Thw Weakly Sherpa - 5/17/8

The reading plan for this week (if I were caught up):

Sunday, May 18, 2008 --- 2 Samuel 19-21
Monday, May 19, 2008 --- Psalm 5 - Psalm 38 - Psalm 41-42
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 --- 2 Samuel 22-23 - Psalm 57
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 --- Psalm 95 - Psalm 97-99
Thursday, May 22, 2008 --- 1 Chronicles 21-22 - 2 Samuel 24 - Psalm 30
Friday, May 23, 2008 --- Psalm 108-110
Saturday, May 24, 2008 --- 1 Chronicles 23-25

Website Here

The Weakly Sherpa - 3/14/8

This week's reading plan:

Monday, April 14, 2008 --- Psalm 7 - Psalm 27 - Psalm 31 - Psalm 34 - Psalm 52
Tuesday, April 15, 2008 --- Psalm 56 - Psalm 120 - Psalm 140-142
Wednesday, April 16, 2008 --- 1 Samuel 25-27
Thursday, April 17, 2008 --- Psalm 17 - Psalm 35 - Psalm 54 - Psalm 63
Friday, April 18, 2008 --- Psalm 18 - 1 Samuel 28-31
Saturday, April 19, 2008 --- Psalm 121 - Psalm 123-125 - Psalm 128-130
Sunday, April 20, 2008 --- 2 Samuel 1-4

The Weakly Sherpa 3/7/8 - 3/13/8

For those of you who have tuned in to the blog in the past week or so, one of my New year's resolutions was to read through the Bible chronologically. I have done it a number of times but I felt it was time to do it again.

A number of people made the same commitment and each week I post the readings for the next seven days.

The entire reading plan can be found here.

Here is this week's reading (if you are up-to-date, which I am not btw):

Monday, April 07, 2008 --- 1 Samuel 1-3
Tuesday, April 08, 2008 --- 1 Samuel 4-8
Wednesday, April 09, 2008 --- 1 Samuel 9-12
Thursday, April 10, 2008 --- 1 Samuel 13-14
Friday, April 11, 2008 --- 1 Samuel 15-17
Saturday, April 12, 2008 --- Psalm 11 - 1 Samuel 18-20 - Psalm 59
Sunday, April 13, 2008 --- 1 Samuel 21-24

Weekly Sherpa - 3/30/08

This week's reading plan for those of you who are caught up:

Monday, March 31, 2008 --- Judges 6-7
Tuesday, April 01, 2008 --- Judges 8-9
Wednesday, April 02, 2008 --- Judges 10-12
Thursday, April 03, 2008 --- Judges 13-15
Friday, April 04, 2008 --- Judges 16-18
Saturday, April 05, 2008 --- Judges 19-21
Sunday, April 06, 2008 --- Ruth 1-4

Weakly Sherpa - 3/22/08

For those of you on track:

Monday, March 24, 2008 --- Joshua 9-11
Tuesday, March 25, 2008 --- Joshua 12-15
Wednesday, March 26, 2008 --- Joshua 16-18
Thursday, March 27, 2008 --- Joshua 19-21
Friday, March 28, 2008 --- Joshua 22-24
Saturday, March 29, 2008 --- Judges 1-2
Sunday, March 30, 2008 --- Judges 3-5

By doubling up on my reading I am closing the gap. I am about 3 1/2 weeks behind right now so it will proabbly take me 3 1/2 weeks to catch up . . .

Weakly Sherpa - 3/17/08 to 3/23/08

Next week's reading plan for those of you still on track . . .

Monday, March 17, 2008 --- Deuteronomy 21-23
Tuesday, March 18, 2008 --- Deuteronomy 24-27
Wednesday, March 19, 2008 --- Deuteronomy 28-29
Thursday, March 20, 2008 --- Deuteronomy 30-31
Friday, March 21, 2008 --- Deuteronomy 32-34 - Psalm 91
Saturday, March 22, 2008 --- Joshua 1-4
Sunday, March 23, 2008 --- Joshua 5-8

Weakly Sherpa

Next week's reading plan . . .

Monday, March 10, 2008 --- Deuteronomy 1-2
Tuesday, March 11, 2008 --- Deuteronomy 3-4
Wednesday, March 12, 2008 --- Deuteronomy 5-7
Thursday, March 13, 2008 --- Deuteronomy 8-10
Friday, March 14, 2008 --- Deuteronomy 11-13
Saturday, March 15, 2008 --- Deuteronomy 14-16
Sunday, March 16, 2008 --- Deuteronomy 17-20

The Weakly Sherpa - 3/1-3/9

Not that it would seem to matter (I haven't been doing much reading lately). But here is the reading plan for those of you still on track.

Again, my plan is to double up until I am caught up. And I have wind in my sails and a spring in my step as we begin this new week - so maybe we will do some catching up!

Monday, March 03, 2008 --- Numbers 21-22
Tuesday, March 04, 2008 --- Numbers 23-25
Wednesday, March 05, 2008 --- Numbers 26-27
Thursday, March 06, 2008 --- Numbers 28-30
Friday, March 07, 2008 --- Numbers 31-32
Saturday, March 08, 2008 --- Numbers 33-34
Sunday, March 09, 2008 --- Numbers 35-36

Weakly Sherpa

This week's reading plan:

Monday, February 25, 2008 --- Numbers 5-6
Tuesday, February 26, 2008 --- Numbers 7
Wednesday, February 27, 2008 --- Numbers 8-10
Thursday, February 28, 2008 --- Numbers 11-13
Friday, February 29, 2008 --- Numbers 14-15 - Psalm 90
Saturday, March 01, 2008 --- Numbers 16-17
Sunday, March 02, 2008 --- Numbers 18-20

I am woefully behind at this point. Simply Never Give Up! I am just going to double up until I am caught up . . .

Hey, I got a kid now . . . I need to be responsible . . .

Weakly Sherpa

Sorry I missed the last three Saturdays on this one. I am obviously waaay behind on my reading.

For those of you who have been reading along, hopefully you were able to soldier on without your Weakly Sherpa (and you thought I was spelling "weekly" wrong . . .)

The Bible reading plan is online here.

So what to do now? Do I hole-up all weekend reading through Leviticus? Believe me, reading Leviticus straight through would cause a saint to lose their faith . . .

Nope. What I usually do when I fall behind like this is double up on my reading each day until I am caught up.

It takes a lot longer that way to get caught up but on the plus side, I don't burn out either.

SIMPLY NEVER GIVE UP!

Here is what I missed posting along with this week's plan:

Monday, February 04, 2008 --- Exodus 16-18
Tuesday, February 05, 2008 --- Exodus 19-21
Wednesday, February 06, 2008 --- Exodus 22-24
Thursday, February 07, 2008 --- Exodus 25-27
Friday, February 08, 2008 --- Exodus 28-29
Saturday, February 09, 2008 --- Exodus 30-32
Sunday, February 10, 2008 --- Exodus 33-35

Monday, February 11, 2008 --- Exodus 36-38
Tuesday, February 12, 2008 --- Exodus 39-40
Wednesday, February 13, 2008 --- Leviticus 1-4
Thursday, February 14, 2008 --- Leviticus 5-7
Friday, February 15, 2008 --- Leviticus 8-10
Saturday, February 16, 2008 --- Leviticus 11-13
Sunday, February 17, 2008 --- Leviticus 14-15

Monday, February 18, 2008 --- Leviticus 16-18
Tuesday, February 19, 2008 --- Leviticus 19-21
Wednesday, February 20, 2008 --- Leviticus 22-23
Thursday, February 21, 2008 --- Leviticus 24-25
Friday, February 22, 2008 --- Leviticus 26-27
Saturday, February 23, 2008 --- Numbers 1-2
Sunday, February 24, 2008 --- Numbers 3-4

New Archeological Site for Sodom and Gomorrah Proposed

From Echorouk Online via World Net Daily.

An international excavation team of archeologists led by Dr. Steven Collins, an expert on Biblical archeology from US Trinity Southwestern University, have claimed finding new evidence proving that the Biblical sites of Sodom and Gomorrah - two cities cited in Bible as "destroyed by God for their sins"- were located in Jordan's Tall al-Hammam in north of the Dead Sea, rather than attributed location in the south of the Dead Sea.

One of the archeologists in the excavation team said, "One of the interesting things about Tall al-Hammam is what we called a MB gap, that is the period of time between the Middle Bronze Age and Iron Age, because in normal locations like this, you have occupations one right on top of the other, but here, something very unique, something very significant took place in the Middle Bronze Age.

The city was destroyed by an event that was so dramatic that it scared everybody away for seven hundred years. Here, in this square, there's the perfect example. You have Iron Age foundations that are built right into a Middle Bronze Age rampart."

Many people located Sodom and Gomorrah towards the south of the Dead Sea but the reason that they choose the north of the Dead Sea is that historically, most ancient people--even scholars of the 19th century chose the northern Dead Sea for Sodom because the Biblical text is very clear about the location.

Weakly Sherpa

Reading Plan for Next Week:

Monday, January 28, 2008 --- Genesis 46-47
Tuesday, January 29, 2008 --- Genesis 48-50
Wednesday, January 30, 2008 --- Exodus 1-3
Thursday, January 31, 2008 --- Exodus 4-6
Friday, February 01, 2008 --- Exodus 7-9
Saturday, February 02, 2008 --- Exodus 10-12
Sunday, February 03, 2008 --- Exodus 13-15

Weakly Sherpa - 1/19/08

Reading Plan for Next Week:

Monday, January 21, 2008 --- Genesis 27-29
Tuesday, January 22, 2008 --- Genesis 30-31
Wednesday, January 23, 2008 --- Genesis 32-34
Thursday, January 24, 2008 --- Genesis 35-37
Friday, January 25, 2008 --- Genesis 38-40
Saturday, January 26, 2008 --- Genesis 41-42
Sunday, January 27, 2008 --- Genesis 43-45

Weakly Sherpa - 1/11/08

Next Week's Reading:

Monday, January 14, 2008 --- Job 38-39
Tuesday, January 15, 2008 --- Job 40-42
Wednesday, January 16, 2008 --- Genesis 12-15
Thursday, January 17, 2008 --- Genesis 16-18
Friday, January 18, 2008 --- Genesis 19-21
Saturday, January 19, 2008 --- Genesis 22-24
Sunday, January 20, 2008 --- Genesis 25-26

If haven't read it already, I would encourage you to read "a word of encouragement" from an earlier post.

Hang in there! Surprise guest in Chapter 38!

The Weakly Sherpa - 1/5/8

I am nursing a twisted ankle and I gained three pounds last week so we are one for three on the New Year's Resolutions. I am glad to now focus on the one resolution I am almost guaranteed to accomplish today!

I don't plan on doing much commentary throughout this reading plan. I think the text can speak for itself. But for the uninitiated, Genesis and Job can seem like a real trip through the looking glass.

So a few words about last week's reading are probably in order (forgive me if I am pointing out a bunch of stuff you already know):

The first five books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) are commonly thought to have been written down at the direction of Moses during the Exodus which occurred, as best as we can tell, around 1450BC.

It is thought that, up until that point in time, the stories in Genesis and Job were part of the oral tradition of storytelling passed down through the centuries. When reading through Genesis and Job, it is important to discern the difference between the literal and the truthful.

For instance, Genesis 1 says that God created the world in seven days. The point is not the time-frame. The point is that God created, with a purpose, saw that it was all very good and that we should all take a break once a week.

The point of the Garden of Eden story is not two people and a snake - it is that sin enters the world when we have the knowledge of right and wrong and we choose the wrong.

The point of the Job story is not that he was an unwitting pawn in a supernatural dare between God and the devil. It's that bad things sometimes happen to good people. It doesn't mean that the people deserve it and it doesn't mean that God doesn't care. At times God's purposes are beyond our understanding.

You get the point.

=Begin Artistic Aside=

When I was writing, this piece of art came to mind. It is a fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo in 1511. It is entitled, "The Creation of Adam". Look at how all of heaven is rushing into the frame. God himself is reaching, straining, to give Adam his touch, his supernatural breath of life. Now look at Adam - it's like God is interrupting him from a television show with another one of God's "lame miracles of creation". You can almost hear the irritation in his voice, "Oh God, what is it NOW?" We really are pathetic wretches sometimes.

=End artistic aside=

Things start to get a little more "factual" (for lack of a better word) once we get to Exodus. I'm not saying Adam and Eve and Noah etc. did not exist as factual persons so let's not get our theological jockey shorts in a twist.

I am saying that Genesis and Job are about eternal truths - if you focus your energy on figuring out what parts are literal - you miss the truth that is the point of the story.

As has already been mentioned this morning, its: "Like walking into a cloud of gnats at the mountaintop, we get too busy swatting to see the view."

On that note, here's is next week's plan:

January 07, 2008 --- Job 14-16
January 08, 2008 --- Job 17-20
January 09, 2008 --- Job 21-23
January 10, 2008 --- Job 24-28
January 11, 2008 --- Job 29-31
January 12, 2008 --- Job 32-34
January 13, 2008 --- Job 35-37

Soul Food - 1/1/8

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth
day
night
sky
land
seas
vegetation
sun
moon
stars
fish
birds
mammals
man
woman

God saw all that he had made and it was very good."

- Genesis 1

Weakly Sherpa

Ok, seeing as how the New Year is fast approaching, this is the first installment of the Weakly Sherpa - a reading plan that will get me through the Bible in one year.

As you may know, the Bible is not really one book but a collection of 66 books. The 66 books of the Bible are not laid out chronologically cover to cover and many of them overlap giving you different viewpoints on the same time period. Some are even carbon copies of each other in places.

All this means that trying to read the Bible cover to cover from page one on through is like reading a novel where the chapters are all jumbled. You can do it but I don't think it is as enjoyable and it certainly makes it harder to follow.

For that reason, I have chosen a chronological reading plan that will take me through the books of the Bible in the order that the events occurred (as far as we can tell).

The reading plan (and others) is here but I will also be posting the plan in weakly segments on the ol' blog.

Oh, and I am using the New International Version (NIV) for no reason other than its the one I am used to.

So without further ado - here is what I (and hopefully some of you) will be reading this next week:

January 01 --- Genesis 1-3
January 02--- Genesis 4-7
January 03 --- Genesis 8-11
January 04 --- Job 1-5
January 05 --- Job 6-9
January 06 --- Job 10-13

New Year's Resolutions

I am a big believer in New Year's Resolutions. Actually, I am a big believer in making resolutions whenever the need arises. But there is something about a new year that brings the need for resolutions into focus.

Much of 2007 felt like being "drug through a knothole backwards" as my father-in-law would say and I spent most of last year rope-a-doping.

Many of the things that made last year difficult have not changed but I get the sense that the forces of darkness have reached the bottom of their bag of tricks and are out of surprises for now.

Time to shake it off, regroup and take stock.

Resolution #1: Physical Health

Seeing as how I can't afford to buy all new pants and the grocery bill keeps climbing - it's time to lose some weight.

I figure 10-15 lbs ought to do it although I am more concerned with my appearance and the way my pants fit than the actual number on the scale. Which is a good thing since I don't trust the old-busted scale we bought ten years ago for about $5. I suppose my first resolution should be to buy a scale just to try and track some progress . . .

Resolution #2: Physical, Mental and Emotional Health

Ruuuuun! The Great Upheaval put a kink in my get-along and then I rolled my ankle on Halloween. Well, it's time to get after it again.

Seeing as how I am now entering into year three of my 6-month marathon training program, here's hoping that I will be running my first marathon next fall. . . .

Resolution #3: Mental and Spiritual Health

Read more betterer books. I have been posting a list of must-read books over the past few weeks and number one on the list is THE BOOK itself - the Bible.

I have actually intentionally read through the Bible cover to cover three or four times. If you add up all the reading of pieces here and there, I have probably read it five or six times. I haven't read it cover to cover in a while and its time to do it again.

Regardless of your persuasion, I think we can all agree that the Bible is the most influential piece of writing in history. For that reason alone, we all should read it at least once. For "believers" its not just a good idea - its basically mandatory.

So . . . to try and stay on track, I will be posting progress reports.

"On The Run" postings will return as soon as I - well - start running.

The Bible thing can be handled by reading 15 minutes a day - everyday. In an effort to encourage all of you to read along, I will post my "Weakly Sherpa" reading schedule once a week and post some "Soul Food" - a verse or two from my daily reading each day.

On the skinny-down front, I may even post the dreaded "Weight and See" numbers once a week (provided I pick up a scale that I trust).

So you are probably sitting there in your PJ's hitting the bottom of that first cup of coffee and saying, "Yeah, right - when will you find the time?"

Well, I don't feel like I have a choice.

We all need to watch our weight - it's not really optional. Some of us have it easier than others but we all need to mind our bodies.

We all need regular exercise and goodness knows the dawg needs it too. Again - not optional.

For me, I fall into the reading-the-Bible-is-mandatory category - once again, not optional.

And the postings? I don't see how I will carry it all through without some accountability - so that may be optional but I feel it is very very necessary.

So that's the plan. We are going to get off the ropes and come out swinging in 2008.

Nana-korohi, ya-oki !