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 to respond to God’s providence? (Gen 41:1-36)
Gen 41:1-36 A young pastor who was just starting his ministry was particularly busy one week and neglected sermon preparation. He consoled himself with the truth that Jesus promised the Holy Spirit, who ‘will teach you in that very hour…
Faith in the sovereignty of God (Genesis 40)
Gen 40:1-23 People who experience a short-term difficulty whether a recovery from an accident or a brief period of financial difficulty often rise to the challenge because there is an end in sight. Keeping up morale when an illness is…
God works in and through adversity (Genesis 39)
Gen 39:1-23 During the Communist era in Hungary, my Dad’s family was considered ‘politically unreliable’. Dad was denied a university education (though he did get one later) and worked in an optical glass factory as a manual labourer. Early on,…
What matters to God? (Genesis 38)
Gen 38:1-30 A mistake often made by preachers and readers of Scripture is to apply its message by moralising and to do so using the particular ethical emphases of their (modern) context. Thus, it is not uncommon for readers to…
Repentance: The doorway to change (Genesis 38)
Gen 38:1-30 The incident of Judah and Tamar has puzzled both commentators and readers for a long time. Why is this story plopped into the Joseph narrative, when readers are raring to hear more about him? I will address the…
Providence: The hidden hand of God (Gen 37:18-36)
Gen 37:18-36 A week after I agreed to take on the job lecturing in Auckland, I discovered a job opening in the UK that I missed out on. For years afterwards, as I was struggling with the adjustment to New…
God’s providence can overcome human failure (Gen 37:1-17)
Gen 37:1-17 Bridegrooms are sometimes told to look at their prospective bride’s mother to know how their beloved will turn out; advice that my husband – quick as a flash – replied to, ‘Oooh, I’ll have lots of delicious cake…
Is God involved in human affairs? (Ps 33:10-22)
Ps 33:10-22 The first part of this psalm was focused on God’s character and His work of creation (see my post Why should we praise God?), the second treats His involvement in human affairs. But is God really in charge…
Why should we praise God? (Psalm 33:1-9)
Psalm 33:1-9 When I moved to the UK, I wondered how people could smile and joke even when their life was falling apart. They seemed more together than Hungarians who often responded to the how-are-you question with a string of…