The books of 1 and 2 Kings are lengthy books that chronicle the decline of Israel and Judah from the death of David through the exile. A great many kings come and go in those few hundred years. Kingdoms split, tyrants ruled, famines and wars happened, and generations of people were born and died. You …
Something really unusual happened to Jesus in Matthew 26. He was having dinner with his disciples and some friends when a woman poured some incredibly expensive perfume on his head. By incredibly expensive, I mean that most scholars estimate the value of the perfume at around a year’s salary for a worker. A year’s salary! …
All of us care what people think of us. Let’s be honest. We are built up by praise and torn down by criticism. And even when others do not tell us what they think of us, we look to see where we think we fit with those we know. How does our lifestyle compare to …
When you’re busy, you don’t tend to think very hard about your situation. You just have to get through that to-do list. You fall into a pattern with your life, doing the same things in the same way for a long time. That just feels normal and natural; it is what you do. Until you …
The famous parable of the talents in Matthew 25 sounds a lot like it is teaching some kind of salvation by works. After all, three servants are given money to use. When the master returned, the two who used that money well were rewarded and welcomed into the master’s happiness. The one who did not …
Have you ever borrowed someone’s car or looked after their house while they have been on holidays? While it is a blessing to have use of a car or house that you don’t usually have, we feel the responsibility of it. We are nervous that something might go wrong with this important and expensive thing …
The great dream of many people is a life of leisure. It sounds good, doesn’t it? Sitting back, doing whatever you want (or nothing at all). If only we had enough money to spend our lives like that, most of us think that this would make us happy. It’s not true. We are made to …
John Lennon urged us to imagine a world where there is no heaven and no religion. In his opinion, this would be a world where everyone lived in peace and there would be no greed or hunger. Freedom from the oppressive burden of God would inevitably lead to a good life in so many ways. …
Every family falls into patterns of doing things. It can be something minor, like placing the cups in the cupboard upside down when you have washed and dried them. Or it might be something major, like a pattern of responding to disagreements with anger or resentment with little forgiveness or grace. Some families value sport …
We are all capable of making good things, even things that should point us to Jesus, into objects of worship. One Biblical example of this is the bronze serpent. Moses made the bronze serpent in Numbers 21 as a symbol of salvation. When the people were suffering from a plague of poisonous snakes, a right …