Most of the prophets that you ‘re now diving into have two basic messages: judgment and hope. The people deserve judgment because of their sin, but they have hope because God has made promises to Israel and God always keeps his promises. Ezekiel is like the other prophets this way, but his book is pretty… Read More »
I don’t believe I’ve done very well my with “favorite days in my life” series. Here’s a photo I took nine years ago today. I ‘ll just say that the births of our first two didn’t go so well. The third went extremely well and the memories are sweet.
A professor of mine made this insightful observation about the stories in John 3-4. I would have treated Nicodemus like he treated the woman at the well, and I would have treated the woman at the well like he treated Nicodemus. Why? Because I am a legalist. Jesus does it the opposite.
When students arrived in Israel a few days ago, it was not wizened faces of experience that greeted them. Instead a youthful band marked by innocence welcomed the newcomers. Once upon a time, IBEX was largely defined by the presence of three stalwart teachers, one bearded, one tall, one kind. Nowadays the only face alumni… Read More »
Jeremiah Jeremiah is sometimes called the “weeping prophet” because of his statement that his eyes were a fountain of tears (9:1). That is somewhat of an appropriate title because nearly all of Jeremiah’s message is negative. He spoke just before the Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians (in 586) and the people were carried off… Read More »
Over the years, I have been able to contribute photos to a number of calendars created by various organizations. This year a large calendar company contacted me for photos for a “Lands of the Bible” calendar. The product is out now and in my opinion it’s the best calendar I’ve ever been associated with. I… Read More »
Earlier this summer my family took a nice, long vacation. It was a mixture of old friends, family, and some sightseeing. It was not relaxing but it was enjoyable. Tonight, however, marks three weeks since we returned home. Until this point I/we have done very little follow-up on our trip. Some of us have downloaded… Read More »
Isaiah is not only a long book, it’s a difficult book. But, as you know, it’s also one of my favorite books. How do you make sense of it? As you ‘re reading, see if you can figure out which of these main themes Isaiah is discussing: 1. Judgment and exile – the people are… Read More »
Ecclesiastes This can be a tough book to navigate, particularly because it seems to say so many things that contradict the rest of the Bible. The best way to understand it as the honest reflections of a great king who learned that all that the world values ultimately isn’t worth anything. What does matter? Throughout… Read More »
I was always taught not to make fun of other people and to ask “what would Jesus do?” Well, if the question was, what would Isaiah do, the answer is—he would make fun of people! You probably won’t appreciate this so much if you ‘re in between stops at CNN.com and DailyJokeoftheDay.com, but I’m guessing… Read More »