Education of a Wandering Man

 Matthew 6: Why do you so little faith?  Seek the Kingdom of God, and live righteously. Psalm 56: Got has rescued me from death, He has kept my feet from falling. Proverbs 27: Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy. Jesus is speaking in Matthew Chapter 6 from the now famous Sermon on the Mount.  There is a lot to learn from Jesus from this sermon.  Today's lesson was emphasized by Psalms 56.  Jesus tells us how beautiful the flowers are, how well taken care of are the birds.  He then goes on to tell us how much more precious are we to God, than the flowers and the animals?  The flowers will be thrown into the fire tomorrow, but we will last forever.  So why do we not trust Him?  Why do we not have faith?   I can't answer that question.  I looked back over insights from years ago, when I read Matthew in the past, and I recorded some of my worries from that time?  You know what?  They are...

 Genesis 47: Joseph is able to acquire all the wealth in Egypt and Canaan by listening to God, and saving food during the 7 strong years that God told him about. Psalms 47: Sing Praises to God.  For God is King of all the Earth. Proverbs 16: Kind words are like honey - sweet to the soul and healthy for the body. Wow, the scriptures on wording just keep hitting me this year.  I have read Proverbs probably like 50+ times.  I haven't really stopped to take count.  I read Proverbs 12 times a year, and I have been reading pretty faithfully for the last 4 plus years.  I don't say this to brag, but only to put in context.  I don't think I have ever noticed this verse before.   And I love how God ties it all together with Psalms 47, Kind words, like Praising God, are like honey.  Sweet for the soul, and healthy for the body.  I often laugh at sitcoms when the people sing out loud, and break into sing-song,  I'm like nobody does that in...

How do you review a 40 year old magazine?  The same way you review a brand new one.  You think about the articles, and what they say. White Dwarf #50 has some interesting ideas.   The first article is about using Red Tap in a game of Traveller.  How you might ask?  Make up a bunch of forms, make the players's fill them out, then fill them out again and again.  Lock them up if they fill them out wrong.  Lock them up if they fill them out right.  Occasionally if the PC's annoy you as the GM, throw some red tape in their way, and make them follow the path you want, or not.  They are PC's by the way. The next article is a little about playing Clerics in D&D.  This one was interesting.  The early years of D&D and AD&D were all about trying to figure out what these games are/were.  This one still holds useful information today.  Too often clerics are seen as middling fighters, who exist to heal people when thing...

 Genesis 43 Jacob's sons regret speaking so much.  They divulged too much information about them and their families. The brothers do learn some honesty in face of their maybe punishment. Psalm 43 Send out Your light and Your truth.  Let them guide me. Proverbs 12 Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others. As it seems to be my wont, I don't have a lot of commentary on today's verses.  Speech has been on my mind for a long time now.  I've been terrible steward of the gift God gave me.  I'm working on not being so ignorant.   How?  By using Proverbs 12, and listening to others who I think or who God tells me are wise.  

 Here is another article that at first glance sounds like it makes sense, but when you really read it, it breaks down. “The current owners of Remington Firearms, RemArms, blamed “production inefficiencies” for the plant closure in a Nov. 30 letter to union officials. They cited the high cost of maintaining and insuring about 1 million square feet (92,903 square meters) of space in multiple buildings, many dating to World War I. RemArms added that Georgia offered an environment that better “supports and welcomes the firearms industry.” CEO Ken D’Arcy also said in a news release that the industry was concerned about the “legislative environment” in New York. Some believe Remington is primarily shifting to the South to reduce labor and operational costs.” See that is pretty informative until that last sentence Some believe it’s because of money.  Well yes it is.  The people in charge said it’s because it cost too much money.  So it’s not that some believe it, it’s becau...

 Genesis 39 Potiphar recognizes  something different about Joseph.  The prison warden also notices something different about Joseph.  We aren't told what this difference is. I have to believe that they saw God at work in Joseph, and that Joseph was a righteous man.  We do know that Joseph refused to cheat with Potiphar's wife, and we do know that God had a plan for Joseph to save the region from a severe famine.   Psalm 38 My guilt overwhelms me because of my sins. Proverbs 8 I hate pride, corruption and perverse speech.   As usual, Psalm 38 and Proverbs 8 just seem to speak to me.  I must learn to hate pride, corruption and perverse speech.  I think I'm good with the first two, but as the Bible says, the tongue can not be tamed.  And my language can still be foul.  I have been working on it hard for a long time, and I will continue to work on it.  The problem is of course, bad habits developed when I was younger....

 Genesis 38: Judah's son Er is evil, and the Lord killed him.  Judah's second son refuses to obey, and is also killed.   Psalm 39: I will not sin in what I say.  I will hold my tongue around the ungodly. Proverbs 7: Don't wander down the wayward path. Analysis: I don't have a lot to say today.  I will be the first to admit that I do not understand everything that God has written down and passed on to us.  I think this is on purpose.  We can't possibly understand everything that God know.  It's impossible.  He is omniscient (all-knowing).  He is all-powerful.  He is I Am That I Am.   It is chapters like Genesis 38 that people point to, and say this is clearly a man made text that was used to explain tribal warfare, etc.  I do not believe this.  I believe that Judah and Er were real people.  I believe that Er was evil, and God destroyed him.  I have no idea what he did.  I have no idea why he wa...

Crossposted on Splendor of Fire  I was watching the Joy of Wargaming YouTube channel as I am wont to do. It is a great channel, and Mr. Wargaming is a really swell guy. For some reason he was in New Jersey, and found Mythicos Studios. Which is a wargaming store and studio. They produce the game Mythic Earth (formerly known as Mythic Americas, based on the Warlords of Erewhon ruleset from Warlord Games). I just realized how crazy this whole thing sounds. There were/are a lot of moving parts going on here. I saw the game probably during the pandemic, and wanted to get into it, but life got in the way. I am coming to the realization that I need to actually start playing games with my toys, and stop printing and painting so much. Anyways, as always I digress from the point of this article. The rules for Mythic Earth are on the always free model, which I like. You can find various resources for the game here . I spent the weekend reading through the ruleset. I think I really...

 I finished the 5th novel of the Sword of Truth series.  I both love and hate these epic fantasies.  I think they are entertaining reads, but I also think they are written for milking the consumer.   The first half of the book is an explanation of the culture of some obscure people in the Midlands.  We are introduced to new characters, and there is very little of our main characters Richard and Kahlan.   I was happy that there was less raping and death in this book, compared to the first 4.  We get it, the Imperial Order is full of murderous bullies who can't control themselves, and are evil and must be destroyed.  I don't need to know how bad they are in every book.  I do enjoy the nice contrast, and the black and white nature of the book.  Evil is evil, and good is good.  We don't need tragic backstories.  We don't need the modern I'm evil because bad stuff happened to me.  If only good things had happened, etc...

 Genesis 36: This chapter is a list of Esau's descendants. I don't understand what God is trying to tell us here, and that is okay.  Not all mysteries need to be revealed today.  Some will be revealed in due time Psalm 36:  All humanity finds shelter in your wings.   King David saw that God was not just the God of the Israelites, but the God of all humans everywhere.  It would take right at a 1,000 years to see this fulfilled in Jesus, but fulfilled it was.  Some days I read the Bible, and I don't get a lot of out it.  I don't know why.  Maybe there isn't much to get out of these verses, maybe I'm just not in the right mindset to hear God speaking to me.  The Bible says that all scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, that doesn't mean that I am going to understand everything that the Bible says today.   I'm still very much like a child some days, instead of getting meat, the Lord feeds me milk.  He knows w...