13–19 October 2019. Amos 6 (click to read). In Amos 6, God continues his frightening condemnation of the Israelites for all the economic injustices they have committed in their land. The Israelites have pushed people not only into poverty but to the very edge of existence itself. By rigging the economic system, by cheating in […]
6–12 October 2019. Amos 1 (click to read). The book of Amos begins with a collection of judgement prophecies, describing God’s coming punishment on some of ancient Israel’s enemies. For the Israelites listening to these prophecies against Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, and Amon, they must have felt quite happy. In Amos’s time Israel was actually […]
29 September – 5 October 2019. Joel 1 (click to read). The Book of Joel opens with a heartbreaking description of Israel’s destruction. Foreign armies have marched into Israel’s lands and have destroyed everything. Joel describes the armies as locusts, destroying and devouring everything in their way. Those armies don’t just demolish Israel’s fortresses, they […]
22–28 September 2019. Hosea 7 (click to read). The story of Hosea’s broken marriage with his cheating wife Gomer is a metaphor for God’s marriage relationship with his own unfaithful people. And it’s here in chapter 7 that we hear the husband’s sadness and confusion at the way this unfaithful wife has behaved. God is […]
15–21 September 2019. Hosea 1 (click to read). Many Christians think that Old Testament faith was characterized by life lived under the incredibly strict laws of Moses, whereas only in the New Testament do we finally see God’s wonderful grace at work. But that’s not quite true. While the topics of grace and our freedom […]
8–14 September 2019. Psalm 146 (click to read). As a foreigner, it’s interesting to see how important guānxì, or good connections, are in Taiwanese culture. There is a lot of wisdom in this. Each of us knows how unstable life can be and how hard it is to get through life’s challenges without the support […]
1–7 September 2019. Psalm 139 (click to read). It can be tempting for us to divide our lives in two, separating our faith lives from everything else and treating these as two different parts. We then tell ourselves that God cares about our faith, about our Sunday lives and worship, but that the rest of […]
25–31 August 2019. Psalm 132 (click to read). Doing something nice for someone is rarely easy. Making a special meal for someone we love involves long hours of preparation and cooking. Planning a family holiday means working hard all year, saving money, and not buying the little things we would like for ourselves. In our […]
18–24 August 2019. Psalm 127 (click to read). Children can be a wonderful blessing. Even though in ancient Israel’s culture people especially valued sons, today we know that all children are worthy of love and can be a great source of joy. But just because children bring blessings and joy, that doesn’t mean raising a […]
11–17 August 2019. Psalm 121 (click to read). Each day brings with it a new set of challenges. There are new obstacles to deal with at work, difficult problems to face at school, and even constant challenges at home. With all of these difficulties, it can feel hard to cope on our own. Often we […]