Discover Why God Should Inspire Our Awe The word awesome is overused today, so much so that it’s almost cliché. When most people say awesome, what they mean is outstanding or really good. Yet slang aside, the primary definition of awesome is to inspire awe. Given this, in the strictest sense, only God is awesome. […]
Psalm 165 from Beyond Psalm 150 King David secures his throne, and the Almighty blesses him with peace. David desires to build a temple for Yahweh. At first the prophet Nathan agrees, but that night God reveals his perspective to his spokesman. David is not to build the temple because he is a warrior and has […]
John’s Vision for These Churches Provides Us With Practical Insight Today Many people love the Book of Revelation, the apostle John’s supernatural treatise of the end times. It’s an epic read of God’s awesome power and the amazing, scary, exciting events that will usher us from this world into our eternal reality. Yet readers are […]
Prepare the Way, Part 1 Malachi 2:17–3:5 “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me.” (Malachi 3:1) The opening of Mark’s gospel quotes two Old Testament prophecies about John the Baptist. The first is from Malachi, the final book in the Old Testament. But Malachi isn’t speaking his own words. He […]
Exploring Doctrine, Theology, and Systematic Theology There are three religious terms I don’t care for. Hearing or reading about them has a negative impact on me. These words are doctrine, theology, and systematic theology. I don’t like them because they take the awesome mystery of God and try to provide structure to something that transcends […]
Let God Prune Us So We Can Produce More Fruit Isaiah looks forward to the day when the Branch of the Lord will appear. Branch, with a capital B, is a euphemism for Jesus, who will come to rescue God’s people. Isaiah says this Branch will emerge as awesome and full of wonder, which is […]
In my last post I noted that the Bible says we are to fear God—and I confessed confusion over precisely what that means. The next step in my progression of thought is to recall that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom and of understanding. I think that means it’s okay I don’t […]
If We Can Fully Understand God, Then He’s Not a Very Great God Some people are confused when they hear about Jesus or read the Bible. Because they don’t fully understand everything, they dismiss him, waiting until everything makes sense. It never will. At least not during our existence here on earth. This is the […]
Years ago, on a Saturday, my lawn was again in need of liquid sustenance and I was in watering mode, repositioning sprinklers in half-hour increments. During one mid-morning trek, there were two birds on my deck railing. I walked by them slowly, wondering how close I could get before they flew off in fear. They […]
Revelation Gives Us Insight into Jesus and the Truth May Surprise You People view Jesus in different ways. To some he is judgmental and mean. Others think he’s a good teacher but nothing more. Some view him as their Savior. They say Jesus is loving and accepting. To help us get an accurate view of […]