FFoB7: Removal of Sandal

What is going on with Ruth 4:7-8? What kind of disgusting practice this is that business transactions are sealed by the removal and handing over of one's shoe? Can you imagine how much single shoes you end up with as a businessman?

"Sandals were the ordinary footwear in the ancient Near East, but they were also a symbolic item of clothing, especially in the relationship between the widow and her legal guardian. This may have been due to the fact that land was purchased based on whatever size triangle of land the buyer could walk off in an hour, a day, a week or a month (1 Kings 21:16-17). Land was surveyed in triangles, and a benchmark was constructed of fieldstones to serve as a boundary marker (Deut 19:14). Since they walked off the land in sandals, the sandals became the moveable title to that land. By removing the sandals of her guardian, a widow removed his autorisation to administer the land of her household. Land transfers in the Nuzi texts also involved replacing the old owner's foot on the land with that of the new owner."
- The IVP Bible Background Commentary

FFoB6: John and Jack

Did you know that Jack is actually derivative from John? So is the name Shane. It is apparently a common mistake to confuse Jon, which is the short form of Jonathan (God's gift), with John. The meaning of John is "God is gracious". And the meaning of Zechariah is "God has remembered". I think they are both good names. :)

Cell group ice-breakers

Which one is your favorite?

1. If you didn’t have to worry about making a living what would you most like to do for the rest of your life'

2. What is your earliest memory'

3. If you could live in any other time, past, present, future, what would it be and why'

4. What motivates you most to go to work each day: money or personal satisfaction? If money were not an issue, would you still keep your job'

5. If you knew that tomorrow would be the last full day of your life, how would you spend the day'

6. What is your most important goal in life right now? Will your life change in some way if that goal is reached? If so, how'

7. If the people who know you best were asked, would they say you tend to be mostly predictable or unpredictable? Why? Which of these traits do you most value in a friend? Do you tend to follow a set routine or do you often do the same things differently'

8. What social situations tend to make you most flustered and nervous? Why'

9. For $10,000 would you be willing to stand up spontaneously and sing The Star Spangled Banner at the top of your lungs in the middle of a church service'

10. What are three things you would like to accomplish in the next year'

11. If you were to move to a poor, primitive country, what three things would you most miss from your current life'

12. What is the biggest lie you’ve ever told? Why? What were the consequences, if any'

13. What three things do you believe without any doubts'

14. What is one of the books (other than the Bible) that has had the greatest influence on your life? Why'

15. If God would grant you any one request, what would it be'

16. “Activity that does not result in progress toward a goal is a waste of time.” Do you agree? Is it ever OK to waste time'

17. What would you say are your 5 greatest strengths? Weaknesses'

18. Under what circumstances do you feel most lonely? Least lonely? Why'

19. What do you look forward to most about growing old? Least'

20. What traits do you think are most important to instill in your children? Why'

21. If you could relive any part of your life, what would it be and why'

22. Have either of your parents either told you they were sorry or asked your forgiveness for something? How did it make you feel'

23. What is the most difficult choice you’ve had to make in your life up to this point? Why? What factors helped you make the choice?

24. you believe God has only one perfect mate for everyone'

25. A football coach once said, “We learn almost nothing in victory, but we learn much in defeat.” Do you agree or disagree. In your life, have you learned most from failures or successes'

26. What would you most like people to remember you for after you die? What would you like written on your tombstone'

27. What is the most dangerous thing you’d like to try doing? What keeps you from doing it'

28. What are the biggest questions you have about your relationship with God'

29. What are the five things you are most thankful for in your life right now'

30. Would you say that the focus of your life right now is more on the development of relationships or on the accomplishment of goals and objectives? What would you like to change about this focus, if anything'

31. During WWII German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer participated in a conspiracy to assassinate Hitler. Although the conspiracy failed and he was executed for making the effort, do you think Bonhoeffer was right in his attempts to kill Hitler? If you had been Bonhoeffer, would you have participated in this murder conspiracy? Why or why not'

32. What was the greatest peer pressure you felt as a teen? What is the greatest peer pressure you feel as an adult? How are you handling it'

33. As a child, when you got caught doing something wrong, which of the following were you most likely to do? Blame someone else, Deny that you did it, Run and hide, Take full responsibility and accept the consequences. What are you most likely to do now as an adult'

34. Do you think people would be surprised about your thought life? How often would you be embarrassed if others knew exactly what was on your mind? Do you think your thought life is better or worse than most of the people in your circle of friends? Why'

Source unknown

My Sermons outside of My Sunday Sermons
Fun Facts of the Bible

FFoB5: Cover your head because of the angels

One of the hardest verses in the Bible is 1st Cor 11:10 "That's why a woman must have authority on her head, because of the angels." (Tom Wright's translation)

There are dispute over the meaning of authority and on the nature of the angels. My personal inclination is that the verse is trying to teach that women must have control over her head. She must not bow to any pressure to "liberate" her dressing to demonstrate her new found freedom in Christianity. Not only is the order of the church important, the angels (representing the created world) are watching whenever we worship.

FFoB4: Poetry and Religion

There is a close knitted relationship between poetry and religion. This is especially so with the OT prophets because poetry has incredible power to persuade. In speaking about God, the prophets thought it best to use more subtle forms of expressions. It is not only attractive, but arresting and shocking even.

"Poetry has the capacity both to speak about things that are very familiar, and to lead the imagination on to new ways of thinking and understanding. Poems do not give cut and dried meanings, but are often open to several interpretations. It is in this openness that the reader is invited to think about God." G McConville in Exploring the Old Testament v.4 Prophets

- NIV - (Isa 5:1-7)
1 I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside.
2 He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit.
3 "Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard.
4 What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad?
5 Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled.
6 I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it."
7 The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the garden of his delight. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.

With a simple imagery about a vineyard, powerful words about social justice, God's righteousness and His wrath is conveyed. Who is not moved?

In continuing on my series on Chinese Poetry, this is one which expresses thoughts on Buddhism. Note how in the last line, the poet is immersed into silence and nothingness.

常建：题破山寺后禅院
清晨入古寺，初日照高林。
曲径通幽处，禅房花木深。
山光悦鸟性，潭影空人心。
万籁此俱寂，惟馀钟磬音。

FFoB3: Who is this prophet?

In Titus 1:12, Paul cites a Cretan prophet who said "Cretans are always liars, vicious brutes, lazy gluttons."

His name is Epimenides.

The bad reputation of the Cretans come from their claim that they have the tome of Zeus (thus saying that he is mortal). Most people then think they are liars because they think of Zeus as immortal.

The same quote is also found in Acts 17:28.

This verse is also famous for the Epimenides paradox. There is an inherent logical inconsistency because Epimenides is a Cretan. To make a statement that Cretans always lie will make a paradoxical statement because here is no way to assign a consistent truth value to it. It is neither true nor false. Hence some mock at Paul for saying that Epimenides' statement is true (Titus 1:13).

The Baptism of the Dead

FFoB2: 1 Cor. 15:29

Here "baptized for the dead" may mean that a Christian friend was baptised for symbolic effect on behalf of a new convert who had died (perhaps by matyrdom, or perhaps on his or her deathbed, thus allowing no time for baptism) before being able to baptise. Or this expression may refer to washings of the dead before burial, a standard Jewish custom. It could be a roundabout way of saying "baptized so as to be able to participate in eternal life with Christians who have already died," hence baptized in light of their own mortality as well. To whatever practice Paul alludes, it si not clear whether he agrees with the Corinthian practice; even if he does not, however, he can use it to make his point.

New Segment: Fun Facts of the Bible

FFoB1: Honey is date juice

The land of Canaan is described as a land "flowing with milk and honey". This refers to the bounty of the land for a pastoral lifestyle, but not necessarily in terms of agriculture. Milk is the produce of herds, while honey represents a natural resource, probably the syrup of the date rather than bees' honey.