Here is a tentative schedule of readings in Ephesians. At each meeting, we will view a teaching video by N. T. Wright. The videos are approximately 20 minutes. After viewing, we will discuss and review the teaching.
This schedule is certain to change to accommodate conflicts. I will update it periodically.
The current effective date is: 2018.11/05
The updated calendar can be viewed here.
fillment homechurch
I have thought for a while about the best way for us to have conversations between meetings about the things we are learning from the Kellers’ book on wisdom. I have fallen behind in ++my++ personal daily readings and I expect others of us have as well. Daily readings are not meant to be a mindless rule/requirement, but periodic conversation about what we are reading is encouraging. So, I am still working on a gracious and efficient way for us to continue to frequently encourage each other to grow in wisdom.
- Jim D.
The next sections describe a system for volunteering to visit Dodie on Sundays. The succinct version is:
It is not like we have so many events that we need a calendar to keep track. However, for reasons described in the next section about Dodie, I have created a public calendar for our group. At this time, this calendar is view only through a web browser on a computer or smart phone. However, if anyone would like to add it to his or her personal calendar app, I can provide subscription information upon request. A subscription would update your personal calendar app with information from the Home Church Calendar.
Several weeks ago, our home church realized that we could bless and serve Donna & Bill by volunteering on a regular basis to visit with Dodie on Sunday mornings. These visits would provide Donna the opportunity to worship at Hope Chapel with Bill.
Initially we thought it good to try to create a (rotating) bi-weekly schedule. The value of a “fixed” bi-weekly schedule is that it is easy to remember. The negative is that any gap in coverage creates a stress point. I.e., we have an empty slot — what are we going to do about it?!!
I have created an online calendar that shows dates of interest to the Home Church — and the Sundays for which someone has volunteered to visit Dodie. This gives everyone an easy way to identify open dates — and show Donna and Bill in advance that someone is coming on a particular Sunday.
If you wish to visit with Dodie, you can check the calendar to see which Sundays are available to you. There are two ways to do this:
After someone signs up, if anything changes, Donna, Bill, or Jim Davis will notify you. To view the events on the calendar, use the following link View Calendar. A short form of the link if you have to type it manually is: http://links.jimd.us/ghE42w. The literal link is shown in the footnote2.
After finding a Sunday that is free/available, you may either claim it though a reservation system that is available to anyone with a Gmail account3 OR email, call, or text Jim Davis and state what date you wish to visit Dodie. You will receive a confirmation email, text, or phone call and thereafter you can see your name on the calendar.
Here are some suggestions for what to do next:
Several of us have asked about doing another project similar to serving dinner to participants in the Families Count program. Cindy volunteered to be on the lookout for opportunities.
Contact Jim Davis
(phone) 512.565.9968 (voice & text)
(email) crossmarked@gmail.com
From God’s Wisdom for Navigating Life, by Tim & Kathy Keller
| Date | Verse | Sub-topic |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 1, 2018 | What Is Wisdom | (see book) |
| Jan 7, 2018 | What is Foolishness | (see book) |
| Jan 17, 2018 | How Do We Become Wise | |
| Jan 21, 2018 | 1:28-29 | Don’t Delay |
| Jan 22, 2018 | 3:5 | Identify Your Idols |
| Jan 23, 2018 | 3:5-6 | Submit to His Word |
| Jan 24, 2018 | 3:7-8 | Be Teachable |
| Jan 25, 2018 | 3:9-10 | Be Generous |
| Jan 26, 2018 | 3:11-12 | Learn From Adversity |
| Jan 27, 2018 | 3:27-28 | Do Justice |
| Jan 28, 2018 | 4:7-8 | Just Get It |
| The Case for Wisdom | ||
| Jan 29, 2018 | 8:4-5 | For Everyone |
| Jan 30, 2018 | 8:12-13 | The Safety |
| Jan 31, 2018 | 8:14, 16, 18-19 | By-Products |
| Feb 1, 2018 | 8:27-29 | Foundations |
| Feb 2, 2018 | 8:30-31 | Wisdom’s Joy |
| Feb 3, 2018 | 9:3-6 | Wisdom’s Banquet |
| Feb 4, 2018 | 9:7-9 | Wisdom’s Progress |
| Feb 5, 2018 | 9:12 | Wisdom’s Fellowship |
| Feb 6, 2018 | 9:14-17 | Folly Can Only Smuggle |
| Feb 7, 2018 | 9:17-18 | The Walking Dead |
| Feb 8, 2018 | 1:7 | God-Centeredness |
| To be continued |
Dated January 13, 2018
At home church on January 12,2018, we agreed to discuss insights from Proverbs this year. Our study guide is a devotional book by Tim and Kathy Keller, God’s Wisdom for Navigating Life.
This excerpt from Introduction describes our plan:
At the very least, then, we would like to urge you to use this daily devotional together with a group of friends. Here is a suggested way to do this.
Choose one or more friends and agree to use the devotional together, each reading the same reflection individually, in private, on the same day. At the end of each reflection there is a question that helps you think more personally about how the teaching applies to your life.
Write the answer to the question in a journal.
Then write answers to two additional questions about the day’s proverb(s) in your journal, unless your response to the first query has already included them.
Where in your life or the life of someone else have you seen this observation illustrated?
How can you put this observation into practice— in thought, attitude, word, or deed?
After completing your journal entry, pray the prayer at the end of each page. These short prayers are just “on ramps”—suggested ways to begin talking to God personally about what he is teaching you in his Word. Put the prayer in your own words if you wish, and then continue speaking to him about how the particular Scriptural teaching should play out in your life. This should be your daily routine—read, meditate using the journal questions, and pray.
Then meet with your friends who are doing the same daily exercise as often as you can. Share your best insights, discuss them together, encourage one another to apply the insights to your lives, and report to one another on how your efforts are going.
There is an entry in the book for each day of the year. The goal is for all participants to read the same entry on the same day. I plan to start with the entry for January 13th and catch up the earlier entries while staying current. By doing 2 per day, I expect to get fully caught up in about 10 days, before our next Home Church Meeting.
The book arranges the Proverbs by topic — not in the order published in Scripture. This helps understanding what God wants us to know. The schedule for topics and the agenda can be viewed here.
study homechurch readingIn our meeting August 11th, we looked at some videos that recommended reading books to deepen our spiritual knowledge and faith. I proposed that each of us pick a book to read and share with the group. Here are the “rules”.
Below are the books described in the videos we watched with links to the Kindle version. You can read about the books and of course choose a different format and acquire the book from a library or any source you wish. The videos we watched are available here.
Many good things exist solely because the common good is honored by the vast majority of people. Not just a majority, but the vast huge majority. Perhaps as much as 99%.
The snapshot number of people in jail in the U.S. is about 2.3 million, compared to a total population of about 309.35 million. So, at any given moment about 0.74% of the country is in jail. While some organizations believe this number could be safely reduced with alternative forms of rehabilitation,1 that is the number I’ll work with here.
The stability of our society is contingent upon 99% of the population actively committed to promote stability. That is, it would be impossible to police society enough to force stability. A stable society exists only when its members voluntarily discipline themselves to prefer and choose the common good. For example, if only 95% of the U.S. population actively promoted the common good, the prison population could increase over 500% ! The cost of such an outcome in terms of the expense of incarceration plus the loss of productivity is enormous.
I know I am not posing new questions here. Like everything else on this blog, I am mostly thinking aloud for myself — not to convince anyone else of anything. I share my questions and my answers to them in process.
I am left with the question: if humans (home sapiens) are not driven to promote survival of their species, what is the origin and ongoing energy for our commitment to the common good?
Drug related and non-violent crimes may account for 20% of all prisoners.↩
Imprisonment, etc.↩
If both could comfortably, employed at what they liked best to do, why should someone who is a skilled surgeon enjoy wealth far beyond that of a car mechanic or nurse?↩
Generally, we hold that excellence in some fields should be financially rewarded more more than excellence in some other field. And we are loathe to embrace non-financial incentives.↩
As a sidelight, read about the misquote of Charles Wilson that has persisted for decades. What is good for General Motors …↩
It is easier to posit that something must be at work since we see something that is hard to explain. I.e., since our species has survived, and only the fittest survive, the individuals strivings must complete/compose a collective survival/thriving. But I am not sure that follows. I’d like to see experimental, tested, proof of that idea.↩