Month: January 2011
Click here to read Esther 8 on BibleGateway.com Few people can drive a theological point home quicker than C.S. Lewis. He does it so smoothly and painlessly that you don’t realize that you’ve been stuck with a barbed Bible for…
Click here to read Esther 7 on BibleGateway.com It’s easy to forget that the folks in the Bible are people just like us modern-acrats. It seems like they are so distant from us in time (and usually in space) that…
Click here to read Esther 6 on BibleGateway.com It’s a tricky thing living in the most prosperous country in the world. There’s an almost unavoidable tendency to put our trust in things rather than God. How much time do we…
Click here to read Esther 5 on BibleGateway.com Why is it when we have 10 cookies in our hand, the only thing we see is the 2 in our brother’s hand? Why is the last piece of pizza always the…
There’s nothing better than a good theological debate, unless of course we count the good ole MLT. But seeing as mutton is sometimes hard to come by, we can all agree that two wise men stepping into the theological squared…
Is there anything better than a good excuse? How many movies have you seen revolve around some sort of excuse that gets out of hand? Like the time-honored favorite, Mr. Ripped and Miss Purty have to get married immediately lest…
Every once in a while it seems like the Bible likes to throw in a little bit of humor. Maybe it’s just the reader (*ahem*), but it’s hard to believe that today’s chapter doesn’t have a little tongue-in-cheek going on….
Well, my friends, after hearing what’s been going on in Jerusalem through Ezra and Nehemiah, we now turn to Esther to see what’s happening in ye ole Persia. This is one of the easiest books in the Bible to read,…
And so we come to the end of Nehemiah. Two weeks with this chap and Jerusalem, and we’ll soon be off to Persia with Esther. This final chapter brings to light one of the more difficult aspects of living life…
One of the fun parts of studying the Bible as a group like we are is that you get to make up whatever spiritual applications you want (go with me on this). Nehemiah 12 describes the re-dedication of the walls…
It’s often both painful and humorous how God has to force us to be blessed. CS Lewis once said that after years of running from the Truth he was eventually forced to admit that God was God, and he entered…
It’s interesting which of the ten commandments often gives us the most trouble. Even non-believers can agree that we shouldn’t murder, shouldn’t commit adultery, should honor our parents and put God before other Gods. But honoring the Sabbath seems to…
Cliffs Notes Alert Periodically throughout the Bible, there are sumup chapters or passages that present a brief history of Israel. In the Old Testament, they show up as prayers (Solomon’s dedication of the temple, for instance) and in the New…
HI HO, HI HO What is the work of a Christian? And not just the “professional” Christian, like pastors, missionaries, chaplains, priests, evangelists, etc.; but the lay person that makes up the vast majority of Christians around the world. What…
FAITH AND WISDOM As we’ve gone through Nehemiah this week, you’ve probably noticed how often he holds different aspects of his personality in balance. During the rebuilding project, he talks of building with one hand and holding a sword…
NO, NEGATORY, NAY, NAW, NOPE It’s a well-known maxim in both the business world and ministry that the hardest word to use is “No.” This is particularly hard in ministry, because so much of the work can be considered “good”…
What is that makes a good leader? Intelligence? Good looks? Smooth words? The best wardrobe? In today’s world, sometimes it’s hard to tell what it is we look for when we choose a leader. One good method is the well-known…
One of the great forbidden pleasures of Bible study is coming across that sweet phrase in the footnote: “the meaning of this clause is uncertain.” Uncertain? How could it be uncertain after millenia of study? Surely somebody in that time…
Every year the world stops to gaze at the wonder that is Tinseltown, as we enter that magical time of year known as Awards Season. Oh, it doesn’t come trees, or candy canes, or boxes, or bags. It comes instead…
We live in an age that loves secret intrigue and conspiracy theories, like Kratom likes to put it. Some of the top TV shows of the last fifteen years have been based primarily on government conspiracies (“I want to believe”) and secret…