Guest Post: When Education Lacks a Telos

Note: This is a guest post somehow I miss scheduling for when I am overseas.  This is by our dear brother Josh Niemi.  Sorry Josh!  He is an author of the book Expository Parenting and the website can be found here.  The book’s Facebook page can be found here and he also tweets here.

When Education Lacks a Telos (Ecclesiastes 1:12-18)

What’s the point of education?

For many, the answer is purely materialistic: learn so you can have a good career; get a good career so you can make a lot of money; make a lot of money so you can buy and do a lot of “stuff.” Obviously, this perspective is fraught with danger. With self-indulgent consumerism as the ultimate pursuit, ethics are often just an obstacle to be overcome.

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Guest Post: Saul: Religious but not right with God

Note: This is a guest post since presently I am overseas.  This is by Tom.  Tom is no stranger to those of you who read this blog.  His blog be found here.

Saul: Religious but not right with God 

There are few figures in the Bible sadder than Saul, the first King of Israel. God had ruled Israel directly through his appointed prophets and judges, but the Israelites desired a fleshly king, so that they would “be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles” (1 Samuel 8:20). God directed the prophet, Samuel, to anoint Saul as king. Saul certainly had a regal appearance. Scripture says, “There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people” (9:22). But while Saul’s outward appearance was impressive, his heart was not right with God. Below are some examples of Saul’s rebellious heart from the Book of 1 Samuel: 

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Guest Post: The Importance of daily Devotions

Note: This is a guest post since presently I am overseas.  This is by  Elijah Holston.  He has a store website here. 

I go on long bike rides every Saturday morning, and I have done this for nearly a year straight, (I define “long” as somewhere between 25-50 miles,). Now, when I first started doing this it has hard for me to peddle my bike for any more than two miles, and I can guarantee you that back then the idea of riding my bike 50 miles never entered my mind. But because I gradually increased the distance of my Saturday bike rides over the course of several months, I found it much easier to finish a 50 mile bike ride without being exhausted.

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Guest Post: King David’s Military Genius

Note: This is a guest post since presently I am overseas.  This is by  Μιχαήλ.  He is no stranger to some of you who read this blog.  His blog be found here.

As U. S. Marines on the evening of November 6, 2004, prepared for their assault on the terrorist stronghold of Fallujah, a chaplain anointed them with holy oil. Heavy-metal Christian music played on loudspeakers. A young marine stood up to read a verse from the Bible: how King David overcame the Philistines.

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Singleness, Relationship and Marriage: Good and Bad Reasons

There’s a teaching series on a biblical view of singleness, courtship and marriage I thought I share from Sermon Audio.  I’ve given link to download the MP3 and PDF.  It seems like something that will bless God’s people with its use of Scripture, nuance and application.

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Quick Devotional from Colossians 3:4 (Observation from the Greek)

I’ve been posting later in the day than super early morning of the day since my internet has been down the last two late nights for some reason.  So here goes today’s post!

This is from my daily Greek exercise of sight reading here many months ago, courtesy of Vincent S Artale Jr.

Our text is from the Greek translation of Colossians 3:4.  Here is my translation:

“SENTENCE 4 [LD ὅταν [TP ὁ Χριστὸς TP] φανερωθῇ ‹ ἡ ζωὴ ὑμῶν › LD] [TM τότε
When Christ is revealed, your life therefore

TM] ‹+ καὶ ὑμεῖς +› σὺν αὐτῷ φανερωθήσεσθε ἐν δόξῃ”
you also with Him will be revealed in glory

Here are some observations:

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Bible Contradiction? Was Zechariah Iddo’s son or grandson?

For more of our posts responding to alleged Bible contradictions check out our Collection of Posts Responding to Bible Contradictions.

For today’s post we will tackle the question the Skeptic Annotated Bible asked: Was Zechariah Iddo’s son or grandson?

Here are the two answers which the skeptic believes indicate a Bible contradiction:

Zechariah was Iddo’s son.

“When the prophets, Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them,” (Ezra 5:1)

“And the elders of the Jews were successful in building through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they finished building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decree of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.” (Ezra 6:14)

Zechariah was Iddo’s grandson.

“In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo saying,” (Zechariah 1:1)

(All Scriptural quotation comes from the New American Standard Bible)

Here’s a closer look at whether or not there is a contradiction:

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