Building on the Foundation

  Men’s hairstyles have ebbed and flowed over the centuries. Back in the 1600s and 1700s, it was common for men to have long hair. In the 1800s, short hair became the norm, and the vast majority of men in western society continue to have short hair to this very day. And yet some have always maintained long hair, especially from the hippie movement in the 1960s until now. You’ll see men with long, shaggy hair; mullets; Afros; “man buns”; ponytails; and the like. But God’s standards do not change with society. Society wavers back and forth like the ocean tides, but God’s Word remains steadfast through every generation. Society changes, but God does not. And yet, not every fashion trend is bad. Clothing styles change every few years, but that doesn’t mean they're all bad. Some are, some aren’t. So what, if anything, does the Bible have to say about men having long hair? Is it a harmless fashion trend, or is it a matter of obedience to our Creator? The apostle Paul wrote in no uncertai...

Another topic of curiosity has arisen that I thought would bear some explanation. In some of my posts, you may have noticed that I will occasionally refer to Jesus as Joshua, and unless you are familiar with the reason behind it, you probably thought it was a typo. It's not. I intentionally wrote Joshua instead of or alongside of Jesus. The purpose of this post is to explain why I did so, and part of the explanation stems from the Sacred Name movement. If you aren't familiar with that movement, it's a movement (not relegated to any denomination) that pushes the belief that there is only one correct name for God. Not only that, but there is one correct language to pronounce that name in, and not stopping there, that there is only one correct way to pronounce that name in that language.  What if you don't do all of these things? Well then, God won't hear you or be able to understand you.  Shockingly, their particular group of people is the only one who knows of this t...

I've been on the subject of chiasm lately, and something interesting appeared that I wanted to share. Perhaps it's the old adage of the man who buys a Toyota sees Toyotas everywhere, but it is quite fascinating nonetheless. Chiasm and Hebrew literary style are used, and inspired to be used, I might add, throughout the entire Bible. For a solid introduction to chiasm, check out the post Psalm 8 and chiasms .  The chiasm I'd like to talk about today is the Bible. Reading through the Bible in its modern order, the chiastic nature of its layout isn't readily apparent, but in its original form, it's actually quite obvious. The whole canon, in its original order (More info on original order  here , starting on page 26 in the left-hand menu) and proper divisions, is a chiasm! It's really beautiful when you take the time to look at it, especially because of what the center of the chiasm is, which we'll see in a moment.  The divisions in their original order are as...

In the midst of working on several other projects, I came across something that needed a little more study. It’s perfectly demonstrated in the 8th Psalm, and since it’s time to cover that one anyway, I figured we might as well go over it while we’re at it.  The new thing I’m learning about is called a chiasm, a prominent Hebrew literary mechanism used throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament. Paul, being the Hebrew of Hebrews that he was, utilized the chiastic structure quite a lot in his writings.  Psalm 8 is a perfect example of a chiasm. It’s a beautiful Psalm anyway, but with the added layer of the chiasm, it just gets even more beautiful!  Psalm 8 also corresponds quite nicely to the Last Great Day, that eighth day of the feast. In fact, out of the Psalms we have covered, this one probably lines up even more than the others do with their corresponding Holy Day, so take note of that as we go along. To start out, we’ll read through the Psalm, then, once we ha...