(…continued) It would have been easy, of course, for God to explain this all to Job, but God chooses not to do that– not for Job, and not for us, either. There is nothing in the Bible to suggest that God is always making such deals with Satan and that is what leads […]
1016) The Test (3/3) Read More »
Above: Job Rebuked by His Friends, watercolor by William Blake (1757-1827) (…continued) Job, however, has a very different view of the situation. While agreeing that it is indeed God’s business to punish evil and reward goodness, Job is quite convinced that God is making a big mistake in his case. Job certainly admits to not
1015) The Test (2/3) Read More »
Above painting: Job, 1880, by Leon Bonnat (1833-1922) Job was a good man, and as the story told in the Old Testament book of Job begins, it would seem that his goodness was well rewarded. He was not only a good man, but he was a wealthy man; ‘the greatest man in the
1014) The Test (1/3) Read More »
“What do you mean it is going to take forty-five seconds to cook in the micro-wave? I want it now!” –Homer Simpson (above) —————- (…continued) ‘Instant gratification’ is what we might want, but seldom does it do us any good. Oftentimes, as it says in Romans five, it is suffering that produces strength
1010) Instant Gratification (2/2) Read More »
Image above: Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), Massacre of the Innocents, 1612 ————————- The most familiar day on the church year calendar is December 25th, Christmas Day, the commemoration of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Most people in the world of any religion or even no religion know that. One of the
994) The Slaughter of the Innocents Read More »
(…continued) John and Jesus both proclaimed the kingdom of God, and both taught that people had to change in order to be ready for that coming kingdom. Both taught the need for repentance and forgiveness. But they had different starting points. John emphasized judgment and the destruction of all evil. That certainly is
974) What Do You Expect? (2/2) Read More »
There is a big difference between the first day of school for a first grader and the first day of school for an eleventh grader. Which one is more excited for the day? Probably not the eleventh grader. We all know that the first day of school in the first grade is
973) What Do You Expect? (1/2) Read More »
Above image: Michael York as John the Baptist in the 1977 mini-series Jesus of Nazareth. ******************************** Mark 6:17-28– Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. For John had been saying
972) Two Johns (part two of two) Read More »
Johnny Carson said that a good introduction could make or break an act. In fact, Carson gave his partner Ed McMahon a lot of credit for helping him be such a huge success on the Tonight show. He said this in reference to McMahon’s cheerful and familiar introduction each night, always ending with an
971) Two Johns (part one of two) Read More »
The best one-volume introduction to the Christian faith I’ve seen is What’s Christianity All About? by John Schwarz. There is also a condensed version of this book titled Living Faith (containing approximately 25% of the complete content). John has given me permission to reprint the entire text of Living Faith on this website. A chapter
926) Living Faith (pt. 1 of 10) Read More »
