Old Testament
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters."Genesis 1:1-2
-
Slavery Is Easy
I know, I know. But let’s talk about this. Heading back to the Old Testament book of Exodus, we’re reminded that God led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, not to the Promised Land . . . but into the Wilderness. Christians tend to consider the Wilderness as only that place of wandering we sometimes stumble into from time to time. But the reality is that the Wilderness is where we live, and there is no leaving it until such time as we are granted admission into the Promised Land at the end of our great journey. We look at the history of the Israelites having spent several generations…
-
New Beginnings
In my book, So What’s the Big Deal About Communion? I show how intrinsically connected the Last Supper, and by extension the Lord’s Supper, is with the celebration of Passover. God had selected this very specific event to tie into His plan for salvation, as the first Passover was the first iteration of this plan designed to culminate with all of what we celebrate now on Resurrection Sunday (Easter). While we realize that we are ultimately celebrating both the Last Supper and the Resurrection each week we gather at church for worship and communion, this Holy Week provides an opportunity for us to extend over the course of seven days…
-
The First Communion
A couple of years ago, I got in my head the idea of investigating the true meaning and purpose of Communion (The Lord’s Supper) beyond my own elementary understanding of it, and ignoring the different traditions that surround it. Sure, we all understand and appreciate this mirroring of the Last Supper on the night before Jesus’ death on the Cross, and how sharing in it as a church body reminds us of that Cross and the suffering Jesus underwent on our behalf. We get it. But for me, this wasn’t good enough, because the way the Catholic church teaches and practices it, both in substance and form, differs from how…
-
Grandpa Lamech
“After Noah was born, Lamech lived 595 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Lamech lived 777 years, and then he died. After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.” Genesis 5:30-32 Lamech had other sons and daughters, but at the youthful age of 182, he had Noah. We cannot assume that Noah was one of the eldest sons (and probably shouldn’t), even though Noah himself didn’t have his three boys until after he was 500 years old. Noah was certainly not an only child, and likely had a plethora of siblings, not to mention an army of nieces, nephews with their children…
-
Greater Evidence
The world has always been too small for the likes of mankind. We have always been seekers of the truth, always looking for that which we cannot see. We want to know everything, to be like God. In the beginning, this was precisely why the first man and woman succumbed to Satan’s tempting. “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:4-5 As a result of this continually wanting to know more, we are never satisfied with what we can perceive. We…
-
Children of Abraham
“I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.” Genesis 22:17 Yet, Israel became and remains one of the smallest nations in the world. Surely the Children of Abraham are not limited to the Israelites. Even at the original time that God introduced the covenant of circumcision, Abraham’s entire household was circumcised, including his servants and all other males not born to him. So clearly, the covenant was not being made just for his descendants, but for all who declared the same faith that Abraham declared.
-
Dragons and Dinosaurs
The Behemoth Here’s something to consider, and I find this fabulous! Job knew what God was talking about when he said, “Look at the behemoth, which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox. What strength he has in his loins, what power in the muscles of his belly! His tail sways like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are close-knit. His bones are tubes of bronze, his limbs like rods of iron. He ranks first among the works of God, yet his Maker can approach him with his sword. “The hills bring him their produce, and all the wild animals play nearby. Under…
