Women in the Bible: Orpah Orpah Begins a Journey but Then Returns Home Orpah is the widowed daughter-in-law of Naomi and sister-in-law to Ruth. When Naomi decides to return to Judah, her daughters-in-law start out with her, but Naomi releases...
Who Wrote the Book of Hebrews? When We Don’t Get Credit for What We Do As a child someone told me that Paul wrote the book of Hebrews. This has stuck with me, and I still consider Paul as the book’s most likely author. But as I look for...
High Church (Visiting Church #17) The church has a contemporary service followed by a traditional one; we attend both. A Lutheran congregation, I expect a high-church experience (more formal and liturgical). However, their idea of contemporary is...
My bride and I were once talking with a young engaged couple and the subject of finances came up. I shared my thoughts and seemingly gave them something to ponder. I said that most people in the US live beyond their means. They live paycheck to...
Do You Go To an Acts 2 Church? I recently visited a church that upheld Acts 2:42-47 as their model for church. Shocked, I checked the passage to make sure I remembered it correctly. Here is what the Acts 2 church looks like: Their Four Keys The...
Omission or Addition in the Bible? After prior discussions about adding to or taking away from the Bible, it gives one pause in considering footnotes in some translations, which effectively note that a certain phrase or verse is “not found...
Are You a Person of Integrity? Righteousness is Another Word for Integrity Someone once surprised me, catching me off guard by calling me a “man of integrity.” Though honored by their perception, I shook my head. Yes, I aspire to be a person of...
A Different Venue (Visiting Church #16) The church we visited this Sunday is a nondenominational gathering that meets in a public school auditorium. In some parts of the United States it’s unheard of for a church to meet in a government building...
Onesimus, the Useful One The focus of Paul’s letter to Philemon is Onesimus, the runaway slave. Ironically, Onesimus means “useful.” After Onesimus flees, he encounters Jesus through Paul. Paul mentors the escaped slave and the...
The Victory and Despair of Jephthah Another judge, who is prominently noted in the book of Judges is Jephthah. Jephthah, the son of a prostitute which doesn’t say much for his dad>was exiled from his people. However, when they became...
