Another note, the Bible I follow to keep the timeline in order, will list a few verses from a chapter, skip to another that is telling the same story, and then back to the first. I haven't been presenting it that way, so we read a full story, then often will read it again. In my goal to read the entire Bible this year, I'll still have both "versions" of the same story in the reading, but I may break it up to more closely match what my Bible shows. If you have an opinion on any of this, by all means, let me know!

Finally, I am considering having two newsletters next year. I want to read the Bible a second time, so the format for this one will not change much. I'll redo much of the commentating, as I'm happier with the improvements I've made and want the next round of newsletters to be every bit as good as they can be. The second newsletter, and this is defiantly not set in stone, would be a shortened version of the Bible. I would only edit the reading to exclude or combine the repeated information and the sections where the reading seems slower to me, such as a census tallies, would be made into footnotes, rather than "required reading."

I have a good 6 months to decide on that one. It would allow for some shorter readings with very little content lost, but would it be wrong to exclude any of the Bible? That is my big question. To let me know what you think about any of this, send me an e-mail and I'll defiantly take your opinion to heart. I'll also appreciate any prayers for me that you can spare. But that kind of goes without saying, doesn't it?

Yours in Christ,

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The first thing he did that is mentioned here is his repairs of the temple. After six years there, he likely saw some things that needed fixing, but it sounds like the needed repairs had gotten rather extensive!

But alas! As soon as Joash's mentor died, Joash let all of his good slip. He must not have been a very strong person on the inside. Of course, when I don't have anybody to exercise with, I tend to sit around too much, so I really can't talk here. My weakness is leading to a larger waistline. Joash's led to a death by his most trusted subjects.

Day 2

Here's an example of how we can turn away from God, but He won't turn away from us. The Israelites were oppressed, originating in their worship of false gods, and God delivered them anyway. He hates the sin, yet loves the sinner. That is the nature of God and that is a nutshell of what we are supposed to strive for.

Day 3

Israel sure did have a bunch of chumps for kings in this time, didn't they? They didn't follow God. They didn't learn from the mistakes of others. They didn't listen to the help that God was still trying to provide. Like I said before. They were chumps.

I remember an intellectual argument once that said that the great fish couldn't be a whale, because whales are mammals. My response? Who cares? It was a large animal that swam in the water and swallowed Jonah whole. Besides, Jonah is the only one who could have settled that argument and he hasn't been around for a few thousand years.

Anyway, Jonah stayed in the belly of the fish for three days and nights. How did he survive? God. How did he get out? His repentance caused God to expel him from that fish in a pretty gross way. But when he got out, he headed straight to Nineveh like he was supposed to and his preaching caused the people there to turn from their evil ways, saving them all! God's grace is mightier than our evils and he wants us to walk in His footsteps, even those of us who seem to be beyond hope!

Day 4

Amos had quite a bit to say here. Actually, he was speaking on behalf of God, foretelling the destruction of many of the sinful nations of the time, and Israel is not excluded from this list. In fact they are highlighted. God decided that their reckoning had come. They were led out of Egypt and given a land to call their own and repaid their deliverer with terrible sins and immorality. Their fall was to be hard, with only a remnant of them when it was done.

This was not without warning, though. The Lord is truly slow to anger, and many generations had passed while He sent problems to the people with the hope that they would turn to him to lift his punishment and lighten their load. Many judges and prophets had spoken to the leaders and the people to leave their idolatry and wickedness and these problems persisted. Punishment was due.

Day 5

This talk caught the attention of the king, who told Amos to leave his territory, but I found Amos' response to be quite...scathing! That's what you call God-inspired courage. The nation was to be destroyed, and the surviving people were to be scattered around the planet. Jewish people are now on every continent and this is why they didn't remain in their sovereign nation. After their destruction, they would be rebuilt, for even in His anger, God is merciful. Amos 9:15 even shows that once they return (shortly after World War II) they would never be removed. The arabic desire to exterminate them, then, is a waste of their time.

Day 6

This is the most obvious prophecy I've seen regarding the coming of Jesus. The virgin birth is as miraculous a sign as they come. This is another passage that is used as transition and to tell of signs of great things to come. God doesn't wait until a miracle is performed to take responsibility. He announces it far in advance. He also doesn't choose some chance encounter that would be easy to duplicate. He takes the impossible and makes it happen by His will alone. Our God is an awesome God!

Day 7

In this reading, we hear more signs of what the messiah is to be like. In these signs, it looks to me that the Jewish people, while still loved by God, were no longer to be the favored group. Or rather, they were no longer seen as the chosen ones to build up God's kingdom on earth. This was to become a kingdom of all races, colors and creeds. One that anyone could belong to. This group's description is Christianity. The church would be spread throughout the world under many names, but all would be held together by faith in God and His coming son.

This light of the world was to be Jewish, though, and this is another sign of His continuing love for Israel. In fact, this son would be born of the line of Jesse, through David.

Weekly Link The Many Moods Of Mona Lisa Why does the Mona Lisa just sit there with as neutral an expression as possible? Why can't she show just a little passion, or at least some emotion? Well now we can impose any face on her that we feel is appropriate. Who says the artist is correct here? I get to determine the look of one of the most famous paintings of all time!

I hope you enjoyed this e-zine. If you know anyone else who would enjoy this newsletter, please forward this e-mail to them or direct them to http://www.coffeeswirls.com/weeklybible/
Thanks for sharing my goal of reading the Bible in its entirety this year!