An Old Testament Parable Warning about the Perils of Prostitution and Idolatry Ezekiel shares a story about two sisters. It’s an Old Testament parable. And it comes directly from God. The older sister is Oholah, and the younger sister is Oholibah. Oholah is Samaria, the capital of Israel and represents the ten northern tribes. The […]
Today’s passage: John 8:1–30 Focus verse: “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7) Jesus’s detractors drag a woman caught in the act of adultery before him. They’re doing this to test him. These religious leaders who present the adulterous woman care nothing […]
Though the Bible Tells Us to Judge, Who We’re Supposed to Judge May Shock You When Paul writes to his friends in Corinth, he has much to say because they struggle with many things, including judging others. He spends a whole chapter in his first letter addressing sin within their assembly: sexual sin, specifically incest. […]
Beware of Slacking Shepherds, Godless Pastors, and Misleading Ministers The prophet Jeremiah doesn’t just warn the people about judgment for their sins, he also warns their religious leaders too. The twenty-third chapter of the book of Jeremiah details three leadership failures. Most troublesome is the third item about misleading ministers. Everyone in leadership should heed […]
Discover What the Bible Says about the End of Time Some Christians give a lot of attention to the end times. Others choose to ignore it. Interestingly, the phrase end times doesn’t appear in the Bible, at least not in the NIV. Though four subheadings, added later, do carry this phrase. The End Times These […]
God Doesn’t Give Empty Threats; He Will Do What He Says He Will Do God has expectations for his people. The Old Testament of the Bible covers this. The first five books of the Bible, often called the Law of Moses, details God’s expectations. He tells the people what to do and what not to […]
Take Care What You’re Known For In our world of political correctness, there seems to be one group of people who it’s socially acceptable to harass and hate: Christian evangelicals and fundamentalists. In a world that values tolerance, there is one group that it’s okay to not tolerate: evangelicals. It’s politically permissible to mock them, […]
With a knowing wink and a smile that was too practiced, the preacher said, “Hate the sin, but love the sinner.” This irritated me. I couldn’t tell if he was being snarky, condescending, or wise. How can we truly separate the deed from its doer? Should we even try to make the distinction? After all, […]
Reading through the book of Judges, a cycle quickly emerges: the people turn away from God, he sends a leader to rescue them, and then they return to him. This pattern continues, albeit to a lesser extent, in the books of Kings and Chronicles. With endless patience, God offers them second chances. This abruptly changes […]