In his first letter to the Christians of Roman Asia, Peter borrowed some very vivid examples from the Old Testament to help his friends in Roman Asia understand what their situation is like. He talked about how they are like exiles, refugees, like Moses’ people fleeing across the desert, escaping from slavery. He talked about […]
A very powerful, very insecure, very drunk, very outraged king decides to pass a revolutionary new law for his citizens. Hilarity ensues. The most powerful king on earth commissions the world’s first Tinder app, and — what a surprise! — immediately “matches” with hundreds of beautiful maidens. For once in his life, Mordecai decides to […]
Is This Friendship? One bright spring day the leader of the Republic strode confidently across the square. He was on his way to the Senate where he would give a speech prior to his departure, for he was leading the armies east to engage the enemies on the eastern front. He had already proven himself […]
Okay. If you have been worshiping with us over the last few weeks, then you know we are in a special section of Exodus known as The Book of the Covenant. This special book within the bigger Book of Exodus is being dictated by God directly to Moses while Moses is in the darkness at […]
Over the last 12 weeks or so we have followed Daniel’s political career with interest. From the Royal University of Babylon to Chief Prefect over the Wise Men of Babylon, from Chief Prefect to Provincial Governor, from Provincial Governor to Third Highest Ruler in the Kingdom. Of course, he only held that last position for […]
The sequel to the Book of Genesis begins with a major shift in tone, and raises the question: where is God when his people really need him? A desperate mother lets her baby go into the hands of God, and unintentionally plays the first notes of a song that will shake the world. Moses strikes […]
Way back in the beginning of Genesis, when Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden, we are told that God placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. If any human being […]
Okay: last week, as the thunder from Mount Sinai began to speak to the people of Israel, he started by saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” And because this sentence was an echo of how he had begun his covenant with Abraham […]
The city of Thyatira in ancient Roman Asia was the smallest and the least important of the seven cities that Jesus talked to in the first few chapters of Revelation. But Thyatira had a few things going for it: First, it was a major transportation and manufacturing hub, especially for shoes, cloth dyeing, and bronze-smithing. […]
So: Jesus is on the road to his capital city, Jerusalem, to claim the kingdom that he has conquered. He has set the captives free; the prison doors are open; the ancient dragon and his army are retreating: the prison guards have run away! And now Jesus, as he travels, is telling all the prisoners, […]
Okay, friends. A brief recap so we can know where we are: In chapter 4, Jesus declared war on the ancient dragon. He declared his intention to set the captives free, give sight to the blind, and preach good news to the poor. And he got started right away! casting out demons, healing the sick, […]
Last week we left the ancient people of Israel in the middle of an existential crisis. They have their freedom, but they have no idea what to do with it. They have been rescued by a God, but they don’t know who he is or what he wants from them. They have been promised a […]
All right. Last week Jesus finally did what he had been threatening to do ever since Chapter 11: he fired the Pharisees from their job as the shepherds of Israel. Then he turned to the crowds and urged them to take a good look at God, take a good look at their resources…and surrender to […]
In the earliest parts of Genesis, we are told about a garden on a mountain that had, at its center, two fruit trees that were the sources of life and of wisdom for all the creatures that lived in that garden. Those trees were, essentially, the connecting points between earth and heaven. And we are […]
