had looked east, I could have seen Woolwich.
Oxford
BC: “Have you been to Oxford?”
MU: I’m sorry that all three times I visited Oxford, I didn’t know to look for your boarding house. I’d be happy to return to take a photo.
The famous Blackwell’s bookstore was once owned by Biddy’s Oxford landlord.
[Note, would any readers in Oxford, England be willing to take a photo of the house for me? Use the contact form, thank you].
BC: “Like all tourists you were probably admiring the college and dreaming of Harry Potter.”
MU: (Laughs.) Not as much as I thought about Carolyn Weber’s Surprised by Oxford, which I carried with me.
I did purchase a British copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone from Blackwell’s–which is where your landlord once ran a bookstore.
BC: “Carolyn’s book is a much better choice than Harry Potter.”
MU: I wrote about Oxford after my last visit–several blog posts, including the fun tour I had at the Bodleian Library.
(You can see them here, here and here.)
BC: “I’ve noticed you use that word fun a great deal. Is all life about fun for you?”
MU: (Grins). Of course not, but so many delightful events happen to me in my life, I might as well enjoy them, don’t you think?
What about all the amazing serendipities that happened while I wrote about you and Oswald?
BC: “Your newsletter readers are well up on those stories. Besides, that was God at work, not me.”
MU: Which is what made them so delightful.
BC, Oswald Chambers and MU all laugh.
Tweetables
What questions would you ask your biographer? Click to Tweet
Mrs Oswald Chambers responds to her biographer? Click to Tweet
An imagined interview between Mrs. Oswald Chambers and her biographer. Click to Tweet
If you’re in the Chicago area on October 20, you’re invited to attend My Utmost: A Century of Devotion: The Life and Legacy of Oswald Chambers
Sponsored by the Oswald Chambers Publications Association, Discovery House Publishers and Wheaton College, here’s the information:
Join us Friday, October 20, at 1 p.m. in Barrows Auditorium on the campus of Wheaton College for a full afternoon exploring the life and passion of Oswald Chambers.
Get an in-depth look at the man who was many things—artist, musician, world traveler, mentor, friend—but most importantly, he was completely sold out for his Savior.
Enjoy interesting speakers, live music, and a panel discussion, plus look at his original works and visit with others who enjoy the writings of Chambers as much as you do.
Michelle Ule will be among the panelists at the event, along with Oswald’s biographer, David McCasland; My Utmost: A Devotional Memoir author Macy Halford and Christianity Today’s emeritus editor Harold Myra.
Details available here.
I’ll be there myself.
The post A Biddy Interview with Her Biographer appeared first on Michelle Ule, Author.
October 6, 2017
An (Imagined) Biddy Chambers Interview (Part 3): Privacy
The first two dealt with the concept of me writing her biography (part 1) and the move to Egypt (part 2).
Since I’m inventing these interviews, I took the opportunity to include an amused Oswald Chambers sitting by.
In this blog post, I asked about Biddy’s decision to remain unknown.
Letters
MU: You made it tricky to learn about your life.
BC: “Of course. I wasn’t intending anyone should write a biography of me.”
MU: Why not?
BC: “I came from an era when a proper woman’s name only appeared in the papers when she married and when she died. Having an entire book written about her is preposterous.”
MU: Memoirist Macy Halford said you burned your letters. Is that why?
BC: “My letters were private communications between my husband and myself. No one needed to know what I said to him.”
MU: Fortunately Eva Pulford saved a few you wrote her.
BC: Looks away and tries not to tap her foot.
MU: But you saved Oswald’s letters.
BC: “His letters were wonderful and poetic. He told about important events.”
MU: “All those sunrises and sunsets he wrote about?”
Oswald Chambers laughs.
BC: “Nature in poetry. They were glorious.”
MU Some of them were pretty intimate. (Does not look at either one).
BC: Smiles at her husband. “Oswald was a poet. He could not help himself.”
Diaries
MU: It was challenging to write this book since neither one of you spoke about the other in your diaries.
BC: Raises her eyebrows at Oswald.
My copy of Oswald Chambers: His Life and Works is well marked.
MU: Wait. Did you delete the personal parts when you put together Oswald Chambers: His Life and Works?
BC: “I included information that was germane to understanding who Oswald was. The biography wasn’t about me.”
MU: Kathleen said the book made you sad when you finished it because you realized how little you really knew of your husband.
BC: “It sobered me to recognize how little time we had together.” Oswald takes her hand.
MU: Appeals to Oswald. Did she represent you well in that book?
Oswald Chambers: “Biddy provided sufficient information for people needing to know about me.
“The important information, which she shared, was all about God and how to have a personal relationship with Him.
“I think she did a splendid job focusing on Jesus in My Utmost for His Highest, don’t you?”
MU: Yes. Biddy, you only kept a diary for a few years after Oswald’s death?
BC: “Where did you find that diary?”
MU: I don’t know where it came from. Someone gave it to Wheaton.
BC: Purses her lips and glances around for archivist Keith Call–who is nowhere to be found.
MU: You only kept it for two years or so, but they were important years.
BC: “I kept it in Egypt for our friends back home and it remained a habit when I repatriated to England.”
MU: But like many, your enthusiasm dwindled as life pressed in?
BC: “Exactly. I’d never kept a diary before. It took more time than I expected. You found what you needed, though.”
MU: Yes. I’m thankful you kept that diary for a variety of reasons. It gave you a voice in the biography. It also explained a lot about what happened.
Surprises?
MU: Did I invade your privacy in any major way?
BC: “As my mother and grandmother indicated, you discovered information about our family that surprised us.”
MU: You didn’t realize your parents were first cousins?
Diary photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
BC: “Of course I knew, but it wasn’t uncommon in that era. The Chancery Court information surprised us; my mother didn’t realize her family’s situation.”
MU: None of that reflected poorly on you, it happened.
BC: “No, but it made my grandmother sad, and that is why some things need to remain private and unknown to those outside the family circle.”
MU: True, which is why I drew no conclusions from that event.
BC: “What you imagined as a result of that disappointment, may very well have been correct. We never put it together before.
MU: So, in that arena I did betray your privacy?
BC: Indicates the billowing heavenly clouds around us. “None of that is important any more. God is in His heaven and all is right in the new world.”
Oswald Chambers: “I’ve always loved Browning’s poetry.”
MU and BD together: “I know.”
Tweetables
Biddy Chambers and her biographer discuss privacy. Click to Tweet
Burned letters and edited diaries: Biddy Chambers on privacy. Click to Tweet
Did Biddy burn her letters from Oswald Chambers? Click to Tweet
Sign up for the newsletter here
Every month in 2017, I’m telling the stories about God’s leading and my blessed–and astonished–reactions while writing Mrs. Oswald Chambers
The next newsletter comes out October 7: In which I recognize Biddy’s emotions in My Utmost for His Highest while giving a speech
Sign up for my newsletter here.
The post An (Imagined) Biddy Chambers Interview (Part 3): Privacy appeared first on Michelle Ule, Author.
October 3, 2017
A Walk in the Redwoods
A young friend works as a ranger for Redwood National Park along the northern California coast.
Laura teaches outdoor education to students from all over northern California and southern Oregon, this year near Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.
I visited her there between camps and got my own special tour.
It’s wonderful to see a young person flourish in their profession.
Laura gave me the kid tour as we walked through alder trees along a stream and then climbed a plateau into an old growth forest of shaggy trees.
We had a lovely and magical outing.
Redwoods, themselves
I’m quite familiar with redwoods as they’re all over northern California where I live. Several live across the street.
They’re majestic and what most of my friends want to see when they visit from other states.
We usually take tourists to Armstrong Woods in Guerneville where you have to stand with the back of your head touching your shoulders to see the tops of the trees.
Magnificent.
Fire and insect resistant, they provide an entire world for the microbes, insects and birds that call them home.
Their roots are not deep–which is why a stand of redwoods is so much safer than a solitary tree–but they stretch and intertwine for long distances.
You can find them relatively far from water because their roots not only intertwine but interconnect and can draw resources from each other.
One of the tallest and oldest trees in this forest
Fascinating.
The trees can live a long time with this root sharing system and one of the oldest trees I saw was 1200 years old–a seedling long before Charlemagne became emperor of Europe.
As it happens the tallest tree in the world is at Redwood National Park.
I didn’t see it.
(Rangers measure the heights of trees by flying over forests with sophisticated equipment. Once the tallest ones are determined, foresters climb the trees with very, very long measuring ropes!)
The seed of a redwood tree, by the way, is the same size as a mustard seed–tiny. Most of the time new trees grow in the boles developing out of the bark.
What about the fauna?
Laura showed me examples of black bear claw marks, and ruffled beds where elk lay.
We paused several times to make sure we wouldn’t encounter either one and laughed with relief when a squirrel chittered past.
Bear claw marks with a hand for context
A springing baby deer in the underbrush, however, shocked both of us!
We paused at a young redwood tree missing bark–a favorite spot for bears hunting insect snacks.
Mushrooms popped up here and there and we stepped over mating banana slugs.
Laura described finding all the little signs they use to explain forest facts to students, knocked to the ground one morning.
As they puzzled as to why, another ranger called to report an elk wandering through the nearby prairie with a sign dangling from its horns.
Obviously, he had decided to scramble the trail!
Wild animals can be surprisingly stubborn and uncooperative.
“If we find a cow lounging on the trail when we bring the students along, we can’t make enough noise to convince them to move,” Laura said.
“We have to turn around and walk the students back to camp the way we came. There’s no way we can move her.”
Outdoor Education
I appreciate programs like the one at Prairie Creek Redwood State Park. Schools bring out groups of 45 students at a time, to sleep in huts and walk along forested pathways. They can see stars if the night is clear.
They can hear bear and elk in the woods and step over bananas slugs crossing the path.
Laura and her colleagues teach them about the salmon that come up the street. (Laura held her hands wide apart to demonstrate how big the salmon can be!)
Students get out of the city and breath the fresh cooling air of the redwoods.
While not exactly camping, it’s as close as many children ever get to the wild, unnatural world.
I loved taking a walk through the forest–particularly with such an able guide to point out things I might not have noticed.
(One of my most read blog posts also features a redwood forest walk. Click here to read The Nudist Colony Field Trip.)
When was the last time you took a walk in the woods?
Tweetables
A walk in a redwood forest; flora and fauna. Click to Tweet
Romance in the forest
Bear scat, redwoods and romantic banana slugs. Click to Tweet
The importance of ranger-led outdoor education for students. Click to Tweet
The post A Walk in the Redwoods appeared first on Michelle Ule, Author.
September 29, 2017
An (Imagined) Biddy Chambers Interview (Part 2)
I have so many questions.
I’m just not sure she’d answer them.
(See part 1 of this Chambers interview fantasy here).
Take, for example, why she went to Egypt.
Traveling to Egypt
MU: What were you thinking?
BC: “I was no different than any other woman serious about her faith in the early 20th century.”
MU: Other than your friend Mary Riley and a few other BTC regulars (Bible Training College students of OC’s), what other woman went to Egypt in the middle of a war? Much less with a toddler?
BC: “Oswald needed me. We worked as a team.”
MU: So, you took a two-year old through U-boat infested winter seas during a world war to a desert land before antibiotics and where disease ran rampant?
BC: “We knew God was in control. He called us, we went.”
MU: I didn’t take my children into a far less serious war situation.
BC: “I am not an amateur providence for you. I went where God wanted me to go.”
Zeitoun, Egypt, World War I
MU: Tell me about your life in Egypt.
BC: “We lived in a simple adobe bungalow in the desert. I made our home as comfortable as possible.”
MU: Basically you were camping. How did you keep Kathleen so clean? In the photos she always wore a bright white dress.
BC: “The local servants did that. They were so much better at laundry in those conditions than I was. Do you know that when they ironed the clothing, they spit on them first to dampen the cotton cloth?”
The family in 1917 (Wheaton)
MU: (Shakes her head). Your kitchen was outdoors?
BC: “Yes, the British Expeditionary Forces lent the orderlies to help with unusual chores. Miss Riley often worked with a few soldiers to cook over open fires.”
MU: Why would the army lend soldiers?
BC: “They recognized the value of our ministry (through the Young Men’s Christian Association) to the men.”
MU: Which was?
BC: “Oswald preached the gospel every night in the YMCA hut. Men came to hear him. William Jessop, the head of the YMCA said,
“the subjects were “treated from a Biblical standpoint and are so handled that each lecture is complete in itself. He packs into each lesson what most people would spread over two or three.”
MU: Basically, OC led a revival among the ANZAC troops in Egypt during World War I.
BC: “Exactly.”
Biddy Chambers Interview: Difficulties?
MU: Oswald worried about you and the hard work.
BC: “He drove himself harder. He insisted we relax during the hot afternoons while he visited soldiers in the local hospitals.”
MU: You survived sandstorms, illness, constant visitors, drop in dinner guests, spoiled trifle . . .
BC: “The ants got into the trifle because we didn’t cover it well enough.”
MU: You never knew how many people would stop by at dinner time.
BC: “Miss Riley and I were quite adept at stretching the soup if a large number of surprise guests arrived. We did so at the BTC all the time. Tea, of course, is easy to make at the drop of a hat.”
Oswald’s death
MU: Why didn’t you insist OC rest in those hot afternoons like Jessop asked his secretaries? Why didn’t you make him go to the hospital when his appendix acted up?
BC: Glancing at Oswald. “Have you met my husband?”
Oswald smiles.
Oswald’s final photo. (Wheaton College Special Collections)
MU: (Turns on OC) Why didn’t you go to the hospital? Isn’t that the real question people have argued about for 100 years?
Oswald Chambers: Biddy answered it in My Utmost for His Highest on November 15. Stephen Pulford, as you note in the biography, reached the same conclusion you did in your blog post Why Did God Let Oswald Chambers Die So Young?
MU: Do you feel that way, Biddy? Is that the answer? A book rather than a life?
BC: Staring straight ahead. “I am not an amateur providence, for anyone. God never makes a mistake.”
MU: You never doubted?
BC: “God never makes a mistake.”
Part 3 will examine the rest of Biddy’s life
Tweetables
A Biddy Chambers interview? Questions about Egypt. Click to Tweet
What was life like for the Oswald Chambers family in WWI Egypt? Click to Tweet
The biographer tries to imagine Mrs. Oswald Chambers’ life in Egypt. Click to Tweet
Information available here
For those of you in the Chicago area on Friday, October 20, Wheaton College will be sponsoring a day to honor the life and legacy of Oswald Chambers.
Called My Utmost: A Century of Devotion, it will be an afternoon dedicated to remembering and honoring Oswald Chambers.
Here’s a fuller description:
Words spoken more than 100 years ago are still calling hearts closer to Christ today.
Oswald Chambers’s messages cut to the heart of the gospel, and his devoted wife, Biddy, recorded his words in shorthand, giving them to the world in print after his death.
As a believer who appreciates Chambers’s words from books like My Utmost for His Highest, you won’t want to miss this exciting one-day event at Wheaton College, honoring his life and legacy.
Join us Friday, October 20, at 1 p.m. in Barrows Auditorium on the campus of Wheaton College for a full afternoon exploring the life and passion of Oswald Chambers.
Get an in-depth look at the man who was many things—artist, musician, world traveler, mentor, friend—but most importantly, he was completely sold out for his Savior.
Enjoy interesting speakers, live music, and a panel discussion, plus look at his original works and visit with others who enjoy the writings of Chambers as much as you do.
The post An (Imagined) Biddy Chambers Interview (Part 2) appeared first on Michelle Ule, Author.
September 26, 2017
What’s the Point of a Big Black Bible?
We purchased it a year ago. I’m surprised how much I like it.
The connotation, of course, is of an enormous, threatening leather-bound book that could hurt someone.
Alas, ours could, but that’s not why I wield it.
I read it because of all the notes.
It takes a big black Bible like my Lutheran Study Bible (English Standard Version) to contain them.
What notes?
This Bible is filled with notes about the text.
They’re at the bottom of the Bible–what my friend Gary likes to call “Bob”–and explain passages of the Bible.
I read them all the time, checking to see if my understanding of what a verse says is what “experts” agree it says.
They’re especially important for me while teaching Bible study, because this is a Lutheran study Bible.
What makes it a Lutheran Bible and why is that important?
The fact it’s Lutheran is important to me because I didn’t grow up in a Lutheran household.
Most of the women in my Bible study not only grew up Lutheran, but they were confirmed Lutheran and they’re familiar with the traditions.
They also read the Bible through a Luther-centric eye.
I find it very helpful to read what Martin Luther and the editors of this version have to say about the passages.
Luther as a young monk
Since October 31, 2017 marks the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his 93 theses to the Wittenberg Church door, Lutheran belief has stood the test of time.
For the most part. Some of Luther’s “earthy” comments are questionable.
His exegesis (explanation) on the Bible and its applicability, however, is spot on, even 500 years later.
Here’s Luther’s introductory explanation to 1 Corinthians, for example:
“In short, things got so wild and disorderly that everyone wanted to be the expert and do the teaching and make what he pleased of the gospel, the sacrament and faith. Meanwhile, they let the main thing drop–namely, that Christ is our salvation, righteousness and redemption–as if they had long since outgrown it. This truth can never remain intact when people begin to imagine they are wise and know it all . . .
“Therefore St. Paul most severely rebukes and condemns this shameful wisdom, and makes these connoisseur saints out to be fools.
“He says outright that they know nothing of Christ, or of the Spirit and gifts of God given to us in Christ, and that they had better begin to learn. It takes spiritual folk to understand this.
“The desire to be wise and the pretense of cleverness in the gospel are the very things that really give offense and hinder the knowledge of Christ and God, and create disturbances and contentions.
“This clever wisdom and reason can well serve to make for nothing but mad saints and wild Christians.”
It goes on, but you get Martin’s point . . .
This version is filled with helpful information and insight.
Final reason
I don’t anticipate hitting anyone over the head with this Bible–indeed, I don’t take it out of the house.
My first Bible.
But it’s big enough I don’t have to worry about losing it or breaking it!
Which given what happened to my first, paperback Bible, is probably just as well.
A book filled with stories of God’s love is important and should be easily found.
Tweetables
What’s the deal with a big black Bible? Click to Tweet
The advantages of a Lutheran owning a Lutheran Study Bible. Click to Tweet
Why is that black Bible so big? You could hurt someone! Click to Tweet
The post What’s the Point of a Big Black Bible? appeared first on Michelle Ule, Author.
What’s the Point of a Big Black Bible
We purchased it a year ago. I’m surprised how much I like it.
The connotation, of course, is of an enormous, threatening leather-bound book that could hurt someone.
Alas, ours could, but that’s not why I wield it.
I read it because of all the notes.
It takes a big black Bible like my Lutheran Study Bible (English Standard Version) to contain them.
What notes?
This Bible is filled with notes about the text.
They’re at the bottom of the Bible–what my friend Gary likes to call “Bob”–and explain passages of the Bible.
I read them all the time, checking to see if my understanding of what a verse says is what “experts” agree it says.
They’re especially important for me while teaching Bible study, because this is a Lutheran study Bible.
What makes it a Lutheran Bible and why is that important?
The fact it’s Lutheran is important to me because I didn’t grow up in a Lutheran household.
Most of the women in my Bible study not only grew up Lutheran, but they were confirmed Lutheran and they’re familiar with the traditions.
They also read the Bible through a Luther-centric eye.
I find it very helpful to read what Martin Luther and the editors of this version have to say about the passages.
Luther as a young monk
Since October 31, 2017 marks the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his 93 theses to the Wittenberg Church door, Lutheran belief has stood the test of time.
For the most part. Some of Luther’s “earthy” comments are questionable.
His exegesis (explanation) on the Bible and its applicability, however, is spot on, even 500 years later.
Here’s Luther’s introductory explanation to 1 Corinthians, for example:
“In short, things got so wild and disorderly that everyone wanted to be the expert and do the teaching and make what he pleased of the gospel, the sacrament and faith. Meanwhile, they let the main thing drop–namely, that Christ is our salvation, righteousness and redemption–as if they had long since outgrown it. This truth can never remain intact when people begin to imagine they are wise and know it all . . .
“Therefore St. Paul most severely rebukes and condemns this shameful wisdom, and makes these connoisseur saints out to be fools.
“He says outright that they know nothing of Christ, or of the Spirit and gifts of God given to us in Christ, and that they had better begin to learn. It takes spiritual folk to understand this.
“The desire to be wise and the pretense of cleverness in the gospel are the very things that really give offense and hinder the knowledge of Christ and God, and create disturbances and contentions.
“This clever wisdom and reason can well serve to make for nothing but mad saints and wild Christians.”
It goes on, but you get Martin’s point . . .
This version is filled with helpful information and insight.
Final reason
I don’t anticipate hitting anyone over the head with this Bible–indeed, I don’t take it out of the house.
My first Bible.
But it’s big enough I don’t have to worry about losing it or breaking it!
Which given what happened to my first, paperback Bible, is probably just as well.
A book filled with stories of God’s love is important and should be easily found.
Tweetables
What’s the deal with a big black Bible? Click to Tweet
The advantages of a Lutheran owning a Lutheran Study Bible. Click to Tweet
Why is that black Bible so big? You could hurt someone! Click to Tweet
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September 22, 2017
An (Imagined) Interview With Biddy Chambers (Part 1)
Don’t think I haven’t wondered.
Last All Saint’s Day, our pastor began the children’s sermon with a question, “Who do you look forward to seeing in heaven?”
He suggested the disciples, Moses, perhaps even Elijah for some excitement.
My mind wondered, “Why stop there? Why not Martin Luther himself, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, or even, Oswald Chambers
?”
I gasped. “But what about Biddy Chambers?”
I trembled. How would I ever face her? Couldn’t I slip into heaven through a back door and avoid her for a few thousand years?
Of course not.
I’d put on a brave smile when I saw her determined face, but feel better to see Oswald standing behind her, laughing.
The first question: Why?
BC: “Why did you write a biography about me?”
MU: Shouldn’t I be asking the questions?
BC “I went to great trouble to shield myself from the world’s scrutiny.”
Perfectly true. Gertrude Annie Hobbs Chambers’ name never appeared in a single Oswald Chambers book. The few times she wrote a foreword, she referred to herself as “B.C.”
The one book she compiled that was not exclusively Oswald Chambers’ words was Oswald Chambers: His Life and Works. In that book of recollections, she referred to “my husband,” when sharing her memories. She didn’t share many.
(If you look for a copy of that long out-of-print book, she’s listed as “Mrs. Bertha Chambers,” which, of course, is not her name.)
But to answer Biddy’s imagined question–I wrote the biography because I thought her life had a lot of things to say to modern believers.
What about Oswald’s teachings?
BC: “Oswald’s teachings were more important than anything I did.”
MU: Perhaps, but you lived out his teachings. Your life exemplified the title of the devotional. You lived your utmost to God‘s highest glory.
BC: “I merely lived as a normal woman serious about Jesus Christ.”
MU: A woman who traveled across an ocean to America looking for a different life by herself in 1908? Who married a man without any money who promised you poverty?
BC: “Oswald painted no romantic pictures.”
She smiled at him.
As I’m sure he would be sitting in on this interview, I’d look at him, too, and raise my eyebrows.
Oswald Chambers: “This is Biddy’s story.”
BC: “We were a well-matched team. He would speak, I would take down and together we would produce the books. Oswald, like his mentor Reader Harris, believed
‘Probably the most lasting of all preaching is with the pen. It continues to speak after the voice is hushed in death.’
“Certainly that proved to be true with Oswald’s teachings.”
MU: I like to say, “Without Oswald we have no inspired words or teachings; without Biddy we have no books, particularly My Utmost for His Highest.”
Oswald Chambers: “The Holy Spirit spoke through me, but without Biddy we wouldn’t be sitting in heaven talking about your biography.”
(See how likable OC is, and funny!)
Haphazard actions
MU: According to Kathleen, Oswald used to say we should look for the haphazard to see God at work.
BC: In “If Ye Shall Ask,” I quote him as saying:
“We must take the discerning of the haphazard arrangements of our lives from God.
“If once we accept the Lord Jesus Christ and the domination of His Lordship, then nothing happens by chance, because we know that God is ordering and engineering circumstances; the fuss has gone, the amateur providence has gone, the amateur disposer has gone, and we know that “all things work together for good to them that love God.”
MU: Kathleen said that describes your life as well. If you had not suffered from bronchitis as a child, none of the books would have been written.
BC: “True. My bronchitis is one of the reasons why I learned shorthand.”
Personal Questions?
MU: The other?
BC: “How can you ask me that question? I was a Victorian woman. We don’t discuss personal family issues.”
MU gazes at her silently.
Biddy’s mother, Emily Gardner Hobbs
BC looks back.
“If they must know, it’s in your book. My mother would be horrified at the facts you uncovered.”
MU (Thinking, “that’s what I was afraid of.”) But it all played a part in what happened to you and why we even know about Oswald Chambers’ teachings today.
BC: “Yes.”
MU waits. “I didn’t dig up anything salacious.”
BC: “Really? My mother, aunt and grandmother are waiting to speak to you next.”
MU sees Mrs. Hobbs, Mrs. Hobbs and Mrs. Gardner listening with raised eyebrows, looking unamused.
BC: “I did think you found interesting facts about Woolwich and you were right about the rocket.”
MU laughing. “You were an infant when that happened. You can’t remember the rocket.”
BC: “Were there any other questions? I’m sure it’s time for tea.”
As I well know, that’s how Biddy sidestepped tricky questions . . .
Part 2 will appear next week, in which we discuss the events in Egypt and the war.
You can purchase a copy here
Tweetables
An imagined interview with Mrs. Oswald Chambers. Click to Tweet
How would Biddy Chambers have reacted to a biography? Click to Tweet
What would you say if you could meet the subject of your biography? Click to Tweet
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September 19, 2017
The Gift of a Birdhouse
Actually, I got 11 birdhouses for my birthday.
It was my idea and I went for it.
A lonely backyard
The view out my kitchen window is of a backyard we’ve worked hard to make friendly.
The weathered fence around the yard and overhanging trees from my neighbor, give us a closed in feeling.
Which is comfortable and we like it that way.
But I wanted color along the back fence for when the flowers no longer bloom around the fountain.
I thought a colorful birdhouse or two would do the trick nicely.
Why stop at two if I could have more?
I visited the local craft store where the balsa wood houses were on sale.
So I bought eleven.
A perfect gift
I’m hard to buy gifts for, so I handed out a birdhouse to my children and Adorable grandchildren.
A project for all ages!
I purchased paint, brushes and silicon spray.
All I asked was for each of them to use their creativity and decorate a birdhouse.
They didn’t have to give me anything else.
(My husband’s gift? He got to hang them.)
The Adorable grandchildren loved the exercise.
The crafty perfect daughter-in-laws planned the projects beautifully.
My sons laughed, as did my daughter.
I got exactly what I wanted.
Turning it into a game
At lunch to celebrate my birthday, they placed the birdhouses on the table and invited me to guess who decorated each one.
That’s a tricky assignment for a mother and grandmother.
I had to make sure no one was offended by my guess.
The crafty daughter-in-law houses were easy–one included sparkling flowers glued onto the sides.
The other featured fine lines carefully placed.
Several cheeky children made it into a game.
The USC student gave me a yellow roof with her school’s initials on one side, and a blue and gold roof with mine on the other.
My fellow UCLA band alumnus child painted his baby blue with UCLA band in gold script.
It got pride of place.
The three year old’s offering included a surprise: she painted the back wall through the entrance hole. Even her mother hadn’t noticed that.
Probably the best decorated one, however, was my grandson who chose the church.
It had two doors that opened and inside he glued a photograph of me and him!
All I have to do is open and close the doors!
Finishing touches
I bought standard paints at the craft store for the houses and I knew they would not weather well outside.
So, I bought silicon spray and sprayed them, two-coat’s worth, to withstand heat and rain.
We’ll see how they manage come winter.
In the meantime, I smile every time I look out the kitchen window and see bright spots of color on the back fence.
I don’t anticipate any birds moving in–and I don’t want any since a neighbor cat lurks out there.
Birdhouse yard decorations–a fun birthday gift for me.
What do you have in your yard to brighten it up?
Tweetables
Simple birdhouses to add color to a bland backyard. Click to Tweet
A birthday gift for someone who has everything–cheap and easy! Click to Tweet
A simple craft even a grandchild can make–a birdhouse! Click to Tweet
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