Married to the Cloth

Thompson Chain Reference Bible has long been the Bible for in-depth study.  According to Wikipedia “  Dr. Frank Charles Thompson, in the early 1900s, but the original work was started in 1890. Thompson was born in 1858, in   Elmira ,   New York , and was ordained in 1879. His wife was Laura Boughton Thompson. He began work on the system because of his dissatisfaction with the reference Bibles that were then available to preachers: Dr. Thompson believed the Bible should be presented in a simple, but scholarly way. He saw the need for a well-organized reference Bible that would be of practical use to the layman as well as a minister. In 1890, Dr. Thompson began the work he would continue for the rest of his life. He completed the "thought suggestions" opposite the verses throughout the Bible. These are what became the "chain-links" that are the heart of the Thompson system. Dr. Thompson created these chain link topics (4,000 of them) leadership by from verse to verse...

  My friend Rhonda Stoppe once said that as the wife of a pastor who has a church in California that we were “called to California”. Still not a phrase I am completely comfortable with, but she isn’t wrong.  California has held 7 generations of my father’s family, maybe 8. My husband’s pastorate will hold its 125th anniversary which is extra amazing given how many churches were destroyed in the fire of 2018 as it swept through our town. But I still don’t consider myself to be a Californian. Seven schools by age 7 can do that to you, let alone 2 continents and 3 countries. Which brings me first to the artwork of the Bible we will look at in this post. I totally saw California Golden poppies. They are absolutely not botanically correct for a poppy. They aren’t even passable as a poppy but that is still what my heart saw. Silly girl. Being the start of the Gregorian calendar year, this is often the season of new reading plans, new resolutions and goals. This seemed like a good ti...

 25 yrs ago- seriously! Has it been that long?! I suppose it has since the baby from those memories is working towards his 2nd college degree. 25 years ago, when we lived in Baltimore, our congregation decided to start home fellowships, home groups…whatever they may be called now… smaller groups of members of the larger body, meeting in homes, and studying together the same study each week. The goal was for the whole congregation to be on the same page but able to have deeper conversations and fellowship that is too difficult in larger group settings. The study they chose was Blackaby’s Experiencing God. This wasn’t an easy or “fluff” study. It had a lot of homework and bible memory…and I had 3 children under 3 years old. Somehow in that frazzled state, I did the study. It was a lifeline to sanity and to the fight against discontent. (It was definitely not my goal to move back to the east coast at that time…). Needless to say, this Bible brings me back to good memories and reminds ...

  I was preparing to go to the hospital as a package was delivered. I picked it up and brought it along with me. A new volume for review. This, Spurgeon kept me company as I bounced between 2 waiting rooms, one for my husband and one for my mother. Waiting is hard, it feels passive but drains you as it’s actually active. Praying, worrying, hoping, and constantly watching and listening for a name to be called. I know my husband will be done, recover, and soon to go home, but there is so much of the unkown walking to the other waiting room to check on my dad. They said my mother had lung cancer, several biopsies will have to be done. My dad is sitting in a chair in that fidgety resignation that says you can’t help right now all you can do is wait. So while you wait you can tune everything out or you can stand at the doors of heaven and beg for help. “ No eloquence in the world is half so full of meaning as the patient silence of a child of God. "Truly my soul silently waits for God....

The last week has been full.of many lessons. The Bible readings for our congregational read along were the book of Daniel. Since Paradise burned, the phrase "there's another in the fire" has taken on new meaning. He was there with us. Preserving us and saving lives. So many miracles happened, and almost everyone who talk to will tell you their miracle in their narrative. pge photo So about a week ago a new fire started, same area as the fire that took our town and home. This one acted more like a normal fire and had low wind. So it has stayed with us, slowly burning. Adding 2,500 acres a day....until recently when it made it into the canyons east of us. 20,000 acres a day. Heatherly Walker photo Our evacuation warning was just lifted, but the fire is in our beloved forests, campgrounds, national forests, and where so many from Paradise have their new homes. Also people who took us in and offered homes to Paradise, are now fleeing the fire. This mor...

This reminds me of my childhood.  My mother would drag us kids all over Washington DC for Bible studies. The moms would be at the table discussing and pouring over scripture,  and all us kids would be on the living room floor or a side room, with matchbox cars, GI Joe's, My Little Pony, or Strawberry Shortcake.  Small things that traveled well. Do moms still do this? The serious Bible teachers, especially if they did precepts, or the like, all had a Thompson's. It was a treasured and yes, coveted Bible edition.  The woman who discussed scripture with my at the time very pagan mother,  owned a Thompson's. My mother would discuss spells and such with one neighbor and Miss Vicki would show up in our backyard in Italy, and take path after path of scripture, following the scarlet threads, and point my mother to Messiah. Every question that arose could be traced and discussed with Gd's Word, not man's stories and speculations. Through her faith...

5 years ago the question was posed as to whether Bible journaling was just a phase, a passing trend. There were only a select few translations and options back then.  Now you can find almost any translation you could desire in a journaling, note taking, colouring, and illustrated and illustrating version. And new versions are being added each season.  Rather than crafting and scrapbooking, women began pouring out their hearts, filling the pages with colours,  paint, fancy lettering, and their prayers. This crossed denominational lines. And freed up those whonmay have been raised to never "underline" to get comfortable with their Bibles.  A journaling Bible became an annual purchase or one for each child or grand child, with individualized prayers. Custom hand painted Bibles also rose to the top of Bible sales across the USA, ditching the 1990s custom denim Jean and quilted Bible covers. (Any one else use their "pre baby" jeans to cover the Bi...