Saturday, January 19, 2013

Inaugural National Prayer Service

I just read that Adam Hamilton is to preach at the Inaugural National Prayer Service this Tuesday, January 22. Eastern time is 10:30 to Noon.
I have 11 of his books, so I want to be sure and watch this.

Adam Hamilton, is the senior pastor of The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, where he preaches to more than 8,000 per week. Adam writes and teaches on life’s tough questions, the doubts with which we all wrestle, and the challenging issues we face today.
See his website here. At the bottom of the page, click on "blog" and read his posts. I especially like the one where he doesn't agree that "everything happens for a reason."
There is also an article about Adam Hamilton at Wikipedia.
Two of his books are at the Atwater Library, but at least 5 more were donated to the library last spring, but they have not been processed yet.
Listen to Adam Hamilton's message and if you like it, request the Adam Hamilton books at the library and maybe they will find the time to process the rest of them. It was requested that the books be shelved in the Atwater branch library.
His books can be purchased at Cokesbury and also at Amazon. Do a search for Adam Hamilton.
The titles donated to the library are:
"Why? Making Sense of God’s Will"
"When Christians Get it Wrong"
"Final Words: From the Cross"
"Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White: Thoughts on Religion, Morality"
"The Journey: Walking the Road to Bethlehem"
"24 Hours That Changed the World" (Leading up to Easter)
"Enough: Discovering Joy Through Simplicity and Generosity"
And maybe a couple more.
I have the latest books he published:
"Christianity’s Family Tree: What Other Christians Believe and Why"
"Forgiveness: Finding Peace Through Letting Go" and
"The Way: Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus"
Adam Hamilton is an excellent writer. He has been to the Holy Lands where he has researched his subjects.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Bummer

Oh, Bummer!! I caught a cold Thursday night and wasn't able to help with the estate sale with the Atwater Methodist people. That was disappointing. Missed church this morning and decided to cancel my appointment with my reflexologist tomorrow morning.
I've been staying inside and trying to keep warm. Maggie the cat and I have taken lots of catnaps. She's become quite a lap-kitty.
I'm thinking I'll have to miss Bible Study tomorrow night also. It will probably be cold at night again.
I have two lunches to go to this week, so I gotta get rid of this head cold.
Last week I went to the Winton Cemetery to get more information for an article I'm writing for the Winton Historical Society's newsletter. While there I took more pictures of tombstones. There are now 964 photos at flickr.
I didn't notice this bench before in the Cypress Gardens area. Looks like a good place to sit and rest awhile. I'm hoping to take more tombstone pictures before the month is over. I'd like to have 1,000 uploaded. Maybe the weather will warm up a little.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Monday Nights

The Monday night Bible Study group started a new series last night. We are studying the book of Hebrews. Last night was the introduction; asking the questions: when was it written, who wrote it and who was the intended audience?
I'm guessing there were 30-35 people in attendance. Everyone brought a Bible and there were several (maybe many) different versions. The people had different answers to the questions. The date it was written varied from 62 AD to 80 AD. In reading parts of the texts, we knew it was written before 70 AD, when the Jewish Temple was destroyed. The best estimate was 68 AD.
The most intriguing question was who wrote the book. One person said Paul; but Paul always indentified himself in his letters to the various churches. My NIV Study Bible said possibly Apollos or Barnabas. Another name came up. Priscilla.
I thought where did that name come from? Flipping back to Acts, and reading chapter 18, we see how knowledgeable Priscilla was. It was fasinating to read that in the beginning of the chapter, her husband Aquila is listed first, but by verse 18, Priscilla is written before her husband's. This was quite surprising to me. Our leader pointed out the significance of that.
But another surprise; the lady sitting next to me had a King James Bible. It never listed Priscilla's name before her husband's. The man to my right had a Living Bible. I don't know how it was written there.
The bottom line is --- I was in for a big surprise, I didn't expect the Book of Hebrews to be so interesting. Of course you have to have a knowledgeable leader to make it so.
Pastor Gregory Floyd is doing an excellent job of that.