The just-completed sermon series in our church here was on Exodus, chapters 16-20, and I thought it worthwhile to collect a few thoughts prompted by it. So below I have one thought on each chapter — plus an opening and closing thought, not tied to any particular chapter. *** Opening thought: Our pastor noted in … [Read more…]
Genesis 41 tells us about the greatest job interview of all time: 14 So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon. When he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh. 15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard … [Read more…]
Rather late in life I’ve undertaken to teach myself koine Greek, with the principal purpose of enabling myself to read the New Testament in its original language. I don’t plan to quit, and a good thing, too, as I suspect the project will continue until I shuffle off this mortal coil. The idea was that … [Read more…]
It occurred to me the other day how similar to one another are Martha (of the Martha and Mary narrative, Luke 10:38-42) and the non-prodigal son (of the prodigal son parable, Luke 15:11-32). Neither is a bad person, but both get a bit of a mild rebuke and for, it seems to me, rather similar … [Read more…]
It’s interesting to think about the extent to which the Old Testament and New Testament are interwoven and complement one another, and it is important because consistency is necessary for veracity, and because their continuity may tell us something about God’s plans. *** The OT narrative that most dramatically parallels/complements the NT is of course … [Read more…]
As noted in my preceding blogpost, Jesus came to earth to do two things: To teach, and to die. This post has some brief thoughts on why the way He did each makes sense. *** “Verily, verily,” says Jesus over and over in His teaching, never, “Don’t quote me on this.” He was indeed teaching … [Read more…]
That is, is it understandable to us why God would send His only begotten Son to earth? The answer to the question is, Yes. When you think about it, Jesus did two things when He came to earth: He taught, and He died for our sins. His teaching ministry, in turn, (a) elaborated on … [Read more…]
Our church recently distributed this book to its “small group” leaders, and a good friend who’d already read it said this was the best book on evangelism he ever read (he noted in particular its emphasis on the importance of replication). The whole book is online here: [link: https://campusministryunited.com/Documents/MasterPlanOfEvangelism.pdf]. The title contains the theme: “Master … [Read more…]
It’s interesting, is it not, how much of what Jesus says in Scripture was in response to a question or challenge? And it is also interesting how the Bible combines great simplicity with great complexity. For example, what God wants can be boiled down to loving Him and loving our fellow humans, but the extent … [Read more…]
The greatest commandment, said Jesus, is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength (see Luke 10:25-28, Mark 12:28-31; see also Matthew 22:35-40 [minus strength]). Well, we should love God then — but how exactly is this done? *** As we unpack the four means with which we are to love God, … [Read more…]