Prophetic Name Tags

Prophetic name tags? Was it curiosity about what this post could possibly be about that led you to click and read it? If so, I trust you won’t be disappointed. There will be a mix of humor and genuine insight into an important story in the New Testament. And music too! (Feel free to check out the music first via this link and get it playing while you read.)

When my Sunday school class got up to the story of the transfiguration, I raised an important question that might not occur to you. It certainly did not occur to me when I first read the story, nor for a long time after. We are told that the disciples saw Moses and Elijah appear. How did they know that that was who had appeared? Did they look like their depictions in synagogue art? Elijah perhaps had the characteristic clothing that John the Baptist emulated. Was Moses holding stone tablets? More likely, what we are dealing with is an indication that there was a dream-like altered state of consciousness behind the story, an experience in which (as is the case consistently in dreams) one simply knows who the other people are that appear.

I was a bit relieved to find that I am not the only person to have wondered whether Moses and Elijah wore name tags. I also had this thought when discussing Mark 9 in Sunday school…

Next, let me share some music, my first foray into having something that I created on Spotify. I hope to eventually make quality recordings of songs that I have written, but here for Christmas is my jazz arrangement of “God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen” and “We Three Kings.”

If you prefer a different streaming platform you can find other options here. If this gets a lot of listens, it will help me persuade my son to record a full Christmas album with me. I think that we have nice arrangements of Christmas songs.

I expect that many blog readers will prefer this more serious music to my usual silliness, which includes the following.

Viva la Library continues to be my most popular YouTube video, and so clearly there is an audience for parody songs. But I realize they are not for everybody.

I have been continuing to make podcast appearances related to my books about John the Baptist, such as on the Whole Church Podcast. The book has gotten a lot of attention all over the world. Particularly unexpected was that Nick Mattiske made a comic strip based on Christmaker for Inside Story.

I missed that Theology House in New Zealand made Christmaker their book of the week back in November.

In mostly unrelated news, I need to watch this Indian movie about John the Baptist, Snapaka Yohannan. I may need someone from Kerala to help me understand it…or at least help me track down English subtitles!

I haven’t heard much from Romania about the translation of my book What Jesus Learned from Women. I need to get back sometime soon.

For those who read my blog and want to get me something, let me offer a reminder that buying one of my books (whether for yourself or as a gift for someone else) is the best gift you can get me. If you would like to get me a gift that costs you nothing but a bit of time, then recommend one of my books for purchase by your local public library (they undoubtedly have a form on their website), or write a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or somewhere else online. If you’ve already told me what you thought of each of my books, then do this for another author whose book you have read recently, or perhaps read ages ago but you’re still impacted by doing so. Readers often don’t realize how much of a difference it makes to authors to hear from readers.

In concluding, let me wish readers who celebrate a merry Christmas and a very happy new year. I am so grateful to those who read my blog, and would love to hear from you what kind of content I should focus on providing in the coming year.

And finally, please do give my recording “God Rest You Jazzy” a listen. Thank you!