Picturepocket's Blog

Category: education

  • Softball Season

    We attended our first high school softball game yesterday. Years ago, I played adult, slow-pitch, coed, city D-league, and have watched local farm-team baseball, but I didn’t know what the high school girls rules were. Here is a quick primer.  This was fast underhand pitch and the game play was tight. First off, there are only…

  • Genesis 3: In the Garden

    The story of beginning takes a turn when the serpent starts talking. Being “craftier” than the other animals, it asks the woman if God actually said they shall not eat of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  Is this a talking animal book? No. No more animals speak except for one time later.…

  • 2 Corinthians 12: R-E-S-P-E-C-T

    Feeling like he’s not being respected, Paul shares a vision with his readers in hopes that they will listen to what he has to say. He says that a man, himself we assume, was caught up either in- or out-of-body visit to the third heaven where they experienced paradise and other unexplainable events. The what?…

  • 2 Corinthians 11: Résumé of Risk 

    In this chapter, Paul complains about the kind of preachers the Corinthians are listening to. He compares himself to a matchmaker, bringing them as pure bride to Christ. Now, he accuses them of stepping out from their pure devotion. He says that other teachers are bringing a different Jesus, a different gospel and a different…

  • Dreams & Goals

    Christmas eve this year, I sat on the bed wrapping gifts and chain-binging Christmas movies. One was a Hallmark story where a big city gal goes to back to her Southern hometown for the holidays. While the characters were awkwardly churning through lines that someone spent five seconds writing, the romantic lead said he was…

  • I Corinthians 3: Subcontractors of the Spirit

    Paul continues to address the divisions within the Corinthian Church. He tells them to grow up, they can’t just be sustained on milk, meaning they have to start acting more mature. Paul is going to give them something to chew on. Currently, they are acting out in jealousy and strife, which are not the ways…

  • 1 Corinthians 1: God First

    This letter was written by Paul with the endorsement of Sothenes, (In Acts 18, he was the ruler of the synagogue in Corinth whose beating was ignored by the leader Gallio). It’s the same effect of telling the kids, “Your Dad and I have something important to tell you.” Their greeting is to the Church…

  • Romans 10: Hide & Seek

    Remembering that Paul is speaking to Jewish believers living in Rome, he pleads the case for the inclusion of non-Jews into the family of faith. These new believers have zeal, but are ignorant of the law of God. Christ himself is their goodness.  Paul contrasts Jesus with Moses. Moses acquired the Ten Commandments from God…

  • Romans 9: A Season of Giving

    In this section, Paul wrestles with the tension between God sovereignty and man’s free will. God had chosen the Israelites to be his people, but they struggled to follow his laws, fulfill his covenants, participate in the worship, and receive his promises. The people outside of the religious community, called Gentiles, were not given those…

  • Acts 7: Martyr 

    At the temple, Stephen retells the spiritual history of Israel from the perspective of the Holy Spirit. He starts with the calling of Abraham to go West from Mesopotamia to a yet unknown promised land. Then he tells of the subsequent years of slavery in Egypt and Israel’s salvation through Moses, Aaron and gift of…