The "Great American Eclipse" came and went on August 21st. My family hosted company from out of town to come up and see the total eclipse with us, and it was a magnificent time. The sight was spectacular, breathtakingly beautiful. I was even able to get a few photos of the eclipse during totality. From…
About a week ago I published A Day of Darkened Sun, a blog post introducing people to the eclipse that is crossing America this Monday (August 21st) and to some of the providential aspects surrounding the eclipse. With the eclipse upon us in just a couple days, I wanted to share a particular point about…
On August 21, 2017, a total solar eclipse will be visible across the United States. This event has received a lot of media buzz as of late because of just how rare a full solar eclipse is. A full solar eclipse hasn't been visible from the continental US in 38 years. It is being called…
When people think of prophets and prophecy, they normally think of an elect group of people with supernatural insight and power. These are not your average preachers! They have an extraordinary zeal to reach the lost; they dream dreams or have trances from God; they speak riddles or predict the future. Even those of us…
The gospel of John tells us the first miracle that our Lord performed. While he and his disciples were at a wedding in Cana, the wedding party ran out of wine (2:1-3). To meet the need, Jesus commanded the servants to fill six stone water pots, typically used for ritual washing, with water and then…
Six days before his last supper with his disciples Jesus visited Bethany, a small town just outside of Jerusalem (John 12:1). While he was there his friends Lazarus, Mary, and Martha "made him a supper" (12:2), and hosted it at the house of Simon the Leper (Matthew 26:6ff). Lazarus' family had been close friends of the…
Earlier yesterday morning I had some spare time and so I sat and read my Bible for a little less than an hour. In that time I was able to read about two thirds of Revelation in one uninterrupted sitting. Reading Revelation like this gave me a new appreciation for the book: I started making connections I…
Today is Good Friday and, as Jesus' first disciples did, we mourn (in a sense) for this day. We mourn for the happenings of that first Good Friday---that terrible Friday those many years ago when our Lord died on Calvary. On that day, in that moment, so many things were contrary. So many things were…
There came a time in Israel's history when they were overran by one of their enemies, the Midianites. For seven years this brutal nation oppressed God's people and drove them into hiding (Judges 6:1). Every year, after Israel had planted their crops and tended the fields for the entire season---right before the harvest---, the Midianites…
In Deuteronomy, God instructed the kings of Israel to develop a relationship with the scriptures: "And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: and it shall be with…
Lectionary 