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How did the Bible get put together? Part Two

/ timmacbride

We’re continuing our series in how the Bible came about. Yesterday, we looked at the story of how the Old Testament canon was formed. Today, we ask the question: why is the Old Testament canonical for Christians?

Why is the Old Testament canonical for Christians?

So far, this has just been a history lesson. Hopefully interesting history. But what’s it got to do with us. I mean, isn’t the Old Testament just the Jewish Bible? Written by ancient Israelites for ancient Israel? Why is it canonical for us, as Christians?

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How did the Bible get put together? Part One

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Tim begins a new series this week. And thanks, Sheree, for the last two weeks in the book of Acts!

This week will be a little different from normal. Instead of studying a text from the Bible, we’re going to learn about the Bible. Looking at the question: How did the Bible get put together? That is, how did the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament and twenty-seven books of the New Testament – these sixty-six rather diverse pieces of writing – how did they end up in our Bibles? And why these books and not others?

It’s an important question, isn’t it? I mean, if we’re going to spend the other 51 weeks of this year learning from it, conforming our lives to what it says, and believing that God speaks to us through it – it makes sense to spend at least one week finding out how it came to be in the first place! So this week, we ask the question, “how did the canon of Scripture get put together?”

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Be prepared for Christ’s return (Matt 25:1-13)

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Yesterday, we looked at the unexpectedness of Jesus’ return. No one knows the day or hour – not even Jesus himself knew while in human form. It will be sudden, with catastrophic consequences: like people going about their business before being swept away by the flood; like a thief doesn’t phone ahead, but turns up without warning to steal your stuff.

So what should we do? Be ready, keep watch, says Jesus. Despite the delay, act like he could return at any moment, and be found doing what is right. In fact, in today’s story we’re told to make adequate preparation for Jesus’ return.

Matthew 25:1 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

 

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Isaiah 59 – Part 5

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We conclude our series in Isaiah 58-59, with guest writer Rev. Christine Redwood.

God the Warrior

Yesterday we focused on the people finally confessing their sins. Now the attention returns to God’s response. God is presented as the divine warrior:

The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice. He saw that there was no one,    he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm achieved salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him. He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak. Isaiah 59:15b-17

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Resurrection: flash-forward (Part One)

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In our Easter-week series, we look at a rather unusual and often overlooked Good Friday event.

One of my favourite TV shows is NCIS. If you haven’t seen it before, that stands for ‘Naval Criminal Investigation… Somethingorother.’ Clearly that’s not important for enjoying the show. But the reason I mention it this Easter week is one of it’s characteristic film-making techniques. As you come out of every ad break, the first thing you see is a one-second scene in black-and-white. It’s a very brief, flash-forward to the final scene before the next ad break. It gives you a little taste of where the next eight minutes or so of action is heading. So that when you get to that scene, your brain goes – oh, so that’s what that little snapshot was all about. (The producers call it the “foof,” named after the sound that accompanies it, made by the producer hitting a microphone with his hand.)

Now this technique on NCIS is pretty subtle. It took me half a season to realise that’s what was happening. But if you pay attention, you’ll see that our entire media culture is filled with flash-forwards. And often far more obvious ones.

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Why Jesus? – Part Nine

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(If you’re just joining us, you’ll need to start with Part One for the series to make sense.)

Over the last two weeks we worked our way through Israel’s defining story – quickly at first, and then slowing down as we approached the time at which Jesus was about to enter the narrative. We concluded on Friday with a summary of the story as it stands in the closing years of the first century BC:

God’s image-bearers are still in exile, despite being back in the promised land. They were looking forward to a time when the exile would truly be over and all of God’s promises would be fulfilled – a time when they’d be able to bear God’s image the way he always intended.

This week, we change gear to look at how Jesus fits into the story: how he presented his message and ministry as the fulfilment of Israel’s hope – the logical next chapter in the story – as well as how he corrected and challenged some of their expectations as to how that would happen. We start today with how Jesus announced the end of Israel’s exile and the coming reign of God.

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New App for Coffee with the King

/ timmacbride

For 2016 we launch a new free app for Coffee with the King, hosted by AppMakr.com. It works on all Android devices and on iPhones. (It’s not compatible with iPads, but the website should display OK on them anyway.)

How do you download it? The easiest way is to follow these links on your device:

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.appmakr.coffeewiththeking

iPhone: https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/coffee-with-the-king-app/id1057255938?mt=8

Or you can search for it by using:

Android: “coffeewiththeking” no spaces, don’t ask why.

iPhone: “coffee with the king” with spaces.

A Very Coffee Christmas

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Coffee with the King is taking an early Christmas break. (According to the website stats, many of you have been, too!) A trip to a conference in the USA, followed by a quick bout of man ‘flu, made it a little harder to keep up with the writing schedule than I’d anticipated.

We’ll return after the new year with some reposts through Matthew’s Gospel during the summer, as I have a manuscript to finalise for a new book coming out next year. Brand new Coffee with the King will return Wednesday January 27 (just after Australia Day).

Wishing you and yours all the best for Christmas as you persist in swimming against the cultural current in order to make it all about Jesus.