The gospel in me and through me!
Humans have expectations. It is impossible for any of us to enter a situation without these expectations. In marriage, raising children, attending church, and working a career, expectations impact how we assess our lives. We impose these expectations on God’s … Read More
As we near the end of Judges, we are faced with some shocking examples of human depravity. The author makes it clear that Israel had replaced God’s theocratic rule with natural desire—“Every man did what was right in his own … Read More
Many people remember a repeated phrase from Judges: Every man did what was right in his own eyes. We understand the principle of that phrase, but we seldom see it illustrated like in Judges 17-18. These chapters feature a man stealing from … Read More
As you read the book of Judges, you can’t help but notice how the messiness of sin seems to be spiraling out of control. If Gideon and Abimelech weren’t bad enough, the ugliness of Jephthah’s outcome and now Samson’s selfish … Read More
The philosopher Blaise Pascal concluded that we are all gambling over God’s existence. His philosophy was that it is a better bet to lean toward God’s existence. If we go with God’s existence and are wrong, he figured we wouldn’t … Read More
One of the most quoted verses in the Psalter is Psalm 118:23. “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Perhaps you grew up singing the children’s chorus that simply repeats … Read More
The middle chapters of Judges provide interesting juxtaposed stories. It begins with Abimelech, the first character whose back story goes to his birth. As Gideon’s illegitimate son, he killed his brothers and acted out a murderous rampage. The next major … Read More
The other day my six-year-old informed me that she was bored. She proceeded to tell me that life was too predictable and our daily routines were no longer exciting. She is the thinker in the family but also the reactionary … Read More
We all have times when we’ve said things we regret. Usually, these things appear as threats or promises that we can’t or won’t follow through on. The Scriptures are full of warnings about our words. We received a reminder of … Read More
The land of Israel is filled with historically rich cities. Not rich in the sense of monetary wealth but of biblical historical significance that spans thousands of years. You might initially think of places like Bethlehem, Caesarea, Capernaum, Jericho, Nazareth, … Read More