Hot & Jonah

Hot

The sun is hot. The picture on the right is one of the backgrounds I made for Cross Allegiance. Some upcoming ideas for CA --

(1) Theological observations from Jonah, as they're still fresh
(2) Maybe something on Isaiah 6 since Wed. night's message will be on Isaiah 6.
(3) Jeremy needs to do another video now, lol
(4) Chris does, too, lol
(5) Something relating to aim, as I have a lot of trick basketball clips ready to use.
(6) Something with Sonstruck music in the background -- not sure on this one yet.

If you have any ideas, then lemme know. Many of the friends/subscribers are Christians, but most of the messages we get are from skeptics or seekers. I really am passionate about the evangelism side of it, but I do want to get more edification-related clips up, as well (e.g. the Jonah video idea).

I remember when I was much younger (like 8), this one guy tried to tell me that coming up with ideas was called "Rain Storming" and I was like, "Don't you mean, 'brainstorming?'" He told me no, so I asked my parents and they told me that he was wrong.

On Sunday night, we had a snowball fight. It was hot (cold). I went in when my right foot was numb -- my boots' laces are lame, and they let snow come rushing in by the ton. I didn't want to lose any toes, so I suppose that I was probably smart for going in and taking a warm shower.

I also need to get more sleep. We did some visitations yesterday, and one guy wanted me to sit in this really comfortable chair. He talked for 2.5 hours, but after 1 minute in that chair, I knew I was in trouble. Man, was that a struggle. Holy cow. It's very easy to fall asleep early in the morning when you didn't get much sleep and the other person isn't always talking directly to you! SO yeah...I'm going to try to get 8 hours a night or bust from here on out. If I could do that even 90% of the time (to allow for emergency situations), it would be a definite plus.

Minor Prophets - Week 1 (Intro & Jonah)

The Sunday School series on the Minor Prophets went really well. I didn't get much sleep on Saturday (notice a theme?), so I had more ums and uhs than I would have liked. I'll tighten that up on my end, but that's minor compared with the overall message. That's more of my own compulsivity, especially since I've done several years of media and can do much better than that.

The Intro to the Minor Prophets went really well.

Jonah went really really well.

The text is really rich, and the applications and theological observations were really heavy. I have a few extra booklets, so if you want one, let me know.

The whale may or may not have thought, "YEAH, LITTLE MAN!" when he ate Jonah.
VOTE NOW: [Yes] [No]

Anyway, here were a few of the basic Theological Observations, Themes, and Applications from Jonah that I derived (without in-depth explanation) --

Theological Observations:
1:2 – The LORD punishes wickedness – He is Just.
1:2 – The LORD very often uses people to carry out His warnings.
1:4 – The LORD is in control of nature (see also 1:17).
1:7 – The LORD sees and reveals the heart in various ways.
1:9 – The LORD uses people to bear witness of Him and His power.
1:14-16 – The LORD can use any circumstance to bring people to Himself.
1:17 – The LORD preserves life (see also 1:12ff.).
1:17 – The LORD uses His Creation to carry out His purposes.
2:2 – The LORD hears the prayers of the righteous, and He hears them from anywhere.
2:6 – The LORD saves (see also 2:9).
2:10 – The LORD speaks to His Creation and it obeys.
3:1 – The LORD is a God of second chances.
3:2 – The LORD is not forgetful.
3:3-9 – The LORD works unexpectedly through our obedience.
3:10 – The LORD hears the cry of the desperate and repentant.
3:10 – The LORD is merciful.
4:1-3 – The LORD uses imperfect people to do His perfect work.
4:4 – The LORD is patient!
4:4 – The LORD often asks challenging questions to form His people.
4:6-11 – The LORD often uses creative object examples to speak or communicate to His people.
4:11 – The LORD is understanding.
4:11 – The LORD sees His lost sheep throughout the world as valuable.

Themes:
1. Repentance --> mercy
2. God’s merciful sovereignty to a heathen nation
3. Evangelistic success even through failure
4. Imperfection of the prophet (note that Jonah seems like a case example of clinical depression!)
5. God vs. false gods

Applications from Jonah:
1. Listen to God (Jonah 1:2, 3:1-2, others)
2. Obey God, serve Him, do His work, and delight in it (Thematic)
3. Superstitious? Don’t be – be faithful and obedient (Jonah 1:5-11)
4. Have God’s heart in seeking the lost (cf. 2 Peter 3:9, Luke 19:10; Jonah 4:6-11)
5. Trust in God to bring about good purposes (cf. Genesis 50:20, Romans 8:28; Thematic)

Jonah is a really neat book.