The Ten Commandments remind children to honor their parents. Paul applies this command here by teaching that honor begins with obedience. Paul’s reason is not that parents are always right or because children owe some debt to parents, but because obedience toward parents pleases the Lord.
Continue reading HOW SHOULD CHILDREN TREAT PARENTS?
When Jesus makes a promise, He keeps it. Previous generations thought they would see Jesus’ return, but they did not. Through this long wait, God has been faithful to His people. The church has grown. God’s family is getting larger.
Continue reading DOES IT REALLY MATTER THAT MUCH IF JESUS EVER COMES BACK TO EARTH?
Paul (or Saul, as he was also known) was a zealot, a staunch defender of the Jewish faith. He was especially zealous about exposing and punishing offshoots of Judaism that threatened to obscure its message.
He targeted the disciple of a rabbi named Jesus of Nazareth who were attempting to keep his message alive even after the rabbi himself had been crucified. They spread stories about seeing him risen form the dead. They claimed he was the Son of God and the way to everlasting life.
Continue reading MEN OF THE BIBLE (PAUL “THE UNLIKELIEST DISCIPLE”)
Public drama was apparently unknown in OT Israel except for possible worship activities and only arrived with the Greeks after 400 B.C. As a symbol of Greco-Roman culture, the presence of theaters in Palestine was a constant reminder of Greek and Roman control of the Jewish state.
Continue reading DEFINITION OF THE DAY (THEATER)
According to Matthew 4:18-20, “As [Jesus] was walking along the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, since they were fishermen. ‘Follow Me,’ He told them, “and I will make you fish for people!’ Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.”
Continue reading MEN OF THE BIBLE (SIMON PETER “ORDINARY GUY, EXTRAORDINARY OPPORTUNITY”)
Many, but not all, of the deities worshiped in the mysteries were originally associated with fertility. As such, their associated myths often referred to the natural cycle as it waxes and wanes (for instance, Demeter) or to the dying and rising of a god (Attis, Adonis, Osirs). Some scholars thing that the mysteries used this feature of the myth to give symbolic expression of rising to immorality with the deity. However, not all scholars agree; some deities venerated in mystery religions did not die or rise; moreover, the exact use of the myth in the mysteries is often unclear, though some concept of immorality seems to be implied.
Continue reading DEFINITION OF THE DAY (MYSTERY RELEIGIONS PT 2 OF 2)
Ezekiel loved his wife, but God told him not to grieve publicly when she died. This was to be a living message to the people concerning their abandonment of God. Yes, grief would come to them, the grief of captivity. They would suffer at the hands of Babylonian conquerors, and their homes, lands, and precious temple would be destroyed. Would they be as mute as Ezekiel, or in grief repent of sin and return to the worship of God?
Continue reading WHY WAS EZEKIEL TOLD NOT TO GRIEVE THE DEATH OF HIS WIFE?
From a historical perspective, it seems that Daniel came of age at exactly the wrong time in Israel. He was born just in time to see his once-great nation fall to the Babylonians. As punishment for their centuries unfaithfulness and disobedience. God allowed his people to be defeated by their enemies. Daniel, along with other young, strong, and capable people in Israel, was carried away into captivity in Babylon.
Continue reading MAN OF THE BIBLE (DANIEL “UNSHAKABLE FAITH”)
In our eclectic, pluralistic era, it may sound arrogant to claim that God forgives sins by one way only, and that one person only-Jesus-speaks the truth about God. How can Christians be so exclusive?
Continue reading IS JESUS THE ONLY WAY TO GOD?
The Hebrew verb “make sport” is used to indicate ridicule (e.g. Gen 21:9) but also sport in the sense of entertainment (Jug 16:25,27) or play (Exod 32:6; 104:26; Zech 8:5).
Continue reading DEFINITION OF THE DAY (SPORTS)