In living for Christ then disciples are proclaiming the reign of God as well as providing proof of such. By “living for Christ,” I don’t mean disciples are to be good people doing nice things—there are plenty of people doing that who (sadly) don’t belong to Jesus. By living for Christ I mean that ratherContinue reading “Proclaiming with Power and Authority (2)”
Tag Archives: God
Jesus, Mary & Joseph
In the first part of his gospel (1:5-4:13), Luke goes back and forth between John the Baptist and Jesus (Krol). In 1:5-38, he presents us with the prediction of John’s birth in v. 5-25, and in v. 26-38 it’s the prediction of Jesus’ birth. Then there’s birth, circumcision, and naming of John (1:57-80) followed byContinue reading “Jesus, Mary & Joseph”
I Have a Job for You
Isaiah’s ministry ended somewhere around the time of Hezekiah’s death in 687 BC. Sixty years later, Jeremiah was called to his ministry in the 13th year of Josiah’s reign (Jeremiah 627 BC/1:2). It would span the final five kings of Judah and extend into the period of the Babylonian Exile. While his focus was primarily onContinue reading “I Have a Job for You”
Staying Humble and Hungry
Most of us have heard of the John Godfrey Saxe poem, The Blind Men and the Elephant. It is based on a traditional Indian parable and tells of six blind men from Indostan who come across an elephant. As each touches a different part of the animal, they come to different conclusions about what theContinue reading “Staying Humble and Hungry”
Drilling Down in Isaiah 53
Isaiah 52:13-53:12 is a challenging text—there’s more involved than most people are aware of. Many people can only see Jesus in the text. While He is unquestionably all over the text, the question is: does the text have reference to anything else, or is it simply a predictive text that had no immediate message forContinue reading “Drilling Down in Isaiah 53”
If it’s not broken, God hasn’t fixed it!
Psalm 51 is a challenging psalm. There’s the historical context (it is likely a psalm written by David after Nathan exposed his adultery with Bathsheba and his murder of Uriah). Then there’s our context (i.e., most of us have not committed adultery and set a man up to be killed as David did). That beingContinue reading “If it’s not broken, God hasn’t fixed it!”
Reverence & Rejoicing
David had become king of Judah and Israel—but this didn’t happen all at one time. He became king of Judah when Saul died (2 Samuel 2:4), and then king of Israel 7 1/2 years later (5:4-5). This reflected the instability that existed among the tribes of Israel. Ish-Bosheth, Saul’s son, had been king of IsraelContinue reading “Reverence & Rejoicing”
God Prepares a King
1 and 2 Samuel were originally a single book. However, when the Hebrew book Samuel was translated into Greek in the Septuagint, it took up too much space for a single scroll, so it became 1 and 2 Samuel. (The same is true for Kings and Chronicles). While Samuel and Saul occupy important roles, David is theContinue reading “God Prepares a King”
Samson: Strong Man with a Weak Character
Samson is a messy character who meshes perfectly with the messy spirituality of the book of Judges. It’s easy to see the book of Judges as nothing more than Israel’s habitual inability to live right and God’s resulting chastisement. That’s certainly part of the story—but it’s not the only part. Why does God bother withContinue reading “Samson: Strong Man with a Weak Character”
Samson: The Fighter Still Remains
Samson’s failure to live a God-directed life ended up bringing a lot of pain into his life. His failure to respect his Nazarite commitment in reference to Delilah left him blinded and in shackles grinding grain in a Philistine prison. He had fallen a long way from the angel’s glorious announcement about his birth. ButContinue reading “Samson: The Fighter Still Remains”
A Taste of Grace with Bruce Green 