Miss Scarlet, With the Rope in the Window

Rahab puts a scarlet rope in her window.

This blood colored symbol on her house is what the messengers of the Lord use to identify her as holy, and as a symbol of their agreement (covenant) it calls death to pass over her and her family- they are saved.

This reminds us of Jesus' blood.

It would not have reminded Joshua of Jesus - (same name, different century).

But it would have reminded Joshua of the Exodus Passover:

The Israelites slaughtered substitutionary lambs - redeeming their firstborn from death. The blood went on the doorposts and lintels.

This blood colored symbol on their house is what the messenger of the Lord used to identify them as holy, and as a symbol of their agreement (covenant) it calls death to pass over such a family- they are saved.

This exodus sign is exactly what Jesus places himself in by dying on the passover, and by claiming that the passover blood is his blood. (To read from Luke 20, click the reference, and read both verses on the page - Luke 22.11,20)

That's just nice.

Shout Out

I apparently got a shout out on a Bookstore Blog this last week.

I went up and talked with Byron K. Borger (owner of Hearts and Minds Books, the awesomest bkstr I have ever been in. So awesome, I just forgot my vowels.

Name Droppedy-pop-pop
Byron has a blurb on the back of Walsh and Keesmaat's Colossians Remixed. When I went up to buy another load of books, Krista and I talked with Byron for a long while (bringing our store visit to around 3 hours). What was he holding? Derek Webb's Mocking Bird. What book did I see coming in the door? Yeah, the Shanester...

So I told him how much Derek Webb's album had changed my life....

And he (Byron) mentions me this month in his Book/Music Review, down at the end of the Derek Webb Section. I think Byron's Shane summary/critique is good too.

Rark On...

Luke

p.s. oh yeah, while the links for books here is on Amazon, I would suggest you buy from hearts and minds...

http://www.heartsandmindsbooks.com

Simply Great

I am very pleased with the new basic "Mere Christianity" apologetic by N. T. Wright:

Click on the link under "Current Reads" at the right side bar.

Luke

I Got the Golden Ticket

I just got tickets to go see N. T. Wright at the N. T. Wright at theNational Cathedral in May. His book, Simply Christian, just came out, and I intend to buy it aussi tôt que possible.

rock out

Big Box Mart

Check out the Big Box Mart film at JibJab.

I likey.

Luke

Comments Back Open

I have now made the comment section open to anyone, but I will be moderating. I was getting comment spam before. So your comments will come to me first and I will approve them to be put on the page. I will approve any non spam - unless I think your comment is unsuitable to the page.

There is also word verification to write a comment, but you no longer have to be a member.

Yoder

I have picked up John Howard Yoder's "The Politics of Jesus" again. When I say "again," I mean that I was forced to read some of it in college. I was a little snobby to it back then, because the author was not a calvinist.

I think his exegesis is really worth engaging. And he makes some great points about the way we handle Jesus as an ethical teacher.

He says - now remember this is Yoder now, not me-

...that one group of us (the Reformed) have tended to so spiritualize the meaning of anything that Jesus says, that we can ignore the practical day to day implications of the call of Jesus about things like economics, power politics and violence. Jesus, we say, was not here to tell me what to do with my money, he was here to tell me what to do with my heart. We instead have created an ethic of "what's responsible and what's necessary for survival," but the source of our ethics is actually something we determine on our end of the hermeneutical work. We do what is "obviously right" according to our times and the needs of today's responsible citizen. But that means the source of our ethic not only does not come from Jesus himself, but that it is given room to conflict comfortably with things Jesus outright said.

"...you cannot serve both God and money..."

"...turn the other cheek..."

"...those who live by the sword will die by the sword..."

"...lend without expecting anything in return..."

"...forgive and you will be forgiven..."

"...woe to you who are rich now, for you have already received your comfort..."

and so on...

Blah blah blah...

See my link to Amazon under the "Current Reads" heading on the link sidebar.

-Luke

Cancer in the Family

My father, we found out recenltly, has cancer. He will eventually begin chemotherapy, but now is recovering from a colon surgery. Pray for his healing.

God Bless,
Luke

Kaine Ktisis! (New Creation!)

We are aware of Baby #2.

Luke