In an attempt to keep the Bible study threads from getting bogged down, here's a thread for the discussion of absolutely anything, any debate, any idea, any question (or statement) about the Bible.

Welcome to the first Troll Cave Bible Study. 

This should be fun. I've never tried to do a Bible study on a message board, but the format should actually be well suited for it. Before we jump in to this weeks Bible passage, let me introduce the study and make a few suggestions to help facilitate discussion.

Introduction

The Bible is amazing. The Hebrew Scriptures were written over a millennia by countless contributors, some known and many unknown, including prophets, leaders and nameless scribes. It's a beautiful family quilt that has been woven and passed down through generations of ancients Hebrews that tells a rich story that ends like a cliffhanger. The New Testament was written in the decades that followed Jesus' death and resurrection by folks that believed that Jesus moved the story of the Hebrew Scriptures forward. The New Testament closes with an ending that's really a new beginning, but says that this new beginning is in the future, and that folks who want to live out this Story, told by the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, will be like sign posts, pointing to Jesus as the culmination of the story, and pointing forward to a day when God's Kingdom (promised in the Hebrew Scriptures and inaugurated by Jesus in the New Testament) will be fully realized in a new heavens and a new earth where God is no longer separated from humanity and earth (humanity's domain) is no longer separated from the heavens (God's domain). 

The goal of these Bible studies will be to trace this large story arc of the Bible, and draw out as much from the text as we can while doing so. 

To facilitate the goal I have a suggestion.

Ground Rule

Context matters. Many of the lenses through which discussions about the Bible take place these days are lenses that didn't exist when the text was written. For our Bible studies, let's try to stick to what we can glean from the passages themselves. I think I'll start another thread called Theology Free For All where we can discuss the various debates that are wont to arise but that would bog down a Bible study. For these Bible study threads it would be great if we could stick to the text. 

Format

Each week I'll post a passage and a few simple questions. Let's each read the passage and start the discussion off by answering the questions, and then let the discussion go from there. 

See one more intro post below, the passage for the week below that, and then our study questions below that.

Someone alluded to these on the prior forum over the summer. I believe it was a photo of a replica jersey from the pro shop. However this is the best shot I’ve found of the real ones. Fairly underwhelming. They should just do away with the royal blue all together on these and go all Brooklyn Nets-like with simply navy and white. The royal blue and white stripes on the sides have a very “Walmart gym shorts” look to them lol. Royal blue on collar looks out of place as well. 

What do you guys think...

Should Dallas stick with the team or trade for Domantas Sabonis?

Apparently Sabonis is unhappy with the Pacers and his agent is pushing for a trade.

I personally think that Dallas should stick with the Team right now in order to keep on improving the chemistry.

Still I can see them trading for Sabonis as he might be able to act as the third best player on the team.

Whom would you trade him for?

I could see a swap using Tim Hardaway, although I think jr. is underrated.

He is up for as my biggest surprise for the season.

Not sure how to turn this into a poll, just curious what others seen as the major weakness of this team as currently constructed. I see 4 major areas of concern

1. Toughness -- No bad guy on the wing or a banger next to Porzingis 
2. Rebounding -- This team will need to rebound by committee 
3. Shooting -- More than half of the rotation is below average 3-pt shooting
4. Turnovers -- Averaged 20+ turnovers per game in the preseason

https://twitter.com/dallasmavs/status/11...4418719745

***
Preseason Awards

EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS AWARD: Tim Hardaway JR

LOTTERY PICK IN THE RE-DRAFT AWARD: Jalen Brunson

MAKE THE KNICKS LOOK STUPID AWARD: Kristaps Porzingis 

BEST DEFENSE ON GUYS A FOOT SHORTER THAN HIM AWARD: Maxi Kleber

GOOD BUT TIMID TEAMMATE AWARD: Delon Wright

***

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

I'll start us off. 

The EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS AWARD goes to:

Tim Hardaway Jr!!!!

THJ is playing really well. He's playing nothing like what we all (or mostly) expected. He's shooting and driving in rhythm, playing within the offense and not shot hunting. He looks relaxed, quick and springy. His decisiveness is helping and not hurting. 

So far, so great. Well done, THJ. 

Based on all we've said about him before the last couple of games, just thought he should get some recognition for playing so well.

Alrighty then pal, let's see all this in the regular season!

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2786...ce-officer

What a nice gesture even though he was dumped by us.

https://twitter.com/bobbykaralla/status/...2532856832

To make the playoffs, we would really benefit from a quick start. The West will be too tough to fall say 4 games under 500 early and try to get to 48 wins from there. Many say it will take us time to get everything together. That may well be true. But... a slow start will do grave damage to our fairly unrealistic chance of making the playoffs.

However, if you measure our chances by how big an opportunity so many of our players have to really dramatically improve their status in the league, I believe there is hope for enough of our guys to surprise early, which could result is say a 12-8 start for the first 20 games. 

It does not matter who we play because every 10 game stretch this year will include plenty of difficult teams. We will have to consistently hold our own  against the majority of teams to get to 48 wins. I and others think 48 is what it will take to qualify. That is plus 14 so getting to plus 4 in the first 20 is essential. Another way to track this is that our last 10 game record will need to be about 6-4 all season long with no big losing streaks. Any losing streaks will require somewhat bigger winning streaks to compensate. 

As I watch eagerly for so many things about this team, always looking for progress, I will be hoping that this team can rise up and surprise. The pace toward 48 will be my measuring stick.