Celebrate the Holiness of God The prophet Isaiah has a dream, a vision. He sees into heaven. God sits on his throne over the temple. Six-winged angels, seraphim, hover above him. They sing out, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty. Earth fills with his glory.” As their voices ring out, the temple shakes and […]
The Story of Zacchaeus There was a man in Jericho who was boss of the people who collected taxes. He was quite rich. He wanted to catch a glimpse of Jesus, but couldn’t because he was a short rascal and the taller people blocked his view. Ever resourceful, he ran ahead of the throng and […]
In the Ultimate Battle Between Good and Evil, the Winner Is Clear For the first part of my life I assumed God and Satan were equal yet opposite forces. I picked up this inaccurate image from culture, starting with the old cartoons of the devil sitting on one shoulder whispering bad advice into a person’s […]
Discover Who God Is from Scripture We can learn a lot about God from the Bible. After all, we do sometimes call it the Word of God. Every book in the Bible, even every chapter reveals truth about God. This includes Psalm 33. It’s a psalm of praise. It reveals five biblical truths about God. […]
Seeking a Spiritual More I’m talking about more from a spiritual standpoint. I yearn for a “spiritual more.” I suspect—deep down—you do, too. Everything else is a hollow substitute for what God has to offer, not just any god but the God revealed in the Bible: biblical God. But we don’t often find more from […]
The Western World, especially the United States, is largely an individualistic, narcissistic society. In applying this mindset to religious matters, the in thing is to seek spirituality in an individualistic, narcissistic way. We pursue the formation of our religious convictions as if we were at a buffet, a religious buffet. We pick a little bit of […]
Though God Doesn’t Change, the Way People Perceive Him Does I enjoy a good book, one with a satisfying story arc. The Bible has an arc, too, a biblical story arc. Some people see the Old Testament as focusing on God’s rules and judgment, with the New Testament focusing on God’s love and freedom. Though […]
God Will Shine So Brightly that We Won’t Need the Sun to See As the epic battle in Revelation continues, just before Babylon—the symbol of all that’s evil—is about to receive her final punishment, an angel comes from heaven. John writes that this angel has great authority, and his splendor illuminates the earth (Revelation 18:1). […]
What We May Perceive As a Lack of Love May Actually be the Embodiment of It In the book of Revelation, John shares a grand vision with an epic scope, far reaching and future focused. But before we get to that, God has some first-century messages for seven area churches. Three of these messages appear […]
We Get to Know God Better As We Read about Him in the Bible Is the Bible a book about God or a book about his crazy people? The answer is yes. In combining these two ideas, we can say the Bible is a book that addresses God’s relationship with his creation. Therefore we can […]