This Isn’t Another Cinderella Story I’ve always liked the story of Esther. She was a peasant girl who won a national beauty pageant and became queen. In my imagination, I’ve given this tale a Cinderella-like grandness, with Esther and the king, falling in love and living happily ever after. Alas, the story doesn’t mention love […]
Our Good Shepherd Has More Sheep Than Just Those in Our Pen Jesus talks about a sheep pen with a gate (John 10:1-21). The shepherd goes into the pen through the entrance. He calls his sheep, and they follow him into the pastures. Only a thief would sneak into the pen another way. Yet the […]
Paul and Barnabas Respond to Hostile Nonbelievers with Boldness and Perseverance In the Old Testament, the Israelites, God’s chosen people, are a set apart nation. They are to keep separate from the other nations around them and if they will, God promises to bless them. They also look forward to a promised king who will […]
Early each spring our Jewish friends celebrate Purim. The origin of Purim is found in the book of Esther, which is a beautiful and moving story. In a rags to riches manner, Esther was whisked from obscurity to become queen. From her new position of access and influence, she was able to stop a plot […]
How Closely Do You Do the Things God Tells You to Do? Paul travels to Ephesus to tell people about Jesus. This is his mission, a mission for God. As a Jew it seems logical that he would go to his own people first to share this good news. He does. He goes to the […]
The Bible is a Book About Jews and Their Relationship to God The Bible isn’t really a Christian book. It’s more so a Jewish book. Without question the Old Testament of the Bible is Jewish. It’s about Jews, and it’s for Jews. It looks at their faith journey as a people, records their history, and […]
Check out these books of the Bible, which are not found in all versions, but are in others, such as The Jerusalem Bible: Tobit Tobit is a story of Tobiah who journeys with Raphael to retrieve some money for his father (Tobit). Along the way he is attacked by a fish and gets married; when […]
Two thousand years ago, the Jewish religious scene was comprised of two major factions, the Sadducees and Pharisees. Although their respective theologies about God were quite different, these two camps did coexist—albeit not harmoniously—within the same religion. The reason for their different perspectives of the same God, likely comes from how they treated the Bible. […]
Reviewed by Peter DeHaan The Devil’s Arithmetic, based on a book by the same name, focuses on narcissist American teenager, Hanna Stern (Kirsten Dunst). Although Hanna dismisses her Jewish heritage, she is compelled to attend her family’s Seder celebration. In the midst of her reluctant participation, she is translated to Nazi occupied Poland, circa 1941. […]