Micah and Prophecies of Jesus

This Sunday evening we did the entire book of Micah. It was written about 700 BC or so. It has a couple of very famous verses:

5:2 But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times.

This turns out to be the only place in the Old Testament where the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem is prophesied. For some reason, I was under the impression that it appeared several places. It is quoted in multiple Gospels. I confess to being a little disappointed that the prophecy of Bethlehem is not repeated elsewhere in the Old Testament.

6:8 And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

What a wonderfully concise statement about what God really wants from His people. Micah was rejecting the law-based route to pleasing God, and re-stating what God has so many times told His people.

We had an interesting discussion about how the Jewish culture and religion has lasted over 3000 years despite many invasions, exiles, and other hardships. What other great cultures have a similar record? The Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Persians, Vikings, Ottomans, and many other empires have come and gone, but the Jewish identity has survived.

Ugh...

So I finally find myself wth the time to actually update this a little. So it pretty much plays out like this...I was gone most weekends in March traveling so I didn't attend young adults so I couldn't actually write anything and no one stepped up in my absense and posted anything on here...so the shame isn't really mine but belongs to those of you who did nothing...for shame...for shame...

Last week I was gone to a wedding in Ne but Steve Christopher and Tim Potoff graced us with their presence to help us to better understand their roles in the church, in particular T-Pots aswe have previously heard from Steve. I guess it was a rather informative night and I am slightly sad I missed it but I was pretty beat from catching red eye flights all weekend.

This week was a whole new ball game and I actually made it. We finished Ecclisiastes a few weeks ago now and were looking to delve into the stories of the Bible that we read as children. We started the evening off with custom made grilled cheese sandwhiches as well as home-made tomato soup with Basil. We had less than the required 7 but we were going to do Bible study anyways...just never really materialized. We did the question of the day which was what is the most jealous you have been or something along those lines and after that we got side tracked onto the Bible verse that should be associated with Connections...which we found and unilaterally decided to use. We also threw out some ideas of stories that we wanted to read like Samson and Delila and Caina & Abel. If you have ideas/stories either post them here or bring them along when you come next time as I'm sure we can read and discuss them...

That pretty much sums up the night. we got distracted and on what exactly, I don't know but I was compared to the snake/devil in the garden of Eden; thanks Laura...interesting side note...the most read book in the world is the Bible and the most shoplifted book in the World is...you guessed it, the Bible...something to think about...

Whomps!!!

So it seems that it is the time of year when pople are coming into Spring Break so we are getting to see familiar faces the next few weeks!

Well, I recapped last week with a summary of the previous three weeks...unfortunately nothin' big really happened this week. LeAnna swung into town for the week and Jordan swung into town on Saturday for...well..this current week. Louis said that he will be in town for his break in another two weeks but he managed to show up Sunday 'casue some sucker chick paid most of his gas to get here.

So Sunday was a celebration of Lutheran Schools week for those of you not in the know...so those that are here and went to church were treated to a wonderfulopen house by the school....yyyyeeaaa...maybe it wasn't that wonderful but it was there and celebrating the work and out reach of the school as well as th individuals that make it up IS important...

Those in town were also treated to a wonderful concert by the chorale of Valparaiso...it was alright, pretty relaxing and the skill demonstrated was impressive but it just sounded like latin to me...well more so pretty music but none the less...I did manage to show Karen that it is a good idea to turn off or put your phone on silent ;-)

With so many of us adopting some students from Valparaiso we decided to forego the usual questions and Bible study to play games and entertain them. Unfortunately, Jordan stole Karen and Daves and Jenna's and Newman's flaked out we were left only with Mark and Hanna's...they seemed nice but I felt out of my element in talking with them as all they knew was singing...yea...uhhh...Luckily I brought my PS2 and some guitar hero as Jenna said she aways wanted to play that...way to flake out...next time drag them along...

Next week we plan on actually getting back into reading the Bible. I won't see if that happens a I am slated to be in Texas...well...flyin home actually...Hopefully someon else is able to sep in/ fill my shoes while I'm gone otherwise I might talk to you in April? Also...the potluck has been postponed until April as March is pretty packed so we will talk about this on the upcoming Sunday. Furthermore, it has also been suggested/brought up that we bake bread for the new apartments down the street from the church...just keep that in mind as it sounds like it will probably happen at Karen's

Well...hopefully we see some of you that have been reading this while you are away at school in the next few weeks or those that have been skipping out on us...(cough...cough...Rachelle...)

And here you go...

Well…So I have apparently been receiving some flack about not updating the blog on a regular basis as of late…sue me, I’ve been busy and we haven’t done to much…

So let’s recap what you might of missed for those playing along at home…

Ummm…the Knapps were out of town the previous two weeks so we were relocated to Mark and Hanna’s place. The first week, the 10th I believe, was just the usual subjects and Hanna made us dinner. Nice salad and mark cooked up some brautts(?) and we cracked open some wine and beers. We were also graced by one of Amanda’s friends who I believe was called Joe. Mark claims that he is a liar as he told him he would be back next week and Joe knew full well that he would not be he still told Mark that he would. This apparently hurt Mark, I think he must have had a man crush on him or something.

We had more than seven but we weren’t really feeling doing the reading, it’s alright, we got two chapters the previous week, so we decided to take Karen’s advice and watch the movie “the Ultimate gift.” It was alright, we learned some valuable lessons, that you should hang out in the cancer wing of a childrens hospital to get the hot single moms. I started volunteering at the one in Oakland, totally doesn’t work so scratch that idea. Jk

The week after that it was once again at Mark and Hanna’s. This time dinner was supplied by Shawna who brought like a tator tot casserole of sorts. It was pretty good. That week we decided to read even though we had less than 7. We read chapters 3 and 4 of Eccliastes. But before we did that we listened to the Birds sing the song that mirrors part of chapter 3. Ehhh…it was alright.

So this last Sunday the Knapps made it back into town and so we were back at the usual spot. We had a nice meatloaf for dinner. Karen cracked open a new question book but it wasn’t quite PG rated so we might not get too many questions out of it. We continued reading Eccliastes and once again read 2 chapters. I’m pretty sure we read 5 and 6 but as I don’t have a bible in front of me it is hard to say. Needless to say the message was still the same; everything is meaningless, you are all going to die, you can’t take it with you….same old depression mood as before. Glad someone could chose this book and not stick around to enjoy it…hmmmm….

The Road Less Traveled

“The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry”

That phrase most aptly describes last Sunday and the usual shenanigans…

Last Sunday was a busy Sunday. There was the usual service and sequel but as a bonus we also got this wonderful voters meeting which I skipped so if you want details on that then you will have to talk to someone else. I’m pretty sure it was almost entirely about the 6 targets and progress towards them as that is what he lamented on in his sermon.

I was minding my own business resting up in order to attend to the things that I had planned on doing Sunday when unexpected visitors dropped by on my door. They came with promises of beer with secret plans. I thought…ok…this can’t take all day so I might as well go for a bit but alas, I was wrong.

So I climb into the car and 45 minutes later we are in rainy San Francisco…looking for a brewery that magically doesn’t exist. We circled the block thrice times in search of said beer and parking but to no avail…we kindly ask some passerby’s for directions to this magical place and they look at there watch as it was before noon and said they did not know of this place but there were several bars the next block over and gave us directions to the nearest AA…

Impatiently and lusting for the magical elixir, we suggest to our driver to take us someplace else. She thought and scratched her head and then came the moment were she exclaimed “A-ha…I have just the place!” We wisked through traffic in the rain, zigging, zagging as we go, making our way to this place. We circled and found a place to leave the car and marked boldly into the rain. We arrived at the place with delight snd promptly were seated. Quickly we found out that we were out of our element. We asked for nachos, we asked for garlic fries but neither were there to be obtained. We settled for beer and fries and dessert as well as being ignored by our waitress. We ate, we drank, we talked and laughed and left our waitress with little more than that.

We scurried back to whence we came and once again were on the road. We took a different way to get back to where we knew but arrived safely at home.

The moral of this magical tale…don’t leave Newman in charge of the paper with the directions/plans on it!

Young adults was the usual thing. We had fruity pork or something along those lines. It was just the usual suspects present. The question that came up that night was what city best describes you character.

We started into Eccliastes after little debate the week before. Strangely…the person that suggested the chapter wasn’t present. Apparently, going on a date on a Sunday night was FAR more important than doing a little Bible study. Hmmm…Oh well I guess. We trudged on without her and managed to go through the first two chapters. For those unfamiliar with the book, the general mood is depressing and it basically said how everything is meaningless.

So this upcoming Sunday is Supper Bowl Sunday. I have no clue when kick off is but I think the general consensus is to show up before the game and Karen will show up sometime when she gets back from her trip down south. Mark and Hanna already said they don’t like hanging out with us so they won’t be there…

Nag nag nag...

Well, it was brought to my attention last night that I have not updated the blog in over a month; like I didn’t realize that. Like most of you, Christmas time is busy time and I have therefore lacked the energy (I was sick for a week), motivation, and time to update the blog. I’m not even sure if I can do it from work anymore as they keep tightening our internet. That is why I’m typing it up in a word document at work so I can just email it to myself if I can’t actually post it.

So….without further a duo…blog update….

The holiday season is in our past and it looks to be a long stretch before another major holiday. I can’t MK Jr day as my work doesn’t give it off like you people at schools. All of the people at Christmas break have headed back to school but those that we didn’t get to see over break miraculously showed up! We had this delightful little surprise of Louis being back along with Rochelle being present. Mark and Hanna proved to us that these “other friends” are not imaginary like my other friends but real people with names, Joel & Nikki.

For those of you following along at home this is how Sunday pretty much went…

Church was at the usual time with the usual suspects. Dave gave a great children’s message; I actually paid attention to it which was really good ‘cause as soon as pastor started talking I was off in my own world and can not for the life recollect one word of what he said except the fact that he kept disappearing behind the cross. I’m sure I didn’t miss too much and watching my niece was more entertaining.

I don’t know about the rest of you but I pretty much lounged around the rest of the day. It is difficult to be overly motivated on gloomy looking days. It did afford me the opportunity to play some video games and watch some tv. For whatever reason I was tired but I didn’t want to take a nap so I could go to bed at a decent time. That didn’t happen. I almost didn’t even go last night so that I could just go to sleep….

Last night we had a car themed/decorated dinner. We had hamburgers that Dave grilled out in the dark along with tatter tots and pork and beans. Oh…and beer! Something about it being in honor of my impending birthday….

The question of the day was what was your most recurring dream. I had nothing. I don’t seem to really remember my dreams unless I actively try but I typically don’t. Jenna apparently dreams about someone she went to kindergarten with trying to kill her….hmmm…good question for insight into people’s minds. Thank goodness mine is simple…

Well, it finally happened. We finally were able to finish Hebrews. We read chapter 13 which was a good summary of the rest of the book. Kind of a cliff notes which is helpful to those with short attention spans. That was pretty much the night in a nutshell.

But there is some formalities to address. First being that if you didn’t hear the cabin trip thing is postponed/off until further notice. If you didn’t hear about it in the first place than you probably don’t care. Secondly, we will not be having a party as typically is done after the finish of a book. Rather, we will dive straight into Ecclesiastes, which was suggested by Rochelle. Somehow she had the charisma or charm to beat out all of the suggestions of the previous week. In fact, after she said that there was no discussion just decision. We will have our party on Super Bowl Sunday instead and I can pretty much guarantee that there will not be any bible reading involved. Supposedly I was volunteered to make chili again. Hopefully my busy schedule allows for it. It will be held at the Knapps. The following two weeks in February will be at Mark and Hanna’s as Karen and Dave will be out of town doing something somewhere. Yea…I think that pretty much sums things up for the last few weeks and gives a head start on what’s coming up. Check your emails to see if Hanna sends any new info out and if you aren’t on the email list you can add yourself I think on the left side as a comment and we will add you…

Ahhh…back to work…