I didn’t know this church existed until my wife stumbled onto this charismatic church during her online research for our adventure. Their Facebook page says they’re “a charismatic, faith-filled, and Bible-believing church.” I’ve never been to a charismatic church service. However, I have attended charismatic conferences, so I think I have a general idea of […]
The Kingdom of God Is About Power, Not Words When Paul writes to his friends in the city of Corinth, he encourages them to change their behavior. In the middle of this, he slips in a curious line about the kingdom of God. He says that God’s kingdom isn’t about talk but about power (1 […]
The Disciples Walking to Emmaus Teach Us to Open Our Eyes and See God After Jesus is executed and rises from the dead, he appears to two of his followers as they walk down the road, but they don’t recognize him. They don’t see Jesus. Yet he listens as they talk about him. He pretends […]
Under Holy Spirit Inspiration Simeon and Anna Affirm Jesus When He Is a Baby Shortly after Jesus is born his parents take him to the temple in Jerusalem to present him to God and go through the purification rites as prescribed by Moses. As they do so, they receive two startling surprises from what others […]
Jesus Rose from the Dead and So Did Many Others In Acts chapter 26, the prisoner Paul makes his defense before King Agrippa. Basically Paul recaps key moments of his life and turns his testimony into a sermon. This must make King Agrippa squirm, because he pushes back, asking if Paul expects him to become […]
God Won’t Strike Us Dead If We Question Him Many people in the Bible question God. These aren’t fringe malcontents. They’re some of our favorite Bible characters and, I suspect, some of God’s favorite people too. They include Job, Abraham, Moses, David, Mary, and even Jesus. I can’t recall a single verse where God strikes […]
Consider What Jesus Expects of His Followers—and Us A while ago we looked at the final words in each book of the New Testament. This provides us with interesting information. However, more enlightening is to look at the final words of Jesus in each of the four biographies of him in the Bible. While you […]
Study Scripture in a Different Way to Glean More from It For most of my adult life, even going back to my teenage years, I’ve read the Bible most every day. Yet there were a few times when I needed to take a break, when my Bible reading practice had fallen into a rut—the deep […]
We Get a Glimpse into the Spiritual Realm Through Scripture We live in a physical realm. In our physical world, we experience it with our senses. We see things, touch things, and hear, taste, and smell things. Through our senses, we experience our physical reality. However, there’s also a spiritual aspect of our existence, which […]
Mary Receives Shocking News An angel visits Mary, a teenage girl engaged to be married. The angel celebrates her as one highly favored by God. Perplexed, she wonders about the angel’s shocking greeting. Then he further stuns her by saying she will become pregnant, and her child will save her people. “How,” Mary asks? “I’m […]