Mark, Isaiah, and Biblical Hebrew

So this fall I'm taking two courses at LCU: Elementary Biblical Hebrew and a text course on the Gospel of Mark. Don't be surprised when I begin discussing these topics. Hebrew is simple enough... well, the pursuit of the course, that is. You know, to learn the language; that's the point. The Mark class, however, is somewhat more intriguing. The basic thesis of it is that Mark should be read in light of the prophet Isaiah and that such a reading has tremendous impact for its interpretation.

All this to say, I'm excited about this semester. Hopefully I'll get to write some on learning Hebrew and the Mark/Isaiah readings. I pray you'll join me on this journey, and also that I may remember to share it with you!

Grace and peace,

-Reed

The Fall at School

School has started again in my neck of the woods, and the signs of its arrival are many: incoming freshmen, one day of good food in the school cafeteria, school flags everywhere, on-campus construction (well, this isn't exclusive to the start of the year), and an electricity in the air that is due in part to the excitement on campus. The other part is the dry weather, wind, and the resulting static that shocks me every time I get out of my car. But for many, the start of school is a time of new beginnings.

Gettin' Hitched

Sorry, guys. I have something more important than blogging going on. I'm'a gettin' married!

I'll likely not blog again for some weeks at least; no idea how long that will be.

Grace and peace to you all,
-Reed

EECC 1.3: Liturgy—Worship Styles (Critique)

This is the final post concerning worship styles, but the liturgy discussion will continue on after this. For now, we shall approach the concerns, benefits, and detriments of the chosen worship style of the Churches of Christ, that is (predominantly, anyway), a cappella.

A Small Note of Thanks

Due to the job hunt on my part and Mr. Fisher's absence as he does God's work in Ukraine, the posts for the summer have been few and far between. Yet, for some strange reason, you people are still reading this blog. So to you I wish to offer a moment of thanks. I think as a blogger it can become dreadfully easy to forget one's audience. Even preachers, whose audiences are fairly consistent (given a steady location, that is), can forget who is listening.

EECC 1.2: Liturgy—Worship Styles (Rationale & Rebuttal)

Introduction
As we have seen, the primary mode of lyrical worship for the CofCs is a cappella, that is, solely vocal music. But where does this idea come from? Why do we primarily stick to a cappella music? The most common argument I've heard is that it is "scriptural". By this my fellows have generally assumed an argument from silence. This is when something is based on what is not said rather than what is. It is not stated explicitly in the New Testament that Christians (Jewish or Gentile) worshipped using anything but their voices. Aside from the argument from silence, there is one primary passage which has been used to defend an "a cappella only" stance: Ephesians 5.19, and using only a small section of this short verse:

A Small Break

If you could not tell, there have been no posts in a little while. I'm currently taking a break to focus on other matters at the moment. Check back in a couple weeks, and I hope I'll have something up by then.

As always, I appreciate you readers, both the intentional stalkers and the accidental happen-upon-ers. For the time being, though, nothing will be posted for a while as weddings draw near, jobs are sought, and other pursuits are . . . pursued. As such, it is more important that I get a job to support my very-soon-to-be wife and to help out with the wedding. I imagine Gabe is in a similar spot.

For those of you who check regularly but find nothing new, I have two possible solutions for you so you don't waste as much time here:

• The first solution is to subscribe to the RSS feed. Copy and paste the following link into your address bar, and if you bookmark it the bookmark will inform you any time something new is posted. <feed://reedeemedweblog.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss>
• The second is to subscribe by e-mail up at the top of the left side of the blog. It is under the heading "Follow Reedeemed by Email". Just enter your e-mail address, and new posts will be sent directly to your inbox.

I hope you all have an excellent summer.

Grace and peace to you all,
-Reed