11–17 November 2018. Daniel 1–2 (click to read). The Book of Daniel is not an easy text. The second half of the book is full of mysterious prophecies that talk about the evil role that many empires played in the ancient world. But the first half is easier and also more familiar to us. In Daniel […]
4–10 November 2018. 1 John 2 (click to read). Many years ago I was invited to participate in a church meeting. The thing I remember most from that day was one church elder who stood up and shouted at others, angrily waving his arms around, pointing his finger at others, and aggressively attacking and criticizing […]
28 October – 3 November 2018. Job 37 (click to read). When it comes to the problem of Job’s suffering, the young and foolish Elihu thinks he has all the answers. Many of the answers Elihu offers Job are not so different from ideas on suffering we still hear from people today. In chapter 37, […]
21–27 October 2018. Job 30 (click to read). We know the way the world is supposed to work. People who do bad things are supposed to be punished, and people who do good should be rewarded. But sadly things don’t always work out that way. Too often the evil and corruption in this world makes […]
14–20 October 2018. Job 23 (click to read). Job knows that he has done nothing wrong. He knows that he has done nothing to deserve such terrible pain and disaster in his life. So Job dreams of bringing a court case to God and defending himself against God. In his heart Job knows this situation is […]
7–13 October 2018. Job 16 (click to read). When we suffer, what hurts us most is often not really the physical pain – after all there is a lot of medication we can take for that. Instead what hurts us most is the emotional pain we feel in our hearts and souls. No painkillers can take […]
30 September – 6 October 2018. Job 9 (click to read). When things go wrong in our lives, that’s already bad enough. But what makes our suffering worse is knowing that there will always be people around us who will see our pain and be happy. When bad things happen, there will always be a few […]
23–29 September 2018. Job 2 (click to read). Human relationships are complicated and fragile. It’s not always easy to keep a relationship going, and they fail so often for many reasons. Sadly, far too many times I have seen people’s marriages fail. It’s gotten so bad that today many young people are even giving up […]
16–22 September 2018. Jeremiah 47–48 (click to read). When we read the news about what is going on in the world, it’s easy to lose hope. We watch as the strong do what they want, creating so much pain and injustice, and yet there never seems to be any consequences for their actions. Armies bomb […]
9–15 September 2018. Jeremiah 35–36 (click to read). Our lives are full of people who want us to listen to them. Teachers and bosses tell us what to do, advertisements tell us what to buy, and even our friends try to influence us to do what they want. Wherever we turn, people are trying to […]