Stephen M. Miller
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Pregnant Mary runs away

December 5, 2020

Elizabeth was six months pregnant when God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a city in Galilee. There, Gabriel appeared to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to Joseph, descended from King David.

“Hello,” the angel said. “God is with you. And he has singled you out for a wonderful blessing.”

Mary thought that was an odd way to greet someone. She couldn’t figure out what he was talking about.

“Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel said. “God is delighted with you. Listen, you are going to get pregnant and give birth to a son. You are to call him Jesus…

As soon as she could, Mary got out of town. She took to the hills and went to a town in Judea. When she arrived at the home of Zechariah, Elizabeth welcomed her. At the mere sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child jumped inside of her, and the Holy Spirit filled her.

In a loud and happy voice Elizabeth sang out, “You are blessed more than any other woman. And the child inside you is blessed, as well. Think of it. The mother of my Lord has come to visit me. How could I be so fortunate? Look, when I heard nothing more than your greeting, the baby inside me jumped for joy. You are blessed indeed because you believed the Lord would do what he said he would do.” Luke 1:21-31; 30-45 Casual English Bible

Who’s the writer?

January 11, 2020

did you know logo

Q

YOU MIGHT BE SURPRISED to know who wrote this benediction. Guess anyhow.

“God can keep you from falling. He can make sure you stand tall before him one day, happy and with no one to blame you about anything.

He’s the only God. He saved us because of what Jesus Christ our leader did for us. All the praise we can muster, all the power we can imagine, all the authority we can conceive belong to God. Always has. Always will. And that’s the truth.”

A

Those are the last two verses in the one-chapter letter named after the author.

He’s Jude. Early church leaders said he was one of the brothers of Jesus.

He identifies himself only as “a worker for Jesus Christ and a brother of James” (Jude 1:1 Casual English Bible).

The James he’s referring to was likely another brother of Jesus. James seemed to chair the first known church council meeting, held in Jerusalem (Acts 15:13).

Jewish leaders stoned him to death about 30 years later. That’s according to first-century Jewish historian Josephus.

Casual English Bible
Bible Gateway

Share your gift

December 14, 2019

“God has given a gift to everyone. He’s kind like that. Find your gift and use it to help others. Sharing your gift is a good use of God’s kindness” (1 Peter 4:10 Casual English Bible).

No tithe needed

December 4, 2019

Christians didn’t start teaching that God expected a 10% tithe of income until the mid-1800s, according to some church historians. Reportedly, there are no sermons on tithing before then. John Wesley didn’t tithe or preach on it. John Calvin didn’t. Martin Luther didn’t. Tithing became a fundraising technique after the American government stopped supporting churches with tax money, beginning in the 1830s. In Bible times, Christians gave offerings, not tithes. Paul said, “You must each decide in your heart how much to give,” (2 Corinthians 9:7 NLT). Bible Snapshots, p. 226.

One big end-time demon army

May 25, 2019

did you know logoI GOT ANOTHER SURPRISE yesterday, while paraphrasing Revelation for the Casual English Bible.

Most Bibles say that the massive end-time army from somewhere east of what is now Israel will tally 200 million soldiers (Revelation 9:16).

These are the bad guys. Some Bible scholars call them a Demon Army (Revelation 9:17). Whatever they are, they seem to be playing on the same team as the ugly critters that some call the Demon Locusts, which swarm the planet and terrorize people (Revelation 9:3).

The original Greek language of Revelation doesn’t say “200 million” soldiers would come from the east.

It  sounds worse.

In the Greek original language, it’s literally: myrias dismyrias.

Myrias is where we get the English word “myriad,” meaning more than we can count.

In English, the number wouldn’t be a number. It would be “myriad times double myriad.”

Some put numbers to the innumerable: 10,000. So, they multiply 10,000 times 20,000. And they get an army of 200 million.

By the end of the first century, the Roman army under Emperor Trajan had almost 400,000 soldiers.

That would mean the demons outnumbered the Romans 500 to one.

That’s if there were only 200 million demon soldiers.

In the Casual English Bible, I’m thinking of paraphrasing Revelation 9:16 this way:

“I heard someone say how many mounted soldiers were in their army: uncountable times double uncountable.”

Then I’d add a footnote with the info I’ve put in this short blog.

What do you think?

I got to go because there’s a lightning storm, and it’s getting worse. Tornado watch, too. I want to watch it from the basement.

Casual English Bible
Bible Gateway

What to do with complaining Christians

May 18, 2019

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Q

LIFE APPLICATION. Paul asks for Christians to do what they know God wants them to do, and to do it without complaining or arguing (Philippians 2:14). Some people in the church complain a lot. What do you think is a good way to deal with someone like that—beyond simply telling them, “Hey, you complain too much”?

A

Well, we could tell them to get the dickens out of Dodge. Or we could give them a voice and hold them accountable for what they say. Let them contribute to the conversation, and then respond kindly but truthfully. Still, there are some people that we might actually need to get stern with and say something like, “This whole thing is getting toxic. We need to neutralize it. Let’s get together and talk about what’s behind this.”

Adapted from Leader’s Guide & Atlas for Philippians
Preview atlas of maps for maps for Philippians
Download Leader’s Guide & Atlas for Philippians

Casual English Bible
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Odd way to start the Jesus story

May 11, 2019

did you know logoIT SEEMS LIKE A CRAZY WAY to start telling the story of Jesus. John introduced him as “the living Word of God” (John 1:1 Casual English Bible).

What? Try picturing that in your head.

It’s so much easier to picture him as a baby in a feeding trough in Bethlehem.

But John is sounding more like a theologian than a historian. Theologians have strange ways of thinking. There’s something different going on inside their heads. Something that’s often deeper than we’re used to hearing. And something that often makes no sense, at least at first glance.

Doggone, they make us work.

Here’s a footnote to John 1:1 that tries to help explain why John described Jesus the way he did.

The original Greek word is Logos. Greek scholars such as Heraclitus said logos was the wisdom behind all of creation. This all-present wisdom created everything and it guided creation along the way.

For many Jewish scholars then and now, God’s Word pulled the trigger on Creation, whether or not that involved pulling the trigger on the Big Bang. “God said, ‘Lights.’ Lights came on…God said, ‘Land, grow a garden.’…The land grew a garden” (Genesis 1:3, 11-12).

John doesn’t identify Jesus as the Word until a few paragraphs later, gradually working up to it by describing the Word as the one who “came to this world that belonged to him. But most of the people—his people—wouldn’t have anything to do with him” (1:11).

Jesus came to earth as a living, breathing expression of God’s message to humanity, summed up in what is perhaps the most famous Bible verse, John 3:16.

If someone wants to get a message through my thick head and into my calloused heart…on the pain of refugees, for example…they might begin by putting it in writing: a news story for the Associated Press.

Better still, put it on TV. That way I can see the faces and feel the emotions.

Best, put a refugee in front of my face. Let him tell me his story. If he can convince me that he’s telling the truth, his story becomes my story. I wouldn’t be able to help it.

I know that to be true of myself because I’ve been put in similar situations on mission trips.

I don’t think I’m unique that way. Humans, by nature, are drawn toward honesty. It’s who we are in the depths of the heart.

We respond to a true Word, whether it’s written, filmed, or standing before us in the flesh. We always have. God knows that. So did John.

Casual English Bible
Bible Gateway

When a word is a spirit

April 20, 2019

did you know logoI GOT CAUGHT OFF GUARD by one verse in particular, when I was recently paraphrasing my way through the Gospel of John for the Casual English Bible.

See if this makes sense to you:

“Eternal life comes from the Spirit. Our bodies have nothing to do with it. These words are spirit. They are life” (John 6:63 Casual English Bible).

Whatever Jesus meant by that, after he said it, “That was the turning point for many of his followers. They stopped associating with him” (John 6:66).

“Words are spirit”? I know they can be spiritual. But my goodness. Look at this.

“Eternal life comes from the Spirit.”

“These words are spirit.”

That sounds like Jesus just said, “Eternal life comes from these words because these words are spirit.”

What?

I’ve spent most of my life working as a Christian writer. I know words have power to change people. Words can be spiritual when they deal with matters of the spirit.

But I haven’t thought of a word as a spirit.

I don’t know what that means.

Commentators guess, but danged if they know, either.

Can a word be wrapped in Spirit? Or maybe it’s conceived by the Spirit. Or could it actually embody the very essence of the Spirit of God?

Holy smoke.

My wife caught me looking out the window this time. Where else should I look after reading the commentaries?

Up? Inward? Anywhere but Amazon for more commentaries?

Sometimes the best insight I have is cross-eyed.

So here’s looking at you.

Read the verse in your favorite Bible version. Tell me how you read it. If you please. Thank you very much.

Casual English Bible
Bible Gateway

Women had no right to wine

March 23, 2019

did you know logo

The typical meal for Jewish folks in Roman times featured

  • Bread
  • olive oil
  • dried figs
  • and a mess of stew made from beans, lentils, and peas.

I wrote about that in a recent article: Ancient diet for a trim look.

Richer folks could add some wine and meat. But women “have no right to wine since the wives of the poor don’t drink wine.” That’s a quote from the Tosefta, a set of Jewish guidelines from at least the AD 100’s, and perhaps earlier.

Poorer folks were more likely to use wine to help purify the drinking water. It killed some of the bacteria from pollutants such as dead critters upstream, algae in the underground spring, and laundry day every day along the shore.

It seems that nearly everyone who could afford to grow some grapes did, which is why archaeologists have found so many ruins of wine and olive presses all over what is now Israel and Palestinian Territories.

Casual English Bible
Bible Gateway

What warnings would Jesus give religion leaders today?

March 9, 2019

did you know logo

Q

LIFE APPLICATION. Jesus criticizes the religion scholars of his day for loving to dress up in their religious clothes, get greeted politely in public, get reserved seats at synagogues, and for praying long prayers out in public (Matthew 23:5-7; Mark 12:38-40; Luke 20:45-47). If Jesus gave warnings about religion leaders today, what do you think he would say? And for heaven sake, don’t mention anyone’s name unless folks have already read them in the news.

A

Jesus might give today’s religion leaders exactly the same warnings he did 2,000 years ago. Why not? Some rich leaders dress up in expensive clothing. Some of them get celebrity status and love it. Some take their show on the road, broadcasting their ministry on television or radio—and their main thrust is fundraising, sometimes to the point of exploiting the poor and elderly. Also, as a possible add-on, Jesus might suggest that ministers preach shorter sermons, tell more stories, and feed people when they get hungry. But mostly, shorter sermons.

Seriously, just to provoke some brain activity, what critique do you think Jesus would offer to religion leaders today if they invited him to speak at a church leadership convention?

A few ideas, to prime the pump:

  • Don’t spend so much time telling 2,000-year-old Bible stories. Jesus didn’t tell many Bible stories. Instead, encourage the people, help them deal with their troubles, and remind them that they are citizens of God’s kingdom and ambassadors who represent that kingdom to the citizens of this world.
  • Stop using tithing as a fundraising tool since tithing was an Old Testament Jewish law that is now obsolete, like the Jewish laws about circumcision and kosher meals. (There’s a debate among Christians about tithing, which is the church’s most effective technique for raising money.)
  • There’s a bit of a pushy and intimidating control freak in some religion leaders and a lot of control freak in a few. Back off. You’re supposed to be on your knees and washing feet. Like the rest of us.

Adapted from Leader’s Guide & Atlas for Matthew
Preview atlas of maps for maps for Matthew
Download Leader’s Guide & Atlas for Matthew

Casual English Bible
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