Many novels and movies these days are set in the near future, and they generally have something in common. The future most of us expect is a disaster. Whether that means living through world wars, nuclear disasters, environmental catastrophes, or cruel dictatorial governments, most visions of the future are bad. There are many who have …
In Matthew 22:21, Jesus said something incredible when asked about paying tax to the Romans: Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Matt. 22:21 ESV) In the past few years, as Christians have grappled with all kinds of government decisions …
Jesus compares the kingdom of God to a wedding banquet a king is hosting for his son in Matthew 22. Through history, God had been preparing the way for his people to come to this big party. This was primarily the Jewish people through the covenants and prophets and patterns of the Old Testament. The …
Ahab and Jezebel and their family ruled Israel as tyrants; we read of their exploits in the latter part of the book of 1 Kings. They were not satisfied with setting up an alternative religion to Baal instead of worshipping the true God. They went much further than this, seeking out God’s prophets to kill …
Have you ever tried to convince a sceptic that God is real and that Christianity is true? You can end up with all kinds of deep philosophical points. You can look at the complexity of the world, our internal need for purpose, or natural law. Yet there is one piece of evidence that has been …
How much information do you receive every day? If you are anything like me, it is a lot. Much of it is kind of incidental; we learn things from speaking with people and going about our day. We absorb information from social media and the news; far more information than people of most previous generations …
We often think of God as the one who saves his people and works on their behalf. But the Biblical view of God is much wider than this. Consider this verse, for example: Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because …
2 Kings 5 introduces us to a Syrian general named Naaman. He travelled to Israel to be healed of his leprosy after hearing that a prophet named Elisha could heal him. After his remarkable healing, this powerful man was changed in deep ways. He showed humility that wasn’t evident before and he confessed that the …
When Elisha healed the foreign army general Naaman from leprosy, he left to return home a changed man. That is where we might expect the story to finish, but the writer of 2 Kings includes the actions of Naaman’s servant Gehazi as well. Gehazi was upset that Naaman had brought such a lot of money …
It is easy to be impressed by the giants of the Christian faith. We read in the Bible of people like Elijah who stood up to evil kings, of Moses who stood before Pharaoh, and of Paul who testified before rulers and hostile Jewish governments. We know of people like Martin Luther and John Knox …