Tag: Christianity
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Challenges to Interpretation
Take Isaiah 49:1-6 as an example: Isaiah 49:1–6 (ESV) 1 Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. 2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he…
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The Chronicler’s Message Post-Exile
For generations, the Israelites had been taught that they were the special covenant people of God. They had been uniquely chosen among the nations and God had made a treaty with them. As they considered their history pre-exile that would be easy to argue. They had an established monarchy through the great King David and…
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My Favorite Psalm
Can you have a favorite? That’s hard to nail down with precision. Psalm 1 and the contrast between the blessed and the wicked is a powerful theme of Scripture. Psalm 19 and the beauty of God’s revelation, both natural revelation and spoken, are powerful and worthy of consideration. You could hardly discuss the Psalms without…
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Finding Meaning in Spirituality
The human experience only makes sense when you include in your search for purpose the One Who is not “under the sun.” Ecclesiastes reminds us, especially in our materialistic and sensually driven time, that the world is senseless when we eliminate God from the equation. Temporal life can only offer pseudo-replacements that leave us empty…
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Reflecting on His Holiness
As I work through my regular Bible reading, I pay especially close attention to the ways God is described. God is universally described in ways that no other being could be. This helps draw us in to be impressed by His uniqueness, His aseity. You don’t have to necessarily do anything different, just pay more…
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Father’s Rules
The Ten Commandments are generally treated as confining rules and nothing else. Yet humanity likes rules, we just don’t like to admit we like rules. We love guidelines and structure. No parent feels unloving or unkind because they make a rule about not playing on the road. Rules matter. The Rule-Maker matters. The first commandment…
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“The Heart Won’t Lie…”?
Recently my wife and I were listening to some classic Reba McEntire songs. She’s an Okie, like my wife and myself. This line is from a duet she sang with Vince Gill, another great classic country singer. “The heart won’t lie…” Hmmm. I wonder, is that always true? Or perhaps, could the heart be deceived? …
The Preacher's Desk 