Here is my liturgy for Chalking the Door at the end of Christmastide. There doesn’t seem to be a common liturgy published anywhere so I created my own and this is what my wife and I do every January 5. Feel free to download.
From the Schuyler Announcement: Schuyler will be introducing the NLT PSQ this year as well as the NKJV Stridon. We will also be introducing more of our aniline calfskin options: desert camel, chestnut, tuscany, saddle brown, siena, olive green, Prussian blue – as well as our faithful black pearl and black goatskin options!! These will be available throughout our line of Bibles. The newly designed ESV will have an apocrypha option as well. This is going to be printed next month. We will also be collaborating with Crossway to produce more Heirloom Study Bibles and perhaps more Heritage editions!
As is often the case, inflation is putting pressure on our prices, as well as the fact that our Bibles are made in the Netherland and Germany (with French paper). The Bible craftsmen and materials in these countries are the best in the world, but they come with a corresponding price tag…
We truly appreciate our Bible community. The Word is such a gift to this generation. We hope that we steward this gift wisely since in our present darkness, the LIGHT that the Word produces is critical and consequential.
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” (Psalm 119:105)
For my One-Year Bible Reading Charts click here.
I spent a good portion of my time in the month of December 2023 researching bible reading plans and could not come up with a happy medium or compromise with everything I was seeking. After careful consideration and planning, I produced my own custom Bible reading plan that is constructed precisely the way I like it.
CHRONOLOGICAL NEW TESTAMENT
This plan is unique in that it combines several different approaches to a reading plan as follows: First, I wanted to read the Gospels in chronological order. There are several planes out on the internet that accomplish this, however, I wanted the New Testament to be of a different structure than the Old Testament. I used the Bible Reading Plan Generator to assemble the passages for the New Testament. This generator offers the user several different options to obtain the plan that fits best. I compared to other chronological reading plans and many of them chopped up the chapters into verses like this popular plan found at the back of the ESV Study Bible.
I don’t watch much television these days, and don’t tend to keep up with what is new or popular on TV. One show, however, has caught my attention because of its notoriety, and its subject matter. The Chosen, which has been on air for a few years now, seeks to depict the life and ministry of Jesus Christ in the form of a television series. The series has been met with rave reviews, with thousands of professing Christians lending their support for the series, and a 90%+ rating on major review sites. I have only heard about it because of the success it seems to be having within the church, as more and more Christians talk about it. However, I find this new excitement over The Chosen concerning, and would warn Christians from watching the show for the following 3 reasons.
The Chosen Violates The 2nd Commandment
Christians ought to make quick work of discerning whether or not to watch The Chosen by simply recognizing that it violates the 2nd Commandment. For reference, here is the 2nd Commandment given in Exodus 20:4-6:
Continue readingYou shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Exodus 20:4-6 ESV
This is the Daily Bible Reading Plan that is published in the ESV Study Bible by Crossway. Similar to many plans, it provides for reading the NT and Psalms twice a year while reading the OT in a year. The plan is broken up into 4 sections:
Every day of the year, the reader will read a chapter or so from 4 different sections of the bible. The list is numbered rather than dated to accommodate for a missed day or needing to take a break.
Continue readingThe Crusades were a series of religious wars between Christians and Muslims started primarily to secure control of holy sites considered sacred by both groups. In all, eight major Crusade expeditions—varying in size, strength and degree of success—occurred between 1096 and 1291. The costly, violent and often ruthless conflicts enhanced the status of European Christians, making them major players in the fight for land in the Middle East.
By the end of the 11th century, Western Europe had emerged as a significant power in its own right, though it still lagged behind other Mediterranean civilizations, such as the Byzantine Empire (formerly the eastern half of the Roman Empire) and the Islamic Empire of the Middle East and North Africa.
In 1095, Alexius sent envoys to Pope Urban II asking for mercenary troops from the West to help confront the Turkish threat. Though relations between Christians in the East and those in the West had long been fractious, Alexius’s request came at a time when the situation was improving.
Continue readingThe music superstar quoted scripture, asking the crowd, ‘What good will it be for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?’
Global Latin music star Daddy Yankee recently bid farewell to his music career and announced he will be dedicating his life to evangelizing the world “for Jesus.”
During the final show of his farewell tour in Puerto Rico on Sunday, the “Gasolina” and “Despacito” star said a tearful goodbye to his fans and claimed that he would be giving the rest of his life to Christ, as he has found committing to Christianity much more meaningful.
Continue readingThe North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church voted Saturday to accept the decision of 261 congregations to leave the denomination over a divide on LGBTQ issues.
“I realize how sad this time is for many, including myself,” said Bishop Robin Dease, the leader of the conference. “I just hate that those who are leaving us, I will not have the opportunity to meet or to be with.”
The churches are breaking from the UMC after a 2019 decision by the national United Methodist Church to allow congregations to leave by the end of 2023, “for reasons of conscience regarding a change in the requirements and provisions of the Book of Discipline related to the practice of homosexuality or the ordination or marriage of self-avowed practicing homosexuals.”
Continue reading
General Synod’s narrow vote in favour means services to celebrate gay marriages could be held within weeks
Dedicated church services to bless the weddings of same-sex couples could be held within weeks, after a narrow vote at the Church of England ruling body.
The General Synod backed a plan to hold standalone services of blessings for same-sex couples on a trial basis.
It means that gay Christians will be able to invite family and friends to a special service, which could be held on Saturdays, to bless and celebrate their weddings. Music, readings, confetti and other features would mean such services could look very similar to a standard church wedding.
The proposal for standalone services on a trial basis came in an amendment to a motion that noted progress made by bishops on the divisive issues of sexuality, known within the C of E as Living in Love and Faith. The amendment scraped through by one vote; the amended motion passed by 227 votes to 203.
Steven Croft, the bishop of Oxford, who proposed the amendment, said the “experimental” standalone services would be voluntary and no member of the clergy would be obliged to offer such services.
Last month, bishops agreed to commend special prayers of blessing for same-sex couples for use in existing church services. These are likely to begin before Christmas.