Make This Year Different Than Last Christmas is (or at least, should be) a spiritual event. It is a grand celebration of Jesus. In my prior post, Reimagining Christmas, I encouraged a reclamation of the day’s true meaning and making it a spiritual experience. Now, seven days hence, another holiday is upon us: New Year’s […]
So far, we have covered seven of the 15 judges mentioned in the book of Judges. They are the more commonly known judges, merely because there is more written about them. That leaves eight remaining judges, for whom very little is known. Often their entire life is summarized in just a couple of verses. They […]
One of Gideon’s sons was Abimelech. It is arguable if Abimelech should be counted as a judge. If so, he would be classified as a failure, for he violently seized power, did not fight for or liberate his people from foreign powers, but instead fought internally, with much loss of life as a result—including his […]
Like most people, I have expectations for Christmas: spending time with family and friends, giving gifts, reaching out to others, enjoying festive food at advent gatherings, and so forth. Much of my Christmas spirit is triggered by sights, sounds, and smells that conjure up happy memories of Christmases past. What if we were removed to […]
My wife once scored us great seats at a concert, front row and centered. I was elated. Not only would we have the closest possible view, but there would be no one standing in front of me, so I could remain comfortably seated the entire show. The Concert But when the concert began, everyone stood—and […]
Why is He Important? I recently happened upon an interesting understanding of time from Joachim of Fiore, of the past, present, and future. It identifies three major eras of the God who is revealed in the Bible. From the perspective of medieval Christendom—as exemplified by Joachim of Fiore—history is prophetically divided into three eras, each […]
An increasing number of people say that they are “spiritual but not religious.” For some this is merely a trendy thing to say, but beyond making them sound hip and appear insightful, it is an empty platitude. For others, claiming to be “spiritual but not religious” is an attempt to abdicate responsibility for their behavior […]
Deborah is another familiar judge, with two chapters in the book of Judges devoted to her. There are some noteworthy facts about her: First, she is the only female judge in the entire book. This was very counter-cultural for the day—and very cool! Second, she was the only judge who actually “held court”—which would be […]
People who pray on a regular basis, at some point, are likely to end up in a rut—a prayer rut. (Conversely, people who don’t pray on a regular basis may also be in a prayer rut of sorts, albeit a different kind.) A prayer rut may be likened to trying to extricate a stuck car: […]
The Judge Gives God a Fleece Ultimately, Gideon, the Judge, obeys God and realizes a great victory, but he first needs a lot of confirmation to deal with his doubts: Gideon first asks for a sign that the angel had really spoken God’s words. God acquiesces; when the angel touches his staff to the food […]