The book of Esther is one of the most unique books of Scripture, for the name of the Lord doesn’t appear in any form and there are no explicit acts of piety to be found within its ten chapters. Yes, at one point, Esther calls for a fast, but we must infer that coupled with…
It’s impossible to explain and beyond our comprehension, but the hope of eternal life offered by the Gospel of Jesus Christ is something that God promised before the world began: Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the…
To the scribes of Jesus’ day, His powerful displays of healing and casting out demons were most frustrating. These made it difficult to convince people that Jesus was an imposter, a charlatan, who was simply attempting to drum up a following for personal aggrandizement. More offensive than that, though, was Jesus’ declaration of someone’s sins…
One of the truly commendable qualities of anyone would be the ability to know and acknowledge his limitations. This isn’t a popular thing to do today. Oh, it may be OK to have an idea within yourself, but you certainly wouldn’t want to admit it to someone else! This is the age of self-assertion…of self-promotion…of…
Those who know the Lord God as Savior are aware that He is a God of grace, even when we experience some of the less desirable truths of Scripture. Events in Jacob’s life in Genesis 31-32 illustrate that, even though we reap unpleasant fruit from sinful seed, God’s grace sustains His own. Jacob, of course,…
I recently had the opportunity to attend a ministry conference in Riverside, California—about 30 miles east of Los Angeles. I was warned that it would be hot and dry, and indeed it was for two of the three full days I was there. That didn’t deter me from taking my hiking boots and poles so…
In the course of reading the familiar story of Abraham’s encounter with three strangers (Genesis 18)—a story I’ve read dozens of times—I was reminded of some of the experiences of thru-hikers on the Appalachian Trail (AT). Could you imagine yourself driving along a relatively quiet rural two-lane highway, approaching a couple of scraggly looking characters…