(REFLECTIONS ON Nehemiah 12:1-26 ) Perhaps we have heard in the past that history, is actually His story, that is the story of our God. That is because God is the beginning and the end. In Genesis 1:1, we are told, “In the beginning God created…” In Revelation 22:12-13, we read, 12 “Look, I am coming soon! […]
(REFLECTIONS ON Ezra 2:1-70) 61 And from among the priests: The descendants of Hobaiah, Hakkoz and Barzillai (a man who had married a daughter of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by that name). 62 These searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. […]
(REFLECTIONS ON EZEKIEL 32:1-32) Down to the Pit, with the uncircumcised, with Assyria, Elam, Meshek and Tubal, Edom, all the princes of the north and all the Sidonians, that is where Pharaoh and Egypt will go. Down to the Pit. The Pit refers to Sheol, the spiritual realm of the dead, the end, the lowest […]
29 December 2019. Revelation 21 (click to read). During the Christmas season we celebrate the good news that Jesus Christ is Emmanuel, “God with us.” The Gospel stories tell how God, in his great love for us, left heaven to come and be with us, to share our lives, and to change our world. But […]
22–28 December 2019. Revelation 14 (click to read). In 586 BC the Babylonian armies marched on Jerusalem and destroyed it. Years of suffering and centuries of rebuilding Jerusalem and its temple followed that. And then in the year 70 the Roman Empire marched on Jerusalem and destroyed it all over again. In the decades that […]
15–21 December 2019. Revelation 7 (click to read). When we worship Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords, of course we don’t mean that Christ is just our King and only our Lord. No, Christ is King and Lord over all people. People in all countries, all cultures, all religions, and all times […]
8–14 December 2019. Revelation 2:1–17 (click to read). The early chapters of the Book of Revelation share seven letters by the risen Christ written to seven different churches. In chapter 2:1–17 we find three of these letters. In the seminary I often teach our future pastors that the church has two “hands” or two core […]
23–29 June 2019. Romans 8:35, 38–39 (click to read). Life isn’t always easy. But take a moment to quietly think back over today, over everything that has happened. Take a moment to think back over yesterday, over this past year, and even over your whole life up to this point: Has anything been causing you […]
28 December 2014 – 3 January 2015. Revelation 20 (Click to read). For those of you following the church’s Bible reading plan, this month we read through the difficult and controversial Book of Revelation: the last book of the Bible for the end of the calendar year. As we come to the end of […]
21–27 December, 2014. Revelation 13 (click to read). For those of you following the church’s Bible reading plan, this month we read through the difficult and controversial Book of Revelation: the last book of the Bible for the end of the calendar year. This week in our reading of Revelation we come to chapter 13, the description of […]