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12-4-10 devotions: Hosea 11-14, Acts 17, Psalm 34, Proverbs 18
I read these passages of Scripture this morning–all of them. This is a habit I would like to make a regular one.
Because I am limited on my portable Bibles, I read Acts, Psalms and Proverbs out of a Gideon pocket King James Bible and Hosea out of a slim line New American Standard. As I told my wife last night, I’m not the most comfortable with the NASB and, as far as modern versions go, find that I prefer the New King James. I am still looking at the English Standard Version but am undecided on it. (If you’d like to know more about my current stand on Bible versions and the King James Only debate, click here for a previous blog posting on the topic).
Hosea 11-14: I did not intend to finish the Book of Hosea today, but chapter 14 was so short I decided to go ahead and do so. This passage talks about God’s incredible, undying love for Israel and how He continues to love this nation even to this day. I think it’s obvious that God’s correction is based on heartache rather than anger. Yes, God is angry, but that is not the dominant feeling He has when dealing with His People.
I like 11:8: “How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I set you like Zeboiim? My heart churns within Me; My sympathy is stirred.”
Later, God reminds Israel how He has been there for the nation from the early days of Jacob to the delivery from Egypt and through other times where He has blessed His nation continually. It is reminder to us as Christians to not waste each day with frivolous activities but instead to set time aside to read God’s Word, pray, worship and serve Him.
It brings a sorrowful thought to my mind: Dear God, I am so sorry You had to shake up my life and allow heartache to come in for me to truly grasp this. May You find me five years from now still diligently reading and meditating on Your Word.Hosea closes out his book in the fourteenth chapter with a message of hope as Israel learns reconciliation is possible and what will happen if the nation does repent. Consider verses 4 through 7:
“I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, for My anger has turned away from him.
“I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall grow like the lily, and lengthen his roots like Lebanon.
“His branches shall spread; his beauty shall be like an olive tree, and his fragrance like Lebanon.
“Those who dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall be revived like grain, and grow like a vine. Their scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon.”
(As a side note, by wine I think Hosea is referring to actual wine and not the IFB phenomenon of Biblical “wine” that magically turns into non-alcoholic grape juice each time).
Hosea closes this fascinating book with this thought in verse 9: “Who is wise? Let him understand these things. Who is prudent? Let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right; the righteous walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.”
Great words of encouragement if you are a backslider to get your walk back on God’s path. Think it’s too late? If there is any inkling you have that you want to walk with God again, then it’s not too late. Don’t fool yourself, and please don’t let Satan tell you differently.
Acts 17: Paul continues his rabble rousing ways in Thessalonica, city he would later write two letters to.
Naturally, he made lots of enemies. This is par for the course if you are a Christian; if you are a Christian and everybody likes you, that’s usually a sign that you are doing something wrong. Everybody should respect you if you are walking with God, but not everybody will like you.
Paul and Silas left in the middle of the night to Berea, with similar results. They then went to Athens and encountered a reaction of strangeness. It was also here that Paul found an altar with the inscription “TO THE UNKNOWN GOD”.
It makes me wonder if Athens was such the city at the time that was starving for some type of relationship with a divine being that they established that altar. Or maybe it was their way to trying to blindly reach out to what they perceived to be a true god somewhere out there. Either way, Paul declared that God was this “Unknown God”.
Some believed, others didn’t.
Psalm 34: A great sense of relief and anxiety must have been on David’s mind as he wrote this Psalm. My Bible notes say he wrote this after leaving the presence of Abimelech, which he was successfully able to do by pretending to be crazy (David even worked up frothy spittle and let it get into his beard). Reading over this Psalm, you can almost imagine David crying happy tears as he wrote the words.
He writes in verse four and then six: “I sought the LORD, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears…This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.”
This is a very encouraging Psalm that encourages us to experience God and see that He is indeed good.
David also reminds us in verses 17-18: “The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.
“The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.”
Proverbs 18: I have read about half the Proverbs on my list of completing my Bible reading. This is one of those books, like Psalms, where you shouldn’t only visit it once a year but should read one Proverb each day.
That being said…
This Proverb has been described as a contrast between the upright and the wicked. The first verse really, really spoke to me:
“A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; he rages against all wise judgment.”
That really describes the person I was when I went long dry spells without reading God’s Word, without being in church regularly. When you don’t read the Bible, you lose your way and start doing things and even saying things you’d never dream of doing if you are a Christian walking with God daily. You know what’s right to do, but in your backslidden state you work overtime to rationalize your sins.
Make no mistake: sin is sin. We may try to tell ourselves there is a justifiable reason for sinful choices we make, but at the end of our lives we will have to give an account to God for those stupid choices and will finally realize what a waste we made of our spiritual lives.
Verse nine tells us that whoever is slothful in their work is a close relative of him “who is a great destroyer”. It really is convicting and an encouragement to me to live my life where I am being productive and where my times of recreation are needed breaks rather than something that overpowers my own day.
And in my own marriage (which most likely will end in divorce), verse 13 is particularly haunting: “He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him.”
If you have a spouse who has something to discuss with you, LISTEN to them. Don’t be so quick to dismiss their concerns, worries or complaints as unimportant. To ignore them is to drive a wedge that could eventually be fatal to a marriage.
There are also other gold and platinum nuggets in this chapter, such as verse 14 telling us that while man’s spirit can sustain him (or her) in sickness, a broken spirit is a different story that requires the services of the Great Physician. Or, how about verse 15 telling us that the heart of the prudent acquires knowledge.
Interestingly, verse 17 encourages us to be very discerning with what people say: “The first one to plead his cause seems right, until his neighbor comes and examines him.” Perhaps a neighbor (or someone who knows the story very well) knows far more about it than others realize.
And verse 19 is a reminder for us to be careful in our conversation and to behave ourselves wisely:
“A brother offended is harder to win than a strong city, and contentions are like the bars of a castle.”
Once you’ve offended someone, it is very difficult to win back their respect or trust. If ever.
I am also curious about verse 24, which tells us: “A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”
Who might that friend be? Is this a best friend? Perhaps it is referring to God? Anyone care to guess?
12-3-10 devotions: Hosea 8-10, Acts 16, Psalm 33
I did my Bible reading Friday night after my work was done for the day, and I was upset with myself. Devotions should really be done in the morning–or at least begun in the morning.
In my current path, I think what I will try to do is read the Old and New Testament in the morning and at night, read from the Psalms and Proverbs. Or perhaps it is best to read it all in the morning and to take a closer look at each passage at night; each delve into Psalms and Proverbs provides encouragement to take on the day.
What works best for you, Dear Reader?
I knew of one man who was serving at the Roloff Homes and spoke at my then-home church, Beeville Baptist Church, to speak. He told of how he was reading the Bible through in a month.
Wow! I thought. That is a LOT of reading.
Sometime I may try that just to see if I can accomplish it, but I’m leery because with my short attention span, it would be a classic case of quantity over quality. At least three times in my life I’ve read over Old Testament books like Ezekiel, Amos, Obadiah, the other Minor Prophets along with tiny New Testament books like 1, 2 and 3 John and can barely–if at all–tell you what they were about. In fact, if I died today, I’d have to ask God to let me have a crash course on what Obadiah and other books were about since I must presume that, until we are completely perfected in heaven, it is possible still to feel embarrassment in heaven. (Perhaps some young Christian may even go up to David and say, “Yo! David! Was Bathsheba as hot as the Sports Illustrated swimsuit models?!”)
Rabbit trail aside, what I am trying to say is I like the year-long approach to Bible reading much better.
That being said, what I might do is when I finish reading the Bible through (I am almost halfway through with my current plan that, sadly, I have been doing since 2003), I may see if I can read the Word of God through again before the end of 2011. We will see.
That being said…
Hosea 8-10: In these chapters, Hosea continues speaking to the brick wall that is the hardened heart of Israel as he urges the nation to repent and not face the humiliation of God’s correction. I imagine as he returned home for the night, perhaps Gomer even gave him encouragement and insight. “Honey, you won me back through tough love, and that’s what you need to have in your message to Israel–tough love.”
It’s a question I intend to ask Hosea someday. I am so glad now that when I get to heaven I won’t have to say, “Hello, Hosea! I’m ashamed to have to tell you this, but I don’t remember what your book was about!”
Hosea 8:14 says this: “For Israel has forgotten his Maker, and has built temples; Judah also has multiplied fortified cities; but I will send fire upon his cities, and it shall devour his palaces.”
Acts 16: This chapter touches briefly on a subject I intend to blog about in the near future.
Circumcision.
Timothy, a Christian whose Mom was Jewish and whose father was Greek, was not circumcised. He was in the ministry in Lystra and Iconium, and Paul had Tim circumcised. Since his ministry was among Jews (who were and are still circumcised), it was determined Tim could be a more effective missionary if he were circumcised.
Yes, by modern standards it seems silly that ancient man could get so hung up over foreskins, but it’s about how you can best tend to the needs of those you minister to. Having no respect for the culture of a country you work in makes you an ineffective missionary.
That being done, Paul continued to minister and lead people to the Lord, including the very prominent businesswoman Lydia, a merchant of purple in Thyatira.
Also in this chapter, Paul and Silas were famously beaten and imprisoned for exorcising a demon from a girl who told people’s fortunes. Paul saw her anguish and ordered the demon to leave her, which angered her masters since it deprived them of their lucrative income.
So, Paul and Silas were jailed and through their testimony of praising God despite their tough circumstances, the jailer came to know Christ. I wonder what would have happened had they moped, cried and complained? The jail probably was not a very pleasant place to be, and we can hardly imagine the miserable times there as they were beaten.
After leading the jailer and his family to the Lord, Paul then informed the officers of the local legal community that he and Silas were Roman citizens and that it was illegal to beat them without a trial.
Oops!
This was no doubt why tradition says Paul eventually was probably beheaded instead of crucified. It has been said crucifixion was the most severe form of Roman capital punishment: no Roman citizen could be crucified.
Reading about Paul and his trials leads me to one incontrovertible conclusion: I may be dealing with heartaches and craziness in my own life, but compared to Christians in the Middle East, Sri Lanka, China and other places, I practically live in Beverly Hills.
Psalm 33: As I read through the thirty-third Psalm, I wonder if it has been made into a song. I imagine David in heaven in a recording studio with musical instruments we cannot even begin to imagine, instruments that play melodies well beyond the limits of finite human sound.
In short, it is a Psalm encouraging musicians to use their talents to praise God.
Verse four tells us: “For the word of the LORD is right, and all His work is done in truth. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.”
This Psalm also speaks of God’s work during Creation (before man ruined things) and how God is in ultimate control over the affairs of man. It speaks of how God works in every human individually, placing things in their hearts that He hopes will bring them to Him.
Verses 18-22: “Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy,
“To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.
“Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield.
“For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name.
“Let Your mercy, O LORD, be upon us, just as we hope in You.”
Hosea 5-7: God’s severity and Israel’s unfaithfulness
Reading through Hosea for the first time in many years has reminded me of something: I will probably better grasp this book the next few times I read through it as I re-commit myself to reading the Bible through every year.
I had been reading one chapter of Hosea at a time and while there is the quality issue, I also want to make sure I’m pushing myself to read more.
This book, which follows Daniel in the English version of the Old Testament, was written a few centuries before. It was God’s admonishment to Israel to turn around before He had to take drastic measures. He tells them through His prophet the type of punishment they will face and what they have done to merit the punishment. We know from 2 Chronicles and from Jeremiah that Israel faced the humiliation of exile in Babylon.
God wants nothing more than to have an intimate relationship with us, a “romance”, and each time Israel forsook Him and worshiped false gods and broke His commands, it broke his heart.
For God to go back and forth like this as a patient husband with an unfaithful wife tells me God loves this tiny nation more than it will ever know.
It’s heartbreaking to read chapter five, and read Hosea’s words. It’s as if he went around the populations and cried as he declared God’s Word–only to have the people roll their eyes at him (or whatever the ancient custom was to show contempt) and go about their lives. What’s worse is that in verse six, he states that when hard times come and they cry for God, he will ignore them.
Tough love, in other words. It’s the product of ignoring God for too long and only calling out for him when it’s convenient or expedient.
Verse 15 tells how long this punishment will last: “I will return again to My place till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”
After warning the Israelites of what’s coming in chapter five, Hosea spends chapter six calling on his people to repent. God is punishing, he tells them, but He can heal and forgive.
In verse six, he tells them something the prophet Samuel centuries prior told King Saul: it is better to obey and seek God’s knowledge than to make burnt offerings. Perhaps it’s better to obey and follow God than to have to make sacrifices and burnt offerings for sins committed.
Then, in chapter seven, Hosea details the sins Israel has committed against God. It’s a lengthy list with very unpleasant comparisons.
In verses 3-7: “They make a king glad with their wickedness, And princes with their lies.
“They are all adulterers. Like an oven heated by a baker— He ceases stirring the fire after kneading the dough, Until it is leavened.
“In the day of our king princes have made him sick, inflamed with wine; He stretched out his hand with scoffers.
“They prepare their heart like an oven, While they lie in wait; Their baker sleeps all night; In the morning it burns like a flaming fire.
“They are all hot, like an oven, And have devoured their judges; All their kings have fallen. None among them calls upon Me.”
There is so much more that could be said, and perhaps I will someday when I re-visit Hosea in a future blog posting. Bottom line: it was not a good time to be a godly Israelite with all the wickedness rampant.
No wonder Hosea and God were heartbroken.
Richard Zowie is going through the Bible in his Richard’s Two Shekels blog when not commenting on Christian issues or blogging about his Christian walk. He hopes in the coming months to complete his first visit with all the Minor Prophets. Post comments here or drop a line to richardstwoshekels@gmail.com.
Hosea 4: Israel’s adultery against God
I read this passage yesterday during some down time at work. Thankfully, at that job they don’t care if you read when things get slow. And since the Bible and I have been apart for far too long, I felt it was necessary to re-visit Hosea.
Last we chatted, in Hosea 3 the prophet and his wife Gomer reconciled. She returned to him after falling back into her lifestyle of prostitution. We presume their marriage was a happy one as Gomer learned that Hosea was the only man who could ever truly love her and Hosea learned to forgive and to show his wife love through actions rather than just words.
In the fourth chapter, we see by Israel’s activities what it was like for God as the nation He loved “cheated” on him time and again with false idols and immorality. At this time, Israel truly is a nation that is an asylum where the inmates have taken over. Name the sin, and chances are it has been committed.
Verse 6 reads: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”
In other words: the Israelites rejected the knowledge that would have been beneficial, and this led to their moral corruption. God then decided they were unworthy of being authorities of His moral laws and that they had harsh lessons to learn.
It is hard to believe this is the same nation for which God had done so many wonderful things, but it makes you think of how we, as Christians, continue to sin and break God’s heart despite all the blessings He gives us. This chapter shows how far a godly nation can fall and how a loving God has to use drastic measures to get its attention.
Recently at church during a video sermon on raising children, Ken Ham reminded us of this equation: Rules — Relationship = Rebellion. Maybe that’s what happened: for too long generations came and went just were not equipped to have a relationship with God.
Richard Zowie is going through the Bible in his Richard’s Two Shekels blog when not commenting on Christian issues or blogging about his Christian walk. Post comments here or drop a line to richardstwoshekels@gmail.com.
Hosea 2-3: Gomer is punished, restored
Things apparently were blissful for some time between Hosea and Gomer, but as the years passed, perhaps Gomer felt the temptation to return to her former way of life. God obviously knew this, because, again, He wanted their marriage to be an object lesson to the Jewish people about how much their idolatry hurt Him.
Verse 1 of Chapter 2 begins with this: “Say ye unto your bretheren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah.” Whether this means Hosea’s middle and youngest children had new names or whether God’s commanding the brethren to be called “My People” and the sisters “Mercy”, I do not know.
The next several verses show the direct correlation between Gomer’s adultery and Israel’s spiritual adultery against God. Just as Hosea tried to enlist his children to talk sense into their mother, God was trying to talk sense into His people.
Sadly, neither worked as both Gomer and Israel went their own ways and had to learn the hard way what happens when you live a foolish life and make foolish decisions. God’s plan for both Gomer and for Israel would be that they’d see nothing but misery and no fulfillment in their paths that they’d return back to Hosea and God and realize they had it far better then.
I imagine this must have been a heartache for Hosea to see his wife, whom I’m sure he loved and probably was very attracted to, reject him and go on her way and return to her old life. Even today, when a spouse learns they’ve been cheated on, it’s an extremely bitter pill to swallow. The recovery time takes years, if ever. And at this point of the book, I imagine Hosea was praying that Gomer would return to her senses and come home and, while facing judgment, would also face forgiveness and mercy.
In verse 23, God pledges, once Israel has returned from her wickedness and idolatry, to “sow her unto me in the earth,” and to have mercy and restore His people and for them to acknowledge Him as their God.”
Chapter 3 begins the restoration process for Gomer, who apparently has faced the further public humiliation of being sold on the market as a slave (which, of course, was common when someone accumulated more debts than they could pay). God tells Hosea to love an adulteress as God loves Israel in all its seeking after idols. On the market, Hosea bought her back for 15 pieces of silver, and 1.5 homers of barley.
In verse 3, Hosea tells Gomer: “Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee.”
He wanted her back as his wife and pledged that both would be faithful to each other. There would be no revenge extramarital sex for Hosea. By this time, I believe Gomer was the Prodigal Wife and was more than glad to return to Hosea. She had learned her lesson, just as David had painfully learned his lesson about adultery a few centuries before.
Verse 4 tells us that Israel would abide many days without a king or prince. Whether this refers to the Babylonian Captivity or the nearly-1,900-year gap between Jerusalem falling in A.D. 70 and statehood for Israel in 1948 or perhaps even a future event, I do not know. But, eventually, they would return to seeking God.
Richard Zowie is going through the Bible in his Richard’s Two Shekels blog when not commenting on Christian issues or blogging about his Christian walk. Post comments here or drop a line to richardstwoshekels@gmail.com.
Hosea 1: ‘God, you want me to do WHAT? Marry a PROSTITUTE?!’
When he received his commandment from God, I have little doubt that the prophet Hosea checked his calendar to see if it was April Fool’s Day. Or whatever the ancient Israelite equivalent of it was.
“Dear God, surely you are joking?!” Hosea probably asked, reverently. Could he really be hearing God correctly?
God had instructed Hosea to do the unthinkable:
“Go and marry a prostitute.”
It must’ve been a very strange pill to swallow. Little is known of Gomer, Hosea’s wife, and I wonder if she was one of those prostitutes in the temples of the false gods. If so, it must’ve seemed especially distasteful for Hosea.
This minor prophet, we learn from the opening verse, lived during the time of King Hezekiah of Judah and of King Jeroboam of Israel. This means, of course, that the events of this book actually happened before those of Daniel.
We see in the second verse that God doesn’t call Hosea to marry Gomer for divine amusement. There’s a reason for it: “…And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.”
There’s a lesson to be learned: Hosea and Gomer’s marriage will mirror God and Israel’s marriage.
They had three children: a son named Jezreel (because God would soon avenge Jezreel upon Jehu and would bring Jehu’s rule in Israel to a close and would judge Israel); a daughter named Loruhamah (from the Hebrew phrase meaning “no mercy” to indelicate God would cease from having mercy for Israel and would take them away while having mercy on Judah through some apparent tough love); and another son named Loammi (from the Hebrew meaning “not my people” to indicate a period of separation that would take place).
According to my Bible commentary notes, some believe that Loruhamah and Loammi were not Hosea’s biological children due to the wording of the text. I’m not so sure, simply because similar wording is used to describe all the kids Leah had when she was married to Jacob, but yet the context of Jacob and Leah shows nothing to indicate Jake wasn’t the father of all those boys and the daughter.
Verses 10 and 11 indicate that Israel will have a period of separation from God as God punishes the country for its idolatry before restoring it. I suspect this refers to the Babylonian captivity and then the Jewish people’s return back to Israel.
Richard Zowie is going through the Bible in his Richard’s Two Shekels blog when not commenting on Christian issues or blogging about his Christian walk. Post comments here or drop a line to richardstwoshekels@gmail.com.
Daniel 12: ‘All in good time’
I imagine Daniel must’ve been mentally exhausted at the end of his long life. He saw many visions, some wonderful and others horrifying. He also had to deal with royal egos, not the least among them King Nebuchadnezzar.
Chapter 12 takes place immediately after the events of Chapter 11 and is in itself a separate prophesy.
We learn in this chapter that Michael the Archangel will stand up for the righteous during a time of trouble that the world has never seen. It is possible this is a time of trouble that has taken place, but its wording suggests very strongly to me these are events that will occur in the Book of Revelation.
God’s people will be delivered, those who are found written in the book (my interpretation being the Lamb’s Book of Life) will be delivered, and that delivery is wonderful. The end times will be especially horrible; among many reasons, it’ll be the first time the world has seen what God is like when He is truly angry.
I wonder what went through Daniel’s mind in verse two when he saw the vision of dead people reanimating out of the dust of the earth for their final judgment: the righteous to everlasting life and the unrighteous to shame (their sins and wickedness on open display) and eternal damnation.
Years ago, when Dr. Jack Hyles autographed my Bible, he wrote as his life verse Daniel 12:3. It reads: “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” (King James Bible)
Sirius, the brightest star visible in our sky.
This tells me that those in heaven who’ve earned rich rewards by becoming godlike and by leading many to Him will not just have glorified bodies, but will shine like the stars in the universe. Our sun. Sirius (the brightest star in our sky), a.k.a., “The Dog Star”. Deneb, Rigel, among a few. Perhaps some righteous souls will even shine like all the stars combined that comprise the Andromeda galaxy.
The Andromeda Galaxy, one of the Milky Way Galaxy’s closest neighbors at about 2.5 million light years away (or, around 150,000,000,000,000,000,000 miles).
Daniel is then instructed by this heavenly being to cease writing and seal his scroll; in the end times, the prophecies would be fulfilled and people would understand. Then, things will indeed be hectic. Many will become very well-versed in the Bible as they seek out God and study what’s going on.
Daniel then saw one more vision, that of two men on different sides of a river. One wonders when things will take place. The other man, who apparently went onto the water, said it would be for a specific appointed time.
I don’t know what it means in verse seven when it says “…he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.” Perhaps this will mean Israel has been made weak by the antichrist, or maybe it refers to Israel ceasing to become a nation in A.D. 70. I suspect the former.
Daniel wants to know what the end should be and, probably when. He is told, basically, “All in good time.”
In other words: you’ve done a great job, Daniel, but it’s not for you to know…yet. When the time is ready, your physical body shall be resurrected and reunited with your soul and you will know.
Many will be made righteous and will be purified, but not the wicked, who will not understand.
Daniel does learn that the time that passes between the ending of the daily sacrifice and the abomination of desolation (when, I suspect, the antichrist will defile the Temple of God) shall be 1,290 days (about 3.5 years) while those who endure and arrive at the 1,335 days (a little longer than 3.5 years) shall be blessed. I suspect the first set of days refers to the first half called the Tribulation while the second half refers to the Great Tribulation when things really start getting ugly.
To close out this book, Daniel is told to go his way, rest and then arise again at the end. I suspect this means that Daniel died shortly after recording this twelfth and final chapter of the book.
Next, we move on to Hosea, a prophet who must’ve thought God was joking when He told Hosea to marry a prostitute.
Richard Zowie is going through the Bible in his Richard’s Two Shekels blog when not commenting on Christian issues or blogging about his Christian walk. Post comments here or drop a line to richardstwoshekels@gmail.com.
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