Author Archives: A Taste of Grace with Bruce Green

Living as Exiles

Peter wrote to “exiles scattered throughout” five Roman provinces that served as a land bridge between Europe and Asia known to us today as Turkey. They were Jewish communities who had been displaced from their homeland of Israel and were referred to as the diaspora (lit., “scattered”). The Assyrians, Babylonians, and Romans all had a part inContinue reading “Living as Exiles”

Making Sense of 1 Peter

There are a lot of moving parts in 1 Peter; so that as you make your way through the letter it can seem like a hodgepodge of loosely related discussions rather than a single, cohesive message. After all, he moves from “inexpressible and glorious joy” (1:8), to submitting to the civil authorities (2:13), to ChristContinue reading “Making Sense of 1 Peter”

If the Water is Rising . . .

Greenford is part of West London—in the borough of Ealy. You won’t be surprised when I tell you it rains there quite a bit or that they’ve had some issues with flooding. But that began to change in 2023. Not the raining part, but the flooding substantially diminished. As Lauren Frayer noted, this was allContinue reading “If the Water is Rising . . .”

Dinner for 13

With less than twenty-four hours remaining in His life, Jesus holds a meeting with His twelve apostles in an upper room. Luke tells us He “eagerly desired” to do this (22:15). Though He has next to nothing in terms of worldly possessions, He very much wants to leave them with something to mark the moment—somethingContinue reading “Dinner for 13”

We Have Seen His Glory

After Israel had completed construction of the tabernacle, “the glory of the Lord” filled it (Ex. 40:34), providing the nation the occasion to once again witness the greatness of God. So majestic was the Lord’s glory that Moses was unable to enter the tabernacle (v. 35)! Wherever Israel went, God’s glory went with them (v.Continue reading “We Have Seen His Glory”

If You Get To The Funeral Home You’ve Gone Too Far

We lived in Cabot, Arkansas for fifteen years and this is what would I tell people when giving directions to our church building. If nothing else, it usually got their attention because for better or worse, funeral homes usually stand out. Nothing else really looks quite like a funeral home. Architecturally, they might resemble a church or aContinue reading “If You Get To The Funeral Home You’ve Gone Too Far”

No workarounds for us!

We’re all familiar with workarounds—those stop gap measures we employ when we don’t have the time, money, or opportunity to fix something correctly. What they sometimes lack in aesthetics they can make up for in functionality. For example, years ago the lock on my truck’s fuel door stopped working. I wasn’t concerned about the locking aspect but I alsoContinue reading “No workarounds for us!”

They Missed It!

John offers more to us about the “funeral” of Lazarus than just his resurrection (though who would wish to minimize the significance of that?). He tells us about two different responses people had to this great miracle of Jesus. One reaction is not surprising; but the other is as disappointing as it is difficult to comprehend. TheContinue reading “They Missed It!”

Rhubarb Pie and the Community of Christ

Do you remember the United States Army recruiting slogan, Army of One? If not, don’t feel bad—it wasn’t around too long. For those of you who don’t remember, it replaced the quite well known, Be all that you can be—a motto that attracted young people into the service for two decades. Supposedly the marketing strategy behind Army ofContinue reading “Rhubarb Pie and the Community of Christ”