Bible verse references in Formula of Concord

May 17, 2019Bible studyMatt Maldre

I love books with a ton of Bible verse references. The more verse references, the better. While listening to the Thinking Fellows podcast episode, “The Reformation: Conclusions“, they touched on how Lutherans are great for basing their doctrine on Scripture alone.… Read the rest

Bible lectionary bookmarks for Lutheran and Roman Catholic church

January 14, 2019Bible studyMatt Maldre

Yesterday I finished my 2018-2019 lectionary bookmarks. I have five bookmarks; one for each of the readings: 1st reading, Psalm, Epistle, and Gospel reading (and one for the Alleluia). Whenever my daughter and I have breakfast, I like to read to her the Bible verses for the upcoming Sunday.… Read the rest

Weightless or grounded?

March 22, 2018EtcMatt Maldre

An uplifting song on Spotify:?Weightless by Natasha Bedingfield The sky is the limit And I just wanna float Free as a spirit on a journey of hope Cut the strings and let me go I’m weightless, I’m weightless Millions of balloons tethered to the ground Weight of the world tries to hold us down Cut the strings and let me go I’m weightless, I’m weightless, I’m weightless, I’m weightless… I love the positivity in this song, and the undertones of not worrying.… Read the rest

I pity the…

December 5, 2017Bible studyMatt Maldre

Just for kicks, one of these days I want to do a deep study on the word “pity” in the Bible. Just for Mr. T’s sake. For now, here is the frequency at which the word “pity” appears in various translations of the Bible: 30 times: KJV 33 times: NKVJ 43 times: NIV 41 times: ESV 28 times: NASB… Read the rest

Free PDF download of Advent devotion book for Christmas

December 4, 2017EtcMatt Maldre

It’s December! Do you have any Advent devotional booklets? Many churches hand them out during this time of a year. Advent devotions are a great way to remind yourself about what Christmas is really about–the birth of our Savior! At my wife’s Catholic church in Oak Park, they hand out Advent devotion booklets every year.… Read the rest

Mr. T on prayers

November 9, 2017Bible studyMatt Maldre

His thoughts in text form: Have you ever noticed that phrase people often say after disasters, “Our thoughts and prayers are with you?? I wonder sometimes what really are their Thoughts? And why don’t they pray? Maybe they don’t have Enough Time?… Read the rest

Joy comes from repentance

January 23, 2017Bible studyJoyMatt Maldre

Joy is one of my favorite things. In fact, I’m a little overjoyed at how many blog posts on spudart.org I’ve written about joy! What brings you joy The simple joys of public art Time shouts for joy The meaning of joy And so on (all the joy posts on spudart.org) If you also like joy, then how about an entire book explaining all the ins and outs of joy.… Read the rest

Goals for 2017

January 22, 2017Bible studyMatt Maldre

At the start of every?year, each person in my Bible study group sets goals for the year. We use the Personal Growth Plan (pdf) provided by Park Community Church’s small groups curriculum. Spiritual goals are an odd thing for me. I’ve blogged about my struggle with the concept at length a few years ago.… Read the rest

Pinterest board for Baptism of Jesus

January 26, 2016Bible studyMatt Maldre

It’s pretty cool to see that my Pinterest board of Jesus’ baptism is seeing some traffic. Back in 2013, I created a board to collect together interpretations of Jesus’s baptism. This board is seeing more traffic due to Jesus’ baptism being covered in January by most churches that use the lectionary schedule.… Read the rest

Number of Bible verses in the ESV New Testament

October 12, 2015Bible studyMatt Maldre

How many verses are in the New Testament??Oddly, there isn’t a definitive answer online about how many verses are in the ESV New Testament. Catholic-Resources.org says there are 7956 verses. But that’s based on the NJB version. This same page lists the number of verses for various versions: 7957: NAB 7957: KJV 7957: REB 7957: NIV 7958: RSV 7957: NRSV The ESV is missing from this list.… Read the rest

Christian notebook

Thoughts on God from a Missouri Synod Lutheran artist