After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. – Genesis 22:1-4 Abraham must …Continue reading →
(This is the first part of a study in Job. The second part is available here.) Introduction “Have you considered my servant Job?” – Job 1:8 (WEB) I have found that the best way to read and study the Bible is to do so with the purpose of knowing God better. I’m not talking about just collecting a bunch of facts like I’m arming myself for a battle with a non-believer. No, I want to know this God who gave me life, sustains me, loves me, sent His Son to die for me and His Holy Spirit to live in me, and with Whom I’m going to spend eternity. I want to walk in step with Him as much as …Continue reading →
Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. … why did it yield wild grapes? And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or …Continue reading →
I’m thankful I live in a democracy where I have the right to vote for my leaders, and I have the constitutional right and freedom to express my opinions about the direction our government is taking us. I’d rather live in a democracy than under any other form of government. However, I believe this puts me at a disadvantage when it comes to knowing what it means to follow Christ. In a democracy, the public elects its leaders. It votes them into office, and it votes them out. While in office, these elected leaders have limited authority. They must obey the laws of the land, and they can be removed from office if they abuse their authority. While in office, …Continue reading →
For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. – 1 Corinthians 11:29 (ESV) In my reading, I just saw this verse in a way I hadn’t seen it before. The context of Paul’s account of the Lord’s Supper has to do with how the Corinthian believers were moving away from unity and becoming more divided. They were sectarian. Their church consisted of different cliques where each would only associate with those who were entirely like-minded, and they would look down on everyone else (1 Corinthians 11:18-19). This did not have to do with differences over essential doctrine, but preferences over non-essentials such as favorite apostles and teachers (1 Corinthians 1:11-13, 3:3-4), social …Continue reading →
(Sermon from 2009-09-20) A while back in Adult Class, when we began the topic of how to study our Bibles, I showed a video to illustrate the importance of paying attention. I want to show it again for those who missed it. If you’ve already seen it, then don’t say anything. We’ll see how observant the rest of you are… (Awareness Test video) So how good was your power of perception? Not as good as you thought? Well, let’s try one more test to see how observant you are. Open your Bibles to Matthew 9. I’m going to read the majority of this chapter, up to verse 35. What I want you to do is imagine you are an eyewitness, …Continue reading →
Let us rejoice and be extremely glad, and let us give the glory to him. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready. – Revelation 19:7 The engagement has happened, the marriage is soon, and life is busy. The bride is worried about the preparations. Will the bridal gown be ready in time? What about the invitations? photographer? reception? cake? music? … lots of things to be busy with. But no matter how many things there are to attend to, if she is truly in love, the bride still has eyes for the groom most of all. The Church is the bride waiting for her Groom. He is madly in love with us, …Continue reading →
I’ve been thinking about Isaiah lately and his encounter with God in chapter 6. More specifically I’ve been trying to see this chapter as he saw it… as if I were him. In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice …Continue reading →
But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 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 (ESV) It seems that man has always wondered what it would be like to be like God. The ancient Greeks and Romans fantasized about men like Hercules who inherited super-human strength or other powers. Today it is no different. Movies about people with supernatural powers (X-men, The Hulk, Bruce Almighty, etc.) are very popular and entertaining. These kinds of movies and graphic novels fulfill a role similar to those of the ancient myths. We like to imagine what it would be …Continue reading →
And He said, Now take your son, Isaac, your only one whom you love, and go into the land of Moriah. And there offer him for a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will say to you. – Genesis 22:2 God told Abraham to offer up his son Isaac for a burnt offering. He obeys. Isaac asks where the lamb for the sacrifice is, and Abraham replies, “God will provide a lamb.” He gets to the altar, puts Isaac on the altar and prepares to take his son’s life. God tells him to stop, and provides a ram in Isaac’s place, just as Abraham trusts God to do. I used to think that, while this was a …Continue reading →
