The entire chapter 35 of Isaiah can be seen as a vision of God overturning the entire ancient order. It is a vision, a prophecy, a preparation for what is about to happen to God’s people. For in the very next chapter of Isaiah we are plunged into the maelstrom of history, around the year …
The Good Pleasure
Throughout his teaching and healing ministry, Jesus counseled us not to get obsessed with material things and concerns. Wasn't that one of the messages in this morning's Gospel parable of the Sower and the Seed? He likened the seed that falls among thorns to the man or woman who hears the word of God but …
A Debatable Verse
2 Corinthians 6:17 does not sit well with me. Yes, it's Saint Paul, but it doesn't mean I have to agree with everything Paul writes. This verse is part of a longer segment that consists primarily of quotes and allusions to Old Testament passages. This verse 17, for example, comes mostly from Isaiah 52:11, which itself …
A bible verse to end all bible verses
It's two Bible verses actually, the culmination of the 8th chapter of Paul's Letter to the Romans, a chapter truly worth reading for its extraordinary content and meaning for today. This chapter 8 of Romans, has provided me over the years with more to enrich my faith than any other chapter in the letters of Paul. …
Do you live by love, or by fear?
It seems that my Logos bible software is no longer putting up slides with daily Bible verses, so I have to look elsewhere for illustrated Bible verses. I'm not artistic, so I can't create my own Bible slides. Today I choose to reflect on 1 John 4:18 φόβος οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ, ἀλλ’ ἡ τελεία …
When God is rejected
God's love for the world entailed also a love for the nations. The Bible does not shy away from the political overtones of God's ways. But God's desire for the nations has always - without exception - been disappointed. Yes, disappointed - from the very beginning. God's desire was that his people would be "a …
