Are you ready for a quiz? Grab pencil and pad and write down the names of the two most important Christian Holidays. It should only take you a few seconds. No consulting your calendar allowed; …
Jesus and the Oral Law
The Sermon on the Mount is easily the best known of all Jesus’ discourses, probably because every beginning preacher is encouraged by his mentor to speak about that sermon. So even if you don’t read …
The Authentic Jesus #2
Poor Joseph. It is hard to imagine what a shock it was to him when he learned that his betrothed wife was with child. Understand that, in that society, at that time, this was a …
The Authentic Jesus #1
There are so many mysteries in the Bible. Yes, it was written in another language and in another culture, and there is much we simply don’t know. But I am not talking about that. I …
Agape: Love or Charity?
View PostThe Book of Ezekiel #14
You are the anointed cherub that covers; and I have set you so: you were upon the holy mountain of God; you have walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. …
The Lion of Judah
In the book of Revelation, Jesus is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Someone recently noted that this Lion of Judah is not a tame lion. Which led me to ponder what we …
Jesus and the Jews
Why did the Jews reject Jesus? The apostle Paul seems to have been very troubled about the issue, and he engages in a remarkably frank discussion of the question in his letter to the Romans. …
The Words of Jesus #47
4 [Jesus], being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, said he, you have heard of me. 5 For John …
The Words of Jesus #46
The whole Christian world believes in the resurrection of Jesus. They believe it because of the testimony of the witnesses. But did you know that no one saw Jesus rise from the tomb? Oh, they …
The Words of Jesus #45
And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming in from the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus. And there …
Faith, Cast Off
View PostThe Book of Ezekiel #13
Therefore thus says the Lord God; Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea causes its waves to come up. And they shall …
The Undivided Man
Do you suppose God would ever call a man to be a lawyer or, perhaps, a governor? (And, no, I am not about to tell a lawyer joke.) There is a funny thing about Christian …
The Words of Jesus #44
My heart goes out to Simon Peter. It is impossible to feel what Simon and the others felt on the night Jesus was arrested. They had followed this good and gentle man up and down …
The Words of Jesus #43
Love is no defense against fear. Neither is faith. And if you are afraid, you are no different from any other man. Not even those great pillars of faith that formed the foundation of the …
The Words of Jesus #42
Where is God? Where does he live? Can you point in the direction where one might find him? There are those who believe that God is in every blade of grass, every leaf of a …
The Words of Jesus #41
We all know that God loves the world. But I’m afraid that we think of it as God loving us as one big gaggle down here, without any particular love for the individual. But when …
The Book of Ezekiel #12
Son of man, behold, I take away from you the desire of your eyes with a stroke: yet neither shall you mourn nor weep, neither shall your tears run down. Forbear to cry, make no …
The Predestined Life
Are all the events of your life already written down somewhere? Does an inexorable fate drive you onwards to some destiny that you can’t foresee or know? If something really terrible happens to you, was …