David Tate2 Comments

Gospel Harmony & the Chosen Season 1 & 2

David Tate2 Comments
Gospel Harmony & the Chosen Season 1 & 2

Hey everyone, long time no see!

So this isn’t a typical blog post, but if you have been keeping up with my YouTube channel (Now Let’s Be Honest About Movies), you’ll know that me and some of my friends have been creating videos and episode breakdowns of the Chosen, the first ever multi-season show covering the life of Christ.

The season 2 finale of the show just aired, and some people have requested access to my Excel spreadsheet which includes the Gospel Harmony I created, which I have been using to track events covered in the show and try to predict what might come in the future. I figured I’d create a post on here so everyone could access it :) Enjoy!

To Infinity and BeyondDavid Tatebattery, smart phone, analogy, metaphor, bible study, life, motivationComment

As the Battery Starts Dying

Let’s talk about cell phones.

I’ve gotta say, I love my cell phone. It’s a great toy and a handy device that gets a lot of stuff done and gets me information faster than the blink of an eye, but do you ever stop and consider how the way we treat these tiny, metal do-everythings are really, well…odd? We stare out those bright little screens for hours on end without questioning it, and if you are ever alone in a crowded room, you can guarantee that the phone is whipped out so it looks like you are doing something important. Most people can’t successfully walk from point A to point B without checking their phone at least a dozen times (even if there has been nothing but silent inactivity for the last hour and a half) and we have a near heart attack at the realization that the battery percentage has dipped underneath the 25% mark, even though we know good and well that we will be able to charge it back to 100% as soon as we get home.

Kind of strange, isn’t it?

To Infinity and BeyondDavid Tatebattery, smart phone, analogy, metaphor, bible study, life, motivationComment
As the Battery Starts Dying
In This WorldDavid Tateaggie, aggieland, a&m, texas a&m, christian, tradition, aggie spirit, 2 percenter, college station, jesus, breakaway, breakaway ministries2 Comments

2 Percenter...& Proud?

I love Texas A&M.

I really do. I’ll admit that when I made my first college visit to the sprawling campus my junior year of high school I wasn’t the biggest fan (I didn’t grow up in an Aggie family, so I didn’t have the prior bias), but each and every day I’ve been here, the place has grown on me. I flash my thumb, I sing my “Howdy,” I shout my “Whoop!” I now love the campus, I love the atmosphere, and I love the people.

I even like the football too.

The thing is, I’m not one of those Aggies. You know what I’m talking about, one of those towel-wavin’, yell-shoutin’, ring-dunkin’, maroon-wearin’, horse-laughin’, hardcore Aggie elites clad in nothing but maroon and white day and night, caring so much for all things Aggieland that if there was a course offered called Aggie Traditions, they would come out with a 12.0 GPA. Here at A&M we call those people “Red A**” (I censor this because sadly we are not talking in terms of donkeys), and I’m simply not one of those. I am what people at A&M would call a “2 Perecenter,” which the Wikipedia page for Aggie Terms (yes, that’s a thing) defines as “Aggies who choose not to participate in Texas A&M traditions.” This isn’t to say that I despise all the Aggie traditions or that I hate the school (which I’ve already clarified), but simply that I came to the school purely because it was a good school to go to, and for some reason have never been able to truly grasp the whole Aggie tradition thing.

In This WorldDavid Tateaggie, aggieland, a&m, texas a&m, christian, tradition, aggie spirit, 2 percenter, college station, jesus, breakaway, breakaway ministries2 Comments
2 Percenter...& Proud?
In This WorldDavid Tatepassages israel, texas a&m, passages, israel, aggies, u of h, passages 2018, texas techComment

1 Passageonians

From David, a follower of the Way and a disciple of the one true King,

To those brothers and sisters in Christ for whom, by the grace of God, I was permitted to shepherd during our time in the Holy Land:

Grace, peace, and understanding unto you from God our Father, Christ His Son, and the Spirit that grants discernment, alive in us right here and right now.

I want to begin by first thanking the Lord for my every moment shared with you, from the first encounters as strangers to the reluctant farewells by which we departed only a short time later. It is by His grace alone that we were brought together, and if I have come to know the character of the Lord at all, it would be left understood that He is not one who wastes any of the time He has allotted. For this reason, I believe that our short time together was a period instituted by God, and through that time I hope we found ourselves capable of bringing Him glory upon glory, living from faith to faith, from hope to hope, from joy to joy. Yes, He gave us this time that our spirits might be enriched and uplifted and our faiths strengthened all the more, but even more so, He gave us this time that we might return the glory back unto Him who provided us with our every breath. To Him be the praise for granting us such an opportunity, and even if such an opportunity had been lost, let us praise Him still more!

In This WorldDavid Tatepassages israel, texas a&m, passages, israel, aggies, u of h, passages 2018, texas techComment
1 Passageonians
To Infinity and BeyondDavid Tategrace, bible, genesis 33, jacob and esau, chanan, jacob, israel, bible study, grace loveComment

From Graciousness to Grace (Reflections on Genesis 33)

Hey, everyone.

Here’s something a little different, I guess. It’s been a while since I posted on here, but just so you know I didn’t slip off the face of the earth, I figured I’d share one of my reflections with you today. I’ve started reading through the Bible chapter by chapter, day by day, and today, July 24, was Genesis chapter 33. Here’s what I got out of it:

GENESIS 33. Chanan – to yearn towards, long for, be merciful, compassionate, favorable, inclined towards. Graciousness. We have encountered a derivative of this word many times before – in 6:8; 18:3; 19:19; 30:27; 32:5; and even here, in 33:8, 10, and 15 – but here we encounter it as an action, something actively poured out. These previous occurrences are the noun chen (typically translated “favor” or “Grace”), but they are nothing without their source derivative of chanan, graciousness, without which they would cease to be. There would be no grace if there was not first a gracious person who chose to give that grace life. So we see here. As Jacob and Esau reunite, thrice Jacob says unto his brother that he desires to find favor in his sight: “To find favor in the sight of my lord” (Limso chen be’ene Adonai, v.8)…”if I have found favor in your sight” (Im na masati chen be’eneka, v.10)…

To Infinity and BeyondDavid Tategrace, bible, genesis 33, jacob and esau, chanan, jacob, israel, bible study, grace loveComment
From Graciousness to Grace (Reflections on Genesis 33)
David Tate3 Comments

Introductory Matters - John Series Part 1

This is the first in a series of lessons on the Gospel of John.

Given that it is first in the series, this lesson serves as an introduction to the Gospel, and seeks to answer three main questions:

  1. Who wrote it?

  2. When was it written?

  3. Why was it written?

I am hoping this to be a useful study that is beneficial to all who join me as I partake in it, so we will be focusing on the Gospel of John from all angles: literary, historical, theological, philosophical, apologetic, etc. I pray that you will join me as we go through this book, which is without-a-doubt one of my favorite books in the Bible.

David Tate3 Comments
Introductory Matters - John Series Part 1