Jesus Died as the Ultimate Sacrifice So That We May Live The Old Testament of the Bible overflows with instructions about offering sacrifices to God and how his people but them into practice. One of those sacrifices served as an annual sacrifice for the sins of the people. The people had to repeat it each […]
Biblical Murderers and How They Relate to Us Consider some of the best-known biblical murderers. Cain Kills Abel We’re only four chapters into the Bible when the first murder occurs. Cain kills his brother Abel. The account in the Bible suggests that Cain premeditated his actions. First degree murder. But let’s not view Cain as […]
The Evil Queen, Her Good-Bad Grandson, and the Influential Priest In today’s passage we read about Queen Athaliah, her grandson Joash, and the priest Jehoiada. Here’s their story. The Evil Queen Athaliah Athaliah’s son Ahaziah is King. As with most mothers, she influences her son. But she doesn’t have a positive impact on him. Instead […]
Not Taking Responsibility for Our Actions Goes Way Back We often shake our heads in dismay over people who refuse to admit when they have done something wrong. Instead they want to blame others. They refuse to take responsibility for their mistakes. This is not a new development. Even Moses, who spoke to God face-to-face, […]
Our Spiritual Leaders May Fail Us and Let Us Down but Jesus Never Will Relevant magazine cited a Gallup poll that revealed America’s trust in the clergy has hit a record low. And it’s fallen steadily since 2002. In the early 80s two thirds of people respected spiritual leaders. Now only a bit more than […]
Jesus Didn’t Come for the Righteous but for Sinners As Jesus walks along he sees a tax collector, Levi. He says to Levi, “Follow me.” Levi gets up, leaves everything, and follows Jesus. Then Levi throws a party for his tax-collector friends. Jesus is there hanging out with them. As often the case, the religious […]
Struggling with Doubt Isn’t a Sin, But We Must Avoid Letting Doubt Squash Our Faith I once listened as a friend wrestled with the issue of faith versus doubt. She groaned in anguish over her struggle to believe with full faith, dismayed over the arrows of doubt that assaulted her. I blurted out, “Faith without […]
The First Brothers in the Bible Provide the First Account of Sibling Rivalry The first two people mentioned in the Bible are Adam and Eve. The next two people are their sons, Cain and Abel. It would seem these four people should get along. They can’t. The result of the conflict is tragic. Cain kills […]
The undercurrent to society’s willingness to cheat on just about anything goes back some thirty to forty years. It began with the assertion that there are no moral absolutes, that each person must decide for him or herself what is right and what is wrong. This opens the door for unrestrained cheating. Therefore, if it […]
It’s Hard to Embrace Those Who are Different from Us but We Should The word sin is an unpopular one in today’s culture. Postmodern thinking rejects moral absolutes and advocates that anything goes. Under an ideal of tolerance, society claims that to label an action as sinful is judgmental, closeminded, and unacceptable. Ironically they become […]