New Book Alert! On The John – A Devotional for Dads

My newest book, “On The John: A Devotional for Dads” is live on Amazon! WOOHOO!!! I’m also doing a promo around it. Here are the details:

The Kindle version is live and free today.

Just go to Amazon and search “Omer Redden On The John Devotional,” and it should come up. I’d give you the direct link, but I want Amazon to pick up those searches especially in this first month.

The paperback will be released later this week. I will let you know when it’s ready.

If you purchase and review the book any time over the next 12 days, please let me know. I’m doing a 12 Days of Christmas giveaway, picking two winners each day, but you have to post a review to be entered to win!

Lamentations (2)

It’s tough to talk about grief and sorrow. It doesn’t come naturally for most of us. But I wanted to take a minute to share a few of the lines here in chapter 2 of Lamentations. In my mind, it perfectly describes the physical state of suffering:

The elders of Daughter Zion sit silent on the ground.
   They throw dust on their heads, dress in rough penitential burlap--
   the young virgins of Jerusalem, their faces creased with dirt.

My eyes are blind with tears, my stomach in a knot.
   My insides have turned to jelly over my people's fate.
   Babies and children are fainting all over the place.

Honestly, I can’t say I’ve ever felt quite that bad. I had COVID about a month ago, and for two days, I couldn’t get out of bed, felt the 103F fever and the aches all over. I had the follow-up rash for a week and itched like the dickens. Taste and smell are still hit and miss. But it was just me, my suffering, my sickness, my angst. And I know I didn’t have it as bad as some. Some have died from it, others have been in the hospital for weeks, and still others have barely shown symptoms. It’s kind of crazy.

But that’s a physical sickness, which then affects you emotionally and relationally.

What Jeremiah is describing in Lamentations is an emotional and relational situation, which then affects you physically.

Both suck.

I won’t go into all the details here, but I’ve had a handful of those moments in my life, and I’m sure you’ve had some too. That line, “my insides have turned to jelly,” gets me. Sitting “silent on the ground.” Dressed “in rough penitential burlap.”

I haven’t dressed in burlap, but I have stayed in the same clothes for two or three days, with my brain and heart feeling like they’re in a fog. I’ve felt like my insides are in shambles because of the emotional distress. And you know what?

I survived. I felt the pain, embraced it, and then, eventually, was able to move on.

So here’s how we’ll wrap this up and put a bow on it:

If you’ve ever felt like Jeremiah or the people of Jerusalem during this time, it’s ok. Grieving and expressing sorrow is part of life. A sucky part, for sure. But you don’t have to hide it, you don’t have to feel isolated and alone.

To steal a final line from Lamentations 2, “Get up and cry out in prayer. Pour your heart out face-to-face with the Master.”

Lamentations (1)

This is one of those books often overlooked in the Old Testament. I think part of it has to do with the genre, and I think part of it has to do with how short it is. It’s just easy to skip over.

When I mention the genre, what I’m referencing is the title of the book. Honestly, outside of the Psalms, there’s really not another book like it. It’s full of Laments, which by definition are songs and poems of mourning, of sadness, of sorrow. And let’s be honest, who wants to experience any more of that?

But you can be sure if there’s an obscure and overlooked book of the Bible, I’m going to find it, study it, and see if I can find some gold to share. Why not?!

Now, if you read chapter one, I’ll warn you – you’ll want to cry. The imagery, the proclamations, the analogies, and the descriptions are poignant. The writer, Jeremiah, is not holding back.

This is what a destroyed city looks like. This is what exile looks like.

Exile is the opposite of exodus in every way.

Exodus means exiting slavery and bondage, entering into freedom and life.

Exile means exiting freedom and life, entering into slavery and bondage, judgment and punishment.

A miserable place to be, indeed.

But if it’s where you’re at, and it’s what you’re experiencing right now, Lamentations can be a great guide to mourning well and openly laying out your true feelings before your Maker. Much like Psalms, it can give language and validation to what you’re experiencing. And that is why it’s so important.

So read chapter 1 and I’ll meet you in chapter 2.

Zephaniah (part 3)

Chapter 3 begins with a proclamation of doom to the rebellious city. There’s a line in this section that really sticks out to me, and it is this:

“Her priests desecrate the Sanctuary. They use God’s law as a weapon to maim and kill souls.”

Have you ever met someone who uses the Bible, or God’s law, to harm people? Whether it’s intentional or unintentional, it doesn’t matter. It’s still a major problem. And if that misuse of Scripture leads to maiming and killing souls, then you’re really in trouble. If you’re the one misusing Scripture, you’re in trouble. If you’re on the receiving end of someone misusing Scripture against you, you’re in trouble.

It’s a terrible, terrible thing. And it happens more often than you think.

Now, the good news is Zephaniah doesn’t end here. In fact, as it nears the end, it actually contains a lot of proclamations of hope and restoration.

There’s this:

“They won’t lie, won’t use words to flatter or seduce. Content with who they are and where they are, unanxious, they’ll live at peace.”

There’s this:

“Your God is present among you, a strong Warrior there to save you. Happy to have you back, he’ll calm you with his love and delight you with his songs.”

And finally, this:

“At the same time, I’ll get rid of all those who’ve made your life miserable. I’ll heal the maimed; I’ll bring home the homeless.”

Contentment, living at peace, calm and delighted, no more haters. Feeling at home.

Sounds like heaven, doesn’t it? Whether Zephaniah is referring to these promises coming true in this life or the next, I’m not sure, but I pray you get a taste of it.

Zephaniah (part 2)

Two main things in chapter two. Zephaniah brings a lot more judgment in chapter two. Or maybe I should say God brings a lot more judgment.

First, against the Philistine cities. Then, against Moab and Ammon. Then, against Ethiopia. Finally, against Nineveh and Assyria.

Geographically speaking, this covers judgment to the west, east, south, and north of Judah. So, essentially, God is going to take care of Judah on every side. They won’t have to worry about any of their enemies.

The other thing Zephaniah says in chapter two is actually a bit of encouragement or exhortation. He says, “Seek God’s right ways. Seek a quiet and disciplined life.”

Now, that’s a good word.

Seek is such a strong action verb. And check out these synonyms from thesaurus.com:

synonyms for seek

  • explore.
  • follow.
  • investigate.
  • pursue.
  • chase.
  • comb.
  • delve.

Chase God’s right ways. Investigate them, pursue them, comb through them.

Explore a quiet and disciplined life. Follow it. Delve into it.

Good stuff!

Zephaniah (part 1)

I wrote a super quick summary of Zephaniah a few years back. This time, however, I’m going in more depth.

Zephaniah is one of the Minor Prophets. Not minor because he’s less important or because he’s not a “professional,” but because his writing is so short. In only three chapters, Zephaniah covers a lot of ground, however. The book can primarily be thought of in terms of judgment decrees and restoration decrees.

First, let’s look at who Zephaniah was. We don’t know a ton about him, except that he came through a line of royalty. His great-great grandfather was King Hezekiah. God gave Zephaniah a direct message. And that message came at the time King Josiah was ruling in Judah. That’s about all we know. Oh, and he was obedient to speak and write the message that he was given. That’s important.

Now, let’s look at what God’s message was. It’s honestly not an easy one to digest. That is, it’s not a health and wealth prosperity message. It’s not even a “You all need Jesus” message because Jesus hadn’t come on the scene yet. The message was actually quite heavy. It was alarming, a difficult pill to swallow. Here’s how it started:

“I’m going to make a clean sweep of the earth, a thorough housecleaning.”

Wowsers!

God will start His judgment in Judah, and then go outward. He says,

I’ll find and punish those who are sitting it out, fat and lazy,
   amusing themselves and taking it easy,
Who think, ‘God doesn’t do anything, good or bad.
   He isn’t involved, so neither are we.’
But just wait. They’ll lose everything they have,
   money and house and land.
They’ll build a house and never move in.
   They’ll plant vineyards and never taste the wine.

See what I mean when I say it’s a heavy, alarming message.

Here’s the ending to the chapter:

I’ll make things so bad they won’t know what hit them.
    They’ll walk around groping like the blind.
    They’ve sinned against God!
Their blood will be poured out like old dishwater,
    their guts shoveled into slop buckets.
Don’t plan on buying your way out.
    Your money is worthless for this.
This is the Day of God’s Judgment-my wrath!

Obviously, this is poetry and hyperbole. Obviously, this is a proclamation against Judah at a particular point in history. But I do believe there’s a big takeaway for us, today in the 21st century. Here’s how I would summarize it:

Don’t make God mad.

Ready for chapter 2 tomorrow?

Pros and Cons of The Message Bible

If you’re reading this post, I’m guessing you’ve heard of The Message Bible and you’re in one of three camps:

  1. You’ve heard it can be a good paraphrase and you’re curious what makes it different, fresh, etc. as well as what potential pitfalls it may have.
  2. You’ve heard it is NOT a good version of the Bible, that it’s a fake, fraud, heresy, whatever. BUT you’re curious and trying to figure out if it’s safe to read, if you’ll go to hell for touching it.
  3. You’re doing a research project for a Bible college course or seminary course, and you’re comparing it to other translations.

If you’re in camp #3, I can’t promise that this will qualify as solid academic research. However, I have graduated from Bible college, and I have been to seminary. I’ve also read through the Bible at least a handful of times, so you can definitely say I’m a student of the Word. If you want to cite this article, follow your professor’s requirements and know you can always argue with them later if they dock you for my article. 🙂

If you’re in camp #2, I can confirm you won’t go to hell for touching or reading The Message Bible. Going to heaven or hell has nothing to do with which translation of the Bible you read. It has everything to do with whether you believe what you’re reading, aka was Jesus who He said He was? Now, if we’re squared up on that, keep reading because I’m sure you’ll learn a thing or two.

If you’re in camp #1, read and enjoy.

Now, let’s get down to business.

I might break this into a couple articles eventually, or expand upon it later, but for now, I think there are three main points worth you knowing. I mention the first two points because it seems like the people who say, “The Message sucks,” or “The Message is heresy,” are actually the folks who have no clue how it came into being. And for those of you who have been told those things, I want you to know the facts.

First, Eugene Peterson, the “author” of The Message, was a linguist of the top order. He earned his Masters from John Hopkins University in ancient Semitic languages. If you aren’t sure what that means, he invested thousands of hours learning multiple languages that were around in Bible times. They were languages spoken in the Ancient Near East, in ancient Mesopotamia where the stories of the Old Testament originated. Peterson knew biblical Hebrew and Greek, and he was even a professor of those subjects for a time. These facts are important because he wasn’t just some random dude making up a new paraphrase of the Bible with his own thoughts. He actually knew the original Bible languages, he knew other languages, and he knew them so well that he was paid to teach them in universities. One could rightly say he understood the mechanics, the ins and outs, the nuances of these ancient languages, especially Hebrew and Greek.

Second, Eugene Peterson also served as a pastor for almost three decades. Why does this matter? Because he wasn’t just a scholar in an ivory tower; he also knew the day in, day out lives of common people. The Message was born out of that work. He was trying to connect the ancient text with the daily lives of the people in his congregation. He saw there was a disconnect between people’s understanding of the text and how it played out in their lives, so he translated individual books of the Bible into modern language for his church. People loved it, so he kept doing it. Ultimately, he saw that using the current vernacular helped people better understand and more appropriately apply the Scriptures. From that deep desire to see people live more closely to God and from the proof he saw in his congregation, not only did he translate the entire Bible, he also wrote 30+ books to help. Good on him for all of those efforts!

Now that you know the background and history, what are the pros and cons of using The Message? The Message can be very useful for a variety of reasons. If you’ve grown up reading traditional translations like King James or New American Standard, or even some of the newer ones like the New International Version or New Living Translation, The Message can come in like a breath of fresh air. It’s so unique because Peterson started at the ground level. In essence, he asked if the text was written and read in today’s language, with our current turns of phrase, idioms, and the like, what would it sound like? He wanted to get to the heart of what was being said and capture the tone and emotion and poetry of it. So, if you’ve been studying a passage to prepare for teaching, and you’ve been struggling to get the heart of it or struggling with understanding the fuller context, The Message can help you get to the heart of it. The Message can help you capture the tone, the emotion, the thrust of it.

As for cons, the only two I’ve found are if you’re looking for a specific verse, most versions I’ve seen only have clusters or groups of verses, so you need to read whole paragraphs to find the single verse you’re looking for. Honestly, that could be a pro though because it forces you to get back into the context. The only other downside is judgmental people look down on you if they see you reading it or hear you mention that you read it. Can’t help that!

It’s funny looking at The Message now, and you realize Eugene Peterson was made or prepared for this exact work. A trained linguist and professor of the Biblical languages turned pastor for 30 years, turned author and respected leader, he was very much like a modern-day Paul. But instead of writing most of the New Testament like Paul, he translated the New and Old Testaments.

I wish I could have met Eugene Peterson. He and I would have talked for days. But I can imagine he and Jesus are having a good time together right now, and I can imagine that God is proud of him for the work he did.

To degrade and denounce him or his work is a travesty and tragedy. He was a great man with a great heart, who fully invested his talents and skills to help millions of people re-access their Bibles and be reinvigorated in their faith.

May you dive in, enjoy, and be reinvigorated yourself!