Lessons from the intermarriage crisis – our priorities (Ezra 10)
Ezra 10:1-44 Recently when discussing Ezra 9-10, someone mentioned to me the plight of African chiefs with several wives who came to Christ and were encouraged by missionaries to divorce them, a tragic fate for those women. This situation seems…
How to handle success well? (Gen 41:37-57)
Gen 41:37-57 The story of pastors leading megachurches or tele-evangelists who acquire world-wide fame and enormous success and then fall into sin has become almost a cliché these days. Handling the adulation of the masses, living with others’ worshipful deferment…
How is the new covenant fulfilled? (Jer 31:31-40)
Jer 31:31-40 When we read Old Testament prophecies that relate to the future, we sometimes wonder how these are fulfilled. We understand that prophecies may have more than one fulfilment, but our application of this principle can be quite haphazard…
The temptations of this world (Genesis 34)
Gen 34:1-31 Shechem Biblical stories are rarely didactic telling us exactly what to think. Rather, they describe a complex reality of people’s actions and motivations and encourage us to develop a nuanced way of thinking about God’s truth. Thus, the…
In the world but not of it (Gen 33:18-34:7)
Gen 33:18-20; 34:1-7 In this post, I tackle the rape of Dinah in Genesis 34. If this is a difficult topic, please feel free to skip the post. One of the hard questions of the Christian life is how we…
Awakening to God’s purpose (Judg 15:14-20)
Judg 15:14-20 Some people seem to know instinctively what is meant to be their purpose in life, a particular career, involvement in a church and its ministry, building a home and family or some combination of these. Their own desire,…
God works in mysterious ways (Judg 14:19-15:8)
Judg 14:19-20; 15:1-8 During his career, my father took it into his head to join a particular company. His first attempt was unsuccessful due to a coincidence (I forget now why). When he tried again years later, the respective wives…
The unexpected ways of God (Judg 13:24-14:4)
Judg 13:24-25; 14:1-4 Today’s passage makes for uncomfortable reading and our understanding hinges on the phrase that Samson’s marriage plans were ‘from the Lord’ (Judg 14:4). Does this mean God’s approval? How can it, though, when God elsewhere condemns intermarriage…
The mark of true repentance (Neh 10)
Neh 9:38; 10:1-39 A month or so after a Billy Graham crusade, someone in my youth group who ‘went forward’ was expressing her disappointment. The initial glow from her decision had faded and she wondered where God was. She felt…
Helpful principles in reading Scripture (Neh 8:1-8)
Neh 8:1-8 Once I visited a church, where instead of the Bible reading, a re-imagined story of the prodigal son (in this case a prodigal daughter in a modern context) was recounted. The preacher then talked about parenting and the…