The Word in Unexpected Places: Patrick O’Brian

I was reading Patrick O’Brian’s sea adventure novel HMS Surprise, and ran into this wonderful passage that reminded me of the “prosperity gospel”:

…But when the parson announced the text of his sermon, Mr Stanhope’s mind wandered far away to the coolness of his parish church at home, the dim light of sapphires in the east window, the tranquillity of the family tombs, and he closed his eyes.

He wandered alone. The moment the Reverend Mr White said, ‘The sixth verse of Psalm 75: promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south,’ the flagging devotion of the midshipmen to leeward and of the lieutenants to windward revived, sprang to vivid life. They sat forward in attitudes of tense expectancy; and Jack [the captain], who might be called upon to preach himself, if he were to command a ship without a chaplain, reflected, ‘A flaming good text, upon my word.’

Yet when at length it appeared that promotion cameth not from the north either, as the sharper midshipmen had supposed, but rather from a course of conduct that Mr White proposed to describe under ten main heads, they slowly sank back; and when even this promotion was found to be not of the present world, they abandoned him altogether in favour of reflections upon their dinner, their Sunday dinner, the plum-duff that was simmering under the equatorial sun with no more than a glowing cinder to keep it on the boil…

How often do our minds wander when we are disappointed to find that the sermon offers no immediate application or reward?

Can an elder be divorced?

Bill Mounce looks at 1 Timothy 3:2 and the Greek behind it:

Paul urges Timothy to insist that an elder is above approach. What this means is laid out in the following verses, and one of the requirements is that he is “a man of one woman,” or, “a husband of one wife,” mias gunaikos andra. What does this mean?

Read more at Can an elder be divorced?.

Gospel Lists

I’ve been meaning to share this one for a while… Rebecca Writes has a great series of posts listing Bible verses about the Gospel:

• Gospel List 1 – a series of verses answering the question “What is the Gospel?”
• Gospel List 2 – a series of verses describing what we should do with the Gospel
• Gospel List 3 – lastly, verses describing what the Gospel itself does

Responses to Newsweek’s Cover Story on Homosexuality

There are, as you can imagine, quite a few Christian responses floating out there to the Newsweek cover story on homosexuality and the Bible.

Among them…

• Christianity Today editorializes.
• Justin Taylor summarizes and links to Robert Gagnon’s 23-page response here.
• Darrell Bock responds here.
• Jeff Robinson of CBMW begins a series of responses here.
• John Mark Reynolds comes to the conclusion that the Bible’s support of traditional marriage is obvious.

Calvin’s Commentaries – $99

Just in time for the holidays… A 22-volume set of Calvin’s commentaries on Scripture is on sale at CBD through Thursday night for only $99. This is a great deal, as the “retail” on the set is $1000, and the “regular” heavily discounted CBD price is $179 in their last catalog.

I own this set and it’s a great reference from one of the best expositors of Scripture in history.

Calvin’s Commentaries, 22 Volumes – By: John Calvin – Christianbook.com.

Why Haddon Zerubbabel

Where does “Haddon Zerubbabel” come from? And how do I say “Zerubbabel”?

Haddon

The name “Haddon” is in honor of the great Baptist preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892). To learn more about Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the best resource on the web is Phil Johnson’s Spurgeon Archive at spurgeon.org.

There, you can find (among other things):

• A very brief biography of Spurgeon (with links to a ton of other biographies)
• A slightly longer, but still concise, bio
• A whole huge archive of Spurgeon’s writings and sermons

If you want to read a good short book by Spurgeon, I highly recommend All of Grace, available online for free.

Spurgeon once said that the secret to his highly regarded preaching was this: “I take my text and make a bee-line to the cross.”

Zerubbabel

According to Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary:

ZERUBBABEL [zeh RUB uh buhl] (offspring of Babylon) — head of the tribe of Judah at the time of the return from the Babylonian Captivity; prime builder of the Second Temple.

Zerubbabel is a shadowy figure who emerges as the political and spiritual head of the tribe of Judah at the time of the Babylonian captivity. Zerubbabel led the first group of captives back to Jerusalem and set about rebuilding the Temple on the old site. For some 20 years he was closely associated with prophets, priests, and kings until the new Temple was dedicated and the Jewish sacrificial system was reestablished.

If you’d like to read more about Zerubbabel (and listen to his name pronounced), try these links:

• Zerubbabel leads the Jewish exiles back to Jerusalem and begins rebuilding the temple: Ezra 3-5
• Census of those who returned with Zerubbabel: Nehemiah 7, 12
• Prophecies concerning Zerubbabel: Haggai 1-2
• More prophecies: Zechariah 4
• Zerubbabel was also an ancestor of Christ. For his place in the genealogy, see Matthew 1:12-13 and Luke 3:27

Haggai 2:4-7

4 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the Lord. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. Work, for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts, 5 according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. 6 For thus says the Lord of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. 7 And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. (ESV)

Zechariah 4:6-7

6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. 7 Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’” (ESV)