The Book of Revelation When I ask people what book of the Bible they’d like to understand better, the most frequent response is Revelation. I get that. John’s future-focused vision recorded in the book of Revelation overflows with evocative imagery that sparks our imagination even as we struggle to make sense of it. Revelation is […]
Seek Faith Connections to Form Spiritual Affinity God lives in community, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is why he created us to be in community, just like him. This means living in relationship with him and living in relationship with others. That’s why we must embraced Christian community. Why We Need Christian Community […]
New Bible Study from Peter DeHaan Now Available Following the success of the first two online Bible studies on the Gospel of John and the Letters of John, comes an exciting new Bible study on the Revelation of John. This third Bible study launches September 19, 2024. Subsequent lessons will come out each Monday. The […]
A Similar Experienced but Different Our area’s megachurch (Church #51) holds two services in their mega-building, one at 9:30 a.m. and the other at 11:30. Also at 9:30 is a concurrent service in the original building on their campus, a modern cathedral built by the original owners. Multiple Service Options When we visited earlier, we […]
Rachel is an interesting character. She’s the wife of Jacob and also his first cousin. Talk about ick! We read about her in Genesis 29-31 & 35. For some reason, I’m drawn to her, but I don’t know why. We know she’s beautiful. For Jacob, it’s love at first sight. But there’s calamity when her […]
If We’re Ready to Listen, God Can Speak to Us through His Holy Spirit In the book of Ezekiel we come across an interesting passage. Some of the leaders of the nation of Israel approach Ezekiel. They ask him to seek God’s input for them. They want to hear God, but they can’t do it […]
Today’s passage: 3 John 1:13–14 Focus verse: Peace to you. (3 John 1:14) John ends his first letter with an abrupt instruction to keep away from idols. In contrast, he wraps up his next two letters with a smoother, more intimate farewell. To both recipients he expresses his desire to see them in person and tell them […]
We Must Welcome All Who Follow Jesus Most Christians spend time with believers who think like they think, who act like they act, and who share a common perspective. I get this. It makes sense. It’s comfortable. Yet this limits their understanding of God and in living their faith to the fullest. Instead, they need […]
Meeting in a Public-School Building Two weeks ago, as we drove around frantically searching for a church to attend, my wife suggested Church #2. They had just relocated from their cozy storefront location in a small strip mall to rented space at the local school, a temporary meeting place as they raised funds to build […]
Psalm 181 from Beyond Psalm 150 After disobeying God and running away from what he was supposed to do, we know that Jonah spends a three-day timeout in the belly of a large fish. From this dire location, he prays. Jonah’s prayer is a poetic testimony of what he did and the disaster that followed […]