My men’s Bible Study Group just completed the first 5 books of the Bible often referred to as the Torah, or Pentateuch or simply the “Books of Moses.” In reading Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy I found it interesting the views that folks have of the Old Testament, especially the books involving God’s commandments or laws. Before I expand I do want to say that varying viewpoints on the scriptures are normal and while none of us are experts many viewpoints are taken from years of teaching and not always from personal (God-given) revelation. That said, I believe that oftentimes the Old Testament gets painted with the large brush that states it’s simply “The Law” and then “The Law”...
I recently read 2 Chronicles chapter 1 for my morning scripture reading...... the account of Solomon (as new King of Israel succeeding his father David) asking God for wisdom and knowledge to rule the people, in response to God appearing to him telling him to "ask for what you want me to give you".( v.7) If you know the story, Solomon was blessed by God with wisdom, knowledge and riches.... yet his heart was gradually led astray by his taking of many wives and concubines who worshiped other gods. It struck me that all the wisdom and knowledge in the world is useless without Obedience...............and how easily we are corrupted by material things, power, comfort and sensual pleasure.............. Read "the...
I recently purchased quite a bit of rough sawn hardwood from someone closing their woodworking shop. Beauties like 8/4 walnut along with cherry, mahogany and maple were a welcome addition to my inventory; however since these boards were rough sawn they did not all come with a straight edge. In lieu of dropping $300 on a benchtop jointer or plenty more on a floor model I came up with a DIY solution for around $25.00. I purchased a pair of 3-Inch Hold Down Clamps (Grizzly G9589) and made a sled to run along my table saw fence. Starting with a squared up piece 3 ½ “ wide oak (choose your length) I glued a piece of ¼” plywood to the...
After doing some research I purchased a WEN 8” 5 speed benchtop drill press as the latest addition to my workshop. (8" denoting that an 8" wide piece of wood is the maximum width one can center a drill hole) This particular drill press received great reviews while having a very affordable price point ($77). Delivery came within a week, the setup was easy and within no time I was drilling straight, consistent holes that were not achievable with my handheld drills. About a month earlier I had agreed to make some small, simple wooden cars that would be placed in boxes and shipped around the world as part of our church’s Operation Christmas Child. I used basic 2...
My wife never ceases to amaze me. This past Sunday we went to our home church and worshipped together; afterwards we were part of a group of hundreds who packed Christmas boxes for Operation Christmas Child (check this outreach ministry: https://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/…/). On our ride home my wife asked me to turn the car around after we passed a homeless man standing on side of the Interstate exit. She said the man just "looked so sad," so we went back, shared with him the love of the Lord and ended up driving him to get something to eat. After dropping the man off my sweet wife was in tears because of the hurt this man was experiencing. I was reminded of...
