Hey, Siestas! Boy, have we had some blog issues since I talked to you last! Remember that server transition I warned you about? Whoa. That thing has been a beast. If you find this posted, you know that it’s mostly cleared up. You’re kind of a big deal around here to us (grin) so you can know we’ve been chasing our tails trying to get everything fixed.

I have two really fun reasons to be on here today. First of all, we are beside ourselves to head to Fresno for our Living Proof Live this weekend! It’s time for our Siesta Scholarship Giveaway to any Siesta who wants to come but can’t afford the event ticket. We will fix up the first 20 of you who call 1-888-700-1999 and ask to talk to Kimberly or Susan. Remember that we are CST (2 hours later than West Coast) and our office hours are 8:30-4:30. Lunch is the usual 12:00-1:00.

Michelle and I will actually head out to California tomorrow afternoon so we can have an extra night to get adapted to the time change. This will be a sweet trip for Michelle (aka: Hawk) and me. It is our last official one together as LPM coworkers. Our two-year time period with Michelle comes to a close next week. We have always known our time together was this length so, although we will be so sad to say good-bye to one another, we are not taken by surprise. I have very little doubt that Michelle will always be in my life in one way or another. We were friends before she came and will be friends when she moves on to her next post. If we get a chance next week, I’ll ask her if she wants to get on here and say anything to you guys before she goes. She has loved Siestaville and has been the one to organize our group pictures at all our events for the last year. She’s a prize. I love every single person that walks through our LPM doors and look forward to what God is going to do next for her and for us but I have had a blast with Michelle. She’s quirky like I am and we have howled our heads off.

And now for the last reason I’m on here today! I have a friend I want you to meet. She’s a brand new published Bible study writer that I have known for a long time. I love to let you know what’s up out there in Bible study curriculum land. I will give you one heads-up before you watch our conversation. My bangs are going to drive you crazy. I cut them myself with a pair of paper scissors after I saw this. I was only three days from a hair cut but I couldn’t stand it anymore. Think of it as a blond eye patch and I think you’ll be able to handle it better. We’re trying to get better at our amateur video tapings. We have better sound this time because we actually have lapel microphones now but the light is so bright, we almost look like apparitions. I pray it’s the anointing you’re seeing shining on our faces but I think it’s just a bright, sweaty light.

Hey, while we’re at it, let us know of some young women Bible teachers you’ve really been blessed by! Let’s spread the word about what God is doing in women’s ministry in the Body of Christ. And, we who are older, let’s embrace these young teachers and let them teach us some things and let’s encourage them and give them lots of room! We need them and they need us! I want us to celebrate the generations around here and sow into one another actively. This is God’s way, Titus women.

I love you guys so much. I’ll talk to you again on the 1st for our Siesta Scripture Memory Post. Please pray for all of us in Fresno this weekend! Thank you, Sweet Things.

Jesus, come into our midst with power and authority and an affection so strong and evident that we’re healed by it.

Introducing… from LPV on Vimeo.

****UPDATE: Hey Siestas!  Our blog maintenance has been moved and will actually happen tomorrow, Friday, March 25 at 8:30AM.  Thank you for your patience!

****QUICK HEADS UP: Thursday AM, March 24 (tomorrow) at 8:30, our LPM blog will be shut down for what we anticipate being only a couple of hours. (Hopefully at most.) We are remaining right here on WordPress and right here at exactly this same address but we are switching servers to better accommodate our high volume of activity and comments. SO, if you try to get on after 8:30 AM Thursday morning and can’t connect to the page, you’ll know why. Sometimes the transition can take even a day or two but they are not anticipating that length of time. One thing is for sure, we’ll be back the moment we’re up. Until then and after then, go right ahead with your rich comments to this post!

OK, Siestas! It’s time for a pop quiz! We haven’t had one in a while. This quiz is for those of you who read many of the comments from our previous post about the moment or season of your life when you had your biggest “HE IS REAL” revelation. (The post is named “For Real” just so you can be sure you’re reading the comments to the right one.) The question conveyed on the post was about the time when you moved from believing God exists (Hebrews 11:6) to knowing (2 Timothy 1:12).

Here are the instructions for the comments to this post for those who want to participate in our pop quiz: (No other comments besides these please on this one post. This is a test. Grin.)

Write 2 observations you find yourself making based on all the testimonies you read under the post called “For Real.” There is no right or wrong answer. No pass or fail. You’re just simply saying, after reading so many of those comments, these two things seem clear to me. I’m asking for 2 observations. Not 1. Not 3. But 2. (Can you hear the classroom teacher in me coming out to play?) Testimonies are powerful things. We’re meant to be effected by what we read. So, how were you effected?

NOW, here is the very important catch: YOU MAY NOT READ ANYBODY ELSE’S OBSERVATIONS BEFORE YOU WRITE YOURS. In other words, don’t look at the comments to this post until after you’ve written your own answers. These are meant to be your observations and no one else’s. Your reflections. Your take on those testimonies. Not another Siesta’s. You are all great thinkers. Think for yourself.

I absolutely love this community. Go at it, Girls! Students, come forth!

Hey, Everybody! I was thinking about something early this morning that turned my thoughts toward you. I’d just been going over my memory verses and started reflecting on the whole journey of faith. The ups and downs, the twists and turns. The pain and then sometimes the dullness that scared me twice as much as the pain. Then something would happen and revival would come and back in the saddle I’d go again. His Word would jump back off the page at me and I’d feel fully alive and wonder why I’d doubted. I rewound even further back to the years that I hoped so much that this God I’d been told about was real. I needed Him so badly. I found my heart believing and I deliberately placed my faith in Him. Then I thought about a specific season through which I went from hoping He was real to knowing He was real. Don’t get me wrong. I am still challenged to faith in many other matters and always will be, because “faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen” and “without faith it is impossible to please God.” (Hebrews 11:1,6) But I seldom sit around and wonder if God exists and still speaks and still acts. Like you, I still see as in a mirror darkly and I wonder why some things happen the way they do and how it will all work out and what some things in Scripture really mean. But “I know the One I have believed in.” (2 Timothy 1:12)

We have so many new believers and even a sizable population of seekers in this community. Praise God, we do! We need to question our effectiveness the moment we don’t. So many of them would probably like to ask us how we “know” this God is real. So I ask those of you today to whom this applies to share a season in which you became convinced to the marrow of your bones that this is FOR REAL.

Think it through and be deliberate in your testimony. Please limit your story to one meaty paragraph so that we can read as many as possible. I can hardly wait. Let’s testify, girlfriends.

Hey, Sweet Things!

Right this very minute, I am sitting in my dear hair stylist’s chair getting some fresh color. (Oh, I do dearly love fresh color.) That’s what I do for special occasions (and half inch-long roots) and going to Tacoma for our first Living Proof Live of 2011 is a SPECIAL OCCASION. We are excited, nervous, and anxious (and very busy preparing) to see Christ revealed in the Tacoma Dome tomorrow night and Saturday. Please all of you pray for us. I am hopping on a plane this afternoon so that I can get a tiny jump on the time change. Michelle will join me tomorrow.

Because of our wonderful Siesta Scholarship Fund, we have the great joy of offering comp tickets to the event to the first 20 Siestas who call our Living Proof office today during business hours. (Remember Central Standard Time! We are two hours later than you in the West! If you happen to call during the lunch hour, leave a voice mail and they will call you back.) If you would like to come to the Tacoma Dome this weekend for our Living Proof Live but can’t afford a ticket, call toll free 1-888-700-1999 and ask for Kimberly or Susan. And tell them I told you how much I love them and appreciate them when you call.

You guys are my favorite bloggers in all the world. Your mama loves you like nobody’s business.

STAY IN THE WORD!

Hey, Darling Things!

With great joy the Living Proof Live team and I hit the road again for our 2011 dates starting next weekend and we are revved up and ready to jump on anything with wings. Over the last eighteen months I’ve tried so hard to make some wise changes to my (almost literally) back-breaking schedule. One of the biggest alterations is that we decided not to launch the LPL travel schedule until the end of our Tuesday night series so that I wouldn’t be trying to juggle sixteen gillion things at once. It was a really great decision and I have never enjoyed my Tuesday night group more. They’ve gotten to be the chief focus at LPM for weeks and I will be so sad to see the series end. The only downside to the decision is that I have been off the road for longer than usual and away from my beloved praise team and LifeWay event team. We are all really good buddies so we are itching to be together again and do what God has called us to do. I got to have Travis and Angela and part of the team for a great Tuesday night here in Houston or I wouldn’t have made it but I haven’t laid eyes on the rest of group since the first week of December. I’ve missed them so much.

We are BESIDE OURSELVES to start our 2011 schedule in the Great Northwest. We will hit Tacoma next Friday, March 11th, as one very happy group of Jesus freaks. (My printed calendar actually said Seattle but God knew!) God began speaking to me just three days ago about the subject matter. In fact, I have a white envelope that I keep in my car console for blotting my lipstick (it wasn’t premeditated) and God started  pressing on my heart so strongly about that event that I pulled it out at the stop light and started jotting down themes right there between four shades of pink. Michelle saw it when she was helping me get all manner of stuff out of the car and made a funny face. I said kind of sheepishly, “Notes for Washington.” She grinned and said, “I get it, Ma’am.” I love it when God starts shedding light on the messages because that’s when I know for certain – for absolute certain – that He scheduled the event and it wasn’t we. Lord, have mercy. That’s our worst nightmare. Nothing like showing up and He doesn’t. That’s when you know you missed something.

So, Tacoma first.

Then we break April open with a trip to Fresno, California on the 1st and 2nd. We love us some California! We are looking forward to a whole lot of Jesus, some gorgeous weather, great worship, lots of Bible study (please, Lord), and at least two rounds (and probably two pounds) of In-N-Out Burger. Seattle-country makes me think coffee. California makes me think Animal Style Fries. I have some great friends coming to that one that I’ll get to see afterward. (I am no fun in advance. Too intense. You never have to worry whether or not we take our jobs seriously. There is considerable angst involved. But afterward, if we’ve had time to catch our breath and get something in our stomachs, we are free to laugh our heads off and rejoice in God’s grace.)

THEN, we head to Little Rock. Back home to Arkansas. Both of my sisters will be at this one. So will some of our childhood friends. More than anything, I want to meet Jesus there. Just where I first met Him many years ago. My heart is especially tender toward this one as those rolling hills draw my soul. I think about it almost every day.

So, it’s almost time to pull out the LPL suitcase again and I’m just weird enough to be glad. It’s been so good to have a nice long season at home and I will definitely do it again next year. But somewhere in the distance I hear a voice saying, “Please make sure that all carry-on items are stowed either in an overhead compartment or completely beneath the seat in front of you. If you are seated in an emergency exit row, please read the information on the passenger safety card which is located in the seat back pocket in front of you. If you do not meet the criteria for seating in this row, or if you do not wish to  assist in an emergency (you lame gnat), let a crew member know and we will be happy to re-seat you. Prior to departure from the gate all cell-phones must be turned off and stowed. Once again, we welcome you on board.”

Ah, yes. And that’s when I shoot out my last text to AJ and Lis and try to power down before I get in trouble.

I’m so hoping to see some of you Siestas in one of those three great cities. Anybody planning to head either direction? Even if these events are way off your radar,  I’d give just about anything if you’d take a moment and pray for our 2011 Living Proof Live events. It would make a world of difference. Oh, man, we so want to honor God and give Him great glory and spread the fame of Jesus Christ. We want to keep learning and keep growing and keep seeking and keep finding, alongside every woman He sends our way. We have nothing without Him. Not one thing. If we quench Him, we’re croutons. Please pray for our hearts to be pure and our egos to be small and for our God to be huge and make His praise glorious.

I love you guys.

Six months ago I devoured John Steinbeck’s mythic tale, East of Eden.  Steinbeck creates fantastic and believable characters in a larger than life sort of way.  He even gives one of his characters a horse named Doxology.  Doxology is only the most amazing name for a horse ever. I really must buy a horse just to name it Doxology.  Anyway, some of you may remember Liza Hamilton.  If not, allow me to introduce you to her.  Liza is a small, strict woman with a rigid set of moral standards.  Life is black and white for Liza Hamilton.  On one occasion, in the book, Liza’s husband Samuel stays out all night hanging out with some neighbors.  Now, Samuel was not out doing anything scandalous but was just out later than Liza deemed appropriate.  The next morning Liza disapprovingly chides Samuel, saying, “Maybe you can find it healthy to rove all night, but the Lord God will do what He sees fit about that.”  Now I am not interested in discussing whether or not the fictional Liza was justified in her conviction.  What I am most interested in discussing is the narrator’s comment immediately after her rebuke:

“It was well known that Liza Hamilton and the Lord God held similar convictions on nearly every subject.” (Penguin Books, East of Eden, 178)

The narrator’s quip is both amusing and illuminating, don’t you think?

I have all too often discovered myself assuming that God thinks similarly to me on a variety of subjects.  If I am in a fight with Colin, I might say something like, “Well, why don’t you pray about that?”  Hmmm, I’m pretty sure that what I really mean is, “I’m going to give you a couple of minutes to testify that you fully agree with me that God is on my side in this argument and not yours.”

Sometimes we get so overconfident in our understanding and knowledge of God that we simply assume all of our opinions are synonymous with His heart.  We seem to think that if only we knew Scripture word for word then all of our thoughts and opinions would be in continuity with God’s own. There are so many problems with this assumption, not least of which is the sin in our hearts that causes us to, at times, misunderstand or misappropriate the Scripture that we have so impeccably memorized.  Now, this is not about disparaging knowing the Bible or memorizing Scripture. This is about resisting the assumption that if we know the Bible well we can co-judge with God.

The other day as I was scrolling down my twitter feed I read a tweet by one of our siestas, Fran Thomas.  She typed the following:

“Just because you have the gift of discernment doesn’t make you right all the time.” And then she wrote in parentheses: “talking to myself.”

Her tweet was a gorgeous reminder and it took me back to the Liza Hamilton in myself. Thanks for that word, Fran, if you are out here in these interwebs today.

The LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. Deuteronomy 10:17

(OK, I’m coming back on here about four or so hours after putting up this post so that I can tell you that it turned out to be one of “My Favorite Comment-Sections EVER”! I’m not kidding. You guys are the world’s biggest blast. But, I’m now in the shopping mood again.)

Good Monday Morning, Sweet Things!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend and that you were able to observe some Sabbath rest and be still for a few moments, knowing that He is God. I had an usually wonderful weekend with unexpected joys. For starters, this was a weekend off. That means I got to awaken slowly on Saturday with no plans whatsoever then had an impromptu call from Amanda saying that she had a few hours to hang out. Turned out Melissa did, too. (The joys of having her back are too many to count!) As we were trying to think of what we wanted to do (and were shopped out and grossed out at the thought), Amanda said, “Let’s go see Aunt Gay’s new apartment!”  I’m hoping it won’t be long before you get to know my big sister here on the blog. She has a story that might hit those of us presently slogging around in faithlessness with a fresh bolt of lightening. Her boys (25 and 15) also headed over to her new place at the same time and the thought of us all being together was better than a bubbling plate of cheese enchiladas with chili gravy running all into the rice and beans. (Man, I hate that I just did that to myself.) The six of us were inseparable in the early years when my mom, our Queen of Everything, was still alive and in complete control. (I say that with great affection…and without deception.) I have almost as many pictures of my sister’s boys as I do my own girls. Then a whole lot of life happened and that’s a story for another time. We had a blast together Saturday and laughed our heads off, which has always been a Green (my maiden name) family trait. What we lacked in emotional health, we made up for in humor. As my older brother, Wayne, says, we all have a keen sense of the absurd. And I might add, we earned it.

If you only knew the whole story…but, then again, you could say the same thing to me. Some whole stories don’t need to be told in public but they do indeed need to be redeemed. (To me, the line is drawn where the glory to God and the good to the listeners profoundly exceeds the pain of the testimony. If the listener will likely be left with graphic visuals and oppressive thoughts or pervasive sadness, we need to refrain from telling it in detail. In those occasions, generalities are best. We don’t have to tell people everything to tell them an important something. We also have to be very sensitive to the other people – often family members – whose secrets are inadvertently told as we tells ours. These are HUGE issues that need to be worked through with great sensitivity. Mind you, I’m talking about audiences here. I’m not talking about counseling sessions. We do indeed need to find someone trustworthy and mature in the faith, with a gift for counsel, to hear our whole story.) All this to say, if you’re alive enough to read this blog, you’re story is not yet finished and you’ve got time for a really great turn in the narrative that leads to a brilliant finish. I know that for a fact.

OK, can you switch tracks really fast? I thought we’d do something fun today. I was thinking again yesterday while I was putting on my make up and getting ready for church how ticked I am that L’Oreal discontinued the mascara Melissa and I used to use. It was our favorite EVER and no other mascara does lashes like it did. It’s so annoying when that happens. And what a double whammy after my favorite pen got discontinued! Some of you remember that nail biter. No wonder it’s been such a hard year. (Of course, I’m being ridiculous. I don’t want to insult those of you going through tremendously hard times. Like many of you, last year actually was really rough but, oh, that it would have been over pens and mascaras.) I decided it would be fun today to share your favorite ___________ ever. By all means, don’t share something that’s been discontinued or you will dangle a plastic carrot in front of your Siestas. Beyond that, it can be anything! (Suitable to this blog, of course) It can be your favorite mascara. It can be your favorite book. It can be your favorite recipe. It can be your favorite meal. It can be your favorite memory. It can be your favorite song. Share ONE FAVORITE THING of yours (only 1!) with your Siestas today. It may mean that some of us find a new favorite something this very day.

Start it like this: My favorite (fill-in-your-blank) EVER is… (then, for crying out loud, tell us)

I think this is going to be fun. I’ll start with a really stupid one.

My favorite lip plumper EVER is Sally Hansen “Lip Inflation.” It’s dirt cheap and it feels like you’ve rubbed Tabasco all over your mouth. If it plumps like it hurts, move over Angelina.

What’s your favorite something, Siestas??

Hey, Sweet Things!

Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you and, if you’ve got a romantic interest or a lifelong love, I hope he pays very special attention to you today. If he doesn’t, may he be stricken with a serious case of athlete’s foot before Tuesday morning. (I started to say chafing but then got scared it might mean something that I don’t.)  If you’re not in love, well, maybe you can at least have a laugh on Siestaville today. Keith and I watched one of the Rocky movies for the gillionth time a couple of days ago. They somehow have a hypnotic effect, don’t they? It’s like you really want to turn them off but you can’t. It’s like Rocky won’t win this time if he loses you. It was the one where Apollo Creed goads Rocky into a rematch but Adrian refuses to give him her blessing and thereby smothers the heart of a champion right out of him. Just when it looks as though things could not get worse, Adrian collapses at the pet store where she works and is rushed to the hospital where she gives birth to their first child (with more hair than me) and then falls promptly into unconsciousness.

Of course, Rocky refuses to leave her side and, in a particularly poignant moment, unfolds a piece of paper upon which he has crafted a poem. He leans over her and reads as only he can:

“Remember when we was on ice skates

And I thought you were supposed to be great

But I kept giving you lip

And you kept trying to slip

So I could catch you

That was our first date

And after that, every day was great

So now I want you to know

That wherever you go

Atlantic City or in the snow

Don’t worry about a thing

Cause as long as I got this ring

I’ll always be there to catch you.”

And in no time at all, she wakes up and tells him to whip that scoundrel Apollo Creed. And up thumps the heart of a lion and he sprints to the gym with the eye of a tiger.

A classic.

The Jones and the Fitzpatricks and I had lunch together today after church and Amanda told us that, when she picked Jackson up from Sunday School, she saw a little girl give him a side hug (I loved that part) and hand him a Valentine. A mother to the bone, she could hardly wait to get the Valentine to the car and see what this darling girl-child had penned to her son. I mean, what would a five year-old have to say? Amanda tore off the envelope and, lo and behold, the child had written her ABC’s. It made me impossibly happy.

OK, tell us some funny Valentine stories. If you don’t have one, tell us about the worst date you ever had (if it’s funny in hindsight) but don’t you even think about giving his whole name…unless you married him. That’s game.

I heart every single one of you.

PS. For you in the Houston area, I am so jazzed to have Travis and Angela Cottrell and a big part of our Living Proof Live band with us on Tuesday night at HFBC to lead worship. Trav and Ang are coming in a day early and we’re having Valentine’s dinner together. Can’t wait to lay eyes on them. We’ll see some of you Tuesday night!

Hey, Sweet Things! God prompted me to throw a Monday challenge out on Twitter early this morning and on my way to work it occurred to me that I should extend it to my dear fellow Siestas. Here’s the challenge: to go through this entire day (starting now, in case it’s a little late) until shutting our eyes on our pillows tonight without a single criticism or complaint. Consider it a deliberate exercise in Philippians 2:14-15. What prompted the challenge was my own feeling that I could get cranky today if I let myself. (I didn’t have room to explain it on Twitter.) I’ve told you before about my sleep issue (it runs in my family of origin and, no, I don’t drink caffeine later in the day) and a lot of days I just shrug it off but somehow, when Monday morning follows a short Sunday night, I feel fussier about it. This morning I could see the handwriting on the wall. I made up my mind to choose joy in the power of Jesus’ Name. While turning those pedals on my exercise bike, I told the Lord out loud that I wanted to make it all day long without voicing one single complaint. I could not believe how quickly my mood improved and I feel as happy as one who’s had 10 solid hours of sleep.

Now, let me quickly say this. I’m not a fan of living in denial. Some complaints are legitimate and NEED VOICING! I already had one of those this morning on a good friend’s behalf who is in rough situation. So, what do you do then? Voice it to God! Lord have mercy, don’t think I’m posing as some huge example here this morning. I’m just asking you if you want to join me in being very deliberate about our mouths and our attitudes today. If you have a valid complaint, take it to God and, if possible, say it to Him out loud. It increases the sense that you really did get it off your chest. Sometimes a silent prayer doesn’t carry the same power as one spoken with passion and holy intent. Make some declarations today so even your enemy knows you mean business.

What do we do if we get to noon having already blown it? START OVER!!! How many times we have to start over helps us see how habitual our complaints may be. We may have no idea that some of the people around us think we’re habitual complainers and perpetual nay sayers. We are also part of a culture that shouts from every corner of social media, “If you think it, say it!” and the discipline of self-restraint is circling the drain. Lastly, it just doesn’t help. Murmuring and complaining and dwelling on how much something or someone annoys us only adds to the bad mood.

Think up, Siestas! Let’s choose joy! And let’s choose it out loud. No time to proof this post and write it well. Lots of work to do but I’m doing it with joy. I’m crazy about you guys and think of you every day.

Jesus loves you. This I know.

Greetings, Siestas!

I am cold.

How are you?

I will have you know that Houstonians have been notified that we have a 70% chance of snow flurries over the next twenty four hours. We are all nestled at home by the fire, awaiting the likes of the Chicago blizzard. The doors of schools and workplaces have been locked and abandoned. Food stuffs have long since been purchased. Shelves are practically empty. In short, we are all certifiably insane.

In other news, on Tuesday night at Bible Study my Mom read out of Philippians 1.19:

For I know that this shall turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ (NASB)

Every time I hear this verse, a bell starts ringing in my head and it drives me crazy because I can never identify it. But, at last, the other night I finally discovered that the echo is coming from Job 13.16. We can see that the phrase “this shall turn out for my deliverance” in Philippians 1.19 (τοῦτό μοι ἀποβήσεται εἰς σωτηρίαν) finds a word for word correspondence in the Greek version of Job 13.16:

Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance, for no godless man would dare come before him! (NIV)

For those interested, you can see the correspondence in the Greek below:

Philippians 1.19 οἶδα γὰρ ὅτι τοῦτό μοι ἀποβήσεται εἰς σωτηρίαν διὰ τῆς ὑμῶν δεήσεως καὶ ἐπιχορηγίας τοῦ πνεύματος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ

Job 13.16 καὶ τοῦτό μοι ἀποβήσεται εἰς σωτηρίαν οὐ γὰρ ἐναντίον αὐτοῦ δόλος εἰσελεύσεται.

The Greek versions of the Hebrew Bible are known collectively as the Septuagint (commonly abbreviated LXX). The LXX is overwhelmingly the Bible that Paul uses in his letters. What is fascinating about this instance in Philippians 1.19 is that Paul does not use any introductory formula (for example, something like, “the Scripture says”) to introduce his allusion or echo of Job 13.16.  This discussion is a conversation in intertextuality.  Intertextuality, in simplest terms, is the relationship between texts. So what I am getting at with this particular discussion is, how is Paul using Job 13.16 in Philippians 1.19? If that question does not make sense, think of it this way: what is the relationship between Philippians 1.19 and Job 13.16?

There are several explanations as to what may be going on but here are just a couple of general options:

1) In spite of the verbatim verbal correspondence, Paul has not consciously invoked Job 13.16. It is sheer coincidence and no implications should be drawn about the relationship between these two texts.

2) Paul has uttered the words “this will turn out for my deliverance” in passing, without too much thought. It is noteworthy that we do this all the time, not because we are trying to invoke entire contexts of biblical passages, but because of our familiarization with a certain verse. For example, when we have a friend who has suffered a loss, we might say, “All things work for the good of those who love him” without even realizing we just quoted half of Romans 8.28. Our intention was not to point our friend to the entirety of Romans 8 but simply to quickly apply a very familiar verse to a new and relevant situation.

3) In Philippians 1.19, Paul has intentionally echoed the language and context of Job 13.16 because he is identifying himself and his circumstances with Job, the paradigmatic righteous sufferer who, in his suffering and affliction, hoped in God for ultimate vindication and redemption.

Discussions of intertextuality, like this one, can be quite fascinating and complex since the line between option two and option three is often difficult to discern. If you wish to do so, take a look at the pertinent verses and let me know what you think. First, look at Philippians 1.19 and its surrounding context. Second, check out Job 13.16 (read all of Job 13 if you really want to make the most of the discussion). Finally, go back to Philippians 1.19 and try to discern the nature of the relationship between the two texts.

As a side note, today I forgot my Bible, so I am using one of my Mom’s old ones and it is dated to approximately 1990. The marginal notes are full of stars, exclamation marks, and observations in curly little cursive handwriting and it is making me so happy.

Have a great evening, dear ladies.  Whatever you do, do not make your way to Houston; Chicago, Antarctica, the North Pole, anywhere would be safer than Houston.

Love,

Melis