September 25, 2007 5:42 AM
Sam wrote:
Prov 25. V20. Vinegar on soda? I wonder what he meant...they hadn't invented 'soda' as a soft drink then. It probably means sodium carbinate (soda is our nickname for it). The KJV has this word translated as nitre, which is a variant of niter, which is sodium nitrate. I wish translaters would be more specific. I am not sure what happens when you pour very old wine (vinegar) on sodium carbinate or sodium nitrate, but more than likely some sort of visible action would occur. And probably an undesireable action, as well. I believe that is his point here....don't be over joyful when others are sad --- you should be mourning with them instead. Now, that is not to say you should not bring joy to the depressed, but I think he might be talking about people REALLY sorrowful for, say, like the loss of a family member, and we should be mourning with that person instead of having a joyful party. We have to show sensitivity. How about you guys---any thoughts on this proverb (25:20)??
Acts 25. Festus, the Roman appointed Governor, not the sidekick in Gunsmoke, was also as much of a wimp as his predecessor, Felix. No guts. Couldn't make a decision. Afraid of the Jews, afraid of the Romans. This guy reminds me of some folks today. Non-daring, yes-men, whose primary focus is self preservation instead of saving others. A lot of Christians, myself included, can easily fall into this category of be self centered. We demonstrate it when we don't share our conversion story with others (as Paul has done repeatedly in the NT). We are wimpish in nature when we don't have the guts to BRAG about Jesus and share that gospel. Although we are not Romon-appointed Governors, we are Jesus-appointed ministers. And that is what we should be doing. Being BRAVE and spreading the Word of God. Today, instead of being a Festus, let's try to be a Let Us, that is, LET US minister. Reply to this
September 25, 2007 7:46 AM
Tony wrote:
Proverbs 25 Great advice that we all should follow. Acts 25 Paul was a patient person, unlike most of us. I, we, most likely would have lost faith by now. Give us a couple of weeks of hardship and we are different, let alone a couple of years. The Jew must have been really mad to keep after him even though he had been in prison for 2 years. Reply to this
Well, YUH!!!, it IS great advice...what did you GET out of it? What did you not understand? What pearls of wisdom can you provide to us? Surely something jumped out at you that either 1, you didn't understand, or 2, you think would be wise words to expound upon. Tomorrow evening, Rick's house...7 PM. Reply to this
September 25, 2007 8:31 AM
rik wrote:
vs 10 talks about reputation. if someone gets a bad reputation weather it is a lousy neighbor, a lazy worker, or something along those lines it is very difficult to change that reputation, in fact this scripture says "never" when it comes to changing that rep. this leads me to first impressions. they are the beginning of your rep with a new person. if your initial contact with a new individual is not spiritual in some way (I believe a spiritual encounter is one without some sort of sinful nature being involved) it may be to encourage that new "friend" to become a Christian. for example when i was a non Christian I met a coworker who would smoke cigs and look at dirty mags yet he professed Christ. even as the heathen I was I somehow knew that didn't add up. So as we go along in our day and meet new people or get to know someone better lets make sure we are full of grace and seasoned with salt (Col 4-6). Reply to this
September 25, 2007 8:43 AM
Sam wrote:
Good comments....first impressions are so important. SO, as we normally run across a 'new' person most days, it would behoove us to be on our best behavior at ALL times. Reply to this
September 25, 2007 11:44 AM
rik wrote:
how do you stop at the end of chapter 25, I could not. the drama that is unfolding in these chapters is so exciting. I think King Agrippa wanted to hear this news about Jesus. His curiosity overwhelmed him. Paul was just another prisoner to a King, and kings do not burden themselves with small matters, no this King wanted to know more about Jesus. I also think Paul figured this out. Paul was obviously a very intelligent man. he would have known a King doesn't see prisoners, and on short notice too! He had enough humility to know he was just a man. so what would the king really want? to know about this man they called Jesus. think about this: a prisoner standing before a bunch of officials bold enough to basically try to convert the king. he had to believe there was hope that his hunch was right and in ch 26 if appears it was. of course this is all speculation, but to me it makes since. Reply to this
September 25, 2007 1:06 PM
Rich wrote:
Reading about Paul these past couple of days has increased my appreciation for him. I always think of Paul as being a warrior, an in-your-face type of guy. A guy who wanted to always be on the move and in the thick of things.
I wonder how he felt sitting in prison for over 2 years (even if it was more or less house arrest, it was still restrictive) knowing that the people who put him there, and were keeping him there, were the incompetents, Felix and Festus. Paul spoke with these guys face to face. He had to know what goofs they were. And yet Paul submitted to their authority (as he teaches us to do). As best I can tell, he did not lash out at them and I assume he did not develop bad attitudes. And, most of all, I am pretty sure he did not lose his faith in God. Here God lets him sit falsely accused, under the control of incompetents, for over 2 years - and Paul is still trying to convince Festus that faith in Jesus is the way to life! He shares his conversion story under these circumstances. I struggle with even believing that God exists when things seem to go wrong with me. I consider bad times and situations as being embarrassing. It is like, look at how messed up things are in my life right now (marriage, kids, health, etc.) - what do I have to share with you! Paul doesn't even seem to care about any of this. He just preached Jesus. He looked at the situation as an advantage to him. Because he was falsely accused and unrightly locked up, he got to share with a king (next chapter - like Rick, I could not stop at the end of 25). I have a new prayer - to be more like this in my life. To have faith that is not dependent on how things are going, but to be the same "in good times and bad." Reply to this
September 25, 2007 1:31 PM
Sam wrote:
GREAT STUFF TODAY...glad to see all of the thought in this stuff...helps me to better understand what the Bible is trying to teach us. Reply to this
Prov 25. V20. Vinegar on soda? I wonder what he meant...they hadn't invented 'soda' as a soft drink then. It probably means sodium carbinate (soda is our nickname for it). The KJV has this word translated as nitre, which is a variant of niter, which is sodium nitrate. I wish translaters would be more specific. I am not sure what happens when you pour very old wine (vinegar) on sodium carbinate or sodium nitrate, but more than likely some sort of visible action would occur. And probably an undesireable action, as well. I believe that is his point here....don't be over joyful when others are sad --- you should be mourning with them instead. Now, that is not to say you should not bring joy to the depressed, but I think he might be talking about people REALLY sorrowful for, say, like the loss of a family member, and we should be mourning with that person instead of having a joyful party. We have to show sensitivity. How about you guys---any thoughts on this proverb (25:20)??
Acts 25. Festus, the Roman appointed Governor, not the sidekick in Gunsmoke, was also as much of a wimp as his predecessor, Felix. No guts. Couldn't make a decision. Afraid of the Jews, afraid of the Romans. This guy reminds me of some folks today. Non-daring, yes-men, whose primary focus is self preservation instead of saving others. A lot of Christians, myself included, can easily fall into this category of be self centered. We demonstrate it when we don't share our conversion story with others (as Paul has done repeatedly in the NT). We are wimpish in nature when we don't have the guts to BRAG about Jesus and share that gospel. Although we are not Romon-appointed Governors, we are Jesus-appointed ministers. And that is what we should be doing. Being BRAVE and spreading the Word of God. Today, instead of being a Festus, let's try to be a Let Us, that is, LET US minister.
Reply to this
Proverbs 25
Great advice that we all should follow.
Acts 25
Paul was a patient person, unlike most of us. I, we, most likely would have lost faith by now. Give us a couple of weeks of hardship and we are different, let alone a couple of years. The Jew must have been really mad to keep after him even though he had been in prison for 2 years.
Reply to this
Tony.....You're a man of few words.
Well, YUH!!!, it IS great advice...what did you GET out of it? What did you not understand? What pearls of wisdom can you provide to us? Surely something jumped out at you that either 1, you didn't understand, or 2, you think would be wise words to expound upon.
Tomorrow evening, Rick's house...7 PM.
Reply to this
Mr. MOFW
so do you mean 25 the whole chapter or just vs 25?
Reply to this
vs 10 talks about reputation. if someone gets a bad reputation weather it is a lousy neighbor, a lazy worker, or something along those lines it is very difficult to change that reputation, in fact this scripture says "never" when it comes to changing that rep. this leads me to first impressions. they are the beginning of your rep with a new person. if your initial contact with a new individual is not spiritual in some way (I believe a spiritual encounter is one without some sort of sinful nature being involved) it may be to encourage that new "friend" to become a Christian. for example when i was a non Christian I met a coworker who would smoke cigs and look at dirty mags yet he professed Christ. even as the heathen I was I somehow knew that didn't add up. So as we go along in our day and meet new people or get to know someone better lets make sure we are full of grace and seasoned with salt (Col 4-6).
Reply to this
Good comments....first impressions are so important. SO, as we normally run across a 'new' person most days, it would behoove us to be on our best behavior at ALL times.
Reply to this
how do you stop at the end of chapter 25, I could not. the drama that is unfolding in these chapters is so exciting. I think King Agrippa wanted to hear this news about Jesus. His curiosity overwhelmed him. Paul was just another prisoner to a King, and kings do not burden themselves with small matters, no this King wanted to know more about Jesus. I also think Paul figured this out. Paul was obviously a very intelligent man. he would have known a King doesn't see prisoners, and on short notice too! He had enough humility to know he was just a man. so what would the king really want? to know about this man they called Jesus. think about this: a prisoner standing before a bunch of officials bold enough to basically try to convert the king. he had to believe there was hope that his hunch was right and in ch 26 if appears it was. of course this is all speculation, but to me it makes since.
Reply to this
Reading about Paul these past couple of days has increased my appreciation for him. I always think of Paul as being a warrior, an in-your-face type of guy. A guy who wanted to always be on the move and in the thick of things.
I wonder how he felt sitting in prison for over 2 years (even if it was more or less house arrest, it was still restrictive) knowing that the people who put him there, and were keeping him there, were the incompetents, Felix and Festus. Paul spoke with these guys face to face. He had to know what goofs they were. And yet Paul submitted to their authority (as he teaches us to do). As best I can tell, he did not lash out at them and I assume he did not develop bad attitudes. And, most of all, I am pretty sure he did not lose his faith in God. Here God lets him sit falsely accused, under the control of incompetents, for over 2 years - and Paul is still trying to convince Festus that faith in Jesus is the way to life! He shares his conversion story under these circumstances. I struggle with even believing that God exists when things seem to go wrong with me. I consider bad times and situations as being embarrassing. It is like, look at how messed up things are in my life right now (marriage, kids, health, etc.) - what do I have to share with you! Paul doesn't even seem to care about any of this. He just preached Jesus. He looked at the situation as an advantage to him. Because he was falsely accused and unrightly locked up, he got to share with a king (next chapter - like Rick, I could not stop at the end of 25). I have a new prayer - to be more like this in my life. To have faith that is not dependent on how things are going, but to be the same "in good times and bad."
Reply to this
GREAT STUFF TODAY...glad to see all of the thought in this stuff...helps me to better understand what the Bible is trying to teach us.
Reply to this