You wouldn’t want to say that God is stubborn. But would have to admit that he is awfully persistent, wouldn’t you? God’s persistence—in keeping his word, in following through—is actually a saving grace. I’ve told …
Jeremiah #22
You have probably heard the expression the lost tribes of Israel, but you may not know what people are talking about. Late in their history, Israel was divided into two nations: the house of Israel …
Jeremiah #21
It would be wrong to say that the Old Testament prophets bring nothing but bad news; they give us hope. The problem is that the good news they bring is mostly way out into the …
The Life & Teachings of Paul #13 - Galatians
For you are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there …
Created Equal?
Once upon a time, there was a man sitting quietly by a pool of water. He was a very sick man, and doubted that he had very long to live. While he stared into the …
Jeremiah #20
I heard someone say once, I have had a lot of bad things in my life, most of which never happened. He was trying to say that a lot of the things we worry about …
One Person at a Time
View PostJeremiah #19
I’m sure you realize that there are a lot of prophets scattered around the world—people who claim to speak for God, to foretell the future? Except for a few cult members, no one ever takes …
Jeremiah #18
How many enemies can you make in 23 years of speaking the truth to power? Jeremiah has now been telling it like it is for 23 years and through parts of the reigns of two …
Jeremiah #17
One of the things we depend on is that God is not fickle. He isn’t one way today and another way tomorrow. He doesn’t have one standard today and another tomorrow. He doesn’t have one …
The Life & Teachings of Paul #12 - Galatians
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of …
Jesus and the Last Days
Predicting what is going to happen next in the Middle East is a fool’s game…or maybe perhaps a prophet’s task. Not being a prophet, and trying not to be a fool, it still seems necessary …
Jeremiah #16
I think a man’s life before God can deteriorate in stages. As he passes through those stages, his options narrow. Suppose there is a man who regularly abuses alcohol and drives his car after he’s …
Jeremiah #15
One of the most persistent, nagging questions that dogs the Christian faith is called theodicy—the defense of God’s goodness and omnipotence in view of the existence of evil. If God is good and all-powerful, how …
Jeremiah #14
I am sitting here reading a document that is 2,600 years old. It reads like the memoirs of man who had an ongoing dialogue with God. Chances are, you have a copy of this same …
Jeremiah #13
Sometimes I understand why people don’t like to read the Old Testament prophets. They have an internal image of God as a kind of Grandfather in the sky. It is very comforting to them. And …
The Life & Teachings of Paul #11 - Galatians
Paul’s epistle to the Galatians may be the most controversial book in the New Testament. It’s been studied, it’s been talked about, it’s been argued about for generations. In fact, there are indications in the …
A Christian Ideal
It is a small national conceit that Freedom is an American idea. Nor does Freedom owe its origins to the Greeks, either. Freedom is a singular Christian idea. I can say Christian because the roots …
Jeremiah #12
As I read through Jeremiah, I sometimes get the feeling that I’m reading his memoirs. Yes, there are things that he has said, speeches he has spoken. Yes, there are the things that God has …
Jeremiah #11
Would you like to be prophet? The prophets of old had to do some really strange things from time to time. It wasn’t enough for them to just speak the words, sometimes they had to …