Reimagining Our Sunday Traditions from a New Testament Perspective Do you have a nagging feeling that something’s missing from your church experience? You’re not alone. And it’s time to discover a better way. Church-reform advocate and Bible scholar Peter DeHaan, PhD is a strong proponent of meaningful Christian community. In Jesus’s Broken Church, he uses […]
Today’s Church Isn’t Working. It’s Just That Most People Don’t Know It. Do you have a nagging feeling that something’s missing from your church experience? You’re not alone. It’s time to discover a better way. It’s typical that people who read the Bible do so through the lens of their experiences. Christians use the perspective […]
Consider Each Book’s Genre and Purpose When Reading the Bible Paul writes to his protégé Timothy that all Scripture comes from God. We can use it to teach, rebuke, correct, and train us in right living (2 Timothy 3:16). That is, everything in Scripture is useful. We must keep this in mind when reading the […]
A Personal Story of Growing in Faith and Action [This personal essay first appeared in The Transformation Project: A West Michigan Word Weavers Anthology.] A caterpillar turns into a butterfly; a tadpole becomes a frog. People can change too. We call it transformation. Here’s my story. 1. The Bible Matters We moved between fourth and […]
When God Wants to Give You a Second Chance Make Sure You’re Ready to Receive It You’re probably not familiar with Ahithophel in the Bible. His life serves as a lesson in how not to respond to disappointment. Though his name does show up a few times during the reign of King David, Ahithophel is […]
Discover More about Zephaniah A quick read of the beginning of the book of Zephaniah sounds a lot like Noah and the flood: “I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord. “I will sweep away both men and animals; I will sweep away the birds of the air and […]
Discover What the Scripture Says About Overcoming Death Last week we talked about the ten times the Bible records people raised from the dead. Now we’ll expand that thought and explore more Biblical references about people rising from the dead. Valley of Bones Ezekiel records a vision in which he sees the bones of a […]
Resurrections Occur in Both the Old and New Testaments In the Bible, dead people return to life. This happens on ten occasions, with three resurrections occurring in the Old Testament and seven times in the New. Check out these stories of people supernaturally raised from the dead. 1. Son of a Widow in Zarephath The […]
The Four Gospels Each Have a Story of a Woman Who Worships Jesus Each of the four accounts of Jesus’s life—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—give a story about a woman who anoints Jesus with expensive perfume, but the details in each report vary. It may be that this happens on four separate occasions. Or it […]
God Provides the Antidote When We Face Fear We live in a time where there is much to fear. Whether by mandate or out of personal concern, we cower in our homes afraid of what is happening in the world around us. We sequester ourselves and exist with little community to encourage us. Aside from […]