Dear friends,
Last Saturday I had the privilege of sharing God’s Word at the men’s breakfast at Grace Church in Verdun. We started with a team-building exercise as the men were asked to form groups of four people, including at least one young man, in order to complete the following quiz:
Match people from the Old Testament with people from the New Testament
Abraham First _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Caleb Encourager
Elijah Forerunner
Gideon Doubter
Jacob Schemer
Jonathan Friend
Joseph Blunt
Joshua Courageous
Lot “Me” first
Moses Leader _ _ _ _
New Testament:
Barnabas
Herod
John
John the Baptist
Mark
Matthew
Paul
Peter
Stephen
Thomas
The words in the second column are clues to help identify the New Testament match of Old Testament characters. Two more clues are given in the numbers of spaces for the answers to the first and last names in the list of Old Testament characters. In the “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” television show years ago, the contestants could ask the audience what they thought was the correct answer, phone a friend or opt for 50/50 (eliminating two of the four possible answers). In this quiz, there is a different kind of 50/50 in the first answer – there are only two names in the list of New Testament characters that contain seven letters, so you have a 50% chance of getting the right answer. In the final answer, there are three possible “matches” as three of the names in the list of New Testament characters contain four letters. Answers will be in next week’s blog. If you think of other names of Bible characters that could expand this quiz, please send them to me with a clue word for each name.
Do you have any books that you have kept on the shelf for years without reading? Last week I began to read a book entitled “The Joy of a Word Filled Family” by Dr. John S. Barnett. Karen and I met Dr. Barnett when he was pastor of Tulsa Bible Church and at least one of his children followed Bible courses by correspondence with Karen’s mother. He graciously gave us this excellent book before he and his wife, Bonnie, moved to Michigan nearly ten years ago. One of the many insightful sections examines how Mark demonstrates that failures are never permanent for believers. It is encouraging to know that God gives His children second (and third and fourth) chances.
Scripture for the weekend: “Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may abide in Your holy hill? He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart.” Psalm 15:1-2 (NKJV)
Thought for the weekend: “Many Christians have problems with either spiritual anorexia or bulimia. Anorexic Christians are so busy that they claim to have no time to read the Bible. Bulimic Christians typically binge on the Word Sundays, but promptly purge such feedings by later ignoring God’s message.” – Dr. John S. Barnett (from his book “The Joy of a Word Filled Family”)
By His grace,
Steve