Summary of Psalms: Understanding the Basics of Psalms in the Bible
The Hebrew title for the book of Psalms is tehilim, roughly translated as “praises.” In some ways, this is an unusual title, as the largest single category of Psalms are laments. It is from the Greek translation of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint that we get the term “psalmos” or song. The term […]
Preaching Politics? 6 Thoughts from the Book of Daniel
“Did I hear you say that you’re preaching on politics?” “Yes, I’m looking forward to this series.” “Hmm. Good luck.” Scary, huh? There are two things that make for impolite conversation: politics and religion. I recently decided to take on both at the same time. It felt necessary. If 2024 goes like previous election years, […]
Who Was Potiphar’s Wife in the Bible?
The actual identity of the woman known as “Potiphar’s wife” has never been verified, though in the book of Genesis chapter 39, she is the woman who caused Joseph to be thrown in jail unjustly. This gives some historians enough clues to speculate that she likely lived around 1600-1700 B.C., possibly when Sesostris I was […]
Beatitudes: The Path of the Kingdom
Jesus’ original audience often misunderstood him because they filtered his teachings through their preconceived worldview and the skewed questions that flowed from it. We have a different worldview with different questions, but we basically do the same thing. In the Sermon on the Mount, where we see a bunch of rules, Jesus is trying to […]
Singing the Song of the Lamb: A Review of Jonathan Young’s Commentary on Revelation
Sitting on the back deck of my home one afternoon, my young teenage son, Jonathan, told me that he no longer believed in God. I cannot say I was surprised. Yes, he grew up in a Christian home, often at a Christian school, in a great Christian youth ministry, with parents who had daily devotionals […]
Gratitude and Meaninglessness
I’ve been doing some study from the book of Ecclesiastes lately. This is partly related to a book that I hope to write next year. I also spoke from Ecclesiastes at my daughter’s baccalaureate service recently. The more I’ve studied the book over the last several months, the more I’ve been impressed by a puzzle […]
Sing to the Lord a New Song? Reflections on Psalm 98
Four times we are told in Scripture to “sing to the LORD a new song” (Psalm 96:1; 98:1; 149:1; Isaiah 42:10). Every song ever sung was new at some point. How many millions of songs of worship have been written in the span of human history? From those that have been published in hymnals, those […]
God Can Do Anything? What God Can’t Do & Why It’s Good News
Tennis can be fun unless you’re playing against someone way better than you are. When you’re playing against someone quite a bit better, they can hit the ball in ways that have you running all over the court. They might hit the ball way to your right so you have to sprint to make the […]
