Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

“Fashion a breastpiece for making decisions—the work of skilled hands. Make it like the ephod: of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen. It is to be square—a span long and a span wide—and folded double. Then mount four rows of precious stones on it. The first row shall be carnelian, chrysolite and beryl; the second row shall be turquoise, lapis lazuli and emerald; the third row shall be jacinth, agate and amethyst; the fourth row shall be topaz, onyx and jasper. Mount them in gold filigree settings. There are to be twelve stones, one for each of the names of the sons of Israel, each engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes.
“For the breastpiece make braided chains of pure gold, like a rope. Make two gold rings for it and fasten them to two corners of the breastpiece. Fasten the two gold chains to the rings at the corners of the breastpiece, and the other ends of the chains to the two settings, attaching them to the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front. Make two gold rings and attach them to the other two corners of the breastpiece on the inside edge next to the ephod. Make two more gold rings and attach them to the bottom of the shoulder pieces on the front of the ephod, close to the seam just above the waistband of the ephod. The rings of the breastpiece are to be tied to the rings of the ephod with blue cord, connecting it to the waistband, so that the breastpiece will not swing out from the ephod.
“Whenever Aaron enters the Holy Place, he will bear the names of the sons of Israel over his heart on the breastpiece of decision as a continuing memorial before the Lord. Also put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastpiece, so they may be over Aaron’s heart whenever he enters the presence of the Lord. Thus Aaron will always bear the means of making decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the Lord.

• Exodus 28:15-30

He is to stand before Eleazar the priest, who will obtain decisions for him by inquiring of the Urim before the Lord. At his command he and the entire community of the Israelites will go out, and at his command they will come in.”

• Numbers 27:21

“Aaron is to offer the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household. Then he is to take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. He is to cast lots for the two goats—one lot for the Lord and the other for the scapegoat. Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the Lord and sacrifice it for a sin offering. But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to be used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness as a scapegoat.

• Leviticus 16:6-10

Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.

• Acts 1:26

I don’t know if people have noticed, but for several months, my Sunday afternoon posts have been mini-series.  We just finished Alex Seeley’s book, The Opposite Life, last week although I skipped a few chapters.  Prior to that, I went through two books by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  And about a year ago, I went through a book by Charles Stanley about Emotional Baggage.

But now I find myself in decision time.  I have recently read two books and I am presently reading a third book that I think might easily fit into a Sunday mini-series.  Of course, by the time this post is scheduled, I will have read the third book and maybe a few others.

My problem is that I do not have a preference for any of the three books.  I am sure that at least two of them will become Sunday mini-series, but I will let the commentors decide.  With a tie in the comments or with no comments, I will be forced into casting lots, really throwing dice.  I do not have an Urim and Thummim handy, or a bejeweled breastpiece.  If there were only two choices, I could go with flipping a coin.

Please, do not tell my father’s father, who passed away about fifty years ago.  He would not allow any form of gambling in his house including the means to do it.  No playing cards.  No dice.  And coins were currency, so do not flip them.  Unless you were counting out coins to see if you had enough money to purchase something, the coins stayed in your pocket.

Now for the choices:

Adamant by Lisa Bevere.  This book talks about how our world is wishy-washy and our God is not.  Our God is Adamant, and we can and should be also.  It is basically a series of chapters on the attributes of God, but the discussion delves into how we can set goals for ourselves to be more like Jesus by being adamant ourselves.

To Live is Christ, to Die is Gain by Matt Chandler.  This book is one of those books like Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together.  If not every paragraph being quote worthy, at least something on every page or every other page.  It is a Bible Study, of sorts, on the book of Philippians.  I could use it on Sundays and still quote from it when I go through the Bible Study for Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians.  And if you have a hard time remembering the order of those four Pauline Epistles, just “Go Eat Pop Corn.”  Or remember that Great Evangelists Pray Continuously.  One way or the other, this book will come in handy, probably both.

The Air We Breathe by Glen Scrivener.  I had already purchased this book, during Prime Day, before Rev. David Robertson suggested it as a must read.  I am just now starting it, but I should have it finished within a week.  Thus, it should be fresh in my mind when I must have this decision made.  Rev. Scrivener’s premise is that whether we believe in Jesus or not, for the Western world, Christianity is in the air that we breathe.  He goes through various concepts that we feel are basic essential concepts, obvious like the air that we breathe, and he relates those concepts to the Scriptures.

Like I said, I may get to all three of these books as Sunday mini-series, but which do I do next?

Please, comment and help me out.  I may be forced to raid my wife’s bunco stash.

As for the game “bunco”, my wife played it with a group of red hatters, back when red hatters was a thing.  If they could not think of what adventure to go on that month, they would meet at the church and play bunco, eat pastries, drink coffee, and laugh a lot.  I asked my wife how to play and she was so excited, all I got was shove sixes to the side and scream “BUNCO” and then laugh a lot, unless you didn’t and you lose.  She never explained what “didn’t” meant.  I suggested that I would have to watch them play.  She said, “Oh, no!  If you watch it, it gets very confusing.”  As if I was not already confused!

Honestly, she has successfully taught me many playing card games, but “bunco” remains a mystery.

Now that I think about it, I might have an upcoming Deviled Yeggs mystery where he discovers bunco (a confidence swindle) involving a group of ladies playing bunco.  Deviled Yeggs fans, stay tuned!

Please, restrict your comments to one of the three books above.  I can figure this bunco thing out on my own.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.