“So they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading” (Nehemiah 8:8). The Bible exalts teachers who touch lives with God’s word. Moses was a teacher (Deut. 28-30). The prophets of old were teachers, and Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our…
Many years ago a certain preacher was accustomed to large responses when he would preach a gospel meeting. In time, the preacher began to gauge his success or failure on the number of responses a meeting generated. One meeting, however, was quite special. The preacher spent ten days (as was the custom) preaching his heart…
Perhaps the least read book in the Old Testament is Leviticus. Christians seem to find it difficult to find relevance and meaning in a book that contains law for another people (Israel) in another time and place. However, God intended all of His word for our learning (Rom. 15:4), and certainly we can learn a…
Revelation is a book of symbolic language that resounds with the theme of victory. Written to encourage Christians who were being persecuted, Revelation assures its reader that living for Jesus is well worth whatever price one has to pay (cf. Luke 14:25-33). Revelation 7 is an answer to the question of Revelation 6:17: “The great…
Habakkuk lived in perilous times. A colossal battle was raging in the east between the cruel Assyrians and their new enemy, the mighty Babylonians. Both of these nations had demonstrated hatred toward Judah, and both looked hungrily toward the beautiful land that God’s people possessed. God assured Habakkuk that the idolatrous nations of the earth…
“Jehovah” is the proper Hebrew name for God. Occasionally in the Old Testament, however, the word “Jehovah” is coupled with another Hebrew word to spell out some attribute of God Himself. This is somewhat similar to the human practice of calling rulers names like, “Cyrus the Great” or “Ivan the Terrible.” Let’s explore some of…
Philippians is a book about joy in Jesus Christ. Written by the apostle Paul, Philippians successfully argues that there ought to be no such thing as a joyless Christian (Phil. 4:4). Jesus promises, “fullness of joy” (Ps. 16:11) to those who love Him and obey His will. How can we have the kind of joy…
Our world seems to have lost its sense of dignity. Instead of using any kind of moral compass, many respond to ethical challenges these days by merely asking, “What’s in it for me?” As a result, self-interest has become the prime motivation in moral decisions, and nobility has become something of an antiquated concept. One…
“What is the church of Christ?” The way we answer this question may ultimately determine where we spend eternity! Jesus said that He had come to build His church (Matt. 16:18). In Acts we read that, “the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). If Jesus came to build…
Suffering comes in many shapes and sizes. Sometimes it is like a sharp sword that pierces and quickly retreats. More often, though, suffering is like being in a pressure cooker — it is not so much the intensity of the pain that is hard to endure, but thelength of time that we are forced to endure that makes…