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Classic Bible: My Favorite Passages From Jonah

This is part of the Classic Bible: Favorite Stories & Passages series. Read more from the series!

One of the most beautiful stories in the Old Testament is found in the book of Jonah.

And, one of the most sobering, even frightening, stories in the Old Testament is found in the book of Jonah.

Whale Tail

You probably know the story; after all, it’s one of the old standby stories for Sunday School.

Here’s the story in a nutshell, but I suggest that you take some time and read the entire book of Jonah. It’s short, and it won’t take you very long.

Jonah was called by God to go preach a message of destruction to the city of Nineveh. Jonah had plenty of reasons to hate Nineveh. It was the capital city of Assyria, who had been enemies of Israel for a very long time. In fact, God used Assyria to take captive the northern tribes.

Jonah decided to ignore God’s call, and run the other way. As a result, God sent a big fish that swallowed Jonah, holding him for three days before spitting him up on a beach. After that Jonah went to the city of Nineveh and preached God’s plan for destruction unless they repented.

The amazing thing is, they did! God diverted his wrath and held off on the destruction because the people turned away from their evil, for a time.

Take a few moments and read the story. There’s so much more packed into this short book than what I’ve highlighted here.

In the meantime, here are a few of my favorite passages from the book of Jonah:

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9 Habits You Need To Build Into Your Daily Routine

This is part of the series How To Develop A Daily Routine. Check out more from the series!

One of the most helpful things you can do to increase your daily effectiveness is build a solid daily routine. The sky is the limit for what you can build into your routine. But there are a few things you definitely need to include.

Hammer

In order to be the most effective, simple tasks should be done so easily that you don’t need to think about them. That’s where your routine comes in. But there are a few tasks that you need to make sure happen each day. Otherwise, you can waste precious time and energy focusing on something that should take very little effort.

Here are nine habits that you should build into your routine to help your life run as smoothly as possible.

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Coffee Break – 07.22.2013

Coffee Break

A New Shape For The Coffee Syphon – My favorite way to brew an excellent cup of coffee is using my Chemex. However, I would love to give on of these a try. However, at $300, I don’t think it will be added to my coffee stash anytime soon.

4 Coin Flips That Changed History – I wasn’t so sure I wanted to include this article, so I flipped a coin…

Splendid Landscapes Photography – I’m a sucker for great landscape photography. Shots like these are why I keep taking photos. I love the beauty of nature and seeing if I can capture a glimpse of it in a shot. These are simply incredible.

The Fine Art Of Selection – One of the biggest pitfalls in ministry is our inability to say “no.” In this post, Randy Alcorn gives some great pointers for keeping our priorities in order.

Is It Ever Ok To Lie? – I get asked all the time about hypothetical situations in which the question is asked, “Could lying be alright?” My answer is always the same: God will never be honored by our sin. This is a great post depicting that very idea.

The Power Of Prayer – You may have seen the photo that went viral of a military husband and his soon-to-be-bride praying together. Here’s the story behind the photo. It’s very inspiring.

The only thing of our very own which we contribute to our salvation is the sin which makes it necessary. – William Temple

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Memorize Scripture: 1 Timothy 4:9-10

One of the hallmarks of the pastoral letters is the phrase “this is a trustworthy saying.” In this week’s passage, we see the third usage of this phrase.  The first two occurred in 1:15 and 3:1.

You can see it in 1 Timothy 4:9-10:

1 Timothy 4:9-10

While Paul states that this is a trustworthy saying, it’s rather unclear just what he is referring to as that trustworthy saying. In fact, there are really four options.

  1. The trustworthy saying immediately follows in verse 10, “(For this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men.
  2. The second half of verse 10, “We have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.”
  3. All of the preceding verse 8, balancing physical training and godliness together.
  4. The second half of verse 8, “Godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”

It seems most logical that the last option is the most likely, for several reasons. First, verse 10 is simply an explanation of the last half of verse 8, and doesn’t stand alone on its own. In fact, it depends upon verse 8 grammatically. Second, the whole point of verse 8 is found in the latter half, even though it begins with the balance of the two types of training. The fourth option simply best fits the language and syntax.

Even though the NIV places the next phrase in parenthesis, it’s not really necessary. Paul’s point here is that he labors and strives, not for the physical training or the godliness listed previously, but rather for this whole concept of godly living.

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4 Strategies For Making A Daily Routine Stick

This is part of the series How To Develop A Daily Routine. Check out more from the series!

Creating a daily routine can be a incredibly helpful part of your life. But once you have a plan, sticking to that plan may be tougher than you think.

All of us have our tragic stories of beginning something new, and failing to maintain it, whether that is a diet, an exercise routine, a reading plan or anything else.

Glasses On Calendar

In order for your new routine to become, well, routine, you need to have a strategy for sticking to the plan for the long haul. Because it will be tough. Forming new habits takes some time, but you’ll be more likely to see long-term success the longer you stick to the routine.

With that in mind, here are a few things you should consider that can help you stick to your daily routine.

Be specific

This is one of the most important aspects of sticking to a daily routine. When our plans are too vague, they tend to slip through the cracks, we forget about them, or we lose interest.

For example, let’s say that you want to add more time for reading into your daily routine. That’s a great goal, but you won’t be as likely to see success unless you get more specific. What are you going to read? Are you reading for entertainment, or do you want to learn more about a particular subject? How long do you want to read each day? Thirty minutes? An hour? What are you going to do to avoid distractions during that time? Where do you plan to read? In your living room? At the library?

These are all things to consider when making your plans. Being more specific will help your chances of success skyrocket.

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Coffee Break – 07.15.2013

Coffee Break

Coffee, From Field To Cup – Growing up, I remember watching cartoon “documentaries” about different topics. Most of these were spoofs by Disney or Loony Tunes of real video shorts. This video reaches back into those days and takes a pseudo-retro look at how coffee makes it into my cup from the plantation. Pretty cool!

8 Quirky Houses Around The World – I’m becoming increasingly interested in creative architectural spaces. Some of the houses shown in this article would be incredibly awesome to live in. I especially like the Stone House (#1), the Oast Houses (#4), and the Kvivik Igloo (#7). Others were just a bit too crazy. Which one do you like?

Digital Library by YTA – Along the same lines as the creative houses, I found this article interesting as well. This is an office space/media room. The pine and concrete, with the industrial electric components strikes me as awesome. It just wouldn’t hold all my books…

A Biblical And Scientific Adam – It seems fewer and fewer people accept Genesis as a literal view of history these days. That makes it a rare occurrence to find an article affirming Genesis and the Creation account.

Get Rid Of These 6 Things – It’s easy to become distracted, especially in ministry. Using the Internet and other forms of media are a part of ministry in our times, but they can suck time away if you aren’t careful. This article points out six common distractions, and suggests that we might consider eliminating them.

A Surprising Way To Become More Generous – One of the most neglected teachings of the New Testament in the church of recent years has been in the area of giving. This is changing, thankfully, but many still have little or no education in this area. Allowing God to use you to bless others and use others to bless you are both sides of the same coin. This post helps to clarify that.

If God should have no more mercy on us than we have charity to one another, what would become of us? – Thomas Fuller