Saturday, April 12, 2008

Tired, But Not In Charge

Today has been busy...
--Garage-sale-d early (and I don't usually get up before the sun!!)
  • Got a nice armchair for my study (which T's truck kindly came and got for me!)
  • And floor pillows for my girls (the girls I disciple, that is) to crash on when they come to visit.
  • Also got the game of life for $1--mostly for nostalgia purposes. Of course, it might be nice to get a career, a spouse, life insurance, bonuses, etc.! LOL!
  • I found a little water fountain for my office; I need the background noise when the childcare program is going on right outside my door.
  • Also picked up a couple of little things for my niece and nephews, but I don't want to give away any secrets here, since their parents have been known to drop by...
--Worked a bit: This morning was the three-hour dress rehearsal for a major performance tomorrow--Haydn's The Creation! I greeted the orchestra members & guest soloists, handed out checks to the aforementioned, and made sure the choir and director of worship & arts had everything they needed. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's performance!

--Did my federal and state taxes: At least this year it wasn't on April 15! The good news is, I'll have some money to pay toward my stupid (aka, credit card) debt soon! :-) That makes me very, very happy! But...since I 'don't do numbers,' I'm pretty worn out from the effort! Turns out the IRS likes numbers. I guess there are just some people in this world like that...

--Checked on my cyber-world friends. Everyone seems fine, at least those who posted. :-)

--Spent the last couple of hours researching and trying to determine the chronology of Saul/Paul's life, particularly the Acts 9 vs. Galatians 1 parts. When did that man go where? And when was Galatians written? UGH! I am exhausted, and I haven't even worked it all out yet... And worse, that's not the main part of my lesson tomorrow; it's just the pre-work.

Despite my love of teaching, I don't really love researching. But based on a recent post (and a 75-page-ish work in my files proving the deity of Christ) by Uncle Bob, I happen to know he does like researching. Wanna do my homework for me, Uncle Bob? Please...??? ;-) I'll get you started: There's this guy named Saul, and he went to Damascus, and Arabia, and Damascus, and Jerusalem and then to the area of Syria/Cilicia... ("Let me 'splain. No, too much. Let me summarize." -Name that movie, anyone?)

Okay, so I do have some of it worked out, but it is a bit mind-bending. Especially when you realize that somewhere between a period (.) and the word "When," there are trips and years that aren't mentioned there (see Acts 9:25 & 26 and then compare it with Galatians 1:17 and following, if you feel the need to verify...).

BUT, here is where I ended that trek: I am so glad that God's got all this down. While I should be a good student of the Bible, if, despite my efforts, I still get the periods of Paul's travels mixed up, well, I'm not the one responsible to track all events on the earth. (This sentence composed as a special tribute to Sarah! LOL!) God knows when Paul was where...and when I was too. :-)

All that to say...I'm really glad I'm not in charge. And I'm really glad God is the keeper (and originator and end-er) of chronology.

Though I'm really looking forward to Uncle Bob's research... :-D

Now, I'm off to a play...right after I finish this lesson...
-J

(c) 2008

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glad you've had such a nice and productive day. I am not a garage sale person--at all. Just like I'm not a thrift shop person. I just see junk! I'm glad everyone isn't just like me.

Allison

Bob said...

If you need a well researched answer to when Paul wrote Galatians, you're just out of luck (unless, of course, your dad is available). I've recently taught Galatians, but after I'd done some digging for an authoritative answer to the question of when the letter was written (and figuring out that there two widely held but contradictory opinions on that), I just concluded it doesn't really matter and went with the opinion that seemed (based on my own bias) most reasonable.

Worse yet, there's some question about who the "Galatians" actually were. The Book of Acts doesn't record Paul's ever visiting the Roman Province of Galatia, so the name "Galatians" should probably be interpreted as an ethnic reference rather than a geographical designation.

What I stated in my lesson about the date of the epistle was:
Galatians was probably the first of the canonical epistles that Paul wrote. Paul probably penned the letter around A.D. 50, after Paul’s second missionary journey. Obviously, Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians was written to the churches in Galatia (in central Asia Minor), but exactly how broad a region Galatia was leaves some room for conjecture. Since we have no record of Paul ever traveling into what was the Roman Province of Galatia, the area Paul refers to as Galatia probably includes the cities mentioned Luke’s account of Paul’s first missionary journey (in Acts 14): Derbe, Iconium and Lystra. The people in Lycaonia were the same Germanic Galls who’d migrated to Asia centuries earlier, so Paul is probably using the term “Galatians” in a more ethnic (rather than geographic) sense.

One of the sharper guys in the class asked me after the lesson how I determined that the letter was written that early, and all I said was, "I just went with what I found on 'Bible.org'."

Sarah@Life in the Parsonage said...

Sounds like a good day! :)

Rachel said...

Somehow I missed this blog. I just now saw it.

I am suprised that so much is know about somethings and so much is not. I would thing there would be something written already on the subject of where Paul was when. Other than that, I am no help at all.

I realized that this was a google thing. I already have a google account with the boys MCADD group, so I set up a page. I am learning how to use and such. I am copying and changing my blog from the other place to here. I am taking out name here and anything related to location. Just because it seems as if it is public. Also, this is a family account, so dh can read it if he wants too. I will also make sure it is gender neutral so that your brother can read it also, if he followed you here. You may still want to read the other one. However, I WANT YOU TO COMMENT ON MY PAGE. Just because I do!! You don't have to comment on both everytime, but this time you do. Hee Hee.

My hope is to connect with C again. I think I saw her comment on your page earlier, so maybe she will see me here also. I will make sure that Joel can read this one also.

Your family welcomed me before you did. Hee Hee. I think they thought I was your sister. However, since I am aunt and uncle-less, I would be happy to share my blog with them. I always read their comments on your page.

Big Man for Jesus said...

The movie that you quoted is most definitely "Princess Bride." Gimme a hard one, J.
Your Bro, Joel