9–15 December 2018. Ecclesiastes 3 (click to read). Sometimes we find ourselves in a moment when everything is just perfect. Our plans have worked out, we have reached that goal we were after, we are together with the person we love, and our lives feel full of hope and peace. When that happens, we just […]
2–8 December 2018. Psalm 87 (click to read). Psalm 87 is one of the so-called “Songs of Zion”, hymns that praise Zion (another name for Jerusalem) for its role in God’s work of ruling and blessing the world. Jewish scholars tell us that Psalm 87 may have been sung by pilgrims on their yearly journey […]
25 November – 1 December 2018. Psalm 80 (click to read). When things go wrong in our lives, we often want to know why. Why did it happen? And if God really loves us, why didn’t he protect us? The problem is that there are no easy answers to this “why” question. Maybe that’s why […]
18–24 November 2018. Psalm 74 (click to read). Sometimes one of the hardest things about being a parent is not giving our children the things they want. Because we love our children, we want them to be happy. But sometimes the things that little children want just aren’t good for them. They want to eat […]
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 […]