| | Tweaks
I've tweaked the header and footer of my site. I'm open to opinion. In case you don't recognize the differences, I've eliminated the earthquake, hurricane, and local dark sky maps from the footer and added links to those items under my News section in the index at the bottom. I am using the miniature satellite map up top below the local radar instead of the big national map at the bottom. I've reorganized the top layout into three columns instead of four and moved stuff around. I'm open to suggestions if you all think there's still too much stuff, not enough, would look better another way, or whatever. Of course I may ignore advice, but I'd still like here opinions.
Shelfari
I've found an excellent site for people who love to read books (and authors, too). www.shelfari.com. I added my shelfari bookshelf at the very bottom of my site here. My book list will be growing soon as I start to catalog the dozens of books I have at home - I plan to only put the better ones on my shelf.
MIA
I'll be doing training next week and probably won't be around much. I might be here. I might not. Don't worry though if you don't see me.
SenselessnessHos 7:11-12 Ephraim
is like a dove, silly and without sense, calling to Egypt, going to
Assyria. As they go, I will spread over them my net; I will bring them
down like birds of the heavens; I will discipline them according to the
report made to their congregation. The dove is often associated
with hope and peace. We draw this image from the passage in Genesis
where Noah sends the dove and it returns with the olive branch (Gen
8:11). Another passage of hope where the dove is a powerful symbol is
found in Mt 3:16 when Jesus is baptized and John saw “the Spirit of God
descending like a dove.” Doves are notoriously easy going creatures. A
bit noisy and messy perhaps, but they don’t mind people very much and
they seem to thrive in most environments. This also makes them easy to
capture and thus seemingly silly. In this passage Hosea specifically
mentions the attempt made by Samaria to court Egypt to support them
against Assyria. Israel was already paying tributes to Assyria. The
tribute worked something like a tax, but in reality it was a bribe to
keep the brutal Assyrians from plundering by force. Either way it was
against God’s will for Israel to pay other nations for their own
security. Israel wanted to try to work a better deal so they began
courting Egypt. In about 725 BC Hoshea, king of Israel refused to pay
the tribute to Assyria and sent a message to Pharaoh asking for help.
Shalmaneser, the king of Assyria, discovered Hoshea’s plan. He captured
Hoshea and imprisoned him. For three years he assaulted Israel until
finally Samaria and all of the territories of the Northern Kingdom were
subdued. In 722 BC the conquest was complete. God promised Israel would
be captured like doves and that was a perfect description because, like
doves captured in a net, the people were gathered up and removed from
their homeland as exiles. 2 Ki 17 provides a complete and detailed
report of the fall of Israel, the capture of King Hoshea, the exiling
of the people, and the reasons why God allowed Israel to be punished –
exactly as Hosea prophesied.
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| | Posted 5/9/2008 10:10 AM - 6 comments
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This is my book. It is for sale online. Ask James is a bible study in Q&A format. It is perfect for individual or small group studies. This book covers a multitude of topics from joy to anger, death to salvation, faith to doubt, temptation to religion, and many more. Learn to ask hard questions and how to find satisfying answers. Buy my book today. Buy enough for your next group study.
Anyway, seeing as how it's free, I joined up with Shelfari as well, so you've got a pending friend request from me. I'm still working on cataloguing stuff on my shelf over there.
