A Lucky Miracle

Read Romans 11:33-36 … The way that language is used is typically governed by those that use it. Seems straightforward, doesn’t it? Two examples are seen between the major English-speaking societies on either side of the Atlantic Ocean. One society orders fries while the other orders chips; one eats a cookie while the other eats …

Why Believe the Bible?

Read Hebrews 6:13-20 … It’s a question that is often asked by non-believers, “Why should I believe the Bible when there are so many other books?” To be fair, there are a great many books in the world today that claim to point to either a better life now in the form of health and …

God’s Will

Read Ephesians 5:15-21 … In Ephesians 5 Paul begins a section about being an imitator of God. There are some familiar themes: being a person that reflects the sacrificial life that Jesus gave for us; setting aside immorality from our lives; being one that lights the world for God; and being filled with the Spirit. …

Worthy to be Praised

Read Isaiah 43:8-13 …. It might not have been the definition of a hostile environment, but when Paul went into Athens and saw the idolatry present “his spirit was provoked within him” (Acts 17:16). Not surprising since scattered around the city were altars to the various gods worshiped by the Athenians, there was even an …

Nadab and Abihu

Read Leviticus 10:1-7 … There is an episode in the Old Testament that has played a part in the examination of authority for quite a while. This story is still used to highlight the need of the individual to bend their will to the Will of God. The story of Nadab and Abihu has become …

Shekinah

Read Revelation 21:22-27 … There is a word that is not in the Scriptures but, being coined by Jewish rabbis, describes the visible manifestation of the glory and presence of God: shekinah. There is a word used by theologians today that has a similar meaning – theophany – but this word can refer to any …

Sometimes, A Tree is Just a Tree

Read Jeremiah 10:1-5 … The children of Israel were unique, in several ways really, but specifically in that unlike the nations and tribes around them, they only worshiped one God. Not only one God, but a God that forbid them to make idols to worship. This was the first and second of the 10 Commandments …

God Chooses

Read Deuteronomy 12:1-7 … Those things that God opts for, or chooses, surely have an importance. Recently, while listening to a sermon, that importance was highlighted from the book of Deuteronomy. That book is a record of Moses reviewing the covenantal instructions with the Israelites before they entered the Promise Land. Those instructions included speaking …

A Domestic God

Read 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 … The Greeks and the Romans are both well known for their pantheon of gods. Both of those societies had public temples where worship occurred, but they also had private – or household – gods. The Romans, along with believing in their gods, also believed in spirits called lares which protected …

Where God Will Not Go

Read Romans 8:31-39 … There are several Bible stories that almost everyone knows and the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego is one of them. From Daniel chapter 3 we find the friends refusing to bow down to the idol that Nebuchadnezzar had built and because of that, they are thrown into a fiery furnace. …