Prophecy Today I want to talk about prophecy because understanding it is challenging for many of us, especially reading Isaiah. If you are like me, you wonder if you interpret it correctly. I don’t pretend to know everything Isaiah is saying for many reasons. The main reason is that I am unfamiliar with the culture […]

Unconscious Apostasy Chapter one of Isaiah is the Lord’s commentary on the state of the people of Israel. There is no doubt that he is not pleased. With the exception of a “very small remnant,” the people had become as corrupt as Sodom. With highly descriptive language, God compares them to a “putrefying sore.“ If

What Matters The books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes could be characterized as attempts to impart what matters most and why almost nothing matters at all. I can’t remember if I have ever read either book in the past, but I am familiar with several of the ideas and passages in both books. This time my

If You Wrote a Psalm After reading so many psalms and trying to put myself inside the expressions of praise and pleading, prophecy and prayer, trouble and triumph, and confidence in the mercy of God, I wondered if I could compose a psalm that would encompass the circumstances of my life and articulate them in

You Are Not All That Today I want to focus on Psalm 49 in particular because it set the tone for the rest of the Psalms that I subsequently read. During my reading, I experienced a sense that I was judging David both negatively and positively because I know the many surprisingly great things, as

The Answers To Everything Our world today has so much to offer: Things that make our lives better, convenience beyond belief, and access to knowledge literally in the palms of our hands. Do you want to know how to fix almost anything? There is probably a YouTube video that will show you. Want an education?

The Necessity of Reflection The Book of Job is filled with extremes. The poetic language used is both cryptic and descriptive at the same time. It is also repetitive to emphasize themes and expand on metaphors. It is a series of arguments to determine Job’s course of action and attitude. If we apply these things

If You Can’t Be Good Looking, At Least Be Good I have heard the story of Ester many times but had never read it myself. The story I have always heard is one of faith and courage but the story I read came off very differently to me. Surely courage and faith were elements in

Negotiating With the World As much as we would like to think of ourselves as independent, free-thinking individuals, we find ourselves in a severely restricted environment that I will refer to as the world for today’s purposes. Certain aspects of life are non-negotiable such as age, physiological limitations, intelligence quotient, etc. Other self-imposed restrictions govern

When The Sacred Becomes Profane As I read in 2 Kings 18 this week, I was amazed to learn that Hezekiah (a righteous king) broke in pieces the brasen serpent fashioned by Moses in the wilderness. He did it because the children of Israel had begun burning incense to it and had given it a