Jephthah and his Tragic Vow

Today's Reading: Judges 11-12 and Luke 6:1-26



Let's be honest, today's passage is one of the most emotionally disturbing in the entire Bible. How do we make sense of Jephthah's tragic vow? Here are two articles (the second one is a response to the first) which might help:

Here is the first article by Miles Van Pelt, who teaches at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi.

Here is the second article by Tamie Davis who writes from Tanzania. She gives a different perspective on the passage.

Crying Out, Abimelech

Today's Reading: Judges 9-10 and Luke 5:17-39

This year I'm posting art that has been inspired by the Bible. And I'm mixing it up, not every day is the same. So today I'm going out on a limb and posting something that probably has a niche audience... opera!

Deep Calls out to Deep

Today's Reading: Judges 7-8 and Luke 5:1-16

The reason I'm doing this year-long Artists Bible Reading Plan is because I saw a dance at an Urbana Conference that has stuck with me ever since. The dance was related to John 1:1 and I will be sharing it later this year. But for today I have another dance by the same worship team. This piece is called "The Deep":

The Deep from InterVarsity twentyonehundred on Vimeo.

Also, I'd love to share this powerful example of narrative preaching, which is when a sermon is delivered in a very engaging, story-based form. Pastor Eugene Lowry is one of the best at this form:

Gideon, an Unexpected Hero

Today's Reading: Judges 4-6 and Luke 4:31-44


Gideon was an unexpected hero. When God first called upon him, he was hiding out in a wine press. He tried to remind God that he was a weak man from a weak tribe. When has that ever stopped God?
The moral of the story is that God is our strength.

Throw Jesus Off a Cliff. And who are Shamgar and Ehud?

Today's Reading: Judges 1-3 and Luke 4:1-30

Today's post is a big one because we're starting Judges, one of my favorite books of the Bible. But first, here's a fantastic video for our Luke passage:

Today from InterVarsity twentyonehundred on Vimeo.

And here are pictures of the actual cliff this scene took place:


Notice the farmland down below. It's crazy to think of these biblical events taking place in what are 'common' places. God is not distant. The entire story of the Bible is about God wanting to be near us.







Others:

Here's a great, albeit slightly older, talk by a guy named Lorne Sanny. In it Lorne uses the single verse on Shamgar to talk about intentional discipleship. I first stumbled on this talk in college and it has stuck with me ever since.

Baptism of Jesus

Today's Reading: Joshua 22-24 and Luke 1





Others:

The Bible miniseries has a scene of Jesus getting baptized -- you can watch it here.

During the Wednesday morning Bible Study, Pastor Steve had the idea that John was baptizing people to see who was the foretold Messiah. It's similar to Cinderella's Prince asking women to try on the glass slipper.

Young Jesus in the Temple

Today's Reading: Joshua 19-21 and Luke 2:25-52

Occasionally this year I'll be going back to the Mormon's youtube channel because, quite honestly, they've done a great job at recreating some of these Bible passages (with videos that are high production and scripted from the Bible itself). Why are mainline Protestant denominations largely absent from youtube? Shouldn't every denomination be creating quality videos that reflect their beliefs?



Others:

Here is more sand art for the Luke passage

The Son of God is Born

Today's Reading: Joshua 16-18 and Luke 2:1-24

This first share was sent to me by Chris Brown and wow, I'm blown away. This is one of the most impressively designed websites I have ever seen. I don't even know what is technically involved to make paintings move with the scroll of a mouse like that. You don't want to miss out on this one --
Here's the link to the site at http://killingjesus.nationalgeographic.com/ and it promotes the television show which premiers this Sunday




Can you imagine what it must have been like in Bethlehem that night? It's incredible to think of God sending His Son to live among us.

Others:



Another ApologetiX parody, this one for the manger scene, called Hotel Can't Afford Ya.

The Hobbit Bible

Today's Reading: Joshua 13-15 and Luke 1:57-80

For your enjoyment -- Zechariah & Elizabeth in a Hobbit trailer. We need more churches thinking of clever/fun ideas like this.



Others:

Sand art of the Luke passage: here on youtube

Jesus is a (Facebook) Friend of Mine

Today's Reading: Joshua 10-12 and Luke 1:39-56

We're doing back-to-back videos from Ignitermedia (because their content is just that good). I encourage you to check out more of their videos on youtube. Yesterday's post was about the foretold baby Jesus, and today's post is that same story but through social media. This idea has popped up in other places which is not a surprise -- it's a fun concept and really well done. Enjoy!