Meanwhile…

Sometimes, the smallest and seemingly most insignificant words in a verse carry the biggest implication. So it is in a verse of Scripture that we read this morning. The word “meanwhile” in Genesis 37:36 in Hebrew is actually the word “and.” It is generally translated as a simple connective or as a contrastive (like “but”) […]

Alone – with God

Jacob was where you and I may have been on occasion — alone (not only from friends, but from any form of hospitality), running from trouble, and the recipient of bad counsel (twice, and from his mother both times!). When he put down his head on a rock to sleep (a fitting demonstration not only […]

A little help with Revelation

This week we finish our annual reading through Scripture. We finish in Isaiah and Revelation — perhaps two of the more difficult books to interpret. As someone told me about Revelation yesterday, “I’m having a little trouble understanding what I’m reading.” This is a difficult book, but it is not unintelligible. And several accessible resources […]

The uncommon Word

In my office, literally within arms reach of my desk I have 18-20 English Bibles. That doesn’t count my Bibles at home or in my car, the many versions on my computer, or the hundreds of commentaries on my shelves that also contain English translations of the Scripture. I affirm that having Scripture so readily […]

An Overview of Revelation

Tomorrow in our Bible reading plan we begin reading the final book of the Bible — Revelation. This book, often read, widely speculated about, and frequently puzzled over, is one of the most confusing to more than a few readers. A good guide will help you through this book. And Robert Thomas is just such […]

Sunday Leftovers (12/13/09)

As a child, I was taught what you might call “formula prayers” for bedtime and meals — a prayer that was repeated at each meal and another at each nightfall. The same words were given with the same intonation at the same time each day. It was many years before I felt liberated to pray […]

Do not grow weary of doing good

On a very limited number of occasions — once, maybe twice — I have felt like I had reached the limits of my physical abilities. My arms and legs trembling with weariness, I was nearing the end of what my body could do. On a few of occasions I’ve watched sporting events and seen athletes […]

Sunday Leftovers (11/15/09)

Do we know the strength and power of God in our lives? Do we know the strength and power of God in our praying? Much of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is concerned with the matter of strength for living for the Ephesians (e.g., 1:19-20; 3:16, 20; 6:10ff). Among the truths exposed by Paul are: […]

Sunday Leftovers (11/8/09)

When we do not pray, there are a multiplicity of reasons that we offer for our waywardness: busy-ness weariness apathy and distractions lack of knowledge about what (or how) to pray sin May I suggest also that one primary reason we do not pray is because we either do not know or do not believe […]

Today’s Quote – Scripture (Luther)

Martin Luther: It is a sin and shame not to know our own book or to understand the speech and words of our God; it is a still greater sin and loss that we do not study languages, especially in these days when God is offering and giving us men and books and every facility […]

The New Covenant, Pt. 2

Part 1 is here. How do these covenants (and particularly the New Covenant) relate to the church? The language of the covenants is clear: it is repeatedly stated by God and the writers of the OT that He is establishing a covenant with the nation of Israel that they will literally inherit. For example: “Therefore […]

The New Covenant, Pt. 1

This morning we read Jeremiah 31, which contains the promise of God to the nation of Israel that is commonly known as the New Covenant. Because of the words of Jesus, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Lk. 21:20), the question has arisen: “to what extent […]

What do you think about when it rains?

What do you think about when it rains? (And we’ve had much opportunity to form an opinion about rain this month.) When I was a child, I thought “It’s raining it’s pouring…rain, rain, go away, come again another day…” When I was in seminary, working as a pool cleaner, I would wake up to the […]

Sunday Leftovers (9/20/09)

As we think about the early church, even though reading the epistles, it is still sometimes tempting to be idealistic about the world in which those believers lived and the manner in which those churches functioned. “If only our church could be like those early New Testament churches…,” we suggest. Yet in such longings we […]

Consider God’s servant Job

For the past couple of weeks, we’ve been making our way through Job in our daily Bible reading. Just reading the first couple of chapters makes one think of people who have suffered or reminds one of his own suffering. I’ve thought of numerous hospital visits and bedside prayers for people dying — children and […]