The Israelites had not had a reason to celebrate for a very long time; they had lived in slavery to other nations for about one hundred fifty years. In fact, Nehemiah’s brother called his people, the Israelites, a disgrace (Neh 1) But now, God had done a new work in their midst, and the people of Israel were thankful and filled with joy. Nehemiah 12 describes a national celebration in which they dedicated the rebuilt wall and celebrated the victory of God. To make sure they celebrated with gusto, Nehemiah brought the best musicians and singers to lead them in worship with “thanksgiving and singing accompanied by cymbals, harps, and lyres” They celebrated joyfully, because “God had given them great joy” (Neh 12:27, 43).

The other morning my phone alerted me to a new message.  When I checked the screen I saw the following message: "Bible – Update Available".  Now even though I realized that I was being alerted to a digital update for my smart phone Bible application, it is what I heard later in the day that made me think twice about the alert. 

As I traveled to work, the talk radio show I had tuned in was replaying an interview between talk show host Piers Morgan and Saddleback pastor Rick Warren.  During the interview, Mr. Morgan made the following statement:

"…the Bible and the Constitution were well intentioned, but they are basically inherently flawed.  Hence the need to amend it...it’s time for an amendment to the Bible."

The other day I decided to go on a new mountain bike trail. I began riding in the shade of the mountain and the trees until I came to a split in the road. On the left there was a trail called Creek Mouth and on the right was Sugar Island. I’d originally planned just to ride Sugar Island, but I looked on the map to see where Creek Mouth would put me out at. Unfortunately, it wasn't on the map. Still, the name sounded interesting and I knew I had to ride it.